Gas vesicles (GVs) are gas-filled protein nanostructures that can regulate the buoyancy of microorganisms such as cyanobacteria and archaea. Recent studies have shown that GVs have the potential to be used as ultrasound molecular imaging probes in disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the mechanism of the inflation and deflation of GVs remains unclear, which hampers the preservation of GVs and gas replacement. In the present study, the environmental pH value was found to be an important factor in regulating the inflation and deflation of GVs. It can not only regulate the inflation and deflation of GVs in vivo to make Microcystis sp. cells present distinct levitation state, but also regulate the inflation and deflation of purified GVs in vitro, and the regulation process is reversible. Our results may provide a technical support for the large-scale production and preservation of biosynthetic ultrasound molecular imaging probes, especially for gas replacement to meet different diagnostic and therapeutic needs, and would facilitate the application of biosynthetic ultrasound molecular imaging probes.
Cyanobacteria ; Proteins/chemistry* ; Nanostructures/chemistry* ; Molecular Imaging ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration

The hydrolysis of xylo-oligosaccharides catalyzed by β-xylosidase plays an important role in the degradation of lignocellulose. However, the enzyme is easily inhibited by its catalytic product xylose, which severely limits its application. Based on molecular docking, this paper studied the xylose affinity of Aspergillus niger β-xylosidase An-xyl, which was significantly differentially expressed in the fermentation medium of tea stalks, through cloning, expression and characterization. The synergistic degradation effect of this enzyme and cellulase on lignocellulose in tea stems was investigated. Molecular docking showed that the affinity of An-xyl to xylose was lower than that of Aspergillus oryzae β-xylosidase with poor xylose tolerance. The K_i value of xylose inhibition constant of recombinant-expressed An-xyl was 433.2 mmol/L, higher than that of most β-xylosidases of the GH3 family. The K_m and V_max towards pNPX were 3.6 mmol/L and 10 000 μmol/(min·mL), respectively. The optimum temperature of An-xyl was 65 ℃, the optimum pH was 4.0, 61% of the An-xyl activity could be retained upon treatment at 65 ℃ for 300 min, and 80% of the An-xyl activity could be retained upon treatment at pH 2.0-8.0 for 24 h. The hydrolysis of tea stem by An-xyl and cellulase produced 19.3% and 38.6% higher reducing sugar content at 2 h and 4 h, respectively, than that of using cellulase alone. This study showed that the An-xyl mined from differential expression exhibited high xylose tolerance and higher catalytic activity and stability, and could hydrolyze tea stem lignocellulose synergistically, which enriched the resource of β-xylosidase with high xylose tolerance, thus may facilitate the advanced experimental research and its application.
Aspergillus niger/genetics* ; Xylose/metabolism* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Xylosidases/genetics* ; Cellulases ; Tea ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Substrate Specificity

β-glucosidase has important applications in food, pharmaceutics, biomass conversion and other fields, exploring β-glucosidase with strong adaptability and excellent properties thus has received extensive interest. In this study, a novel glucosidase from the GH1 family derived from Cuniculiplasma divulgatum was cloned, expressed, and characterized, aiming to find a better β-glucosidase. The amino acid sequences of GH1 family glucosidase derived from C. divulgatum were obtained from the NCBI database, and a recombinant plasmid pET-30a(+)-CdBglA was constructed. The recombinant protein was induced to express in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The enzymatic properties of the purified CdBglA were studied. The molecular weight of the recombinant CdBglA was 56.0 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature were 5.5 and 55 ℃, respectively. The enzyme showed good pH stability, 92.33% of the initial activity could be retained when treated under pH 5.5-11.0 for 1 h. When pNPG was used as a substrate, the kinetic parameters K_m, V_max and K_cat/K_m were 0.81 mmol, 291.99 μmol/(mg·min), and 387.50 s^-1 mmol^-1, respectively. 90.33% of the initial enzyme activity could be retained when CdBglA was placed with various heavy metal ions at a final concentration of 5 mmol/L. The enzyme activity was increased by 28.67% under 15% ethanol solution, remained unchanged under 20% ethanol, and 43.68% of the enzyme activity could still be retained under 30% ethanol. The enzyme has an obvious activation effect at 0-1.5 mol/L NaCl and can tolerate 0.8 mol/L glucose. In conclusion, CdBglA is an acidic and mesophilic enzyme with broad pH stability and strong tolerance to most metal ions, organic solvents, NaCl and glucose. These characteristics may facilitate future theoretical research and industrial production.
beta-Glucosidase ; Sodium Chloride ; Temperature ; Glucose ; Ethanol/chemistry* ; Ions ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Enzyme Stability ; Substrate Specificity

