BACKGROUND Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder in humans included in the group of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies or prion diseases. The vast majority of sCJD cases are molecularly classified according to the abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) conformations along with polymorphism of codon 129 of the PRNP gene. Recently, a novel human disease, te...

nosocomial infection caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococci poses a serious problem in many countries. the aim of this study was to rapidly and reliably detect methicillin-resistant-staphylococci in order to suggest appropriate therapy. the presence or absence of the methicillin-resistance gene in 115 clinical isolates of staphylococcus aureus and 50 isolates of coagulase negative staphy...

fasciolosis caused by fasciola hepatica and f.gigantica is one of the major public health problems in the world and in iran. considering that stool examination for fasciola eggs is not a sensitive method and only 25% of infected patients pass the eggs in the faeces , and immunodiagnosis methods are more applicable for this purpose, the present study was conducted to compare the somatic (s) and ...

The cultivation of the extremely thermophilic archaeon Thermococcus stetteri in a dialysis membrane reactor was paralleled by the production of an extremely heat-stable proteinase(s). By applying preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, an SDS-resistant proteinase was purified 67-fold in one step with a yield of 34%. The purified enzyme, which was composed of...

Kexstatin I is a potent proteinaceous inhibitor of Kex2 proteinase (EC 3.4.21.61). In the present study we show the molecular cloning, primary structure determination and expression of the gene encoding kexstatin I. We also demonstrate its enhanced activity and specificity for Kex2 proteinase inhibition by rational mutagenesis. The cloned kexstatin I gene encoded a protein of 145 amino acid res...

The topology of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) in the outer membrane of rat liver mitochondria was studied using several approaches. 1. The accessibility of the active site and malonyl-CoA-binding site of the enzyme from the cytosolic aspect of the membrane was investigated using preparations of octanoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA immobilized on to agarose beads to render them impermeant thr...

The SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase is considered as a potential drug design target for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Owing to the lack of available drugs for the treatment of SARS, the discovery of inhibitors for SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase that can potentially be optimized as drugs appears to be highly desirable. We have built a "flexible" three-dimens...

subtilisins and proteinase K.]) Many protein cngincering studjes on subtilisins6) show that amino acid substitution can change the substrate specificity, pH depencience. thermostability, and eatalytie activity. Subtilisin BPN' mutant N218S (Asn218 is rcplaced by serine) has more thermostability than the wild-type cnzyme;7) Asn218 is threc rcsidues fi'om one of the catalytic residues. Ser221. Th...

Folded chromosomes were isolated from Mycoplasma hyorhinis. When examined by electron microscopy, these molecules show variability of loop size, number of loops, total contour length and degree of twisting of the DNA. Sedimentation velocity was unaltered after treatment with RNase, proteinase K, SDS, temperatures up to 65 degrees C and NaCl concentrations from 0.1 M to 4 M.

In anticipation of the emergence of more variants of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a semiquantitative display of the following four independent molecular diagnostic prion parameters was designed: N terminus, proteinase K (PK) resistance, glycoprofile, and mixed population. One H BSE case, three L BSE cases, six C BSE cases, and one unusual classical BSE (C BSE) case are reported.