Aggregatibacter (Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans is a gram-negative oral pathogen that is the etiologic agent of localized aggressive periodontitis and systemic infections. A. actinomycetemcomitans produces leukotoxin (LtxA), which is a member of the RTX (repeats in toxin) family of secreted bacterial toxins and is known to target human leukocytes and erythrocytes. To better understand ho...

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) comprising choline chloride (ChCl) with either urea or ethylene glycol (EG) have been successfully used as powerful and potential electrolytes for extracting metals from their corresponding metal oxide precursors. In this work, for electrodeposition of Zn and Zn-Cu alloys, ChCl/urea-based DES was employed. Cyclic voltammetry study demonstrates that the reduction of...

A full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) clone encoding a putative copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) was amplified by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based technique from cDNA synthesized from black porgy, Acanthopagrus schlegeli, mRNA. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this cDNA clone revealed that it comprised a complete open reading frame coding for 154 amino acid residues. The dedu...

Serum Cu levels rise with age and high Cu/Zn ratios are linked with multiple-cause mortality in the elderly. The relationships of these parameters to measures of musculoskeletal health and frailty have not yet been analyzed. We used inductively coupled mass spectrometry to assess serum levels of Cu and Zn and probed for relationships between serum Cu levels and the Cu/Zn ratio with specific mea...

Before the discovery and elucidation of transporters, mammals were thought to cotransport Cu or Zn as an anionic complex, such as binding with an AA as a chelate or a receptor such as transferrin. In 1995, the first mammalian Zn transporter (ZnT) gene, ZnT1, was identified. However, 2 protein families are now thought to be involved in Zn transport. The ZnT family reduces intracellular Zn by aid...

eliminating the danger of the oxygen radical. The rate of this reaction is diffusion limited, up to 10 Ms. Several types of superoxide dismutase (SOD) exist. Fe and Mn SOD are both single metal active sites coordinated by an Asp, three histidines, and water. The Fe is found mainly in prokaryotes, and the Mn is found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Ni SOD, found in cyanobacteria and some Str...

Rat liver was homogenized in isotonic buffer, fractionated by differential centrifugation, and then subfractionated by equilibrium sedimentation in Nycodenz gradients. Fractions were assayed for both Cu,Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD by exploiting the cyanide-sensitivity of the former activity and by the use of specific antibodies. As expected, the cytosol and lysosomal fractions contained Cu,Zn-SOD; while ...

BACKGROUND Spermatogonia are highly tolerant to reactive oxygen species (ROS) attack while advanced-stage germ cells such as spermatozoa are much more susceptible, but the precise reason for this variation in ROS tolerance remains unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using the Japanese eel testicular culture system that enables a complete spermatogenesis in vitro, we report that advanced-s...

background: the presence of heavy metals in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems causes harmful effects to living organisms in the environment. this research aimed to determine the potential of activated pumice stone (aps) as a sorbent for the removal of cd, cu, and zn from wastewater. methods: this research was conducted during 2013 on a laboratory scale. the study was performed using batch expe...

Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu) were measured in children suffering from Marasmic-Kwashiorkor with various infections. On admission to hospital Zn level was low in all patients (39.6 = 15.9 ug 88.7 = 16.8 ug %). On nutritional rehabilitation without any Zn supplementation, Zn level showed improvement but in one group, who had initially very low level, subjects were still Zn deficient. Cu level was found...