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The glycoside hydrolase 18 (GH18) family of chitinases is a multigene family that plays various roles, such as ecdysis, embryonic development, allergic inflammation and so on. Efforts are still needed to reveal their functional diversification in an evolutionary and systematic manner. We collected 85 GH18 genes from eukaryotic representatives. The domain architectures of GH18 proteins were analyzed and several conserved patterns were identified. It was observed that some (11 proteins) GH18 members in Ecdysozoa or fungi possess repeats of catalytic domains and/or chitin-binding domains (ChtBs). The domain repeats are likely to meet requirements for higher efficiency of chitin degradation in chitin-containing species. On the contrary, all vertebrate GH18 proteins contain no more than one catalytic domain or ChtB. The results from homologous analysis, domain architectures, exon arrangements and synteny loci supported two evolutionary paths for the GH18 family. One path experienced gene expansion and contraction several times during evolution, covering most of GH18 members except CHID1 (stabilin-1 interacting partner) and its homologs. Proteins in this path underwent frequent domain gain and loss, as well as domain recombination, that could achieve versatility in function. The other path is comparatively conserved. The CHID1 gene evolved without gene duplication except in Danio rerio. Domain architectures of CHID1 orthologs are all identical. The diverse phylogeny of the GH18 family in arthropod is also presented.

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Trypsin from the intestine of hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus x O.aureus) was purified by the following techniques: acetone precipitation, ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration, and DEAE-sephacel ion exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme was determined to be homogeneous by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-PAGE. The molecular weight was estimated as 22,000 Da. The optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme for the hydrolysis of casein were determined to be 9.0 and 60 degrees C, respectively. The enzyme was stable over a broad pH range from 7.0 to 12.0 at 30 degrees C, and the enzyme was inactive at temperatures above 50 degrees C. The behavior of the enzyme for the hydrolysis of casein followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with Km of 0.46 mg/mL. The purified enzyme was inhibited by the general serine protease inhibitor phenyl methyl sulphonyl fluoride (PMSF) and also by the specific trypsin inhibitor N-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK) using Nalpha-CBZ-L-lysine p-nitrophenyl ester hydrochloride (CBZ-Lys.pNP) as a substrate. The protease was inhibited by the following ions in decreasing order: Zn2+>Fe3+>Cu2+>Al3+>Co2+=Pb2+>Cd2+>Mn2+. The ions Li+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ba2+ had little effect on the enzyme, and Ca2+ can partially promote its activity at low concentration.

A catalytic, direct synthetic strategy for preparing ynehydrazides with terminal alkynes and dialkyl azodicarboxylates is described. The protocol utilizes a cheap copper catalyst in combination with a catalytic amount of a weak base. The high sustainability, good practicality, broad substrate scope, and wide functional group tolerance comprised the advantages of this reaction. Synthetic applications and preliminary mechanistic studies have been conducted.

Kallistatin is a unique serine proteinase inhibitor and heparin-binding protein. A previous study conducted by our group indicated that kallistatin has antiangiogenic and antitumoral activities. In the present study, we report that kallistatin specifically binds to membrane surface-expressed nucleolin with high affinity. Antibody-mediated neutralization or siRNA-induced nucleolin knockdown results in loss of kallistatin suppression of endothelial cell proliferation and migration in vitro and tumor angiogenesis and growth in vivo. In addition, we show that kallistatin is internalized and transported into cell nuclei of endothelial cells via nucleolin. Within the nucleus, kallistatin inhibits the phosphorylation of nucleolin, which is a critical step required for cell proliferation. Thus, we demonstrate that nucleolin is a novel functional receptor of kallistatin that mediates its antiangiogenic and antitumor activities. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the inhibitory effects of kallistatin on endothelial cell growth, tumor cell proliferation, and tumor-related angiogenesis.

The effects of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) on prawn NAGase activity for the hydrolysis of pNP-b-D-GlcNAc have been studied. The results show that H 2 O 2 can reversible inhibit the enzyme (IC 50°0 .85 M) and the inhibition is of a mixed type. The kinetics show that k þ0 is much larger than k 0 þ0 ; indicating the free enzyme is more susceptible than the enzyme-substrate complex in the H 2 O 2 solution. It is suggested that the presence of the substrate offers marked protection against inhibition by H 2 O 2 . Changes of activity and conformation of the enzyme in different concentrations of H 2 O 2 have been compared by measuring the fluorescence spectra and residual activity and show that the change of conformation is more rapidly than that of the residual activity, which implies that the whole conformation of the enzyme changes more rapidly than the conformation of the active centre of the enzyme in the H 2 O 2 solution.

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