A variety of cyclodextrin-based molecular structures, with substitutions of either primary or secondary faces of the natural oligosaccharide macrocycles of α-, β-, or γ-cyclodextrins, have been designed towards innovative applications of self-assembled cyclodextrin nanomaterials. Amphiphilic cyclodextrins have been obtained by chemical or enzymatic modifications of their macrocycles using phosp...

Amphiphilic beta-cyclodextrins were formulated as nanospheres and characterised by particle size, zeta potential and TEM following freeze-fracture. The nanospheres were loaded with progesterone with different loading techniques involving the spontaneous formation of nanospheres from pre-formed inclusion complexes of amphiphilic beta-cyclodextrins modified on the primary or secondary face with p...

A quasi-equilibrium mass transport analysis has been developed to quantitatively explain the solubility-permeability interplay that exists when using cyclodextrins as pharmaceutical solubilizers. The model considers the effects of cyclodextrins on the membrane permeability (P(m)) as well as the unstirred water layer (UWL) permeability (P(aq)), to predict the overall effective permeability (P(ef...

High-resolution structural data of membrane proteins can be obtained by studying 2D crystals by electron crystallography. Finding the right conditions to produce these crystals is one of the major bottlenecks encountered in 2D crystallography. Many reviews address 2D crystallization techniques in attempts to provide guidelines for crystallographers. Several techniques including new approaches t...

GlgE is a recently identified (1→4)-α-d-glucan:phosphate α-d-maltosyltransferase involved in α-glucan biosynthesis in bacteria and is a genetically validated anti-tuberculosis drug target. It is a member of the GH13_3 CAZy subfamily for which no structures were previously known. We have solved the structure of GlgE isoform I from Streptomyces coelicolor and shown that this enzyme has the same c...

Results from the present study have shown that the ionic species of buffers, pH values and reaction temperature can affect the enzyme unit activities and product specificity of Toruzyme (Novo Nordisk A/S Bagsvaerd, Denmark) CGTase (cyclodextrin glucanotransferase). Applying a similar reaction environment (acetate buffer, pH 6.0; temperature, 60 degrees C), the CGTase was found to be capable of ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Many researchers in the last four decades have been devoted to the development of drug-delivery systems. Since its first application in the pharmaceutical industry, many results have been obtained especially in the molecular manipulation of carriers and their interaction with encapsulated drugs. These new carriers have the advantage of bypassing encapsulated drugs rest...

This work describes a micropropagation protocol for plants of Cynara scolymus cv. Early French, employing cyclodextrins during the rhizogenesis stage. Shoot apices were established in basic culture medium consisting of Murashige Skoog mineral salts modified by 50% reduction in NH4NO3 and KNO3, Heller's micronutrients, Gamborg's vitamins, 100 mg l ÿ1 myo-inositol, 30 g lÿ1 saccharose and 8.0 g l...

In the present work the effect of cyclodextrin and coronatine on both trans-resveratrol production and the expression of stilbene biosynthetic genes in Vitis vinifera L. cv Monastrell suspension cultured cells were evaluated. The results showed the maximum level of trans-resveratrol produced by cells and secreted to the culture medium with 50 mM cyclodextrins and 1 μM coronatine. Since the leve...