Hydrogel-forming microarray patch mediated transdermal delivery of tetracycline hydrochloride.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious health problems today and is expected to worsen in the coming decades. It has been suggested that antibiotic administration routes that bypass the human gut could potentially tackle this problem. In this work, an antibiotic hydrogel-forming microarray patch (HF-MAP) system, which can be used as an alternative antibiotic delivery technology, has been fabricated.

Microbiology of a NaCl stalactite 'salticle' in Triassic halite.

Large regions of Earth's surface are underlain by salt deposits that evaporated from ancient oceans and are populated by extreme halophilic microbes. Some of these halophiles may have been preserved over geological timescales within hypersaline fluid inclusions, but ingresses of water and/or anthropogenic activities can lead to the formation of alternative habitats, including NaCl stalactites or other speleothems. While the microbiology of ancient evaporites has been well studied, the ecology of these recently formed structures is less-well understood.

Characterization of ionic liquid cytotoxicity mechanisms in human keratinocytes compared with conventional biocides.

The ability to chemically modify ionic liquids (ILs) has led to an expansion in interest in their use in a diversity of applications, not least as antimicrobials and biocides. Relatively little is known about cytotoxicity mechanisms of ILs in comparison to other biocides currently in widespread use, as well as their practical significance for the ecological environment and human health. Using NCTC 2544 and HaCat human keratinocyte cells, this study aimed to characterize cytotoxicity rates and mechanisms of a range of ILs.

Directly Compressed Tablets: A Novel Drug-Containing Reservoir Combined with Hydrogel-Forming Microneedle Arrays for Transdermal Drug Delivery.

Microneedle (MN) patches consist of a hydrogel-forming MN array and a drug-containing reservoir. Drug-containing reservoirs documented in the literature include polymeric films and lyophilized wafers. While effective, both reservoir formulations are aqueous based, and so degradation can occur during formulation and drying for drugs inherently unstable in aqueous media.

Biocatalysis in seawater: Investigating a halotolerant ω-transaminase capable of converting furfural in a seawater reaction medium.

The increasing demand for freshwater and the continued depletion of available resources has led to a deepening global water crisis. Significant water consumption required by many biotechnological processes contributes to both the environmental and economic cost of this problem. Relatively few biocatalytic processes have been developed to utilize the more abundant supply of seawater, with seawater composition and salinity limiting its use with many mesophilic enzymes.

High-throughput toxicity screening of novel azepanium and 3-methylpiperidinium ionic liquids.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been employed as potentially environmentally friendly replacements for harmful organic solvents, but have also been studied for their use in bioelectrochemical applications, such as in microbial electrochemistry for bioenergy production, or in industrial biocatalysis. For these processes, low microbial toxicity is important and there is a growing need for microbial toxicology studies for novel ILs. In this study, we report initial toxicity data for novel ILs, based on azepanium and 3-methylpiperidinium cations.

Transaminases for industrial biocatalysis: novel enzyme discovery.

Transaminases (TAms) are important enzymes for the production of chiral amines for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. Novel TAms for use in these industries have been discovered using a range of approaches, including activity-guided methods and homologous sequence searches from cultured microorganisms to searches using key motifs and metagenomic mining of environmental DNA libraries. This mini-review focuses on the methods used for TAm discovery over the past two decades, analyzing the changing trends in the field and highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of the respective approaches used.

Characterisation of a solvent-tolerant haloarchaeal (R)-selective transaminase isolated from a Triassic period salt mine.

Transaminase enzymes (TAms) are becoming increasingly valuable in the chemist's toolbox as a biocatalytic route to chiral amines. Despite high profile successes, the lack of (R)-selective TAms and robustness under harsh industrial conditions continue to prove problematic. Herein, we report the isolation of the first haloarchaeal TAm (BC61-TAm) to be characterised for the purposes of pharmaceutical biocatalysis.

Draft Genome Sequence of Salinisphaera sp. Strain KSM-18, an Obligately Halophilic Bacterium Isolated from a Triassic Salt Mine.

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Salinisphaera sp. strain KSM-18. This obligately halophilic bacterium was isolated from a brine sample obtained from a Triassic salt mine.

Characterization of a novel ω-transaminase from a Triassic salt mine metagenome.

Chiral amines are valuable building blocks for the pharmaceutical industry, and are increasingly synthesized by transaminase-mediated (TAm) synthesis. Currently available TAms, primarily isolated from the genomes of cultured mesophilic bacteria, often suffer from a number of drawbacks, including poor substrate range and an inability to tolerate the harsh conditions often demanded by industrial processes. These characteristics have, in part, driven the search for novel biocatalysts from both metagenomic sources and extreme environments.

Application of ω-Transaminases in the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Chiral amines are valuable building blocks for the pharmaceutical industry. ω-TAms have emerged as an exciting option for their synthesis, offering a potential "green alternative" to overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional chemical methods. In this review, we explore the application of ω-TAms for pharmaceutical production.