This paper assesses the ability of strains of Aphanoascus fulvescens and Chrysosporium articulatum isolated from soil (phaesol) to degrade native feather keratin. Strains were identified based on phenotypic traits and nucleotide sequencing. Response Surface Methodology was used to optimize cultivation conditions exhibiting the highest keratinolytic activity. The experiments were based on Box-Be...

The goal of this research was to isolate and identify the thermostable alkaline protease producing bacteria among several native Iranian microorganisms. At the end of screening program, a Bacillus subtilis BP-36 strain producing thermophilic alkaline protease was isolated from a hot spring in Ardebil province. The target enzyme was purified using a one-step Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) prot...

There are increasing studies indicating neuroprotective effects for vitamin B12. In the present study, the effect of intracortical microinjection of vitamin B12 was investigated on penicillin-induced epileptiform activity. We also examined the effects of intracortical microinjection of diazepam (a GABA-benzodiazepine receptor agonist) and flumazenil (a GABAbenzodiazepine receptor antagonist) to...

The prpR1 gene of Porphyromonas gingivalis W50 encodes the polyprotein precursor (PrpRI) of an extracellular arginine-specific protease. PrpRI is organized into four distinct domains (pro, alpha, beta, and gamma) and is processed to a heterodimeric protease (RI) which comprises the alpha and beta components in a noncovalent association. The alpha component contains the protease active site, whe...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to determine whether B12 replacement would ameliorate cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in elderly subjects with dementia and low serum B12 levels. METHODS A test group (n = 28) of nursing home residents with low serum B12 levels (<250 pg/mL) and a matched comparison group (n = 28) with normal serum B12 levels (>300 pg/mL) were evaluated by blinded raters ...

A patient with recurrent pulmonary abscess, weight loss, and alcoholism was found to have extremely high serum vitamin B12 and unsaturated vitamin B12-binding capacity (UBBC) levels. While transcobalamin (TC) II was also increased, most of his UBBC was due to an abnormal binding protein which carried greater than 80% of the endogenous vitamin B12 and was not found in his saliva, granulocytes, o...

Objective: Investigations were carried out to isolate bacteria from saline-alkali soils and determined optimized alkaline protease activity and stability produced by a wild strain of bacillus sp. in submerged fermentation (SMF). Methods: Optimum temperature for enzyme activity in the crude extract was 40 ◦C at a pH between 8.0 and 9.0. The studies on pH stability showed that the enzyme...

BACKGROUND Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a necessary cofactor in methionine and succinyl-CoA metabolism. Studies estimate the deficiency prevalence as high as 30% in the elderly population. Ten to thirty percent of circulating cobalamin is bound to transcobalamin (holotranscobalamin, holoTC) which can readily enter cells and is therefore considered the bioactive form. The objective of our study wa...