Zinc sulfate improved the unbalanced T cell profiles in Der p-allergic asthma: An ex vivo study.

Introduction: In the pathogenesis of asthma, an imbalance between helper T (Th) 1/Th2 and Th17/Treg cells is believed to play a key role in asthmatic inflammatory responses. Some studies indicated that zinc deficiency increases inflammatory factor production and worsens asthma. However, the effects of zinc on T cell profiles to reduce inflammatory response remain unclear.

Production of N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid using two sequential enzymes overexpressed as double-tagged fusion proteins.

Background: Two sequential enzymes in the production of sialic acids, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine 2-epimerase (GlcNAc 2-epimerase) and N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid aldolase (Neu5Ac aldolase), were overexpressed as double-tagged gene fusions. Both were tagged with glutathione S-transferase (GST) at the N-terminus, but at the C-terminus, one was tagged with five contiguous aspartate residues (5D), and the other with five contiguous arginine residues (5R).

Results: Both fusion proteins were overexpressed in Escherichia coli and retained enzymatic activity.

Chromatographic characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers.

Recent efforts in the investigation of chromatographic characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have focused mainly on the nature of heterogeneous binding sites. More data on the thermodynamics than on the kinetic features of MIP columns have been published. The present article addresses the sources of peak broadening and tailing, which are the main drawbacks often associated with imprinted polymers in chromatography for practical applications.