University of Madras

About: University of Madras is a education organization based out in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Ring (chemistry) & Lipid peroxidation. The organization has 8496 authors who have published 11369 publications receiving 211152 citations. The organization is also known as: Madras University & University of Chennai.

Purification and characterization of an extracellular keratinase from a hornmeal-degrading Bacillus subtilis MTCC (9102)

Abstract: Native proteolytic microorganisms were isolated from the hornmeal, which is a product obtained by treatment of horns and hoofs with steam under high pressure. Keratinolytic activities of these organisms were screened in mineral salt medium with 1% hornmeal. Bacillus subtilis MTCC (9102), a keratinase-producing organism causing extensive degradation of hornmeal has been identified. Keratinase was purified (45-fold) by ion exchange, and gel filtration chromatography. Among the keratinases produced by the various organisms, keratinase from the Bacillus subtilis strain reported by us was found to have a molecular weight range between 64 and 69 kDa and high activity in the pH range between 5 and 7, with maximum activity at pH 6.0 and at an optimum temperature of 40°C. It remained stable up to 70°C. The keratinase activity was completely inhibited by ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and 1 10-phenanthroline, and remained unaffected by phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, relative activity: 93%), whereas iodoacetamide inhibited considerably. Zinc, magnesium, calcium, manganese, and nickel were found to enhance the enzyme activity, whereas mercury and copper inhibited its activity completely. The keratinolytic metalloprotease from native Bacillus subtilis differed from the other serine proteases. It may have potential applications in the bioconversion of keratinous wastes and eco-friendly dehairing in the leather industry.

Wound healing properties of Indian propolis studied on excision wound-induced rats.

Abstract: Context: In traditional medicine propolis is widely used for the treatment of various ailments including ulcer and wound healing. The phytochemical screening of Indian propolis indicates the presen...

Curcumin based biocompatible nanofibers for lead ion detection

Abstract: In this study, we aimed to develop a simple, biocompatible and selective colorimetric sensor strip for detection of lead (Pb 2+ ) using curcumin loaded cellulose acetate (CC-CA) nanofibers. The nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning method. Curcumin functionalized nanofibers were characterized by various techniques such as polarizing optical microscope, spectrofluorometry, FTIR and HR-TEM. The average diameter of the optimized polymeric nanofibers is 104 ± 0.016 nm. The fabricated sensor strips undergo a color change from yellow to orange on interaction with Pb 2+ . The selectivity of the sensor system was studied against various heavy metal ions such as Ba 2+ , Ca 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , Mg 2+ , Ni 2+ and Zn 2+ and was observed that the sensor system was selective towards Pb 2+ . This method provides the advantages of simplicity and cost efficiency for quantitative detection of Pb 2+ with a detection limit of 20 μM by visually and 0.12 ± 0.01 μM from the linear graph with the co-efficient of 0.997. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work reporting on detection of Pb 2+ based on curcumin nanofibers and the results are promising for development of low-cost disposable sensors for rapid and real-time applications.