Isolation, characterization and molecular three-dimensional structural predictions of metalloprotease from a phytopathogenic fungus, Alternaria solani (Ell. and Mart.) Sor.
Murugesan Chandrasekaran, Raman Chandrasekar, Se-Chul Chun, Muthukrishnan Sathiyabama

Highlights

・Keratinolytic enzymes (AsK) of MW 24.5 kDa were identified and characterized from Alternaria solani.
・The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by EDTA, however PMSF and metal ions had little effect.
・Zinc atom present at helix regions (Helix 3, 6, 7: His57, His130, His169 and Cys123).
・Metal-binding region is assembled by His and Leu (middle of a helix 3, 6, 7 regions).
・This is the first report of secreted AsK metalloprotease from A. solani.

Re-characterization of mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate hydrolase belonging to the serine hydrolase family
Makoto Iwata, Takuya Imaoka, Takashi Nishiyama, Takao Fujii

Antibody-based fluorescent and fluorescent ratiometric indicators for detection of phosphotyrosine
Kim Phuong Huynh Nhat, Takayoshi Watanabe, Kensuke Yoshikoshi, Takahiro Hohsaka

Effective production of Pro–Gly by mutagenesis of l-amino acid ligase
Haruka Kino, Shota Nakajima, Toshinobu Arai, Kuniki Kino

Pyruvate kinase deletion as an effective phenotype to enhance lysine production in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032: Redirecting the carbon flow to a precursor metabolite
Masaki Yanase, Tohru Aikoh, Kazunori Sawada, Kotaro Ogura, Takuya Hagiwara, Keita Imai, Masaru Wada, Atsushi Yokota

Random sample consensus combined with partial least squares regression (RANSAC-PLS) for microbial metabolomics data mining and phenotype improvement
Shao Thing Teoh, Miki Kitamura, Yasumune Nakayama, Sastia Putri, Yukio Mukai, Eiichiro Fukusaki

High acetone–butanol–ethanol production in pH-stat co-feeding of acetate and glucose
Ming Gao, Yukihiro Tashiro, Qunhui Wang, Kenji Sakai, Kenji Sonomoto

Optimization of RNA-based c-di-GMP fluorescent sensors through tuning their structural modules
Saki Inuzuka, Shigeyoshi Matsumura, Yoshiya Ikawa

Nitrogen removal from old landfill leachate with SNAP technology using biofix as a biomass carrier
Thanh Tung Vo, Tan Phong Nguyen

Nitrification resilience and community dynamics of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria with respect to ammonia loading shock in a nitrification reactor treating steel wastewater
Kyungjin Cho, Seung Gu Shin, Joonyeob Lee, Taewoan Koo, Woong Kim, Seokhwan Hwang

Cooperative hydration effect causes thermal unfolding of proteins and water activity plays a key role in protein stability in solutions
Osato Miyawaki, Michiko Dozen, Kaede Hirota

Highlights

・Enthalpies of H-bonding between amino acid residues and their hydration are different.
・The above enthalpy difference is strongly amplified by cooperative hydration effect.
・Cooperative hydration effect causes protein thermal unfolding.
・Water activity plays an important role in protein stability in solutions.

Isolation and characterization of wound-induced compounds from the leaves of Citrus hassaku
Tomonori Asai, Tetsuya Matsukawa, Atsushi Ishihara, Shin'ichiro Kajiyama

Formation of three-dimensional hepatic tissue by the bottom-up method using spheroids
Tatsuya Okudaira, Naoki Amimoto, Hiroshi Mizumoto, Toshihisa Kajiwara

Highlights

・We fabricated functional 3D hepatic tissue by a bottom-up method using spheroids.
・A liver tissue with endothelial cells was formed inside hollow fiber.
・Endothelial cells were distributed regularly at every 100 μm within the tissue.
・The liver tissue maintained cell viability and specific functions at high level.
・This method is an effective tool for construction of functional liver tissue.

Chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells on fish scale collagen
Han-Hsiu Hsu, Toshimasa Uemura, Isamu Yamaguchi, Toshiyuki Ikoma, Junzo Tanaka

Increased recombinant protein production owing to expanded opportunities for vector integration in high chromosome number Chinese hamster ovary cells
Noriko Yamano, Mai Takahashi, Seyed Mohammad Ali Haghparast, Masayoshi Onitsuka, Toshitaka Kumamoto, Jana Frank, Takeshi Omasa

Effects of nozzle type atmospheric dry air plasma on L929 fibroblast cells hybrid poly (ε-caprolactone)/chitosan/poly (ε-caprolactone) scaffolds interactions
Ozan Ozkan, Hilal Turkoglu Sasmazel

Effects of macroporous hydroxyapatite carriers on the growth and function of human hepatoblasts derived from fetal hepatocytes
Takaaki Ishii, Hiroshi Saito, Yuji Komizu, Ryuichi Tomoshige, Taku Matsushita

Insights into the formation mechanism of chloropropanol fatty acid esters under laboratory-scale deodorization conditions
Katsuhito Hori, Natsuko Hori-Koriyama, Kazunobu Tsumura, Eiichiro Fukusaki, Takeshi Bamba

Highlights

・The profiling of CPFAEs was performed using samples prepared under the laboratory scale deodorization conditions.
・As a result of this study, CPFAEs were mainly derived from triacylglycerols and inherent chlorine compounds in palm oil.
・It was thought that the knowledge of CPFAEs formation obtained in this study was helpful for the studies about the mitigation of CPFAEs in refined palm oil.

Concentration of MS2 phage in river water by a combined ferric colloid adsorption and foam separation-based method, with MS2 phage leaching from ferric colloid
Yoshihiro Suzuki, Takumi Kobayashi, Masateru Nishiyama, Tomoya Kono