scholarly journals Copolymeric Hydrogel-Based Immobilization of Yeast Cells for Continuous Biotransformation of Fumaric Acid in a Microreactor

Micromachines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadej Menegatti ◽  
Polona Žnidaršič-Plazl

Although enzymatic microbioreactors have recently gained lots of attention, reports on the use of whole cells as biocatalysts in microreactors have been rather modest. In this work, an efficient microreactor with permeabilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells was developed and used for continuous biotransformation of fumaric into industrially relevant L-malic acid. The immobilization of yeast cells was achieved by entrapment in a porous structure of various hydrogels. Copolymers based on different ratios of sodium alginate (SA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used for hydrogel formation, while calcium chloride and boric or phenylboronic acid were tested as crosslinking agents for SA and PVA, respectively. The influence of hydrogel composition on physico-chemical properties of hydrogels prepared in the form of thin films was evaluated. Immobilization of permeabilized S. cerevisiae cells in the selected copolymeric hydrogel resulted in up to 72% retained fumarase activity. The continuous biotransformation process using two layers of hydrogels integrated into a two-plate microreactor revealed high space time yield of 2.86 g/(L·h) while no activity loss was recorded during 7 days of continuous operation.

Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leone Frusteri ◽  
Catia Cannilla ◽  
Serena Todaro ◽  
Francesco Frusteri ◽  
Giuseppe Bonura

Ternary CuxZnyAlz catalysts were prepared using the hydrotalcite (HT) method. The influence of the atomic x:y:z ratio on the physico-chemical and catalytic properties under CO2 hydrogenation conditions was probed. The characterization data of the investigated catalysts were obtained by XRF, XRD, BET, TPR, CO2-TPD, N2O chemisorption, SEM, and TEM techniques. In the “dried” catalyst, the typical structure of a hydrotalcite phase was observed. Although the calcination and subsequent reduction treatments determined a clear loss of the hydrotalcite structure, the pristine phase addressed the achievement of peculiar physico-chemical properties, also affecting the catalytic activity. Textural and surface effects induced by the zinc concentration conferred a very interesting catalyst performance, with a methanol space time yield (STY) higher than that of commercial systems operated under the same experimental conditions. The peculiar behavior of the hydrotalcite-like samples was related to a high dispersion of the active phase, with metallic copper sites homogeneously distributed among the oxide species, thereby ensuring a suitable activation of H2 and CO2 reactants for a superior methanol production.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Letizia Manca ◽  
Iris Usach ◽  
José Esteban Peris ◽  
Antonella Ibba ◽  
Germano Orrù ◽  
...  

New three-dimensionally-structured hybrid phospholipid vesicles, able to load clotrimazole in a high amount (10 mg/mL), were obtained for the first time in this work by significantly reducing the amount of water (≤10%), which was replaced with a mixture of glycerol and ethanol (≈90%). A pre-formulation study was carried out to evaluate the effect of both the composition of the hydrating medium and the concentration of the phospholipid on the physico-chemical properties of hybrid vesicles. Four different three-dimensionally-structured hybrid vesicles were selected as ideal systems for the topical application of clotrimazole. An extensive physico-chemical characterization performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), 31P-NMR, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) displayed the formation of small, multi-, and unilamellar vesicles very close to each other, and was capable of forming a three-dimensional network, which stabilized the dispersion. Additionally, the dilution of the dispersion with water reduced the interactions between vesicles, leading to the formation of single unilamellar vesicles. The evaluation of the in vitro percutaneous delivery of clotrimazole showed an improved drug deposition in the skin strata provided by the three-dimensionally-structured vesicles with respect to the commercial cream (Canesten®) used as a reference. Hybrid vesicles were highly biocompatible and showed a significant antifungal activity in vitro, greater than the commercial cream Canesten®. The antimycotic efficacy of formulations was confirmed by the reduced proliferation of the yeast cells at the site of infection in vivo. In light of these results, clotrimazole-loaded, three-dimensionally-structured hybrid vesicles appear to be one of the most innovative and promising formulations for the treatment of candidiasis infections.


