43 research outputs found
Recombinant human osteopontin expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana stimulates osteogenesis related genes in human periodontal ligament cells.
No full textTissue engineering aims to utilise biologic mediators to facilitate tissue regeneration. Several recombinant proteins have potential to mediate induction of bone production, however, the high production cost of mammalian cell expression impedes patient access to such treatments. The aim of this study is to produce recombinant human osteopontin (hOPN) in plants for inducing dental bone regeneration. The expression host was Nicotiana benthamiana using a geminiviral vector for transient expression. OPN expression was confirmed by Western blot and ELISA, and OPN was purified using Ni affinity chromatography. Structural analysis indicated that plant-produced hOPN had a structure similar to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN. Biological function of the plant-produced hOPN was also examined. Human periodontal ligament stem cells were seeded on an OPN-coated surface. The results indicated that cells could grow normally on plant-produced hOPN as compared to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN determined by MTT assay. Interestingly, increased expression of osteogenic differentiation-related genes, including OSX, DMP1, and Wnt3a, was observed by realtime PCR. These results show the potential of plant-produced OPN to induce osteogenic differentiation of stem cells from periodontal ligament in vitro, and suggest a therapeutic strategy for bone regeneration in the future
Isolation and characterization of chitinase from soil fungi, Paecilomyces sp.
No full textAbstractChitinolytic fungal strains were isolated from soil in Thailand. They were screened as chitinase producers by testing their shrimp shell digestion ability on potato dextrose agar plates. The chitinase activity was tested with colloidal chitin in culture medium C and basal medium. There was greater activity in culture medium C than in the basal medium. The results of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis from the culture filtrate of medium C showed three protein bands at about 40 kDa, 46 kDa and 56 kDa. The chitinase gene was sequenced from genomic DNA. The obtained sequence consisted of 713 bp upstream, a 1499 bp open reading frame that was interrupted by three introns and 1698 bp downstream sequences. The intron lengths were 63 bp, 57 bp and 110 bp, respectively. The sequence was found to be the most similar to the chitinase gene of Paecilomyces lilacinus (EF183511). Pairwise alignment of the 1499 bp and P. lilacinus resulted in 72.5% DNA sequence identity, while alignment of the 1269 bp coding sequence and P. lilacinus resulted in 78.5% cDNA sequence identity and 83.5% amino acid sequence identity. The protein structure contained two conserved domains of the putative substrate binding site (S-I-G-G) and catalytic domain (D-G-I-D-L-D-W-E), suggesting that this fungal chitinase belonged to the glycosyl hydrolases family 18 chitinase (GH18). Phylogenetic analysis of the chitinase gene from the nematopathogenic fungi suggested that this chitinase sequence was class V chitinase
Antiviral Compounds Against Nucleocapsid Protein of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus
No full textPorcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is a severe diarrhea disease in swine that is caused by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). Nucleocapsid (N) protein is the RNA-binding protein of PEDV, which plays an important role for virus life cycle. The aim of this research was to screen and characterize the compounds that could inhibit the activity of PEDV N protein. The gene encoding PEDV N protein obtained from PEDV Thai isolate was cloned and expressed in E. coli. Its amino acid sequence was employed to generate the three dimensional structure by homology modeling. There were 1,286 compounds of FDA-approved drug database that could virtually bind to the RNA-binding region of N protein. Three compounds, trichlormethiazide, D-(+) biotin, and glutathione successfully bound to the N protein, in vitro, with the IC50 at 8.754 mg/mL, 0.925 mg/mL, and 2.722 mg/mL. Antiviral activity in PEDV-infected Vero cells demonstrated that the effective concentration of trichlormethiazide, D-(+) biotin, and glutathione in inhibiting PEDV replication were 0.094, 0.094 and 1.5 mg/mL. This study demonstrated a strategy applied for discovery of antiviral agents capable of inhibiting PEDV N protein and PEDV replication. The compounds identified here exhibited a potential use as therapeutic agents for controlling PEDV infection.</p
Suburbs, Immigrants and Ethnicity. Autobiographical Novels of Algerian Immigrants in France as an Attempt of Emancipation from Ethnic Discrimination Discourse
