Current Research in Biotechnology最新文献

{"title":"Phylogenetically distinct fungal expansins show different binding preferences towards cellulosic materials and enhance cellulase activity","authors":"Taru Koitto ,&nbsp;Deepika Dahiya ,&nbsp;Martina Huusela ,&nbsp;Merja Penttilä ,&nbsp;Emma Master","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100296","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100296","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Expansins and expansin-like proteins are found in plants and microbes, and can disrupt the cellulosic microfibril network of plant cell walls. While plant expansins play a role in cell wall formation, microbial expansin-like proteins reportedly enhance the activity of lignocellulolytic enzymes. Herein, two novel fungal expansin-like proteins, <em>Ama</em>EXLX1 from <em>Allomyces macrogynus</em> and <em>Apu</em>EXLX1 from <em>Aureobasidium pullulans</em>, were recombinantly produced in <em>Pichia pastoris</em>. While both <em>Ama</em>EXLX1 and <em>Apu</em>EXLX1 retain typical expansin structure, they share low sequence identity (22.5 %) and different predicted pI values (5.8 and 8.8, respectively), which was expected to impact their action on cellulosic substrates. Accordingly, adsorption of the proteins on cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and the impact of the expansin-like proteins on the hydrolysis of CNF by an endoglucanase (Cel7B) was investigated using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). <em>Ama</em>EXLX1 showed higher affinity towards cellulose compared to <em>Apu</em>EXLX1, which was correlated to missing key aromatic residues in the polysaccharide binding surface of <em>Apu</em>EXLX1. The pretreatment of a CNF film with <em>Ama</em>EXLX1 and <em>Apu</em>EXLX1 increased the initial rate of Cel7B activity. This study underscores similarities between the impacts that bacterial and fungal expansin-like proteins can have on the enzymatic deconstruction of cellulose, and sequence properties that could impact expansin performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100296"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143942178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Favipiravir vs. Deferiprone: tautomeric, photophysical, in vitro biological studies, and binding interactions with SARS-Cov-2-MPro/ACE2” [Curr. Res. Biotechnol. 7 (2024) 100176]","authors":"Nikolay T. Tzvetkov ,&nbsp;Martina I. Peeva ,&nbsp;Maya G. Georgieva ,&nbsp;Vera Deneva ,&nbsp;Aneliya A. Balacheva ,&nbsp;Ivan P. Bogdanov ,&nbsp;Maria Ponticelli ,&nbsp;Luigi Milella ,&nbsp;Kiril Kirilov ,&nbsp;Maima Matin ,&nbsp;Hans-Georg Stammler ,&nbsp;Atanas G. Atanasov ,&nbsp;Liudmil Antonov","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100286","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100286","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100286"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143834805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Termitomyces mushroom extract-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles and its in-vitro activity against drug-resistant Candida species","authors":"Naheem Adekilekun Tijani ,&nbsp;Joseph Hokello ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Eilu ,&nbsp;Saheed Adekunle Akinola ,&nbsp;Abdullateef Opeyemi Afolabi ,&nbsp;Ibrahim Ntulume ,&nbsp;Ismail Abiola Adebayo","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100279","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100279","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Green nanotechnology has continued to gain popularity as a novel and alternative strategy to overcome the menace caused by drug-resistant pathogens. For the first time, this study explores an efficient, eco-friendly, and economical approach for the mycogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by utilizing the aqueous extract of wild <em>Termitomyces</em> species of edible mushroom. The mushroom-assisted AgNPs synthesis was validated with visual colour observation and characterized with UV–Vis spectrophotometer, SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR and DLS. The potential anticandidal efficacy of the synthesized AgNPs was investigated against six clinical isolates of resistant pathogenic <em>Candida</em> species. A typical Ag surface plasmon resonance (SPR) had absorbance maxima wavelength within 371–404 nm range, with a spherical shape particulate structure in the size range of 28 to 45 nm according to UV–Vis and SEM analyses respectively. Remarkable antifungal activity was recorded against a good number of the <em>Candida</em> isolates with MICs values in the range of 0.0122–0.0976 mg/mL. We conclude that wild <em>Termitomyces</em> mushroom is a suitable biomaterial for AgNPs synthesis and an effective antifungal agent which could be adopted as a novel therapeutic agent for efficient management of drug-resistant <em>Candida</em> pathogens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100279"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143429012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Curcumol inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation through miRNA-124/STAT3 pathway: Network pharmacology and experimental validation","authors":"Gui-yu Li ,&nbsp;Ji-yong Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100270","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100270","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Hepatocellular carcinoma <strong>(</strong>HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer and is one of the most common global cancers. <em>Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe</em> is a traditional Chinese herb that has been used for thousands of years in China to treat various types of cancer. Curcumol is one of its primary bioactive sesquiterpenes and has been reported to possess antitumor properties; however, the underlying mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to reveal the mechanism of curcumol treating HCC based on the network pharmacology and experimental verification.