scholarly journals Three Decades of Research on Recombinant Collagens: Reinventing the Wheel or Developing New Biomedical Products?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Andrzej Fertala

Collagens provide the building blocks for diverse tissues and organs. Furthermore, these proteins act as signaling molecules that control cell behavior during organ development, growth, and repair. Their long half-life, mechanical strength, ability to assemble into fibrils and networks, biocompatibility, and abundance from readily available discarded animal tissues make collagens an attractive material in biomedicine, drug and food industries, and cosmetic products. About three decades ago, pioneering experiments led to recombinant human collagens’ expression, thereby initiating studies on the potential use of these proteins as substitutes for the animal-derived collagens. Since then, scientists have utilized various systems to produce native-like recombinant collagens and their fragments. They also tested these collagens as materials to repair tissues, deliver drugs, and serve as therapeutics. Although many tests demonstrated that recombinant collagens perform as well as their native counterparts, the recombinant collagen technology has not yet been adopted by the biomedical, pharmaceutical, or food industry. This paper highlights recent technologies to produce and utilize recombinant collagens, and it contemplates their prospects and limitations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (24) ◽  
pp. 2661-2676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundaresan Bhavaniramya ◽  
Ramar Vanajothi ◽  
Selvaraju Vishnupriya ◽  
Kumpati Premkumar ◽  
Mohammad S. Al-Aboody ◽  
...  

Enzymes exhibit a great catalytic activity for several physiological processes. Utilization of immobilized enzymes has a great potential in several food industries due to their excellent functional properties, simple processing and cost effectiveness during the past decades. Though they have several applications, they still exhibit some challenges. To overcome the challenges, nanoparticles with their unique physicochemical properties act as very attractive carriers for enzyme immobilization. The enzyme immobilization method is not only widely used in the food industry but is also a component methodology in the pharmaceutical industry. Compared to the free enzymes, immobilized forms are more robust and resistant to environmental changes. In this method, the mobility of enzymes is artificially restricted to changing their structure and properties. Due to their sensitive nature, the classical immobilization methods are still limited as a result of the reduction of enzyme activity. In order to improve the enzyme activity and their properties, nanomaterials are used as a carrier for enzyme immobilization. Recently, much attention has been directed towards the research on the potentiality of the immobilized enzymes in the food industry. Hence, the present review emphasizes the different types of immobilization methods that is presently used in the food industry and other applications. Various types of nanomaterials such as nanofibers, nanoflowers and magnetic nanoparticles are significantly used as a support material in the immobilization methods. However, several numbers of immobilized enzymes are used in the food industries to improve the processing methods which not only reduce the production cost but also the effluents from the industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (21) ◽  
pp. 2475-2497
Author(s):  
Andrea Verónica Rodríguez-Mayor ◽  
German Jesid Peralta-Camacho ◽  
Karen Johanna Cárdenas-Martínez ◽  
Javier Eduardo García-Castañeda

Glycoproteins and glycopeptides are an interesting focus of research, because of their potential use as therapeutic agents, since they are related to carbohydrate-carbohydrate, carbohydrate-protein, and carbohydrate-lipid interactions, which are commonly involved in biological processes. It has been established that natural glycoconjugates could be an important source of templates for the design and development of molecules with therapeutic applications. However, isolating large quantities of glycoconjugates from biological sources with the required purity is extremely complex, because these molecules are found in heterogeneous environments and in very low concentrations. As an alternative to solving this problem, the chemical synthesis of glycoconjugates has been developed. In this context, several methods for the synthesis of glycopeptides in solution and/or solid-phase have been reported. In most of these methods, glycosylated amino acid derivatives are used as building blocks for both solution and solid-phase synthesis. The synthetic viability of glycoconjugates is a critical parameter for allowing their use as drugs to mitigate the impact of microbial resistance and/or cancer. However, the chemical synthesis of glycoconjugates is a challenge, because these molecules possess multiple reaction sites and have a very specific stereochemistry. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement synthetic routes, which may involve various protection schemes but can be stereoselective, environmentally friendly, and high-yielding. This review focuses on glycopeptide synthesis by recapitulating the progress made over the last 15 years.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93
Author(s):  
Wallapat Phongtang ◽  
Ekachai Chukeatirote

Abstract Bacillus cereus is considered to be an important food poisoning agent causing diarrhea and vomiting. In this study, the occurrence of B. cereus bacteriophages in Thai fermented soybean products (Thua Nao) was studied using five B. cereus sensu lato indicator strains (four B. cereus strains and one B. thuringiensis strain). In a total of 26 Thua Nao samples, there were only two bacteriophages namely BaceFT01 and BaceCM02 exhibiting lytic activity against B. cereus. Morphological analysis revealed that these two bacteriophages belonged to the Myoviridae. Both phages were specific to B. cereus and not able to lyse other tested bacteria including B. licheniformis and B. subtilis. The two phages were able to survive in a pH range between 5 and 12. However, both phages were inactive either by treatment of 50°C for 2 h or exposure of UV for 2 h. It should be noted that both phages were chloroform-insensitive, however. This is the first report describing the presence of bacteriophages in Thua Nao products. The characterization of these two phages is expected to be useful in the food industry for an alternative strategy including the potential use of the phages as a biocontrol candidate against foodborne pathogenic bacteria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 2013-2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Nieland ◽  
Oliver Weingart ◽  
Bernd M Schmidt

