Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to pyrazinamide is associated with mutations in the pncA gene, which codes for pyrazinamidase. The association between the enzymatic activity of mutated pyrazinamidases and the level of pyrazinamide resistance remains poorly understood. Twelve M. tuberculosis clinical isolates resistant to pyrazinamide were selected based on Wayne activity and localization of pyrazinamidase mutation. Recombinant pyrazinamidases were expressed and tested for their kinetic parameters (activity, kcat, Km, and efficiency). Pyrazinamide resistance level was measured by Bactec-460TB and 7H9 culture. The linear correlation between the resistance level and the kinetic parameters of the corresponding mutated pyrazinamidase was calculated. The enzymatic activity and efficiency of the mutated pyrazinamidases varied with the site of mutation and ranged widely from low to high levels close to the corresponding of the wild-type enzyme. The level of resistance was significantly associated with pyrazinamidase activity and efficiency, but only 27.3% of its statistical variability was explained. Although pyrazinamidase mutations are indeed associated with resistance, the loss of pyrazinamidase activity and efficiency as assessed in the recombinant mutated enzymes is not sufficient to explain a high variability of the level of pyrazinamide resistance, suggesting that complementary mechanisms for pyrazinamide resistance in M. tuberculosis with mutations in pncA are more important than currently thought.

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The trend to higher levels of lactoferrin in preterm mature milk would allow maintenance of the protective effect of human milk in preterm infants in spite of the small volumes ingested by these neonates. These findings support the practice of feeding premature infants with their own mothers' milk at a time when their immune systems have not completely developed.

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Vasoactive GTP-binding protein-coupled receptor agonists such as angiotensin II (AII), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and ␣-thrombin (␣-Thr) have been reported to indirectly stimulate vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation by regulating the expression of one or more autocrine growth factors. Using ion-exchange, gel-filtration, and reverse-phase chromatographic purification methods, we isolated a major mitogenic protein present in AII-stimulated rat aortic smooth muscle (RASM) cell conditioned medium. Twenty N-terminal amino acids of the purified peptide were identified, and they had 75% amino acid sequence identity with mouse epiregulin, an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-related growth factor. We cloned the cDNA for rat epiregulin to determine its pattern of expression in G-protein-coupled receptor agonist-stimulated cells and confirm its activity as a mitogen. After treatment of RASM cells with AII, ET-1, or ␣-Thr for 1 h, induction of two epiregulin transcripts was observed, including a 4.8-kb transcript and a novel transcript of approximately 1.2 kb. Recombinant rat epiregulin was strongly mitogenic for RASM cells, stimulating DNA synthesis to levels similar to those induced by serum or platelet-derived growth factor and approximately 3-fold above that observed with saturating concentrations of EGF. In addition, epiregulin caused rapid EGF receptor activation in RASM cells. However, relative levels of EGF receptor tyrosine phosphorylation stimulated by epiregulin were less than those induced by EGF or betacellulin. Taken together, these results indicate that epiregulin is a potent VSMC-secreted mitogen, induced in common by AII, ET-1, and ␣-Thr, that may contribute to VSMC proliferation and vascular remodeling stimulated by vasoactive agonists.

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Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides and alcohols to obtain biodiesel is an environmentally friendly and sustainable route for fuels production since, besides proceeding in mild reaction conditions, it allows for the use of low-cost feedstocks that contain water and free fatty acids, for example non-edible oils and waste oils. This review article reports recent advances in the field and focus in particular on a major issue in the enzymatic process, the inactivation of most lipases caused by methanol, the preferred acyl acceptor used for alcoholysis. The recent results about immobilization of enzymes on nano-materials and the use of whole-cell biocatalysts, as well as the use of cell-surface display technologies and metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of biodiesel are described. It is discussed also insight into the effects of methanol on lipases obtained by modeling approaches and report on studies aimed at mining novel alcohol stable enzymes or at improving robustness in existing ones by protein engineering.