</div></div><div><h3>Materials and Methods</h3><div>Targets of HCC and curcumol were identified. The drugs and disease targets were intersected by <em>Venn Diagram.</em> The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of curcumol treating HCC was analyzed through the R 3.6.1 software. The effects of curcumol on the inhibition of HCC cell line HepG2 growth and its pro-apoptotic activity were evaluated by cell counting kit-8 and flow cytometry. The expression of microRNA-124 (miRNA-124) mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. HepG2 cells were transfected with a miRNA mimic and inhibitor. The expression of STAT3 and its phosphorylation were induced by IL-6 and detected by western blotting.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>MicroRNAs in cancer is a significant enrichment signaling pathway for curcumol treating HCC, according to the KEGG pathway analysis. Curcumol effectively inhibited HepG2 cell growth at 50–150 μg/ml, while it had low toxicity to normal LO2 cells. Using flow cytometry, curcumol strongly promoted apoptosis in HepG2 cells and was more potent than the miRNA-124 mimic, whereas the miRNA-124 inhibitor reduced the pro-apoptotic effect of curcumol. Western blotting revealed that curcumol significantly downregulated the overexpression of STAT3 and its phosphorylation in interleukin-6 induced HepG2 cells, whereas an increased level of STAT3 was observed in the miRNA-124 inhibitor transfected cells after curcumol treatment compared to untransfected cells. The level of miRNA-124 was changed up to 5.87-fold by curcumol treatment.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The mechanism underlying the effect of curcumol on inhibition and pro-apoptosis of HepG2 cell growth is possibly related to the miRNA-124/STAT3 pathway.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100270"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Cost-effective production process of scFv antibody fragments against Shiga toxin 2 via recombinant E. coli” [Curr. Res. Biotechnol. 10 (2025) 100310]","authors":"Marcela Guimarães ,&nbsp;Daniela Luz ,&nbsp;Elisabeth de Fátima Pires Augusto ,&nbsp;Lucia Vieira ,&nbsp;Maricilia Silva Costa ,&nbsp;Roxane Maria Fontes Piazza ,&nbsp;José Geraldo da Cruz Pradella","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100315","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100315","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100315"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Edible domestic animal blood products for biomedical and disease treatment applications","authors":"Zhi Cao ,&nbsp;Imran Mahmood Khan ,&nbsp;Xiangrui Niu ,&nbsp;Yang Hu ,&nbsp;Zhuang Duan ,&nbsp;Qiang Fang ,&nbsp;Zhouping Wang ,&nbsp;Junsong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100308","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100308","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Edible blood products from domestic livestock are high-value derivatives produced during slaughter, with significant potential in biomedicine and disease treatment. Livestock blood is rich in proteins, peptides, iron, vitamins and other bioactive substances. Among them, functional proteins and peptides have been widely studied for their prominent roles in drug delivery, immune regulation, anti-infection and antioxidation. They significantly impact cancer treatment and immune regulation, providing valuable resources for innovation in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The development and utilization of livestock blood products offer innovative solutions for disease treatment and promote the sustainable development of the food and pharmaceutical industries by reducing the environmental burden of blood waste. However, challenges such as the complexity of blood composition, the variability of bioactive compound effectiveness, and the need for advanced purification techniques limit their broader applications. Additionally, regulatory and safety concerns must be addressed for therapeutic suitability. This review highlights the recent advancements in the biomedical applications of livestock blood products in biomedicine, addressing these challenges and emphasizing their potential to reduce environmental waste and promote sustainable development. This review consolidates current knowledge to provide a foundation for future research, fostering innovation in disease intervention and therapy while addressing utilization barriers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100308"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144492004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A comparative study of the cis and trans isomers of two hydantoin compounds with anticonvulsant potency","authors":"Jana Tchekalarova ,&nbsp;Tsveta Stoyanova ,&nbsp;Petar Todorov","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100317","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100317","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydantoins are a class of compounds renowned for their diverse medical applications, particularly in neurology. Phenytoin (Dilantin) is one of the most well-known hydantoins, primarily used to stabilize neuronal membranes and prevent the spread of seizure activity. Recently, our team synthesized and studied the physicochemical properties of two compounds, 3-amino-5,5′-dimethylhydantoin Schiff Bases (<strong>SB1</strong> and <strong>SB2</strong>). We hypothesized that <strong>SB1</strong> and <strong>SB2</strong> possess anticonvulsant