No full textThe article applies to three autobiographical novels written in the 1980s and 1990s by citizens of France, second generation Algerian immigrants. The authors of these novels widely relate to their own experience of life in the suburbs of French cities. The protagonists are young people who on the one hand feel French and demand acceptance, and on the other experience acts of discrimination. Moreover, their relationship to traditional Algerian culture is also ambivalent. The place with which they identify themselves is not France, in spite of the citizenship, nor Algeria, in spite of the origin, but their own district, which is a place where they live their everyday life. The author of the article analyzes the chosen novels through the perspective of the republican model of integration which excludes recognition of ethnic origin of the citizens. The article, referring to M. Foucault’s theory of heterotopia, argues that although the novels in question sensitize French readers to the various social questions, they, paradoxically, support the typical thinking of the republican model
Powieść autobiograficzna jako dokument osobisty i podobny do pamiętników konkursowych materiał badań socjologicznych
No full textTyt. z nagłówka.Bibliogr. s. 57-60.Artykuł przedstawia wybrane argumenty na rzecz traktowania w socjologii powieści autobiograficznych jako dokumentów osobistych. W pierwszej kolejności omawia założenia metody (perspektywy) biograficznej. Mogą one mieć zastosowanie w analizach socjologicznych wykorzystujących zarówno treść pamiętników (autobiografii, wspomnień) pisanych w ramach konkursów organizowanych przez socjologów, jak i powieści autobiograficznych publikowanych na rynku książki. Tradycja badań opierających się na pamiętnikach konkursowych związana jest w dużej mierze z socjologią polską i takimi badaczami jak F. Znaniecki, J. Chałasiński, W. Grabski, L. Krzywicki, J. Szczepański czy Z. Dulczewski. W drugiej części artykułu autor nawiązuje do wcześniejszych ustaleń i stara się powiedzieć, dlaczego powieści autobiograficzne mogą być wykorzystywane jako materiał badań społecznych. W kilku punktach prezentuje podobieństwa między wskazanymi w tytule dwoma rodzajami narracji. Stwierdza, że podstawową cechą dokumentów osobistych jest spełnianie kryterium prawdopodobieństwa (respektowane zarówno w przypadku pamiętników konkursowych, jak i powieści autobiograficznych). Pozwala to badaczowi m.in. na wnioskowanie o postawach i wartościach kategorii społecznych, do których należy autor dokumentu i które jednocześnie opisane są w dokumencie.The article presents selected arguments in favor of treatment of autobiographical novels in sociology as personal documents. Firstly, the assumptions of the biographical method (or biographical perspective) are demonstrated. All of them can be applied in social sciences analysis using both diaries (autobiographies, memories) written in competitions organized by sociologists and autobiographical novels published in the book market. As it is known, the tradition of research on competition diaries is related to the names of sociologists such as F. Znaniecki, J. Chalasinski, W. Grabski, L. Krzywicki, J. Szczepanski and Z. Dulczewski. Secondly, the author of the article makes an attempt to answer why autobiographical novels can be used in social science research. For this purpose, the author points out the similarities between both of the above-mentioned types of narration. At the end, it is presented why the probability criterion (met by both the competition diaries and autobiographical novels) is the most important feature in the study of personal documents. This criterion gives the researcher the opportunity to discuss, among others, the attitudes and values of social categories which include the author of the document and which also are described in the document.Dostępny również w formie drukowanej.SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: metoda biograficzna, pamiętniki konkursowe, powieści autobiograficzne, autobiografie, fikcja, dokumenty osobiste. KEYWORDS: biographical method, competition diaries, autobiographical novels, autobiographies, fiction, personal documents
Adventure and Exile. Two kinds of migration experience, one challenge of urban policy
No full textThe paper presents two sociological approaches to the migration experience. In the first approach, which corresponds to Georg Simmel’s essay The Philosophy of adventure, migration is regarded as an adventure. In the second approach, which was particularly explored by Abdelmalek Sayad (La double absence), migration is experienced as an exile. However, “adventure” and “exile” describe two different model situations of the migrant’s experience; they both cause the presence of homesickness and the lack of feeling that the inhabited space is a new home. This is why the migrant’s experience of adventure or of exile is treated in the paper as a challenge for every city policy. In the context of contemporary theories (like the metamodernism of Vermeulen and van den Akker), the author of the paper presents the propositions of urban policy which could meet the migrants’ needs and make them real members of the urban community
In vitro immunoregulatory effects of lithium in healthy volunteers
No full textExamined the in vitro effects of lithium carbonate on the unstimulated and lipolysaccharide (LPS)?+?phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF?) and interferon-? (IFN?), and negative immunoregulatory cytokines or proteins, such as IL-10 and the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA)