L-arabinose isomerase (L-AI) is the key enzyme that isomerizes D-galactose to D-tagatose. In this study, to improve the activity of L-arabinose isomerase on D-galactose and its conversion rate in biotransformation, an L-arabinose isomerase from Lactobacillus fermentum CGMCC2921 was recombinantly expressed and applied in biotransformation. Moreover, its substrate binding pocket was rationally designed to improve the affinity and catalytic activity on D-galactose. We show that the conversion of D-galactose by variant F279I was increased 1.4 times that of the wild-type enzyme. The K_m and k_cat values of the double mutant M185A/F279I obtained by superimposed mutation were 530.8 mmol/L and 19.9 s^-1, respectively, and the catalytic efficiency was increased 8.2 times that of the wild type. When 400 g/L lactose was used as the substrate, the conversion rate of M185A/F279I reached a high level of 22.8%, which shows great application potential for the enzymatic production of tagatose from lactose.
Galactose/metabolism* ; Limosilactobacillus fermentum/genetics* ; Lactose ; Hexoses/metabolism* ; Aldose-Ketose Isomerases/genetics* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the preparation of decellularized small intestinal submucosa (dSIS) sponge scaffolds with chelated strontium (Sr) ions at different pH values, and to select the appropriate pH values for synthesizing Sr/dSIS scaffolds using the physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of the scaffolds as evaluation indexes. METHODS: (1) Sr/dSIS scaffolds preparation and grouping: After mixing dSIS solution and strontium chloride solution in equal volumes, adjusting pH of the solution to 3, 5, 7, and 9 respectively, porous scaffolds were prepared by freeze-drying method after full reaction at 37℃, which were named Sr/dSIS-3, -5, -7, and -9 respectively, and the dSIS scaffolds were used as the control group. (2) Physicochemical property evaluation: The bulk morphology of the scaffolds was observed in each group, the microscopic morphology analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, and the porosity and pore size determined, the surface elements analyzed by energy spectroscopy, the structure of functional groups analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, the chelation rate determined by atomic spectrophotometry, the water absorption rate detected by using specific gravity method, and the compression strength evaluated by universal mechanical testing machine.(3) Biocompatibility evaluation: The cytotoxicity and proliferative effect to bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) of each group were evaluated by Calcein-AM/PI double staining method. RESULTS: Scanning electron microscopy showed that the scaffolds of each group had an interconnected three-dimensional porous structure with no statistical difference in pore size and porosity. Energy spectrum analysis showed that strontium could be detected in Sr/dSIS-5, -7 and -9 groups, and strontium was uniformly distributed in the scaffolds. Functional group analysis further supported the formation of chelates in the Sr/dSIS-5, -7 and -9 groups. Chelation rate analysis showed that the Sr/dSIS-7 group had the highest strontium chelation rate, which was statistically different from the other groups (P < 0.05). The scaffolds in all the groups had good water absorption. The scaffolds in Sr/dSIS-5, -7 and -9 groups showed significantly improved mechanical properties compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The scaffolds in all the groups had good biocompatibility, and the Sr/dSIS-7 group showed the best proliferation of BMSCs. CONCLUSION When pH was 7, the Sr/dSIS scaffolds showed the highest strontium chelation rate and the best proliferation effect of BMSCs, which was the ideal pH value for the preparation of the Sr/dSIS scaffolds.
Tissue Scaffolds/chemistry* ; Biocompatible Materials ; Strontium/pharmacology* ; Ions ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Tissue Engineering/methods* ; Porosity

