The Mn 2؉ -oxidizing bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens GB-1 deposits Mn oxide around the cell. During growth of a culture, the Mn 2؉ -oxidizing activity of the cells first appeared in the early stationary growth phase. It depended on the O 2 concentration in the culture during the late logarithmic growth phase. Maximal activity was observed at an oxygen concentration of 26% saturation. The activity could be recovered in cell extracts and was proportional to the protein concentration in the cell extracts. The specific activity was increased 125-fold by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by reversed-phase and gel filtration column chromatographies. The activity of the partly purified Mn 2؉ -oxidizing preparation had a pH optimum of circa 7 and a temperature optimum of 35°C and was lost by heating. The Mn 2؉ -oxidizing activity was sensitive to NaN 3 and HgCl 2 . It was inhibited by KCN, EDTA, Tris, and o-phenanthroline. Although most data indicated the involvement of protein in Mn 2؉ oxidation, the activity was slightly stimulated by sodium dodecyl sulfate at a low concentration and by treatment with pronase and V8 protease. By polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two Mn 2؉ -oxidizing factors with estimated molecular weights of 180,000 and 250,000 were detected.
Peptides with both an affinity for ZnO and the ability to generate ZnO nanoparticles have attracted attention for the self-assembly and templating of nanoscale building blocks under ambient conditions with compositional uniformity. In this study, we have analyzed the specific binding sites of the ZnO-binding peptide, EAHVMHKVAPRP, which was identified using a phage display peptide library. The peptide binding assay against ZnO nanoparticles was performed using peptides synthesized on a cellulose membrane using the spot method. Using randomized rotation of amino acids in the ZnO-binding peptide, 125 spot-synthesized peptides were assayed. The peptide binding activity against ZnO nanoparticles varied greatly. This indicates that ZnO binding does not depend on total hydrophobicity or other physical parameters of these peptides, but rather that ZnO recognizes the specific amino acid alignment of these peptides. In addition, several peptides were found to show higher binding ability compared with that of the original peptides. Identification of important binding sites in the EAHVMHKVAPRP peptide was investigated by shortened, stepwise sequence from both termini. Interestingly, two ZnO-binding sites were found as 6-mer peptides: HVMHKV and HKVAPR. The peptides identified by amino acid substitution of HKVAPR were found to show high affinity and specificity for ZnO nanoparticles.
There are no guidelines for the optimal therapeutic range of anticoagulant therapy in Japanese patients with mechanical heart valves. A total of 214 patients were followed retrospectively after mitral mechanical valve replacement (mean duration of follow-up, 4.8 years; total duration of follow-up, 1,027 patient-years). The target range of the international normalized ratio (INR) for oral anticoagulation was between 1.5 and 2.5. For all patients 10,416 measurements of the INR were obtained during the follow-up period and approximately 76% of the intensity measurements were within the target range. Thromboembolism occurred in 8 patients (0.8 per 100 patient-years) and major bleeding in 5 patients (0.5 per 100 patient-years). There was no correlation between the distribution of the INR and the occurrence of thromboembolic or bleeding complications. In the univariate analysis of the various risk factors, patients who had a tilting valve or did not receive antiplatelet therapy had an increased risk of thromboembolism. However, there were no risk factors with respect to bleeding complications. A target range of 1.5 to 2.5 INR appears to be the optimal range and is safe for thromboembolism or bleeding complications. Thromboembolism may be reduced by additional antiplatelet therapy, and a tilting valve needs more intense anticoagulation. (Circ J 2002; 66: 668 -670)
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