Total antigens from Leishmania braziliensis promastigotes, solubilized with sodium cholate (dsLp), were formulated within ultradeformable nanovesicles (dsLp-ultradeformable archaeosomes, (dsLp-UDA), and dsLp-ultradeformable liposomes (dsLp-UDL)) and topically administered to Balb/c mice. Ultradeformable nanovesicles can penetrate the intact stratum corneum up to the viable epidermis, with no ai...

We report the heterologous expression and molecular characterization of the first extremely halophilic alpha-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20) from the archaeon Haloquadratum walsbyi. A 2349 bp region (Hqrw_2071) from the Hqr. walsbyi C23 annotated genome was PCR-amplified and the resulting amplicon ligated into plasmid pET28b(+), expressed in E. coli Rosetta cells, and the resulting protein purified b...

The halophilic archaea (haloarchaea) live in saline environments, which are found across the globe. In addition to salinity, these niches can be quite dynamic and experience extreme conditions such as low oxygen content, radiation (gamma and UV), pH and temperature. However, of all the naturally occurring stresses faced by the haloarchaea, only one, pH, has not been previously investigated in r...

The Antarctic microorganism Halorubrum lacusprofundi harbors a model polyextremophilic β-galactosidase that functions in cold, hypersaline conditions. Six amino acid residues potentially important for cold activity were identified by comparative genomics and substituted with evolutionarily conserved residues (N251D, A263S, I299L, F387L, I476V, and V482L) in closely related homologs from mesophi...

The prokaryotic residents of the Tis solar saltern in the southeast of Iran on the shore of Oman Sea were investigated by the culture-dependent methods. Sequencing of the PCR-amplified fragments of 16S rRNA genes revealed that bacterial populations were related to Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Balneolaeota, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. T...

The platelet binding properties of human monoclonal lupus autoantibodies have been studied. These IgM autoantibodies, produced by human X human hybridomas derived from lymphocytes of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, are known to bind to single-stranded DNA. Four anti-DNA antibodies that express the dominant 16/6 idiotype--HF2-1/17, HF2-18/2, HF2-1/13b, and HF3-16/6--bound to glutaral...

BACKGROUND Starch is the second most abundant plant-derived biomass and a major feedstock in non-food industrial applications and first generation biofuel production. In contrast to lignocellulose, detailed insight into fungal degradation of starch is currently lacking. This study explores the secretomes of Aspergillus nidulans grown on cereal starches from wheat and high-amylose (HA) maize, as...