ortho-Fluoroazobenzenes are a remarkable example of bistable photoswitches, addressable by visible light. Symmetrical, highly fluorinated azobenzenes bearing an iodine substituent in para-position were shown to be suitable supramolecular building blocks both in solution and in the solid state in combination with neutral halogen bonding acceptors, such as lutidines. Therefore, we investigate the photochemistry of a series of azobenzene photoswitches. Upon introduction of iodoethynyl groups, the halogen bonding donor properties are significantly strengthened in solution. However, the bathochromic shift of the π→π* band leads to a partial overlap with the n→π* band, making it slightly more difficult to address. The introduction of iodine substituents is furthermore accompanied with a diminishing thermal half-life. A series of three azobenzenes with different halogen bonding donor properties are discussed in relation to their changing photophysical properties, rationalized by DFT calculations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (32) ◽  
pp. 10383-10387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Li ◽  
Miao Wang ◽  
Tianhui Shi ◽  
Sihui Yang ◽  
Jinghui Zhang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Weibing Teng ◽  
Joseph Cappello ◽  
Xiaoyi Wu

Silk may possess superior mechanical strength while its resilience is very poor. In contrast, elastin in human arteries is very soft but extremely durable with an estimated half-life of 70 years. By combing polypeptide sequences derived from native silk and elastin, we have produced a series of silk-elastin-like proteins (SELPs), which have displayed a set of outstanding properties such as good biocompatibility and controllable biodegradation rates [1]. In this study, we will examine the crystallization of the silk-like blocks and the crosslinking of the elastin-like blocks, as well as their influences on the mechanical behavior of SELPs. The ultimate goal of this study is to explore the potential of SELPs for applications in the engineering of load-bearing tissues such as arteries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Panagiotou

The recent wave of megamergers sweeping the US food industry has raised significant concerns regarding “conglomerate” market power. Beef processors have been merging with pork and/or poultry processors (and vice versa). Concurrently, consumers have changed their attitude toward diet and health. The poultry industry has been more responsive to the changes in consumers’ lifestyles than the red meat industry by providing products which address health concerns. As a consequence, consumers exhibit stronger preference for chicken and are more willing to substitute chicken for red meat. The objective of this study is to examine the sustainability of collusion between multiproduct meat processing firms, under different values of the own-price demand flexibility of chicken as well as cross-price elasticities of demand between the markets of chicken and red meat. The findings indicate that the less (more) responsive demand for chicken gets to changes in its own price (price of red meat), the easier it gets for firms to sustain collusion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 882-887
Author(s):  
Chaitali Bose ◽  

Moringa oleifera commonly known as drumstick tree or horseradish tree is widely distributed in India and other subtropical and tropical parts of the world. Besides its conventional culinary uses, Moringa has profound contribution to herbal medicine, agricultural and livestock development, water purification, bio-fuel production and so on. Being one of the richest sources of different macro and micro nutrients, antioxidants and other bioactive compounds, this miracle tree recently has gained popularity in food processing industry with the aim to curb the sprawling malnutrition. In some countries like African countries, either fresh or dried Moringa leaf, seed and flower powder are being used to fortify different foods. Improved texture, sensory and nutritional quality and extended shelf life of the target products have been making this tree important for food industry. So the aim of this review is to reveal the present application of Moringa as food fortificant in food processing industries in different countries, factors those restrain its further applicability and also to focus on the need of future research in this regard.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro D. Gaspar ◽  
Rita Pinheiro ◽  
Cláudia Domingues ◽  
Celestino Almeida ◽  
Teresa Paiva ◽  
...  

Agro-food companies are aware that the technical and soft skills of their employees directly influence business performance and, consequently, improving those skills will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their companies. This paper presents the main results of the AgriTraining project “Training requirements for the agro-food industry". Activities in pursuit of the objectives of this project involved: (1) analysis of the training needs in the agro-food industry in Portugal; (2) analysis of the training provision and the training organizations; (3) analysis of market trends; (4) definition of a training strategy; and (5) adjustment and development of training strategies for the agro-food sector. This last activity comprised the development of training curricula, suitable for the food sector as a whole and adjusted for the specific needs of some traditional industries, in order to promote the development and competitiveness of the agro-food industry in Portugal. Such training curricula aimed to promote the uptake of innovative technologies and methodologies, increase the ability of agro-food industries to invest and take risks, and enable adoption of European Community standards for production and marketing. Gaps in training supply were identified and the training provision was updated according to the needs of the agro-food companies. It was determined that companies need and demand knowledge and innovation to increase their competitive position for internationalization purposes. It was possible to define a training strategy based on market-orientation for agro-food differentiation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Tati Ariyanti

Bacteriophages are viruses that have ability to attack bacterial cells in specific receptors, infect, multiply in bacterial cells and eventually lyse bacterial cells. This unique bacteriophage character is highly beneficial because it is harmless to mammalian cells and does not interfere with natural microbes. Bacteriophages are easy to obtain because they are widespread in the environment such as soil, water, animal, and farm waste or food. This paper describes the potential use of bacteriophages to detect pathogen and foodborne pathogen biocontrol. Bacteriophages are very potential to control the growth of pathogenic bacteria both in food industry and environment. Bacteriophages act as antibiotics, detection tool for pathogenic bacteria in the food chain, food biopreservative from pathogen bacteria contamination, and foodborne disease prevention. Although research on bacteriophage in Indonesia has not been widely reported, research on bacteriophage utilization is being carried on.


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