Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is formed by the enzyme ALA synthase (hemA gene). Then ALA is converted to Porphobilinogen (PBG) by the ALA dehydratase (hemB gene). For the overproduction of ALA, we used an Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) containing a hemA gene from Bradyrhzobium japonicum, which was created in our previous work. The effects of pH on the ALA synthase and ALA dehydratase were investigated....

In order to modify the xanthan gum (XG) polysaccharide and to develop the hydrogels meant for the drug delivery, we have prepared XG-g-poly [HEMA-co-AA] superporous hydrogel (SPH) through chemical cross-linking by graft copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and acrylic acid (AA) on to XG via redox initiator system of ammonium persulfate (APS) and N, N, N’, N’tetramethylethylene...

Lysozyme interaction with an acrylic-based hydrogel, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) co-methacrylic acid (P(HEMA-MAA)), was investigated using a combination of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and dual polarisation interferometry (DPI). This combination of techniques demonstrated that lysozyme initially absorbed into the hydrogel matrix and...

5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), the committed intermediate of the heme biosynthesis pathway, shows significant promise for cancer treatment. Here, we identified that in addition to hemA and hemL, hemB, hemD, hemF, hemG and hemH are also the major regulatory targets of the heme biosynthesis pathway. Interestingly, up-regulation of hemD and hemF benefited ALA accumulation whereas overexpression of h...

OBJECTIVES The biological effects of resin-modified glass-ionomer cements as used in clinical dentistry are described, and the literature reviewed on this topic. METHODS Information on resin-modified glass-ionomers and on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), the most damaging substance released by these materials, has been collected from over 50 published papers. These were mainly identified t...

We fabricated a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor using a hydrophilic polymer for the highly sensitive detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). The hydrophilic polymer was made from mono-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethylsuccinate (MES) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The detection of TNT was carried out by displacement assay with the...

1 Chapter 1: Introduction 2 1.1. Overview 2 1.2. Hypothesis and Specific Aims 7 Chapter 2: Background 9 2.1. Importance of Gradients in Tissue Engineering 9 2.1.1. Morphogen gradients 9 2.1.2. Bone/cartilage interface 14 2.1.3. Bone /ligament and bone/tendon interfaces 18 2.2. RNA Interference and siRNA Delivery 22 2.2.1. Overview of RNA interference 22 2.2.2. Applications of siRNA in tissue en...

Sugar-based hydrogels were prepared by non-selective modification of sucrose with the introduction of vinyl groups. Sucrose was reacted with glycidyl methacrylate (1:1 molar ratio) in DMSO and in the presence of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine (4-DMAP) as catalyst. The structure of the product (SucMA) was established using H NMR, H DQF-COSY NMR and C NMR analysis. Gels were prepared by copolymeri...