scholarly journals Bacteriostasis of Escherichia coli by milk. V. The bacteriostatic properties of milk of West African mothers in The Gambia: in-vitro studies

1980 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean M. Dolby ◽  
Pauline Honour ◽  
M. G. M. Rowland

SUMMARYBacteriostatic activity was measured in 244 specimens of milk collected during 1977 throughout lactation of up to one year from 78 mothers; the activity varied from very good to fair and only seven were inactive. There was a wider range of activity than was found previously in milk from English mothers. Activity usually fell slowly during lactation but some of the Gambian mothers produced milk of very high activity, like that of colostrum into the second week of lactation, and two mothers did so at six and nine months; other mothers produced good-activity milk throughout lactation. The bacteriostatic activity varied little with the season but slight decreases from that expectcd were found after the high incidence of infant diarrhoea towards the end of the rainy season.The bacteriostatic activity of most of the milk tested could be prevented by iron salts but that of colostrum and some of the milks with high activity could not. Only these highly active colostra and milks were inhibitory in vitro when the inoculum was increased from 104 to 106 organisms per ml. These and less active milks were able to inhibit the smaller, standard inoculum for longer than 3 h with the addition of bicarbonate and extra iron-binding protein at the concentrations likely to be present in vivo. Both commensal and pathogenic E. coli were inhibited to a similar degree by these milks and there was no evidence of serotype specificity.

1977 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean M. Dolby ◽  
Susan Stephens ◽  
Pauline Honour

SUMMARYFresh human and bovine milk are bacteriostatic in vitro for only some (milk-sensitive) strains of E. coli. The addition of bicarbonate to the test system potentiates the bacteriostasis so that otherwise milk-resistant strains are inhibited. By titration of the bicarbonate in the milk, it is possible to determine the minimum concentration that will activate milk against a milk-resistant strain but be ineffective in boiled milk, i.e. it potentiates a heat-labile system in milk and does not merely exert a direct toxic effect. This concentration is lower for human milk than for cows‘ milk and can be reduced even further by the addition of more iron-binding protein.Lactoferrin and bicarbonate may be present in the gut of the newborn. In an attempt to imitate conditions in the infant gut, we therefore reinvestigated, in vitro and in the presence of added bicarbonate and transferrin, the bacteriostatic activity against E. coli of fresh breast-milk, commercial bottle-milk, and mixtures of these as fed to infants in this study. The results, and information about events in vivo deduced from the ratio of milk-sensitive to milk-resistant strains of E. coli isolated from babies‘ stools, suggest that neonatal intestinal secretions may contribute to the bacteriostatic activity of their feeds so that (1) in fully breastfed babies all strains of E. coli are inhibited to the same extent; there is no selection on the basis of milk sensitivity and equal numbers of strains resistant and sensitive to milk are found in the stools; (2) in fully bottle-fed babies E. coli is not inhibited since the milk is non-bacteriostatic and again there is no selection; (3) in babies fed at the breast but bottle-milk supplemented, only milk-sensitive strains are inhibited; milk-resistant strains are not, and preferentially colonize the large intestines.


1980 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. M. Rowland ◽  
T. J. Cole ◽  
Maura Tully ◽  
Jean M. Dolby ◽  
Pauline Honour

SUMMARYA one-year field-study has been carried out in a diarrhoea-endemic area in West Africa to determine the relationship between the bacteriostatic activity of fresh human milk for Escherichia coli in vitro and freedom from diarrhoea of the infant recipients of the milk. The specific contribution of E. coli gastroenteritis to gastrointestinal diseases of infants in general is not known, nor is its particular role in the Gambian infants studied. During the study period, however, both enteropathogenic and toxigenic strains of E. coli were isolated.The incidence of diarrhoea in Gambian infants of seven age-groups from 2 days to 12 months was not significantly correlated with the bacteriostatic activity of milk. This was due rather to absence of diarrhoea in babies fed on low-activity milk than illness in those receiving highly bacteriostatic milk. Indeed, very active milk appeared to protect recipients almost completely, including seven babies of over 3 months of age, five of them during the rainy season, when the risk was high. Babies receiving lower-activity milk experienced more diarrhoea. In a situation where diarrhoeal disease is multifactorial, field evaluation of the protective action by one antibacterial property of milk is difficult. A better understanding of in vivo protection is important, and the factors which have to be taken into account are discussed.


