scholarly journals Study on cocoonase, sericin, and degumming of silk cocoon: computational and experimental

Author(s):  
Preeti Anand ◽  
Jay Prakash Pandey ◽  
Dev Mani Pandey

Abstract Background Cocoonase is a proteolytic enzyme that helps in dissolving the silk cocoon shell and exit of silk moth. Chemicals like anhydrous Na2CO3, Marseille soap, soda, ethylene diamine and tartaric acid-based degumming of silk cocoon shell have been in practice. During this process, solubility of sericin protein increased resulting in the release of sericin from the fibroin protein of the silk. However, this process diminishes natural color and softness of the silk. Cocoonase enzyme digests the sericin protein of silk at the anterior portion of the cocoon without disturbing the silk fibroin. However, no thorough characterization of cocoonase and sericin protein as well as imaging analysis of chemical- and enzyme-treated silk sheets has been carried out so far. Therefore, present study aimed for detailed characterization of cocoonase and sericin proteins, phylogenetic analysis, secondary and tertiary structure prediction, and computational validation as well as their interaction with other proteins. Further, identification of tasar silkworm (Antheraea mylitta) pupa stage for cocoonase collection, its purification and effect on silk sheet degumming, scanning electron microscope (SEM)-based comparison of chemical- and enzyme-treated cocoon sheets, and its optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based imaging analysis have been investigated. Various computational tools like Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) X and Figtree, Iterative Threading Assembly Refinement (I-TASSER), self-optimized predicted method with alignment (SOPMA), PROCHECK, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Chimera, and Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) were used for characterization of cocoonase and sericin proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), protein purification using Sephadex G 25-column, degumming of cocoon sheet using cocoonase enzyme and chemical Na2CO3, and SEM and OCT analysis of degummed cocoon sheet were performed. Results Predicted normalized B-factors of cocoonase and sericin with respect to α and β regions showed that these regions are structurally more stable in cocoonase while less stable in sericin. Conserved domain analysis revealed that B. mori cocoonase contains a trypsin-like serine protease with active site range 45 to 180 query sequences while substrate binding site from 175 to 200 query sequences. SDS-PAGE analysis of cocoonase indicated its molecular weight of 25–26 kDa. Na2CO3 treatment showed more degumming effect (i.e., cocoon sheet weight loss) as compared to degumming with cocoonase. However, cocoonase-treated silk cocoon sheet holds the natural color of tasar silk, smoothness, and luster compared with the cocoon sheet treated with Na2CO3. SEM-based analysis showed the noticeable variation on the surface of silk fiber treated with cocoonase and Na2CO3. OCT analysis also exemplified the variations in the cross-sectional view of the cocoonase and Na2CO3-treated silk sheets. Conclusions Present study enlightens on the detailed characteristics of cocoonase and sericin proteins, comparative degumming activity, and image analysis of cocoonase enzyme and Na2CO3 chemical-treated silk sheets. Obtained findings illustrated about use of cocoonase enzyme in the degumming of silk cocoon at larger scale that will be a boon to the silk industry.

2000 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuichi Saito ◽  
Kazuya Kondo ◽  
Ichiro Kojima ◽  
Atsushi Yokota ◽  
Fusao Tomita

ABSTRACT Streptomyces exfoliatus F3-2 produced an extracellular enzyme that converted levan, a β-2,6-linked fructan, into levanbiose. The enzyme was purified 50-fold from culture supernatant to give a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The molecular weights of this enzyme were 54,000 by SDS-PAGE and 60,000 by gel filtration, suggesting the monomeric structure of the enzyme. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was determined to be 4.7. The optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme for levan degradation were pH 5.5 and 60°C, respectively. The enzyme was stable in the pH range 3.5 to 8.0 and also up to 50°C. The enzyme gave levanbiose as a major degradation product from levan in an exo-acting manner. It was also found that this enzyme catalyzed hydrolysis of such fructooligosaccharides as 1-kestose, nystose, and 1-fructosylnystose by liberating fructose. Thus, this enzyme appeared to hydrolyze not only β-2,6-linkage of levan, but also β-2,1-linkage of fructooligosaccharides. From these data, the enzyme from S. exfoliatus F3-2 was identified as a novel 2,6-β-d-fructan 6-levanbiohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.64 ).