Author(s):  
H. Gross ◽  
H. Moor

Fracturing under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, p ≤ 10-9 Torr) produces membrane fracture faces devoid of contamination. Such clean surfaces are a prerequisite foe studies of interactions between condensing molecules is possible and surface forces are unequally distributed, the condensate will accumulate at places with high binding forces; crystallites will arise which may be useful a probes for surface sites with specific physico-chemical properties. Specific “decoration” with crystallites can be achieved nby exposing membrane fracture faces to water vopour. A device was developed which enables the production of pure water vapour and the controlled variation of its partial pressure in an UHV freeze-fracture apparatus (Fig.1a). Under vaccum (≤ 10-3 Torr), small container filled with copper-sulfate-pentahydrate is heated with a heating coil, with the temperature controlled by means of a thermocouple. The water of hydration thereby released enters a storage vessel.


1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (03) ◽  
pp. 499-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Electricwala ◽  
L Irons ◽  
R Wait ◽  
R J G Carr ◽  
R J Ling ◽  
...  

SummaryPhysico-chemical properties of recombinant desulphatohirudin expressed in yeast (CIBA GEIGY code No. CGP 39393) were reinvestigated. As previously reported for natural hirudin, the recombinant molecule exhibited abnormal behaviour by gel filtration with an apparent molecular weight greater than that based on the primary structure. However, molecular weight estimation by SDS gel electrophoresis, FAB-mass spectrometry and Photon Correlation Spectroscopy were in agreement with the theoretical molecular weight, with little suggestion of dimer or aggregate formation. Circular dichroism studies of the recombinant molecule show similar spectra at different pH values but are markedly different from that reported by Konno et al. (13) for a natural hirudin-variant. Our CD studies indicate the presence of about 60% beta sheet and the absence of alpha helix in the secondary structure of recombinant hirudin, in agreement with the conformation determined by NMR studies (17)


1963 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.M. Savitskii ◽  
V.F. Terekhova ◽  
O.P. Naumkin

1990 ◽  
Vol 39 (442) ◽  
pp. 996-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayao TAKASAKA ◽  
Hideyuki NEMOTO ◽  
Hirohiko KONO ◽  
Yoshihiro MATSUDA

Food Biology ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
Nawal Abdel-Gayoum Abdel-Rahman

The aim of this study is to use of karkede (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) byproduct as raw material to make ketchup instead of tomato. Ketchup is making of various pulps, but the best type made from tomatoes. Roselle having adequate amounts of macro and micro elements, and it is rich in source of anthocyanine. The ketchup made from pulped of waste of soaked karkede, and homogenized with starch, salt, sugar, ginger (Zingiber officinale), kusbara (Coriandrum sativum) and gum Arabic. Then processed and filled in glass bottles and stored at two different temperatures, ambient and refrigeration. The total solids, total soluble solids, pH, ash, total titratable acidity and vitamin C of ketchup were determined. As well as, total sugars, reducing sugars, colour density, and sodium chloride percentage were evaluated. The sensory quality of developed product was determined immediately and after processing, which included colour, taste, odour, consistency and overall acceptability. The suitability during storage included microbial growth, physico-chemical properties and sensory quality. The karkede ketchup was found free of contaminants throughout storage period at both storage temperatures. Physico-chemical properties were found to be significantly differences at p?0.05 level during storage. There were no differences between karkade ketchup and market tomato ketchup concerning odour, taste, odour, consistency and overall acceptability. These results are encouraging for use of roselle cycle as a raw material to make acceptable karkade ketchup.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Schweidtmann ◽  
Jan Rittig ◽  
Andrea König ◽  
Martin Grohe ◽  
Alexander Mitsos ◽  
...  

<div>Prediction of combustion-related properties of (oxygenated) hydrocarbons is an important and challenging task for which quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models are frequently employed. Recently, a machine learning method, graph neural networks (GNNs), has shown promising results for the prediction of structure-property relationships. GNNs utilize a graph representation of molecules, where atoms correspond to nodes and bonds to edges containing information about the molecular structure. More specifically, GNNs learn physico-chemical properties as a function of the molecular graph in a supervised learning setup using a backpropagation algorithm. This end-to-end learning approach eliminates the need for selection of molecular descriptors or structural groups, as it learns optimal fingerprints through graph convolutions and maps the fingerprints to the physico-chemical properties by deep learning. We develop GNN models for predicting three fuel ignition quality indicators, i.e., the derived cetane number (DCN), the research octane number (RON), and the motor octane number (MON), of oxygenated and non-oxygenated hydrocarbons. In light of limited experimental data in the order of hundreds, we propose a combination of multi-task learning, transfer learning, and ensemble learning. The results show competitive performance of the proposed GNN approach compared to state-of-the-art QSPR models making it a promising field for future research. The prediction tool is available via a web front-end at www.avt.rwth-aachen.de/gnn.</div>


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