Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety between recombinant human parathyroid hormone ( rhPTH) ( 1 -34) and elcatonin in the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis in China.Methods This 6 month, multicenter, randomized and controlled study enrolled 205 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.They were randomized to receive either rhPTH (1 -34) 20 μg (200 U) daily or elcatonin 20 U weekly.Lumbar spine (L1-4 ) and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone turnover were measured. In the meantime adverse events were recorded. Results The results showed that both rhPTH ( 1 -34) and elcatonin increased L1-4 BMD significantly at the endpoint of the study, but femoral neck BMD did not change significantly.From baseline to endpoint, BMD of L1-4 and femoral neck in the rhPTH( 1-34) group increased by 5.51% (P <0.01) and 0.65% (P >0.05), but BMD of L1-4 and femoral neck in elcatonin group increased by 1.55% (P <0.05) and 0.11% (P>0.05).Moreover, the rhPTH(1-34) group had better improvement in L1-4 BMD than the elcatonin group at 3, 6 months, but there was no difference of BMD in these two groups with regard to femoral neck.There were greater mean increases of the bone markers in the rhPTH( 1-34) group than those in the elcatonin group at 3, 6 months [serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase ( BSAP) 36.79% vs 0.31% ; 92.42% vs -0.17% ; the ratio of urine N-telopeptide of type I collagen and creatinine (NTX/Cr) 48.91% vs -5.32% ; 68.82% vs - 10.86%].Both kinds of treatment were well tolerated and there were no differences between the two groups in the rates of adverse events and serious adverse events.Conclusion It is concluded that rhPTH (1 -34) has more positive effects on bone formation than elcatonin as shown by the greater increments of L1-4 BMD and bone formation markers and the less occurrence of adverse events as well as no significant change in hepatic, renal or hemopoietic function.

Environmental problems are the most serious challenges in the 21st century. With the rapid development of modern industry and agriculture, ecological and environmental deterioration have become the most important factors to restrict the sustainable development of social economy. Microbial cells have strong ability for environmental remediation, but their evolution speed is slower than the speed of emerging pollutants. Therefore, the treatment using the synthetic biology is in urgent need. Full understanding of the microbial degradation characteristics (pathways) of refractory organic pollutants with the help of abundant microbial and gene resources in China is important. Using synthetic biology to redesign and transform the existing degrading strain will be used to degrade particular organic pollutants or multiple organic pollutants. For the complex pollutants, such as wastewater, based on the establishment of metabolic or regulation or resistance related gene modules of typical organic pollutants, artificial flora could be designed to solve the complex pollutants. The rational design and construction of engineering bacteria for typical environmental organic pollutants can effectively promote microbial catabolism of emerging contaminants, providing technical support for environmental remediation in China.

Glucoamylase is a critical ingredient for saccharification in the starch decomposition, and widely used in food, pharmaceutical and fermentation industries. Glucoamylases are usually thermostable and have peak activities at high temperature, as required for the industrial process of glucose production. In this study, a glucoamylase gene belonging to the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 15, Tlga15A, was cloned from Talaromyces leycettanus JCM12802, and successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. Recombinant glucoamylase TlGA showed optimal activities at pH 4.5 and 75 °C. The result of thermostability analysis showed that TlGA retained above 70% activity after incubating for 1 h at 65 °C, and 43% residual activity after 30 min at 70 °C. Moreover, TlGA had high resistance to most metal ions and chemical reagents tested. Various starch substrates could be hydrolyzed by TlGA, including soluble starch (255.6±15.3) U/mg, amylopectin (342.3±24.7) U/mg, glycogen (185.4±12.5) U/mg, dextrin (423.3±29.3) U/mg and pullulan (65.7±8.1) U/mg. The primary, secondary and tertiary structures of glucoamylase were further analyzed. The low ratio of Gly in the primary structure and low exposed nonpolarity solvent accessible surface in the tertiary structure may be the main reasons for TlGA's thermostability. These results show that TlGA is great promising for potential use in the commercial production of glucose syrups. Moreover, this research will provide knowledge and innovating ideas for the improvement of glucoamylase thermostability.
Cloning, Molecular ; Enzyme Stability ; Glucan 1,4-alpha-Glucosidase ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Pichia ; Talaromyces ; Temperature