Optimized Synthetic human insulin gene was preferred to easy of cloning, plasmid stability, and protein expression away from the native sequence and its rare codons. Two steps to obtain the insulin, so we assembled the gene of 293 bp using a battery of overlapped synthetic oligos, then cloned into pET101directional TOPO expression vector downstream to the T7 promoter. The proinsulin products were produced as inclusion bodies in E. coli at a level of 10%. The batch cultivation of the strain yielded 6 g/L, while the high cell density of fed-batch cultivation yielded 46 g/L. The proinsulin purification yielded 110 mg/gram cell weight, and 1.3 mg/gram of a bioactive insulin. The native insulin was generated by enzymatic conversion of chemically processed proinsulin. The produced insulin was matched with that of a commercial aqueous version at a level of enzyme immunoassys, SDS-PAGE, RP-HPLC, and bioactivity. The present results showed that the produced insulin has a comparable biochemical and potency similar to that of commercial one.

Lead exposure during intrauterine life was found to result in reduced birth weight, impaired skeletal development and post-natal neurotoxic effects. In this study, the effect of pre-natal exposure to different doses of lead on the development of craniofacial skeleton in rat fetuses was investigated. Vitamin E was tested as a concomitant treatment, aiming to improve the fetotoxic effects of lead. Positively pregnant female rats were randomly divided into four groups; groups I and II (L250 and L500), exposed to lead acetate in doses of 250 and 500 mg/l respectively, group III (L500 + E), exposed to lead acetate (500 mg/l) wit concomitant vitamin E and group IV (Control) which was given sodium acetate only. All the treatments started from the first day of gestation till the 20th day, where all rats were sacrificed and the fetuses were recovered. Fetuses were processed to alizarin red staining for ossified components. Twenty-seven bones of the craniofacial skeleton were studied in each fetus where the ossification was scored as being complete, delayed or absent. In all studied fetuses from all groups, changes were found only in eight bones while the remaining craniofacial bones were normally ossified. In affected bones there was a significant decrease in the number of completely ossified bones; associated with a significant increase of both partially ossified and absent bones in L(250) and L(500) treated groups when compared to the control group. These differences were more significant in the L(500) treated group. Giving vitamin E improved the percentage of completely ossified craniofacial bones and decreased the percentage of both partially ossified and absent bones. The most affected bone was presphenoid, then to a lesser extent supraoccipital, squamosal, parietal, interparietal and frontal bone respectively. In conclusion, lead exposure to rats during pregnancy led to varying degrees of fetal growth retardation as well as delayed ossification of some craniofacial bones which were dose dependent and the concomitant supplementation with vitamin E greatly improved the deleterious effect of lead.

The role of cannabinoid receptors in nephropathy is gaining much attention. This study investigated the effects of two neutral CB1 receptor antagonists, AM6545 and AM4113, on nephropathy associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS was induced in rats by high-fructose high-salt feeding for 12 weeks. AM6545, the peripheral silent antagonist and AM4113, the central neutral antagonist were administered in the last 4 weeks. At the end of study, blood and urine samples were collected for biochemical analyses while the kidneys were excised for histopathological investigation and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) measurement. MetS was associated with deteriorated kidney function as indicated by the elevated proteinuria and albumin excretion rate. Both compounds equally inhibited the elevated proteinuria and albumin excretion rate while having no effect on creatinine clearance and blood pressure. In addition, AM6545 and AM4113 alleviated the observed swelling and inflammatory cells infiltration in different kidney structures. Moreover, AM6545 and AM4113 alleviated the observed histopathological alterations in kidney structure of MetS rats. MetS was associated with a ten-fold increase in urine uric acid while both compounds blocked this increase. Furthermore, AM6545 and AM4113 completely prevented the collagen deposition and the elevated expression of the TGFβ1 seen in MetS animals. In conclusion, AM6545 and AM4113, possess reno-protective effects by interfering with TGFβ1-mediated renal inflammation and fibrosis, via peripheral action.

Copper as well as copper base composites reinforced with coated and uncoated 1 wt% diamond, graphite particles or short carbon fibers are prepared by powder metallurgy process. The reinforcement particles were encapsulated with silver as well as copper layer by using the electroless deposition technique to investigate the influence of the reinforcement surface coating on the microstructure, density, electrical and thermal properties of the sintered samples. The coated and the uncoated powders were cold compacted at 600 MPa, and then sintered at 1173 K (900˚C) for 2 h under hydrogen atmosphere. The phase composition, morphology and microstructure of the prepared powders as well as the copper base sintered composites were investigated using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) respectively. The density of the sintered composites was measured by Archimedes method. The copper base consolidated composites had a density up to 96% and the reinforcement coated particles were distributed uniformly within the copper matrix better than the uncoated one. The electrical resistivity at room temperature and the heat transfer conduction of the produced samples were measured in a temperature range between 323 K (50˚C) and 393 K (120˚C). The results observed that the sintered materials prepared from the coated powder have lower electrical resistivity than the sintered materials prepared from the mixed powders. On the other hand the thermal conductivity values were calculated using the heat transfer conduction values by means of the Fourier formula. The results observed that the thermal conductivity of copper is (391

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