Discovery of a natural cyan blue: A unique food-sourced anthocyanin could replace synthetic brilliant blue.

The color of food is critical to the food and beverage industries, as it influences many properties beyond eye-pleasing visuals including flavor, safety, and nutritional value. Blue is one of the rarest colors in nature's food palette-especially a cyan blue-giving scientists few sources for natural blue food colorants. Finding a natural cyan blue dye equivalent to FD&C Blue No.

β-Glucosidase Discovery and Design for the Degradation of Oleuropein.

Current lye processing for debittering California black table olives produces large amounts of caustic wastewater and destroys many of the beneficial phenolic compounds in the fruit. Herein, we propose using enzyme treatment in place of lye, potentially reducing the amount and causticity of wastewater produced. By specifically targeting the bitterness-causing compound, oleuropein, retention of other beneficial phenolics may be possible.

X-ray-Mediated Release of Molecules and Engineered Proteins from Nanostructure Surfaces.

Many applications call for initiation of chemical reactions with highly penetrating X-rays with nanometer precision and little damage to the surroundings, which is difficult to realize because of low interaction cross-sections between hard X-rays and organic matters. Here, we demonstrate that a combination of computational protein design of single conjugation site green fluorescent proteins and nanomaterial engineering of silica-covered gold nanoparticles can enhance the release efficiencies of proteins from the surface of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles, to which the proteins are attached through DNA linkers, provide increased X-ray absorption without scavenging radicals, and single conjugation sites allow efficient release of proteins.

The fingerprint of antimitochondrial antibodies and the etiology of primary biliary cholangitis.

Unlabelled: The identification of environmental factors that lead to loss of tolerance has been coined the holy grail of autoimmunity. Our work has focused on the reactivity of antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMA) to chemical xenobiotics and has hypothesized that a modified peptide within PDC-E2, the major mitochondrial autoantigen, will have been immunologically recognized at the time of loss of tolerance. Herein, we successfully applied intein technology to construct a PDC-E2 protein fragment containing amino acid residues 177-314 of PDC-E2 by joining a recombinant peptide spanning residues 177-252 (PDC-228) with a 62-residue synthetic peptide from 253 to 314 (PP), which encompasses PDC-E2 inner lipoyl domain (ILD).

Antimitochondrial antibody heterogeneity and the xenobiotic etiology of primary biliary cirrhosis.

Unlabelled: Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs) directed against the lipoyl domain of the E2 subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC-E2) are detected in 95% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and are present before the onset of clinical disease. The recent demonstration that AMAs recognize xenobiotic modified PDC-E2 with higher titers than native PDC-E2 raises the possibility that the earliest events involved in loss of tolerance are related to xenobiotic modification. We hypothesized that reactivity to such xenobiotics would be predominantly immunoglobulin M (IgM) and using sera from a large cohort of PBC patients and controls (n = 516), we examined in detail sera reactivity against either 6,8-bis(acetylthio) octanoic acid (SAc)-conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA), recombinant PDC-E2 (rPDC-E2) or BSA alone.

One-pot, two-step cascade synthesis of quinazolinotriazolobenzodiazepines.

An operationally simple, one-pot, two-step cascade method has been developed to afford quinazolino[1,2,3]triazolo[1,4]benzodiazepines. This unique, atom-economical transformation engages five reactive centers (amide, aniline, carbonyl, azide, and alkyne) and employs environmentally benign iodine as a catalyst. The method proceeds via sequential quinazolinone-forming condensation and intramolecular azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions.

Electrophile-modified lipoic derivatives of PDC-E2 elicits anti-mitochondrial antibody reactivity.

Our laboratory has hypothesized that xenobiotic modification of the native lipoyl moiety of the major mitochondrial autoantigen, the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2), may lead to loss of self-tolerance in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). This thesis is based on the finding of readily detectable levels of immunoreactivity of PBC sera against extensive panels of protein microarrays containing mimics of the inner lipoyl domain of PDC-E2 and subsequent quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs). Importantly, we have demonstrated that murine immunization with one such mimic, 2-octynoic acid coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA), induces anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMAs) and cholangitis.

Synthesis of spiro-fused pyrazolidoylisoxazolines.

Routes to structurally unique spiro-fused pyrazolidoylisoxazolines are reported. These methods start with monosubstituted hydrazines or hydrazides and utilize the nitrile oxide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction to generate the targeted spiro-fused bis-heterocycles. Molecular shape space diversity analyses were performed on these pyrazolidoylisoxazolines showing that manipulation of the appended R groups significantly changes the molecular shape.

Targeting multiple chorismate-utilizing enzymes with a single inhibitor: validation of a three-stage design.

Chorismate-utilizing enzymes are attractive antimicrobial drug targets due to their absence in humans and their central role in bacterial survival and virulence. The structural and mechanistic homology of a group of these inspired the goal of discovering inhibitors that target multiple enzymes. Previously, we discovered seven inhibitors of 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate synthase (ADCS) in an on-bead, fluorescent-based screen of a 2304-member one-bead-one-compound combinatorial library.

Chlorosis: the rise and disappearance of a nutritional disease.

Chlorosis was the first described by Lange in the 16th century as an anemia often found in adolescent girls and young women. Despite the recommendation by Sydenham in the 17th century that the condition be treated with iron supplements, chlorosis was classified among the hysterical diseases. By the end of the 19th century, the incidence of chlorosis apparently increased.

Paracelsus and the science of nutrition in the renaissance. On occasion of the 500th anniversary of his birth.

Paracelsus (1493-1541) was a Swiss chemist and physician. As professor of medicine in Basel, he violently opposed traditional Galenic medicine and emphasized direct observation instead. His nonconformist views and rough behaviour led to his expulsion after less than a year.

Rudolf Schoenheimer and the concept of the dynamic state of body constituents.

In 1935 Rudolf Schoenheimer (1898-1941) introduced the isotopic tracer technique in metabolic research. The results of his experiments led to a new view of metabolism and nutrition and the evolution of a concept of "continual regeneration," i.e.

Biochemical parameters of vitamin D nutriture in old people in Jerusalem.

Serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25[OH]D3) levels and other parameters of vitamin D nutriture were examined in 58 subjects aged 70 or more, living in Jerusalem. They were compared with those of 54 young adults living in the same neighbourhood. No evidence was obtained of a lower level of vitamin D nutriture in the elderly compared to younger adults.

Effect of thiamine deficiency in pregnant and lactating rats on the brain of their offspring.

In an attempt to create a model of human infantile beriberi, pregnant rats were fed, from the 10th day of pregnancy through lactation, a low-thiamine diet. Controls were either pair-fed or offered a nutritionally complete diet ad libitum. Dams exhibited symptoms of thiamine deficiency after 30 days on the experimental diet, whereas the their pups displayed signs of thiamine deficiency from the 14th postnatal day.

The validity of biochemical assessment of thiamine, riboflavin and folacin nutriture.

Nutriture of thiamine, riboflavin and folacin was assessed by two tests: thiamine (109 subjects) by the TPP effect of erythrocyte transketolase activity and urinary excretion of thiamine (mug/g creatinine); riboflavin (81 subjects) by the activation coefficient of erythrocyte glutathione reductase and excretion of riboflavin in urine (mug/g creatinine); and folacin (91 subjects) by estimation of folacin in red blood cells and in serum (ng/ml). The following correlation coefficients (r) were obtained: transketolase activity vs thiamine excretion: -0.33; glutathione reductase vs riboflavin excretion: -33; and red blood cell folacin vs serum folacin: 0.

Attitudes of adolescents to their body build and the problem of juvenile obesity.

Prevalence of obesity, attitude to body weight and dimensions, eating habits, opinions on good nutrition and on the causes and prevention of obesity were studied in two groups of Israeli children, each comprising about 500 boys and girls, 13--14 years old. Mean relative weight was close to median weight for height, although 9 per cent of both boys and girls weighed more than 120 per cent of median weight. Weight was closely related to triceps skinfold thickness.

The effect of fluoride on bone of rats fed diets deficient in calcium or phosphorus.

Four groups of weanling rats were fed for 2 weeks on a diet sufficient or insufficient in calcium and/or phosphorus. Each group was divided into four subgroups which were offered distilled water supplemented with 0, 50, 75, or 150 ppm fluoride. High levels of fluoride in drinking water inhibited weight gain.