γ-aminobutyric acid can be produced by a one-step enzymatic reaction catalyzed by glutamic acid decarboxylase. The reaction system is simple and environmentally friendly. However, the majority of GAD enzymes catalyze the reaction under acidic pH at a relatively narrow range. Thus, inorganic salts are usually needed to maintain the optimal catalytic environment, which adds additional components to the reaction system. In addition, the pH of solution will gradually rise along with the production of γ-aminobutyric acid, which is not conducive for GAD to function continuously. In this study, we cloned the glutamate decarboxylase LpGAD from a Lactobacillus plantarum capable of efficiently producing γ-aminobutyric acid, and rationally engineered the catalytic pH range of LpGAD based on surface charge. A triple point mutant LpGAD^{S24R/D88R/Y309K} was obtained from different combinations of 9 point mutations. The enzyme activity at pH 6.0 was 1.68 times of that of the wild type, suggesting the catalytic pH range of the mutant was widened, and the possible mechanism underpinning this increase was discussed through kinetic simulation. Furthermore, we overexpressed the Lpgad and Lpgad^{S24R/D88R/Y309K} genes in Corynebacterium glutamicum E01 and optimized the transformation conditions. An optimized whole cell transformation process was conducted under 40 ℃, cell mass (OD₆₀₀) 20, 100 g/L l-glutamic acid substrate and 100 μmol/L pyridoxal 5-phosphate. The γ-aminobutyric acid titer of the recombinant strain reached 402.8 g/L in a fed-batch reaction carried out in a 5 L fermenter without adjusting pH, which was 1.63 times higher than that of the control. This study expanded the catalytic pH range of and increased the enzyme activity of LpGAD. The improved production efficiency of γ-aminobutyric acid may facilitate its large-scale production.
Glutamate Decarboxylase/genetics* ; Lactobacillus plantarum/genetics* ; Catalysis ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Glutamic Acid

Humans ; Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Neurons ; Lysosomes ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration

Gastroesophageal Reflux/epidemiology* ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Infant

Objective: To investigate the daily variation of LPR and the significance of 48-hour oropharyngeal pH monitoring in the diagnosis of LPRD. Methods: 72 subjects with suspected LPRD who were treated in our department from June 2018 to June 2021 were included. All patients were hospitalized to complete continuous 48-hour oropharyngeal Dx-pH monitoring. The consistency of Ryan index and W index and the correlation of various reflux parameters between the first and second 24-hour were compared. SPSS 24.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: All 72 subjects successfully completed 48-hour oropharyngeal Dx-pH monitoring. Ryan index was positive in 11 cases (15.2%) in the first 24-hour, in 17 cases (23.6%) in the second 24-hour, in 5 cases (6.9%) both first and second, and in 23 cases (31.9%) in either 24-hour, Kappa=0.211 (P=0.064), 18 cases (25%) had inconsistent results of the first 24-hour and the second 24-hour, and there was no significant difference in the positive rate between the first and second (P=0.234). The number of positive cases in 48-hour monitoring increased by 109.1% compared with 24-hour monitoring.For W index, 49 cases (68.1%) were positive in the first 24-hourf 53 cases (73.6%) were positive in the second 24-hour, 42 cases (58.3%) were positive both first and second, and 58 cases (80.6%) were positive in either 24-hour, Kappa=0.477 (P<0.001), 16 cases (22.2%) had inconsistent results of the first and second, and there was no significant difference in the positive rate between the first and second (P=0.804). The number of positive cases in 48-hour monitoring increased by 18.4% compared with 24-hour monitoring. There was no significant difference in all the reflux parameters of first and second (P>0.05). The correlation comparison showed that the correlation of various reflux parameters in the upright position was lower than that in the supine position. Conclusion: Laryngeal reflux has daily variability. Extending the monitoring time of Dx-pH to 48-hour can help reduce the missed diagnosis caused by daily variability; the use of W index can reduce the influence of daily variability on the diagnostic results of LPRD.
Humans ; Laryngopharyngeal Reflux/diagnosis* ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hypopharynx ; Larynx

The present study explored the physiological mechanism of the effects of different pH treatments on the growth, physiological characteristics, and stachydrine biosynthesis of Leonurus japonicus to provide references for the cultivation and quality control of L. japonicus. Under hydroponic conditions, different pH treatments(pH 5,6,7,8) were set up. The growth, physiology, and the content of stachydrine and total alkaloids of L. japonicus, as well as the content of key intermediate products in stachydrine biosynthesis pathway(i.e., pyruvic acid, α-ketoglutaric acid, glutamic acid, and ornithine) were monitored to explore the physiological mechanism of the effects of pH on the growth and active components of L. japonicus. The results showed that L. japonicus. could grow normally in the pH 5-8 solution. The pH treatment of neutral acidity was more conducive to the accumulation of photosynthetic pigments and the increase in soluble protein in leaves of L. japonicus. to promote its growth and yield. However, since stachydrine is a nitrogen-containing pyrrolidine alkaloid, its synthesis involves the two key rate-limiting steps of nitrogen addition: reductive ammoniation reaction and Schiff base formation reaction. High pH treatments promote the synthesis and accumulation of substrates and products of the above two reactions, indicating that the alkaline environment can promote the nitrogen addition reaction, thereby promoting the biosynthesis and accumulation of stachydrine.
Leonurus/chemistry* ; Hydroponics ; Alkaloids ; Nitrogen ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration