Evaluation of in-vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Gallic Acid

Gallic acid's anti-inflammatory effect was studied at various concentrations, including 50,100,150,200, and 250 ug/ml. Gallic acid's anti-inflammatory effect was assessed using two in-vitro assays: proteinase inhibition and albumin denaturation. The greatest proteinase inhibition activity of 52.83 percent was achieved at a concentration of 250ug/ml, according to the results. It also revealed that at 250ug/ml, the maximum percentage inhibition in albumin denaturation was 74.79 percent. Gallic acid's antiproteinase and albumin denaturation activities both increase with increasing concentrations, according to this research. Keywords: Gallic acid, Anti-Inflammatory, In-Vitro Assays, Albumin Denaturation, Proteinase activity.

Synergistic Effect of Proteinase Activity by Purification and Identification of Toxic Protease From Nemopilema nomurai

Scyphozoan Nemopilema nomurai envenomation is an unresolved threat to human health in Asian waters. Nemopilema nomurai venom metalloproteinases show important toxicities in skin damage and inflammation, but there is still no purified protein for further studies. In this study, high proteinase activity fractions in tentacle autolysis were isolated by ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow, and Superdex 75 chromatography successively. Purification was guided by azocasein hydrolysis activity and SDS-PAGE. The final products were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Four elution peaks purified by Superdex 75 chromatography had multiple protein bands but did not show proteinase activity. These fractions would recover proteinase activity after mixing again. Regulation mechanisms were speculated as binding metalloproteinase regulator or disaggregating metalloproteinase inhibitor by LC-MS/MS analysis. For the first time, a synergistic effect in N. nomurai proteinase activity was found in the purification process.

ADAMTS-12: Functions and Challenges for a Complex Metalloprotease

Nineteen members of the ADAMTS family of secreted zinc metalloproteinases are present in the human degradome. A wide range of different functions are being attributed to these enzymes and the number of their known substrates is considerably increasing in recent years. ADAMTSs can participate in processes such as fertility, inflammation, arthritis, neuronal and behavioral disorders, as well as cancer. Since its first annotation in 2001, ADAMTS-12 has been described to participate in different processes displayed by members of this family of proteinases. In this sense, ADAMTS-12 performs essential roles in modulation and recovery from inflammatory processes such as colitis, endotoxic sepsis and pancreatitis. ADAMTS-12 has also been involved in cancer development acting either as a tumor suppressor or as a pro-tumoral agent. Furthermore, participation of ADAMTS-12 in arthritis or in neuronal disorders has also been suggested through degradation of components of the extracellular matrix. In addition, ADAMTS-12 proteinase activity can also be modified by interaction with other proteins and thus, can be an alternative way of modulating ADAMTS-12 functions. In this review we revised the most relevant findings about ADAMTS-12 function on the 20th anniversary of its identification.

Suppression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma growth and metastasis by fibrillar collagens produced selectively by tumor cells

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a collagen-rich dense extracellular matrix (ECM) that promotes malignancy of cancer cells and presents a barrier for drug delivery. Data analysis of our published mass spectrometry (MS)-based studies on enriched ECM from samples of progressive PDAC stages reveal that the C-terminal prodomains of fibrillar collagens are partially uncleaved in PDAC ECM, suggesting reduced procollagen C-proteinase activity. We further show that the enzyme responsible for procollagen C-proteinase activity, bone morphogenetic protein1 (BMP1), selectively suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in cells expressing high levels of COL1A1. Although BMP1, as a secreted proteinase, promotes fibrillar collagen deposition from both cancer cells and stromal cells, only cancer-cell-derived procollagen cleavage and deposition suppresses tumor malignancy. These studies reveal a role for cancer-cell-derived fibrillar collagen in selectively restraining tumor growth and suggest stratification of patients based on their tumor epithelial collagen I expression when considering treatments related to perturbation of fibrillar collagens.

Assessment of in vitro biological properties of aqueous extracts of Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng, Thymus vulgaris L., and Ocimum gratissimum L. leaves

This study investigated the in vitro biological properties of aqueous extracts of dried leaves of Murraya koenigii, Thymus vulgaris, and Ocimum gratissimum. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were evaluated colorimetrically. The antioxidant capacities were assessed through scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), 2,2’-azinobis (3-ethylobenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) radical (ABTS+) and nitric oxide (NO); the reducing potentials and total antioxidant capacities were also estimated. The anti-inflammatory potentials were investigated through the inhibitions of lipoxygenase activity, albumin denaturation, and proteinase activity. The inhibitory actions against α-amylase, α-glucosidase, sucrase and albumin glycation were also evaluated. The extracts contained significant amounts of phenolic compounds with the extract of T. vulgaris having the highest concentrations of phenolics and flavonoids; correspondingly, the extract of T. vulgaris had the lowest IC50 values for DPPH•, ABTS+, and NO scavenging. The extract of T. vulgaris significantly inhibited (p<0.05) lipoxygenase activity, albumin denaturation and proteinase activity similar to indomethacin. The actions of the extracts against carbohydrate digesting enzymes and the formation of protein modification varied significantly (p<0.05). This study provides insight into the functional and medicnial properties of M. koenigii, T. vulgaris, and O. Gratissimum.

Invasive Factors Recognition in Aspergillus Section Nigri Isolates from Patient and Environmental Samples in the Centre Region, Cameroon

Background: Aspergillus section Nigri species are invasive opportunistic pathogens, seen in individuals with various immune disorders. The invasive capacity involves the production of varieties of enzymes such as lipases, phospholipase, proteases and hyaluronidase. The determination of proteinase, phospholipase, esterase and biofilm production in patient and environmental isolates approve the pathogenic strength of the species. Aims: To evaluate the invasive capacity of Aspergillus section Nigri isolates from patients and environmental samples. Methods: Our study is cross sectional and experimental, performed at the outpatient clinic of the otorhinolaryngology department of Central and University teaching hospital during a period of 12 months from March 2018 to February 2019. To determine the invasive capacity of Aspergillus section Nigri species, 400 samples were evaluated in the study (that is; 250 from patients and 150 samples from environment). Patient samples and hospital environment samples were evaluated by standard phenotypic methods for detecting of Proteinase, phospolipase, esterase and biofilm. The variables were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test of independent and SPSS (Version 16.0). Results: The isolates recovered from the patient sample shows maximum invasive capacity as compared to the environmental isolates, that is for 44 isolates; 42 isolates showed proteinase activity and biofilm production, followed by phospholipase activity 36, and then esterase 32.The isolates recovered from the hospital environment also showed the production of the various invasive factors, that is for 16 isolates; 15 isolates showed biofilm production, followed by proteinase activity 6, phospholipase 5 and esterase 4.The disparities of the invasive capacity in patient and environment isolates virulence were statistically significant for proteinase, phospholipase and esterase ( that is; p-value <0.05). Majority the isolates recovered from patients and the environment were potential producers of biofilm. Conclusion: The isolates recovered from patients sample showed high invasive capacity as compare to the isolates recovered from the environment. This highlights the implications of phospholipase enzyme, proteinase enzyme, esterase enzyme and biofilm used by Aspergillus section Nigri isolates as means of survival in the host system.