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisayo Ono ◽  
Kazuhisa Sawada ◽  
Nonpanga Khunajakr ◽  
Tao Tao ◽  
Mihoko Yamamoto ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT 1,4,5,6-Tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid (ectoine) is an excellent osmoprotectant. The biosynthetic pathway of ectoine from aspartic β-semialdehyde (ASA), in Halomonas elongata, was elucidated by purification and characterization of each enzyme involved. 2,4-Diaminobutyrate (DABA) aminotransferase catalyzed reversively the first step of the pathway, conversion of ASA to DABA by transamination with l-glutamate. This enzyme required pyridoxal 5′-phosphate and potassium ions for its activity and stability. The gel filtration estimated an apparent molecular mass of 260 kDa, whereas molecular mass measured by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was 44 kDa. This enzyme exhibited an optimum pH of 8.6 and an optimum temperature of 25°C and had Km s of 9.1 mM forl-glutamate and 4.5 mM for dl-ASA. DABA acetyltransferase catalyzed acetylation of DABA to γ-N-acetyl-α,γ-diaminobutyric acid (ADABA) with acetyl coenzyme A and exhibited an optimum pH of 8.2 and an optimum temperature of 20°C in the presence of 0.4 M NaCl. The molecular mass was 45 kDa by gel filtration. Ectoine synthase catalyzed circularization of ADABA to ectoine and exhibited an optimum pH of 8.5 to 9.0 and an optimum temperature of 15°C in the presence of 0.5 M NaCl. This enzyme had an apparent molecular mass of 19 kDa by SDS-PAGE and a Km of 8.4 mM in the presence of 0.77 M NaCl. DABA acetyltransferase and ectoine synthase were stabilized in the presence of NaCl (>2 M) and DABA (100 mM) at temperatures below 30°C.


1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fraser E. Ashton ◽  
J. Alan Ryan ◽  
Colina Jones ◽  
Bernard R. Brodeur ◽  
Benito B. Diena

The distribution of serotypes among strains of Neisseria meningitidis responsible for a marked increase of meningitis cases in the Hamilton area, Ontario, in 1978 and 1979 was determined. Twenty-six serogroup B and two serogroup W135 strains isolated from cerebrospinal fluid, blood, and skin of 28 patients were serotyped by agar gel double diffusion. Twenty-one (81 %) of the group B strains were serotype 2b as judged by the formation of characteristic serotype precipitin bands with the specific anti-2996 (type 2b) serum. Fourteen of the serotype 2b strains also reacted with anti-77252 serum, which suggested that one strain or several closely related strains were mainly responsible for the increase in meningitis during the 2-year period. Examination of the outer membrane complexes (OMC) of the strains by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS–PAGE) revealed that all 21 of the serotype 2b strains contained the class 2 protein (molecular weight 41 500) which is known to be the site of the serotype 2b determinant. Further characterization of the serotype 2b,77252 strains by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and SDS–PAGE suggested that the 77252 determinant was present in the class 1 proteins of these strains. The serotype 2b containing strains were isolated from 77.7 and 70% of males and females, respectively, from 81.8% of children less than 5 years of age, and from 75.0% of patients of all age groups. The study indicates the important role of serotype 2b meningococci in causing the increased incidence of meningitis and further substantiates the important association of the serotype 2b determinant with group B serotype 2 meningococcal disease in Canada.


1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1361-1368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Poirier ◽  
Stanley C. Holt

Capnocytophaga ochracea acid (AcP; EC 3.1.3.2) and alkaline (AlP; EC 3.1.3.1) phosphatase was isolated by Ribi cell disruption and purified by sodium dodecyl sulphate – polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE.) Both phosphatases eluted from Sephadex G-150 consistent with molecular weights (migration) of 140 000 and 110 000. SDS–PAGE demonstrated a 72 000 and 55 000 subunit molecular migration for AcP and AlP, respectively. The kinetics of activity of purified AcP and AIP on p-nitrophenol phosphate and phosphoseryl residues of the phosphoproteins are presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
SATA YOSHIDA SRIE RAHAYU ◽  
WAHYU PRIHATINI

