Carboxylesterases are hydrolases which catalyze the hydrolysis of various types of esters. Carboxylesterase from the seeds of Jatropha curcas has been purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate fractionation, CM-cellulose chromatography, Sephadex G-100 chromatography and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The homogeneity of the purified enzyme was confirmed by PAGE, iso-electrofocusing and SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was determined by both gel-permeation chromatography on Sephadex G-150 and SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight determined by Sephadex G-150 chromatography and SDS-PAGE both in the presence and absence of 2-mercaptoethanol was 31 kDa. The isoelectric point of the purified enzyme was found to be 8.9. JCSE-I (J. curcas seed esterase-I) was classified as carboxylesterase on the basis of substrate and inhibitor specificity. The K(m) of JCSE-I with 1-naphthyl acetate, 1-naphthyl propionate, 1-naphthyl butyrate and 2-naphthyl acetate as substrates were found to be 0.0,794, 0.0,658, 0.0,567 and 0.1 mM, respectively. The enzyme exhibited an optimum temperature of 45 °C and an optimum pH of 6.5. The enzyme was stable up to 15 min at 65 °C. The enzyme was resistant towards carbamates (carbaryl and eserine sulfate) and sulphydryl inhibitors (p-chloromercuricbenzoate, PCMB) and inhibited by organophosphates (dichlorvos, parathion and phosphamidon).

An α‐amylase inhibitor (EC 3.2.1.1) was purified by buffer extraction, ammonium sulfate fractionation, CM‐cellulose, and sephadex G‐75 chromatography from the soaked seeds of Mucuna pruriens. The molecular weight determined by gel permeation chromatography on Sephadex G‐100 and SDS‐PAGE, both in the presence and absence of 2‐mercaptoethanol, was found to be 27.24 kDa and 25.6 kDa, respectively. The purified Mucuna pruriens amylase inhibitor showed a specific inhibitor activity of 61.18, fold purity of 36.68, and the yield obtained was 14.01%. The purified amylase inhibitor was found to be heat‐stable and retained 80.50% activity at 65°C. Inhibitor was found to have pH optima of 6.9. Hundred percent zone of inhibition was observed when added on the plated organisms of purified inhibitor. Purified amylase inhibitor was found to inhibit the activity of human salivary α‐amylase. Inhibitory activity of α‐amylase inhibitor against mammalian amylases could suggest its potential in treatment of diabetes and cure of nutritional problems, which results in obesity. Practical applications Purified amylase inhibitor was found to inhibit the activity of human salivary α‐amylase. The potential of this inhibitory activity from α‐amylase inhibitors, especially in the mammalian α‐amylase, could play an important role in the management of nutritional and diabetes‐related disorders. Mucuna, an underutilized legume found in tropical region and also cultivated as food by various tribal's in Asia and Africa can be used as a potential source for extraction of these beneficiary protease inhibitors, which in turn finds its applications in various human therapeutic and/or disorder management.

a b s t r a c tTwo carboxylesterases (ME-III and ME-IV) have been purified to apparent homogeneity from the seeds of Mucuna pruriens employing ammonium sulfate fractionation, cation exchange chromatography on CMcellulose, gel-permeation chromatography on Sephadex G-100 and preparative PAGE. The homogeneity of the purified preparations was confirmed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), gel-electrofocussing and SDS-PAGE. The molecular weights determined by gel-permeation chromatography on Sephadex G-200 were 20.89 kDa (ME-III) and 31.62 kDa (ME-IV). The molecular weights determined by SDS-PAGE both in the presence and absence of 2-mercaptoethanol were 21 kDa (ME-III) and 30.2 kDa (ME-IV) respectively, suggesting a monomeric structure for both the enzymes. The enzymes were found to have Stokes radius of 2.4 nm (ME-III) and 2.7 nm (ME-IV). The isoelectric pH values of the enzymes, ME-III and ME-IV, were 6.8 and 7.4, respectively. ME-III and ME-IV were classified as carboxylesterases employing PAGE in conjunction with substrate and inhibitor specificity. The K m of ME-III and ME-IV with 1-naphthyl acetate as substrate was 0.1 and 0.166 mM while with 1-naphthyl propionate as substrate the K m was 0.052 and 0.0454 mM, respectively. As the carbon chain length of the acyl group increased, the affinity of the substrate to the enzyme increased indicating hydrophobic nature of the acyl group binding site. The enzymes exhibited an optimum temperature of 45°C (ME-III) and 37°C (ME-IV), an optimum pH of 7.0 (ME-III) and 7.5 (ME-IV) and both the enzymes (ME-III and ME-IV) were stable up to 120 min at 35°C. Both the enzymes were inhibited by organophosphates (dichlorvos and phosphamidon), but resistant towards carbamates (carbaryl and eserine sulfate) and sulphydryl inhibitors (p-chloromercuricbenzoate, PCMB).

A strong correlation between brain metabolite accumulation and oxidative stress has been observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. There are two central hypotheses for this correlation: (i) coaccumulation of toxic amyloid-β and Myo-inositol (MI), a significant brain metabolite, during presymptomatic stages of AD, and (ii) enhanced expression of MI transporter in brain cells during oxidative stress-induced volume changes in the brain. Identifying specific interactive effects of MI with cellular antioxidant enzymes would represent an essential step in understanding the oxidative stress-induced AD pathogenicity. This study demonstrated that MI inhibits catalase, an essential antioxidant enzyme primarily inefficient in AD, by decreasing its k cat (turnover number) and increasing K m (Michaelis–Menten constant) values. This inhibition of catalase by MI under in vivo studies increased cellular H 2 O 2 levels, leading to decreased cell viability. Furthermore, MI induces distortion of the active heme center with an overall loss of structure and stability of catalase. MI also alters distances of the vital active site and substrate channel residues of catalase. The present study provides evidence for the involvement of MI in the inactivation of the antioxidant defense system during oxidative stress-induced pathogenesis of AD. Regulation of MI levels, during early presymptomatic stages of AD, might serve as a potential early-on therapeutic strategy for this disease.

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Protease inhibitors (PIs) are proteins or peptides capable of inhibiting the catalytic activity of proteolytic enzymes and are widely distributed in plants, animals and microorganisms. Plants are the most abundant sources of PIs of which most of them studied and characterized were serine protease inhibitors (Rao and Suresh, 2007). These PIs are concentrated in seeds and tubers of plants belonging to Gramineae, Leguminosae and solanaceae families (Connors et al., 2002). Among the seed legumes, two major families of PIs, Bowman-Birk inhibitors (BBI) and Kunitz type

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Total phenolic content, DPPH free radical scavenging activity and alpha amylae inhibitory potential was determined for three selected medicinal plants-Gymnema sylvestre, Terminalia arjuna and Tinospora cordifolia. The plant extracts were prepared with methanol. The total phenolic content of methonolic extracts of Gymnema sylvestre, Terminalia arjuna and Tinospora cordifolia. were 6.862, 20.862 and 7.987 mg GAE/g plant material respectively. All the three plants showed anti oxidant activities with their IC 50 values were 6.862, 20.862 and 7.987 µg/ml compared to IC 50 value of the standard L-Ascorbic acid, which was 11.59µg/ml. The extracts of Gymnema sylvestre showed ±-amylase inhibition. Thus the results provided evidence that among the studied plants, Gymnema sylvestre potential sources of natural antioxidant and antidiabetic activity.