A natural multifunction and multiscale hierarchical matrix as a drug-eluting scaffold for biomedical applications.

Sea urchin spines are biogenic single crystals of magnesium calcite that are stiff, strong, damage tolerant and light and have a bicontinuous porous structure. Here, we showed that the removal of their intraskeletal organic matrix materials did not affect the compressive mechanical properties and generated an open porosity. This matrix was able to adsorb and release oxytetracycline, a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Stearate-Coated Biogenic Calcium Carbonate from Waste Seashells: A Sustainable Plastic Filler.

Waste seashells from aquaculture are a massive source of biogenic calcium carbonate (bCC) that can be a potential substitute for ground calcium carbonate and precipitated calcium carbonate. These last materials find several applications in industry after a surface coating with hydrophobic molecules, with stearate as the most used. Here, we investigate for the first time the capability of aqueous stearate dispersions to coat bCC powders from seashells of market-relevant mollusc aquaculture species, namely the oyster , the scallop , and the clam .

Structural and biochemical characterization of Arabidopsis alcohol dehydrogenases reveals distinct functional properties but similar redox sensitivity.

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) are a group of zinc-binding enzymes belonging to the medium-length dehydrogenase/reductase (MDR) protein superfamily. In plants, these enzymes fulfill important functions involving the reduction of toxic aldehydes to the corresponding alcohols (as well as catalyzing the reverse reaction, i.e.

Nanocrystalline and Amorphous Calcium Carbonate from Waste Seashells by Ball Milling Mechanochemistry Processes.

Nanocrystalline calcium carbonate (CaCO) and amorphous CaCO (ACC) are materials of increasing technological interest. Nowadays, they are mainly synthetically produced by wet reactions using CaCO reagents in the presence of stabilizers. However, it has recently been discovered that ACC can be produced by ball milling calcite.

Characterization of chloroplast ribulose-5-phosphate-3-epimerase from the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Carbon fixation relies on Rubisco and 10 additional enzymes in the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. Epimerization of xylulose-5-phosphate (Xu5P) into ribulose-5-phosphate (Ru5P) contributes to the regeneration of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, the substrate of Rubisco. Ribulose-5-phosphate-3-epimerase (RPE, EC 5.