RPSP, a refined polysaccharide peptide fraction isolated by fast performance liquid chromatography (FPLC) from the crude powder of total peptide-bound polysaccharides of cultivated Coriolus versicolor Cov-1 dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of a human hepatoma cell line (HEPG2). The effective dose causing 50% inhibition following 3-day exposure to RPSP was 243 +/- 36 micrograms/ml fo...

We investigated the biochemical profile of regenerated venom of the scorpion Parabuthus transvaalicus in relation to its metabolic cost and toxicity. Using a closed-system respirometer, we compared oxygen consumption between milked and unmilked scorpions to determine the metabolic costs associated with the first 192 h of subsequent venom synthesis. Milked scorpions had a substantially (21%) hig...

Dietrich W erner and Andreas Bernd Wolff Fachbereich Biologie, Botanisches Institut der Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-v.-Frisch­ straße, D-355 Marburg-L, Bundesrepublik Deutschland Z. Naturforsch. 42c, 537—541 (1987); received October 7, 1986 Glycine max, Root Hairs, Roots, Specific Proteins, Infection In root hairs from seedlings of Glycine max cultivars, isolated from the root system and...

A FPLC purified 38kDa protease (Bm mf S-7) isolated from B. malayi microfilarial soluble antigen was identified. It showed pronounced reactivity with sera collected from 'putatively immune' asymptomatic and amicrofilaraemic individuals residing in an endemic area for bancroftian filariasis. Further the immune protective activity of Bm mf S-7 antigen was evaluated in susceptible hosts, jirds (Me...

We investigated the influence of the HIV infection on serum paraoxonase-3 (PON3) concentration and assessed the relationships with lipoprotein-associated abnormalities, immunological response, and accelerated atherosclerosis. We studied 207 HIV-infected patients and 385 healthy volunteers. Serum PON3 was determined by in-house ELISA, and PON3 distribution in lipoproteins was investigated by fas...

Little was known about bioactive compounds from the hallucinogenic mushroom Boletus speciosus. In the present study, a hemagglutinin (BSH, B. speciosus hemagglutinin) was isolated from its fruiting bodies and enzymatic properties were also tested. The chromatographic procedure utilized comprised anion exchange chromatography on Q-Sepharose, cation exchange chromatography on CM-Cellulose, cation...

Finger millet (ragi), a staple food crop, is well known as a super cereal for its excellent nutritional value, long-term storage potential and ethno-medicinal characteristics. Ragi bifunctional inhibitor (RBI) from Eleusine coracana Gaertn. (ragi/finger millet) belonging to cereal alpha-amylase/protease inhibitor family, inhibits alpha-amylase and trypsin simultaneously. Several seed protease i...

A purification scheme for the enzyme phosphinothricin-N-acetyltransferase (PAT) origi­ nating from Streptomyces viridochromogenes {pat-gene product from Streptomyces virido­ chromogenes) and mediating herbicide resistance to transgenic plants was developed. The enzyme was isolated from a transformed and overproducing Escherichia coli strain. With a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation,...

Three sites of inhibitory action of hydroxylamine were identified in the respiratory chain of anaerobically grown bacterium Paracoccus denitrificans. Terminal oxidases were blocked at concentrations of 10(-4) to 10(-3) mol.l-1, and the inhibitor competed with artificial donor of electrons N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-l, 4-phenylenediamine. In the anaerobic part of the respiratory chain inhibition o...

54 patients (22 females, 32 males, age 21-79, mean 45 years) referred for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were investigated. Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection was determined using histology (H&E and Giemsa stain), rapid urease test (CLO) and serology (Cobas Core Anti-H. pylori EIA). Density of HP colonization was determined in gastric antral (3 biopsy specimens) and body mucosa (2 biopsy spec...