BACKGROUND Phage Display technology is a well established technique for high throughput screening of affinity ligands. Here we describe a new compact chromato-panning procedure for selection of suitable binders from a phage peptide display library. RESULTS Both phages and E. coli cells pass non-hindered through the interconnected pores of macroporous gel, so called cryogel. After coupling a l...

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have emerged as important drug targets in epigenetics. The most common HDAC inhibitors use hydroxamic acids as zinc binding groups despite unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties. A two-stage protocol of M05-2X calculations of a library of 48 fragments in a small model active site, followed by QM/MM hybrid calculations of the full enzyme with selected binders, is use...

Mycotoxin risk in the grape product chain is primarily due to ochratoxin A (OTA) occurrence in wine and dried vine fruits. Aspergillus carbonarius and the A. niger group are the main agents of Aspergillus bunch rot of grape, and they, especially A. carbonarius, are responsible for OTA contamination worldwide. Fumonisin B2 (FB2) represents an additional potential mycotoxin risk in the grape-wine...

fusarium graminearum is causal agent of economically catastrophic disease of cereal fusarium head blight (fhb) around the world. in addition to causing a loss of yield, this fungus causes serious threats to humans and animals due to the contamination of grain with the trichothecene mycotoxin. tri101 gene, a fusarium spp. gene, encodes an enzyme that transfers an acetyl group to the c3 hydroxyl ...

Twenty-six strains of Penicillium islandicum Sopp were tested for production of a chlorine-containing peptide (Cl-peptide), which is a hepatotoxin. Highest levels of the mycotoxin were produced in a modification of Wickerham medium. The mycotoxin was isolated by adsorption on charcoal and, after washing the charcoal with acetone-water (1:1), was eluted into n-butanol. Further purification was a...

Molds secrete over 400 different mycotoxins, all of which are toxic to all humans. Everyone in a mycotoxin contaminated environment will have fatigue and other systemic symptoms, but may write them off to other causes. Fatigue from mycotoxin exposure indicates multisystem systemic toxicity. Even individuals with no exaggerated immune response to fungal/mold/yeast antigens, and therefore showing...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a nephrotoxic mycotoxin with carcinogenic properties. Its presence was detected in various foodstuffs all over the world but with significantly higher frequency and concentrations in areas with endemic nephropathy (EN). Even though food is often contaminated with more than one mycotoxin, earlier studies focused on the occurrence and toxicology of only OTA. Only a limited n...

This study aimed to determine the effect of gamma radiation on the preservation of phenolic compounds and on decontamination of dry herbs in terms of ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), using Aloysia citrodora Paláu as a case study. For this purpose, artificially contaminated dry leaves were submitted to gamma radiation at different doses (1, 5, and 10 kGy; at dose rate of 1.7 kGy/h). P...

Numerous reviews and publications have summarized the approaches already in use and being developed to minimize mycotoxin contamination of maize (Agricultural Research Service, 1997a and 1997b; CAST, 1989; Robens, 1990; Jackson, DeVries and Bullerman, 1996; Sinha and Bhatnagar, 1998; Scott, 1998). Many of the strategies used for other commodities can generally also be applied to maize (McMullen...

The place of biotechnological detoxification in the mycotoxin prevention program The production of feeds free from mycotoxins or containing mycotoxins at levels under the tolerance limit requires the application of a mycotoxin prevention program that involves a successive series of actions consisting of multiple elements. The program starts with the selection of suitable grain varieties and end...