The present work describes the identification, purification, and characterization of bile salt hydrolase (BSH) from Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis. The enzyme was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by hydrophobic chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and ultrafiltration. SDS-PAGE analysis of putative BSH and gel filtration revealed that the analyzed protein is presumably a te...

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), fibroblast growth factor, and heavy metal salts such as sodium arsenite stimulated BALB/c-3T3 cells to synthesize a 31-kDa protein(s) (termed p31) in a concentration-dependent manner. p31 was also synthesized in response to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). V8 protease digestion of p31 purified from PDGF-, TPA-, and arsenite-treated cells showed ...

Bile salts are natural detergents that facilitate the digestion and absorption of the hydrophobic components of the diet. However, their amphiphilic nature makes them very inhibitory for bacteria and strongly influences bacterial survival in the gastrointestinal tract. Adaptation to and tolerance of bile stress is therefore crucial for the persistence of bacteria in the human colonic niche. Bif...

Grafting of C-6, C-16 and C-18 alkyl chains onto the hydrophilic Mn-Anderson clusters (compounds 2-4) has been achieved. Exchange of the tetrabutyl ammonium (TBA) with dimethyldioctadecyl ammonium (DMDOA) results in the formation of new polyoxometalate (POM) assemblies (compounds 5-6), in which the POM cores are covalently functionalized by hydrophilic alkyl-chains and enclosed by surfactant of...

Adsorption of phenanthrene on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and bioaccessibility of adsorbed phenanthrene were studied in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Adsorption of phenanthrene on CNTs was suppressed in pepsin (800 mg/L) solution (gastric) and bile salt (500 and 5000 mg/L) fluids (intestinal). In addition to competitive sorption, pepsin and high-concentration bile salt (5000 mg/L, above critic...

The electron spin resonance technique shows that the heat denaturation of oxyhemoglobin involves (a) oxidation to methemoglobin or related material (high spin ferric), (b) conversion to low spin ferric species in an irreversible step, and (c) further changes in these low spin species under drastic conditions. The last two occurrences are observed with methemoglobin. The electron spin resonance ...

We report a molecular dynamics study of chlorinated cobalt bis(dicarbollide) anions [(B(9)C(2)H(8)Cl(3))(2)Co](-)"CCD(-)" in nitrobenzene and at the nitrobenzene-water interface, with the main aim to understand the solution state of these hydrophobic species and why they act as strong synergists in assisted liquid-liquid extraction of metallic cations. Neat nitrobenzene is found to well solubil...

The molecular recognition behaviors of some representative bile salts by three 3,6'-bridged beta-cyclodextrin dimers with oligo(ethylenediamino) linkers in different lengths, i.e. 3,6'-(ethylenediamino-bridged) beta-cyclodextrin dimer (1), 3,6'-(diethylenetriamino-bridged) beta-cyclodextrin dimer (2), and 3,6'-(triethylenetetraamino-bridged) beta-cyclodextrin dimer (3), were investigated in aqu...