1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (02) ◽  
pp. 409-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M Nilsson ◽  
S.-E Bergentz ◽  
U Hedner ◽  
K Kullenberg

SummaryGastric juice from 15 normals, 20 patients with gastric ulcer and 4 patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis was investigated in respect of its activity on unheated and heated fibrin plates and its content of FDP and plasminogen or plasmin with immunochemical methods. Gastric juice from normals showed no activity on unheated and heated fibrin plates, and no FDP or plasminogen could be demonstrated. In the patients with gastric ulcer the gastric juice showed little or no fibrinolytic activity on fibrin plates except in 2, who had regurgitation of duodenal juice and neutral pH of the juice. These patients had equally high activity on heated as on unheated plates and no plasmin could be demonstrated. It was shown that this activity was not due to fibrinolysis, but to non-specific proteolytic activity (probably trypsin). The patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis exhibited quite a different picture. The gastric juice from these patients showed extremely high activity on fibrin plates, the activity was higher on unheated than on heated plates. The activity was inhibited in vitro by addition of EACA and in vivo after administration of AMCA. The occurrence of plasmin could be demonstrated directly immunologically in the gastric juice. By comparison of plasmin and trypsin in various assays it could further be proved that the gastric juice in these cases contained plasminogen activator and plasmin. The patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis showed no increase in fibrinolysis in the blood, but low values for plasminogen and α2M, and the serum contained FDP. These findings in the blood and gastric juice were interpreted as signs of local fibrinolysis in the stomach and duodenum. There is reason to assume that this gastric fibrinolysis contributes substantially to the bleeding tendency. The effect of administration of AMCA on fibrinolytic activity and the haemorrhage lends support to the assumption of such a mechanism.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Prakash ◽  
Travis Lantz ◽  
Krupal P. Jethava ◽  
Gaurav Chopra

Amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients primarily consists of amyloid beta 1-42 (Ab42). Commercially, Ab42 is synthetized using peptide synthesizers. We describe a robust methodology for expression of recombinant human Ab(M1-42) in Rosetta(DE3)pLysS and BL21(DE3)pLysS competent E. coli with refined and rapid analytical purification techniques. The peptide is isolated and purified from the transformed cells using an optimized set-up for reverse-phase HPLC protocol, using commonly available C18 columns, yielding high amounts of peptide (~15-20 mg per 1 L culture) in a short time. The recombinant Ab(M1-42) forms characteristic aggregates similar to synthetic Ab42 aggregates as verified by western blots and atomic force microscopy to warrant future biological use. Our rapid, refined, and robust technique to purify human Ab(M1-42) can be used to synthesize chemical probes for several downstream in vitro and in vivo assays to facilitate AD research.


Microbiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 152 (7) ◽  
pp. 2129-2135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taku Oshima ◽  
Francis Biville

Functional characterization of unknown genes is currently a major task in biology. The search for gene function involves a combination of various in silico, in vitro and in vivo approaches. Available knowledge from the study of more than 21 LysR-type regulators in Escherichia coli has facilitated the classification of new members of the family. From sequence similarities and its location on the E. coli chromosome, it is suggested that ygiP encodes a lysR regulator controlling the expression of a neighbouring operon; this operon encodes the two subunits of tartrate dehydratase (TtdA, TtdB) and YgiE, an integral inner-membrane protein possibly involved in tartrate uptake. Expression of tartrate dehydratase, which converts tartrate to oxaloacetate, is required for anaerobic growth on glycerol as carbon source in the presence of tartrate. Here, it has been demonstrated that disruption of ygiP, ttdA or ygjE abolishes tartrate-dependent anaerobic growth on glycerol. It has also been shown that tartrate-dependent induction of the ttdA-ttdB-ygjE operon requires a functional YgiP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6865
Author(s):  
Eun Seon Lee ◽  
Joung Hun Park ◽  
Seong Dong Wi ◽  
Ho Byoung Chae ◽  
Seol Ki Paeng ◽  
...  

