Hydration is a major determinant of activity and selectivity of enzymes in organic solvents or in gas phase. The molecular mechanism of the hydration of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) and its dependence on the thermodynamic activity of water (a(w)) was studied by molecular dynamics simulations and compared to experimentally determined water sorption isotherms. Hydration occurred in two phas...

Water 2H and 17O spin relaxation is used to study water dynamics in the hydration layers of two small peptides, two globular proteins and in living cells of two microorganisms. The dynamical heterogeneity of hydration water is characterized by performing relaxation measurements over a wide temperature range, extending deeply into the supercooled regime, or by covering a wide frequency range. Pr...

Hydration structures around F-actin and myosin subfragment-1 (S1), which play central roles as counterparts in muscle contraction, were investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The radius of gyration of chymotryptic S1 was evaluated to be 41.3±1.1 Å for SAXS, 40.1±3.0 Å for SANS in H2O, and 37.8±0.8 Å for SANS in D2O, respectively. The value...

BACKGROUND To explore the association between hydration volume and symptoms during the last 3 weeks of life in terminally ill cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a multicenter, prospective, observational study of 226 consecutive terminally ill patients with abdominal malignancies. Primary responsible physicians and nurses evaluated the severity of membranous dehydration (dehydratio...

BACKGROUND Pancreatitis is a serious complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and may cause significant morbidity and even death. There is no effective prophylactic intervention for patients with average risk yet. This study aims to investigate preventive effect of aggressive hydration for post-ERCP pancreatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a double-blind controlled ...

Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata, Chuanxinlian), a medicinal herb with an extremely bitter taste that is native to China and other parts of Southeast Asia, possesses immense therapeutic value; however, its therapeutic properties have rarely been applied in the field of skin care. In this study, we investigated the effect of an A. paniculata extract (APE) on human epidermal stem cells (EpS...

Psoriasis is a common chronic, recurrent, immune-mediated disease of the skin and joints. In psoriasis, epidermal hyperproliferation, abnormal keratinocyte differentiation, angiogenesis with blood vessel dilatation excess Th-1 Th-17 infiltration can be observed. A broad spectrum anti-psoriatic treatments, both topical systemic, are available for management psoriasis. However, there still no cur...