There is no protective vaccine or effective drug against hepatitis C virus (HCV). Sustained virological response to INF/ribavirin treatment regimen has an efficiency of about 50%. Many patients worldwide have used traditional medicines and herbal medicine in particular. A laccase has been purified from oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) to homogeneity by DEAE Affi-gel blue gel, CM-Sephadex G-50 and Sephadex G-100. The molecular weight of the laccase was about 58 kDa in SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of the laccase activity were pH 4.0 and 60 degrees C, respectively. The activity of the enzyme increased steadily from 20 to 40 degrees C, then very slowly from 40 degrees to 60 degrees C, while the enzyme activity decreased to 9% at 90 degrees C. The activity of the laccase changed gradually over the pH range 2.0-4.0. However, the enzyme activity was totally abrogated at the pH 8 and above. Incubation of peripheral blood cells PBCs and hepatoma HepG2 cells with laccase which were then infected with HCV did not protect the cells from HCV attack and entry, while direct interaction between HCV and the laccase at the concentrations of 2.0 and 2.5 mg/ml led to a complete inhibition of virus entry after seven days of incubation. Meantime, the laccase at the concentrations of 1.0 and 1.5 mg/ml did not display any blocking activity. The potential activity of the laccase on intracellular HCV replication in infected HepG2 cells has been examined. The laccase was capable of inhibiting HCV replication at the concentrations of 1.25 and 1.5 mg/ml after first dose of treatment for four days and at the concentrations of 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 mg/ml after the second dose of treatment for another four days.

PurposeTo extend the study of the camel milk proteins which have antiviral activity against HCV, camel naïve polyclonal IgGs, α-lactalbumin were purified from camel milk and their anti-HCV effect was examined using PBMCs and Huh7.5 cell-lines. They were compared with the activity of human polyclonal IgGs and camel lactoferrin and casein.Material and methodsThree types of experiments were performed on PBMCs and HuH7.5 cell. HCV was directly incubated with the purified proteins and then mixed with both cell types, or the proteins were incubated with the cells and then exposed to HCV, or the HCV pre-infected cells were treated with the proteins to inhibit intracellular replication. The proteins were added to cells or virus at different concentrations and time intervals.ResultsPretreated PBMCs and Huh7.5 cells with milk proteins were not protected when exposed to HCV infection. The direct interaction between HCV and camel IgGs and camel lactoferrin (cLf) led to a complete inhibition of HCV entry into cells, while casein, α-lactalbumin and human IgGs failed to inhibit HCV entry at any tested concentration. Camel IgGs showed ability to recognize HCV peptides with a significant titer (12 × 103) in comparison with human IgGs which failed to do it. Camel lactoferrin was capable of inhibiting the intracellular HCV replication at concentrations of 0.25-1.25 mg/ml.ConclusionCamel milk naïve polyclonal IgGs isolated from camel milk could inhibit the HCV infectivity and demonstrated strong signal against its synthetic peptides. Lactoferrin inhibit the HCV infectivity started from 0.25 mg/ml. However, α-lactalbumin, human IgGs and casein failed to demonstrate any activity against HCV infectivity.

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Endoglucanase (EG) from A. terreus DSM 826 grown on sugar cane bagasse as a carbon source was purified using acetone fractionation, then a Sepharose-4B chromatographic column, with purification of about 27-fold and 10.5% recovery. The optimum temperature and pH for activity of the purified EG were found to be 50 degrees C and pH 4.8, respectively. The purified enzyme can stand heating up to 50 degrees C for 1 h without apparent loss of activity. However, the enzyme, incubated at 80 degrees C for 5 min, showed about 56% loss of activity. Optimum EG activity was recorded with a citrate buffer system (pH 4.8; 0.05 M). Co2+ (2.5 x 10(-2) M) and Zn2+ (5 x 10(-2) M) were found to activate the purified EG of A. terreus DSM 826 by about 83 and 25%, respectively. On the other hand, Hg2+ inhibited the activity of the purified EG by about 50 and 71% at a concentration of 2.5 x 10(-2) and 5 x 10(-2) M, respectively. Carboxymethyl cellulose was found to be the best substrate for the purified EG, with V(max) values of 4.35 micrpmol min(-1) mg(-1) protein.

Novel keratin-degrading bacteria were isolated from sand soil samples collected from Minia Governorate, Egypt. In this study, the isolates were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MA20 and Bacillus subtilis MA21 based on morphological and biochemical characteristics as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 produced alkaline keratinolytic serine protease when cultivated in mineral medium containing 1% of wool straight off sheep as sole carbon and nitrogen source. The two strains were observed to degrade wool completely to powder at pH 7 and 37°C within 5 days. Under these conditions the maximum activity of proteases produced by B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 was 922 and 814 U/ml, respectively. The proteases exhibited optimum temperature and pH at 60°C and 9, respectively. However, the keratinolytic proteases were stable in broad range of temperature and pH values towards casein Hammerstein. Furthermore the protease inhibitor studies indicated that the produced proteases belong to serine protease because of their sensitivity to PMSF while they were inhibited partially in presence of EDTA. The two proteases are stable in most of the used organic solvents and enhanced by metals suggesting their potential use in biotechnological applications such as wool industry.

Laccase production by Penicillium martensii NRC 345 was optimized. Eight media with different components were screened. The enzyme formed by P. martensii NRC 345 was detected mainly exocellularly under shake culture condition. Laccase formation reaches its maximum value with specific activities of about 7.18 U/mg protein at the twenty-sixth day of incubation at pH 5.5 and 30°C. Galactose (5 g/l) and sodium nitrate (0.2 g/l) were found to be the best carbon and nitrogen sources for laccase formation, respectively. Replacement of galactose instead of glucose at the same concentration increased laccase production by about more than ten-fold. Among the various wastes used wheat bran induces the highest laccase production with specific activity of 39.52 U/mg protein. Tween-80 and CuSO 4 .5H 2 O, were also tested for laccase induction.

This article describes the covalent immobilization of penicillin G acylase (PGA) onto glutaraldehydeactivated NH 2 -PVC membranes. The immobilized enzyme was used for 6-aminopenicillanic acid production from penicillin hydrolysis. Parameters affecting the immobilization process, which affecting the catalytic activity of the immobilized enzyme, such as enzyme concentration, immobilization's time and temperature were investigated. Enzyme concentration and immobilization's time were found of determine effect. Higher activity was obtained through performing enzyme immobilization at room temperature. Both optimum temperature (35 C) and pH (8.0) of immobilized enzyme have not been altered upon immobilization. However, immobilized enzyme acquires stability against changes in the substrate's pH and temperature values especially in the higher temperature region and lower pH region. The residual relative activities after incubation at 60 C were more than 75% compared to 45% for free enzyme and above 50% compared to 20% for free enzyme after incubation at pH 4.5. The apparent kinetic parameters K M and V M were determined. K M of the immobilized PGA (125.8 mM) was higher than that of the free enzyme (5.4 mM), indicating a lower substrate affinity of the immobilized PGA. Operational stability for immobilized PGA was monitored over 21 repeated cycles. The catalytic membranes were retained up to 40% of its initial activity after 10.5 working h. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 125: [3820][3821][3822][3823][3824][3825][3826][3827][3828] 2012

Aims: To purify, characterize, and apply the laccase produced by submerged fermentation using an edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus ARC280. Study Design: Laccase purification and characterization were designed using the most recent approaches and statistical studies of triplicate results values.