Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 27, Issue 1, 2020

Antimicrobial peptides in recent years have gained increased interest among scientists, health professionals and the pharmaceutical companies owing to their therapeutic potential. These are low molecular weight proteins with broad range antimicrobial and immuno modulatory activities against infectious bacteria (Gram positive and Gram negative), viruses and fungi. Inability of micro-organisms to develop resistance agai Read More

Currently, chemotherapy is one of the mainstays of oncologic therapies. But the efficacy of chemotherapy is often limited by drug resistance and severe side effects. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate the underlying mechanism and overcome the problem of anticancer chemotherapy resistance. The solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B3 (SLCO1B3), a functional transpor Read More

Background: Lymphatic vessel formation (lymphangiogenesis) plays important roles in cancer metastasis, organ rejection, and lymphedema, but the underlying molecular events remain unclear. Furthermore, despite significant overlap in the molecular families involved in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, little is known about the crosstalk between these processes. The ex vivo aortic ring assay and lymphatic ring assay Read More

Background: Thanatin is the smallest member of Beta-hairpin class of cationic peptide derived from insects with vast activities against various pathogens. Objective: In this study, the antimicrobial activity of this peptide against some species of human bacterial pathogens as well as its toxicity on NIH cells were evaluated. Methods: Thanatin DNA sequence was cloned into pcDNA3.1+ vector and transformed into a DH5α Read More

Background: Channa striata are speculated to contain bioactive proteins with the ability to enhancing wound healing. It is commonly consumed after surgery for a faster recovery of the wound. Objective: To identify the bioactive proteins and evaluate their ability in cell proliferation and angiogenesis promotion. Material and Methods: Freeze-Dried Water Extracts (FDWE) and Spray-Dried Water Extracts (SDWE) of C. striat Read More

Background: Cathelicidins are a family of Host Defense Peptides (HDPs), that play an important role in the innate immune response. They exert both broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogens, and strong immunomodulatory functions that affect the response of innate and adaptive immune cells. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate immunomodulation by the chicken cathelicidin CATH-2 and co Read More

Background: Reactive aldehydes are involved in diseases associated with oxidative stress, including diabetes. Human salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase (hsALDH) presumably protects us from many toxic ingredient/contaminant aldehydes present in food. Objective: This study aimed to probe the activity of hsALDH in patients with diabetes and than to correlate it with various oxidative stress markers in the saliva. Meth Read More

Background: Marine sessile organisms display a color palette that is the result of the expression of fluorescent and non-fluorescent proteins. Fluorescent proteins have uncovered transcriptional regulation, subcellular localization of proteins, and the fate of cells during development. Chromoproteins have received less attention until recent years as bioreporters. Here, we studied the properties of aeBlue, a a 25.91 kD Read More