Human agmatinase is diminished in the clear cell type of renal cell carcinoma.

The proteome of RCC was analyzed by 2D PAGE to search for tumor-associated proteins. Agmatinase, which hydrolyzes agmatine to putrescine and urea, was identified by mass spectrometry and database searches and shown to be downregulated in tumor cells. Additionally, RT-PCR and Northern blot analyses demonstrated a clearly decreased amount of agmatinase mRNA in tumor cells.

Induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis by betanodaviruses GGNNV and demonstration of protein alpha as an apoptosis inducer.

Betanodaviruses, members of the Nodaviridae family, are the causative agents of viral nervous necrosis in fish and infection by which cause high mortality in larvae and juveniles in a wide range of marine fish species in Asia, Europe, Australia, Martinique, and Tahit. Greasy grouper (Epinephelus tauvina) nervous necrosis viruses (GGNNV) were investigated for their apoptotic activity in culture cells. GGNNV infection of sea bass (SB) cells appeared to induce a typical cytopathic effect (CPE), i.

Identification of nucleolus localization signal of betanodavirus GGNNV protein alpha.

Betanodavirus greasy grouper (Epinephelus tauvina) nervous necrosis viruses (GGNNV) protein alpha, a virus capsid protein, was detected in both nucleolus and cytoplasm of infected cells of Asian sea bass (SB) and transfected cells of SB and Cos-7 with pcDNA3.1/RNA2. To study its subcellular localization, ORF of protein alpha with 338 aa was fused with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene and was detected in transfected cells in the absence of other viral proteins.

Continuous production of ethanol using yeast cells immobilized in preformed cellulose beads.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were immobilized on preformed cellulose beads by adsorption. The fermentation capacity of the immobilized yeast cells was found to be practically independent of the hydrogen ion concentration between pH 3.1 and 6.

Factors influencing the operation of a vertical bioreactor segmented with perforated plates.

Factors influencing the operation of a vertical bioreactor segmented with perforated plates supporting immobilized yeast cells were studied. It was found that the most important factors are the length-diameter (L/D) ratio of the reactor and the dilution rate. It was supposed that the optimal L/D ratio is about 1.