properties, with the cis forms expected to be more active than their trans forms. We conducted experiments using the maximal electroshock (MES) test and corneal kindling in mice to test this hypothesis. The results showed that the cis isomers of <strong>SB1</strong> and <strong>SB2</strong> exhibited more potent activity against seizure spread than their trans isomers, and this was observed at doses that did not induce a sedative effect. Furthermore, both trans and cis isomers of <strong>SB1</strong> but not <strong>SB2</strong> compound demonstrated the ability to suppress seizures in the corneal kindling test. Our findings suggest that the trans-cis conversion of the hydantoin compounds <strong>SB1</strong> and <strong>SB2</strong> is crucial for their effectiveness in preventing seizure spread in the MES test and that of <strong>SB1</strong> in the corneal kindling mouse model.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100317"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ranking economic and environmental performance of feedstocks used in bio-based production systems","authors":"Dania Muhieddine Orfali ,&nbsp;Samir Meramo ,&nbsp;Sumesh Sukumara","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100275","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100275","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biotechnology offers renewable alternatives for producing food, materials, and numerous functional compounds. While rampant human activities are disrupting planets’ geophysical flows, it is urgent to develop sustainable solutions with novel feedstocks and innovative valorization pathways. With the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance circularity, new raw materials termed the next-generation feedstocks (<em>NGFs</em>), such as carbon dioxide, methane, methanol, formic acid, and acetic acid, have emerged as potential feedstocks for bio-based processes. So far, no such review exists that compares the performance of conventional, sugar, lignocellulosic, algae-based feedstocks, and <em>NGFs</em>, which biotechnology could upcycle into a wide range of products. In this review, the economic and environmental performances of the feedstocks are analyzed, and quantifications are presented and standardized based on techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment models. The main parameters for comparison included the geographical location, unit production cost, and environmental impact categories. The results show that the economic and environmental performances are highly variable among the different feedstocks and their processing routes, also depicting evident tradeoffs. Carbon dioxide, sugar cane molasses and glycerol from waste streams are performing better on assessed indicators overall than other potential feedstocks. Nonetheless, this designed data source is the first step for reliable feedstock selection based on sustainability criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100275"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143395072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Synthesis and analgesic activity of new analogs of FELL tetrapeptide containing D-Phe in the first position” [Curr. Res. Biotechnol. 8 (2024) 100249]","authors":"Boryana Borisova ,&nbsp;Hristina Nocheva ,&nbsp;Ivan Iliev ,&nbsp;Marie Laronze-Cochard ,&nbsp;Stéphane Gérard ,&nbsp;Stoyko Petrin ,&nbsp;Dancho Danalev","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100283","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100283","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100283"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143824400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multifaceted microbial enzyme nattokinase: a comprehensive review on therapeutics applications, production technologies and intellectual property landscape","authors":"Tirth Chetankumar Bhatt ,&nbsp;Viralkumar B. Mandaliya ,&nbsp;Munir Ibrahim ,&nbsp;Avani Bhimani ,&nbsp;Asmita Detroja ,&nbsp;Jaykumar Koradiya ,&nbsp;Gaurav Sanghvi ,&nbsp;Ashok Kumar Bishoyi","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100316","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100316","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have risen drastically after the COVID era as post-COVID symptoms. “Nattokinase” (NK), the thrombolytic enzyme, is known for its substrate-specific thrombolytic, protease, and fibrinolytic activity to ameliorate CVDs. Primarily, NK was isolated from <em>Bacillus subtilis natto</em> using either solid- or liquid-state fermentation technology. Later, the researchers studied the <em>arpN</em> gene, which encodes NK and is used in various biotechnological approaches with different hosts such as <em>Bacillus</em> spp., <em>Escherichia coli</em>, <em>Lactobacillus</em> spp., and <em>Pichia pastoris</em>. The global market potential of NK in treating CVDs has recently garnered attention, leading to a demand for bulk production and ultrapure forms of NK. This demand has put pressure on strain improvements and innovation in production technology. The patent scenario suggested that NK have been given more attention with 763 patents compared to streptokinase, staphylokinase and serratiopeptidase. This review critically examined the biotechnological aspects of NK in amelioration of CVDs, focusing on current production technologies, strain improvement strategies, protected NK innovations, and future research directions. It emphasizes the need for advanced approaches like CRISPR technology and novel production protocols to develop high-quality, ultrapure NK. It is also aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: “Good Health and Well-Being.”</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100316"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}