Showing papers by "BIA Separations (Slovenia) published in 2018"

Lactobacillus fermentum L930BB and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis IM386 initiate signalling pathways involved in intestinal epithelial barrier protection.

Abstract: The manipulation of intestinal microbiota with beneficial microbes represents a promising alternative or adjunct therapy in gastrointestinal disorders and inflammation. The current study aims to clarify the signalling pathways and evaluate the possible beneficial effects of the combination of two strains. We used a dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced mouse model of colitis. RNA extracted from the middle part of the colon tissue was used for examination of the global gene expression with Affymetrix microarrays. An enrichment analysis of the KEGG pathways was performed, and a subset of genes associated with intestinal epithelial barrier function was verified with qPCR. A clinical condition assessment of the differently treated mice revealed that the combination of these two bacterial strains was safe for use as a dietary supplement. All animals treated with DSS had affected colons and suffered weight loss. There were very small differences between the diseased groups, although the depth of inflammation was lower when cyclosporine A or the strain mixture was used. We discovered that the prophylactic administration of the Lactobacillus fermentum L930BB (L930BB) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis IM386 (IM386) strains led to an anti-apoptotic pathway through phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and to the activation of pathways involved in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton via protein kinase C and GTPases. Reorganisation of actin cytoskeleton and decreased apoptosis are both helpful in intestinal epithelial cell reconstitution. We confirm important previous observations, showing that these pathways are downstream targets of Toll-like receptor 2 and fibroblast growth factor initiated signalling. Taken together, these results suggest that the combination of L930BB and IM386 could aid in the regeneration of the intestinal epithelium during pathogenesis via pattern recognition receptors and the stimulation of growth factor synthesis.

Zeolite Integrated Nanocellulose Films for Removal of Loose Anionic Reactive Dye by Adsorption vs . Filtration Mode during Textile Laundering

Abstract: Water stable, flexible and ecological acceptance composite films were prepared by the solvent casting process using native, dealuminated (treated with HCl to affect the surface chemistry and pore structure) and/or surface modified (coated with a cationic surfactant PDADM of different molecular weights) H-ZSM-5 type zeolite of different shapes (spherical vs. rod) and Si/Al ratios (P26 vs. P371) as adsorbents and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) as a networking matrix (in a weight ratio of 4:1). The films were tested for removal of the black anionic reactive dye with the highest bleeding effect at the first rinsing cycle of textile laundering. The effects of zeolite structure and surface chemistry on films dye’ removal kinetics from a standardised rinsing bath were investigated for up to 140 min at room temperature and using 0.1 g/l of dye concentration, depending on the film-to-bath weight-to-volume ratios (from 1:10 to 1:1000), thus simulating different rinsing conditions. The results show that up to 80 % of the dye was removed in the first 20 min in the lowest weight-to-volume ratio (1:10), fitting the Langmuir isotherm, and the process followed the pseudo-second order kinetic, yielding a multi-layer adsorption mechanism with a monolayer capacity of ~11 mg/g and ~21 vs. ~30 mg/g by films prepared from native or HCltreated and PDADMA100 vs. PDADMA400 coated P371 zeolites, respectively. Such efficacy was due to the more densely and fully surface-covered longitudinal P371 with PDADM400, given the huge electrostatic attraction sites for dye molecules, compared to the partly interpenetrated PDADM into relatively larger pore-sized (~450 nm vs. 220 nm) of P26. The filtration performance of the films was also examined, be used for the removal of the dye from the rinsing bath, released from the washing drum. An ultra-high flux rate (11.000 kL/m2 h MPa) with 45 % of dye removal efficacy and capacity of ~24 mg/g was provided by films prepared from spherical and aggregated P26PDADMA-400, showing its high potential also as a filter membrane.

Coordinating the in vivo processes for minicircle production - a novel approach to large scale manufacturing

Abstract: Safety as well as efficiency issues in connection with bacterial backbone sequences should be carefully considered when designing new DNA vaccines or non-viral gene therapy approaches. Bacterial backbone sequences like antibiotic resistance markers or regulatory bacterial elements constitute biological safety risks and reduce the overall efficiency of the DNA agent. To overcome these problems the minicircle technology has been developed. But, despite all the obvious advantages, minicircles have so far not replaced their problem laden conventional counterpart in gene transfer applications what can be contributed to efficiency issues in large scale manufacturing. In this article we describe the combined efforts of experts in the field of minicircle development, large scale biomanufacturing and downstream process development to provide a new approach. The Recombination Based Plasmid Separation (RBPS) Technology, which has already solved crucial problems associated with minicircle-DNA production, has been developed further for this purpose. A novel parental plasmid exploiting advanced in vivo process coordination for restriction and subsequent degradation of miniplasmid-DNA will be introduced. Furthermore we describe the scale-up of minicircle-DNA production by fermentation in combination with high performance downstream processes including purification by ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography on monolithic material.