Abstract. Rahayu SYS, Prihatini W. 2020. Characterization of metallothionein protein from hepatopancreas organ of Pilsbryoconcha exilis collected from Cikaniki River, Western Java, Indonesia. Nusantara Bioscience 12: 1-5. Freshwater environment, undergoing various changes due to the presence of dangerous toxic anthropogenic waste. It causes pressure on the freshwater biota that lives in it, such as Pilsbryoconcha exilis mussel at the bottom of freshwater. This pressure is controlled by the body through the synthesis of a set of stress proteins. Endogenous proteins, metallothionein (MT), in the body of freshwater biota absorb heavy metals in the body of biota, in the form of stress control. This research identified MT protein on P. exilis from contaminated waters such as the Cikaniki river with the average of mercury levels in water, sediment, and hepatopancreas of mussels using AAS method were 0.001 mg/L, 0.120 mg/L, and 1.318 mg/L respectively. Hepatopancreas of P. exilis was extracted using a Tissue Extraction Reagent I kit (Invitrogen), with procedures following the factory manual. The extract was purified by filtration using Sephadec 50; then, the filtration results were migrated together with the PageRuler TM Unstained Low Range Protein Ladder (Fermentas) in Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS PAGE) gel medium on Biorad Protein II electrophoresis. After completion of electrophoresis, the gel was stained using Page Blue Protein Staining Solution (Fermentas), following the factory manual procedure. Characterization at this research has succeeded in obtaining the MT-I isoform protein measuring 5, 10, and 25 kDa from the hepatopancreas organ of P. exilis.


1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 3969-3975 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Secades ◽  
J. A. Guijarro

ABSTRACT A novel protease, hydrolyzing azocasein, was identified, purified, and characterized from the culture supernatant of the fish pathogenYersinia ruckeri. Exoprotease production was detected at the end of the exponential growth phase and was temperature dependent. Activity was detected in peptone but not in Casamino Acid medium. Its synthesis appeared to be under catabolite repression and ammonium control. The protease was purified in a simple two-step procedure involving ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of the purified protein indicated an estimated molecular mass of 47 kDa. The protease had characteristics of a cold-adapted protein, i.e., it was more active in the range of 25 to 42°C and had an optimum activity at 37°C. The activation energy for the hydrolysis of azocasein was determined to be 15.53 kcal/mol, and the enzyme showed a rapid decrease in activity at 42°C. The enzyme had an optimum pH of around 8. Characterization of the protease showed that it required certain cations such as Mg2+ or Ca2+ for maximal activity and was inhibited by EDTA, 1,10-phenanthroline, and EGTA but not by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. TwoN-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutants were isolated and analyzed; one did not show caseinolytic activity and lacked the 47-kDa protein, while the other was hyperproteolytic and produced increased amounts of the 47-kDa protein. Azocasein activity, SDS-PAGE, immunoblotting by using polyclonal anti-47-kDa-protease serum, and zymogram analyses showed that protease activity was present in 8 of 14 strains tested and that two Y. ruckeri groups could be established based on the presence or absence of the 47-kDa protease.


2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (9) ◽  
pp. 2407-2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacalyn M. Green ◽  
Ryan Hollandsworth ◽  
Lenore Pitstick ◽  
Eric L. Carter

ABSTRACT The abg locus of the Escherichia coli chromosome includes three genes encoding proteins (AbgA, AbgB, and AbgT) that enable uptake and utilization of the folate breakdown product, p-aminobenzoyl-glutamate (PABA-GLU). We report on the purification and characterization of the p-aminobenzoyl-glutamate hydrolase (PGH) holoenzyme encoded by abgA and abgB. One-step purification was accomplished using a plasmid carrying abgAB with a hexahistidine tag on the carboxyl terminus of AbgB and subsequent metal affinity chromatography (MAC). Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed two subunits (∼53-kDa and ∼47-kDa proteins) of the expected masses of AbgB and AbgA; N-terminal sequencing confirmed the subunit identification, and amino acid analysis yielded a 1:1 ratio of the subunits. Size exclusion chromatography coupled with light-scattering analysis of purified PGH revealed a predominant molecular mass of 206 kDa and a minor component of 400 to 500 kDa. Both peaks contained PGH activity, and SDS-PAGE revealed that fractions containing activity were composed of both AbgA and AbgB. MAC-purified PGH was highly stimulated by manganese chloride. Kinetic analysis of MAC-purified PGH revealed a Km value for PABA-GLU of 60 ± 0.08 μM and a specific activity of 63,300 ± 600 nmol min−1 mg−1. Folic acid and a variety of dipeptides served as poor substrates of PGH. This locus of the E. coli chromosome may encode a portion of a folate catabolism pathway.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-45
Author(s):  
Syed Abid Ali ◽  
Fozia Humayun ◽  
Iqra Munir ◽  
Shakil Ahmad ◽  
Zarrien Ayub ◽  
...  

Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the biomass assessment, morphological and molecular identification, nutritive status and biochemical characterization of three major Thais species (T. bufo, T. hippocastanum and T. rudolphi) from the Sindh Coast, Pakistan. Methods: Samples were collected from Buleji and Paradise Point at the Sindh Coast. Species were identified morphologically as well as genetically by amplifying two mitochondrial 16S rDNA & Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) and one nuclear (Histone H3) genes. Shell microstructure and chemistry were also studied by scanning electron microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX). The body muscle was dissected and used for nutritional composition determination such as estimation of total protein, carbohydrates, lipids, protein fingerprinting by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Size-Exclusion - Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (SEC-FPLC), amino acid and fatty acid analysis. Results: Nutritionally, the total protein was found to be the major content followed by carbohydrate and lipid in the three Thais sp. The presence of medicinally important hemocyanin as abundant hemolymph protein was confirmed via SDS-PAGE and SEC FPLC. Nine different types of fatty acids and a high concentration of essential amino acids were also determined. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Thais sp. are nutritionally rich and can be consumed as a valuable marine resource to overcome the malnutrition problem in developing countries.


2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dmitryjuk ◽  
M. Dopieralska ◽  
E. Łopieńska-Biernat ◽  
R.J. Frączek

AbstractTrehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) synthase (TPS;EC2.4.1.15) was isolated from muscles ofAscaris suumby ammonium sulphate fractionation, ion-exchange DEAE SEPHACELTManion exchanger column chromatography and Sepharose 6B gel filtration. On sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE), 265-fold purified TPS exhibited a molecular weight of 66 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were 3.8–4.2 and 35°C, respectively. The isoelectric point (pI) of TPS was pH 5.4. The studied TPS was not absolutely substrate specific. Besides glucose 6-phosphate, the enzyme was able to use fructose 6-phosphate as an acceptor of glucose. TPS was activated by 10 mMMgCl2, 10 mMCaCl2and 10 mMNaCl. In addition, it was inhibited by ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA), KCl, FeCl3and ZnCl2. Two genes encoding TPS were isolated and sequenced from muscles of the parasite. Complete coding sequences fortps1(JF412033.2) andtps2(JF412034.2) were 3917 bp and 3976 bp, respectively. Translation products (AEX60788.1 and AEX60787.1) showed expression to the glucosyltransferase-GTB-type superfamily.


Author(s):  
Wilches Torres A. ◽  
Rojas Caraballo J. ◽  
Sanabria E. ◽  
Reyes MontaÑo E ◽  
FernÁndez Alonso Jl ◽  
...  

Objective: This study focused on purifying and characterizing a lectin from Lepechinia bullata (L. bullata) seeds, and determining its specificity towards tumour-associated carbohydrate-antigens.Methods: Pigments were removed by washing the seeds with NH4OH 0.1 M pH 9.4 and treating the crude extracts with Pectinex®. The purification procedure consisted of anion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Sephadex followed by affinity chromatography. For the characterization, the phase was used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS-PAGE), isoelectric focusing, hemagglutination assays, enzyme-linked lectinosorbent assay (ELLA) and thermal shift assay (TSA).Results: 6.2 mg of lectin were obtained from 100 g of seeds. It was able to agglutinate enzymatically treated erythrocytes with a minimal required lectin concentration of 7 μg. ml-1. Strong binding to asialo bovine submaxillary mucine (aBSM) was determined, corroborating Tn recognition.The isoelectric focusing showed a unique band at pH 8.5. Lectin pure shown bands at 28, 48 and 93 kDa by SDS-PAGE, with an incomplete dissociation of the last species despite trying several reduction conditions. By preparative electrophoresis under different conditions, three species were observed too, in all fractions one band at 28 kDa on Tricine-PAGE in reducing and no reducing conditions were found.Amino acid composition, carbohydrate content, thermal stability and Ca2+and Mn2+requirements were determined. N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and desialylated mucins inhibited the agglutinant activity on human cells. Fetuin inhibited hemagglutination of rabbit erythrocytes.Conclusion: A new lectin was isolated and characterized from L. bullata seeds, it recognizes T/Tn antigen and shows some similarities with other Lamiaceae lectins.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document