The thioredoxin-h (Trx-h) family of Arabidopsis thaliana comprises cytosolic disulfide reductases. However, the physiological function of Trx-h2, which contains an additional 19 amino acids at its N-terminus, remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the molecular function of Trx-h2 both in vitro and in vivo and found that Arabidopsis Trx-h2 overexpression (Trx-h2OE) lines showed significantly longer roots than wild-type plants under cold stress. Therefore, we further investigated the role of Trx-h2 under cold stress. Our results revealed that Trx-h2 functions as an RNA chaperone by melting misfolded and non-functional RNAs, and by facilitating their correct folding into active forms with native conformation. We showed that Trx-h2 binds to and efficiently melts nucleic acids (ssDNA, dsDNA, and RNA), and facilitates the export of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm under cold stress. Moreover, overexpression of Trx-h2 increased the survival rate of the cold-sensitive E. coli BX04 cells under low temperature. Thus, our data show that Trx-h2 performs function as an RNA chaperone under cold stress, thus increasing plant cold tolerance.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1160
Author(s):  
Adrien Chastel ◽  
Delphine Vimont ◽  
Stephane Claverol ◽  
Marion Zerna ◽  
Sacha Bodin ◽  
...  

Background: [68Ga]Ga-RM2 is a potent Gastrin-Releasing Peptide-receptor (GRP-R) antagonist for imaging prostate cancer and breast cancer, currently under clinical evaluation in several specialized centers around the world. Targeted radionuclide therapy of GRP-R-expressing tumors is also being investigated. We here report the characteristics of a kit-based formulation of RM2 that should ease the development of GRP-R imaging and make it available to more institutions and patients. Methods: Stability of the investigated kits over one year was determined using LC/MS/MS and UV-HPLC. Direct 68Ga-radiolabeling was optimized with respect to buffer (pH), temperature, reaction time and shaking time. Conventionally prepared [68Ga]Ga-RM2 using an automated synthesizer was used as a comparator. Finally, the [68Ga]Ga-RM2 product was assessed with regards to hydrophilicity, affinity, internalization, membrane bound fraction, calcium mobilization assay and efflux, which is a valuable addition to the in vivo literature. Results: The kit-based formulation, kept between 2 °C and 8 °C, was stable for over one year. Using acetate buffer pH 3.0 in 2.5–5.1 mL total volume, heating at 100 °C during 10 min and cooling down for 5 min, the [68Ga]Ga-RM2 produced by kit complies with the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia. Compared with the module production route, the [68Ga]Ga-RM2 produced by kit was faster, displayed higher yields, higher volumetric activity and was devoid of ethanol. In in vitro evaluations, the [68Ga]Ga-RM2 displayed sub-nanomolar affinity (Kd = 0.25 ± 0.19 nM), receptor specific and time dependent membrane-bound fraction of 42.0 ± 5.1% at 60 min and GRP-R mediated internalization of 24.4 ± 4.3% at 30 min. The [natGa]Ga-RM2 was ineffective in stimulating intracellular calcium mobilization. Finally, the efflux of the internalized activity was 64.3 ± 6.5% at 5 min. Conclusion: The kit-based formulation of RM2 is suitable to disseminate GRP-R imaging and therapy to distant hospitals without complex radiochemistry equipment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wang ◽  
Chen Shen ◽  
Qinqin Cong ◽  
Kaili Xu ◽  
Jialin Lu

Abstract Background Biodegradation of antibiotics is a promising method for the large-scale removal of antibiotic residues in the environment. However, the enzyme that is involved in the biodegradation process is the key information to be revealed. Results In this study, the beta-lactamase from Ochrobactrumtritici that mediates the biodegradation of penicillin V was identified and characterized. When searching the proteins of Ochrobactrumtritici, the β-lactamase (OtLac) was identified. OtLac consists of 347 amino acids, and predicted isoelectric point is 7.0. It is a class C β-lactamase according to BLAST analysis. The coding gene of OtLac was amplified from the genomic DNA of Ochrobactrumtritici. The OtLac was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified with Ni2+ column affinity chromatography. The biodegradation ability of penicillin V by OtLac was identified in an in vitro study and analyzed by HPLC. The optimal temperature for OtLac is 32 ℃ and the optimal pH is 7.0. Steady-state kinetics showed that OtLac was highly active against penicillin V with a Km value of 17.86 μM and a kcat value of 25.28 s−1 respectively. Conclusions OtLac demonstrated biodegradation activity towards penicillin V potassium, indicating that OtLac is expected to degrade penicillin V in the future.


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