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Regulation of RNA transcription in controlling the expression of genes at promoter and terminator regions is crucial as the interaction of RNA polymerase occurred at both sites. Gene encoding cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) from Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM isolated in the previous study was used for further construction of pTZCGT-SS, pTZCGT-BS and pTZCGT-BT expression systems for enhancement of CGTase production. The putative promoter regions, −35 and −10 sequences were found in the upstream of the mature gene start codon. Whereas, long inverted repeats sequences which can form a stable stem and loop structure was found downstream of the open reading frame (ORF) of Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM CGTase. The construction of E. coli strain harbouring pTZCGT-BS showed increment of 3.2-fold in CGTase activity compared to the wild type producer. However, insertion of terminator downstream of CGTase gene in E. coli strain harbouring pTZCGT-BT only resulted in 4.42 % increment of CGTase production compared to E. coli strain containing pTZCGT-BS, perhaps due to low intrinsic termination efficiency. Thus, it is suggested that the insertion of the putative promoter regions upstream of the coding sequence for the construction of CGTase expression system will further enhance in the recombinant enzyme production.

Plant-based compounds have been in the spotlight in search of new and promising drugs. Flavokawain A, B and C are naturally occurring chalcones that have been isolated from several medicinal plants; namely the piper methysticum or commercially known as the kava-kava. Multiple researches have been done to evaluate the bioactivities of these compounds. It has been shown that all three flavokawains may hold promising anti-cancer effects. It has also been revealed that both flavokawain A and B are involved in the induction of cell cycle arrest in several cancer cell lines. Nevertheless, flavokawain B was shown to be more effective in treating in vitro cancer cell lines as compared to flavokawain A and C. Flavokawain B also exerts antinociceptive effects as well as anti-inflammation properties. This mini-review attempts to discuss the biological properties of all the flavokawains that have been reported.

Three 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-alkylimidazolium chloride room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) [2OHimCn][Cl]; (n=0, 1, 4) have been synthesized from the appropriate imidazole precursors and characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopies and elemental analysis. Their anti-microbial activities were investigated using the well-diffusion method. The viabilities of Escherichia coli, Aeromonas hydrophila, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica as a function of IL concentrations were studied. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and EC50 values for the present ILs were within the concentration range from 60 to 125 mM and 23 to 73 mM. The anti-microbial potencies of the present ILs were compared to a standard antibiotic, gentamicin. The finding affords additional perspective on the level of ILs toxicity to aquatic lifeforms and yet, this characteristic can be readily harnessed to detect microbial growth and activity.

Mast cells (MCs) are multifunctional effector cells that were originally thought to be involved in allergic disorders. Now it is known that they contain an array of mediators with a multitude of effects on many other cells. MCs have become a recent concern in drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO), an unwanted outcome of systemic medication. Most of the studies have confirmed the significant presence of inflammation as a prerequisite for the overgrowth to occur. The inflammatory changes within the gingival tissue appear to influence the interaction between the inducing drug and the fibroblast activity. The development of antibodies to MC-specific enzymes, tryptase and chymase, has facilitated the study of mast cells in DIGO. Many immunohistochemical studies involving MCs have been conducted; as a result, DIGO tissues are found to have increased the number of MCs in the gingiva, especially in the area of fibrosis. At the cellular level, gingival fibrogenesis is initiated by several mediators which induce the recruitment of a large number of inflammatory cells, including MCs. The purpose of this paper is to access the roles played by MCs in gingival overgrowth to hypothesize a relationship between these highly specialized cells in the pathogenesis of DIGO.

Mesenchymal stem cells have been increasingly introduced to have great potential in regenerative medicine, immunotherapy, and gene therapy due to their unique properties of self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell lineages. Studies have shown that these properties may be limited and changed by senescence-associated growth arrest under different culture conditions. This study aimed to present the ability of some growth factors on human umbilical cord mesenchymal (hUCM) cells expansion and telomerase activity. To optimize hUCM cell growth, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) were utilized in culture media, and the ability of these growth factors on the expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene and cell cycle phases was investigated. TERT mRNA expression increased in the hUCM cells treated by EGF and FGF. So, the untreated hUCM cells expressed 30.49 ± 7.15% of TERT, while EGF-treated cells expressed 51.82 ± 12.96% and FGF-treated cells expressed 33.77 ± 11.55% of TERT. Exposure of hUCM cells to EGF or FGF also promoted the progression of cells from G1 to S phase of the cell cycle and induced them to decrease the number of cells entering the G2/M phase. Our study showed that EGF and, to a lesser extent, FGF amplify the proliferation and expansion of hUCM cells.

The first successful attempt to reprogram somatic cell into embryonic-like stem cell was achieved on 2006. Since then, it had sparked a race against time to bring this wonderful invention from bench to bedside but it is not easily achieved due to severe problems in term of epigenetic and genomic. With each problem arise, new technique and protocol will be constructed to try to overcome it. This review addresses the various techniques made available to create iPSC with problems hogging down the technique.

Recently, soybean tempeh has received great attention due to many advantages such as higher nutritional value, lower production cost, and shorter fermentation time. In this study, the in vivo hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of nutrient enriched soybean tempeh (NESTE) were determined. NESTE fermentation process which involved anaerobic incubation was previously proclaimed to increase the content of amino acids and antioxidant properties remarkably. The evaluation of histological sections, serum biochemical markers (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and cholesterol and triglycerides (TG)), liver immune response level (nitric oxide (NO)) and liver antioxidant level (superoxide dismutase (SOD), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and malondialdehyde (MDA)) was conducted in order to compare the effects of nonfermented soybean extract (SBE) and fermented soybean extract (NESTE) on alcohol-induced liver damage in mice. Results demonstrated that 1000 mg/kg of NESTE can significantly reduce the levels of AST, ALT, cholesterol, TG, MDA, and NO. On the other hand, it also raised the level of SOD and FRAP. Furthermore, the histological examination on 1000 mg/kg NESTE treatment group showed that this extract was capable of recovering the damaged hepatocytes to their normal structures. Thus, it can be concluded that NESTE produced through fermentation process was able to enhance hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects in vivo.

Breast cancer is becoming more prominent in women today. As of now, there are no effective treatments in treating metastatic breast cancer. We have tested the cytotoxic and anti-migration effects of BHAQ, a synthesized anthraquinone, on two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB231. Anthraquinones are an interesting class of molecules that display a wide spectrum of biological applications, including anticancer properties. Cellular inhibition was tested through a MTT assay, double acridine orange/propidium iodide staining and FACS cell cycle analysis. Inhibition of migration was tested by the wound healing method, and migration through a Boyden chamber. BHAQ was cytotoxic towards both cell lines in a dose dependent and possibly cell-dependent manner. Additionally, BHAQ also inhibited the migration of the highly metastatic MDA-MB231 cell line.

Mung bean has been reported to have antioxidant, cytotoxic, and immunomodulatory effects in vitro. Fermented products are reported to have enhanced immunomodulation and cancer chemopreventive effects. In this study, fermented mung bean treatments in vivo were studied by monitoring tumor development, spleen immunity, serum cytokine (interleukin 2 and interferon gamma) levels, and spleen/tumor antioxidant levels after injection with low and high risk 4T1 breast cancer cells. Pretreatment with fermented mung bean was associated with delayed tumor formation in low risk mice. Furthermore, this treatment was connected with higher serum anticancer cytokine levels, spleen T cell populations, splenocyte cytotoxicity, and spleen/tumor antioxidant levels. Histopathological evaluation of fermented mung bean treated tumor revealed lower event of mitotic division. On the other hand, antioxidant and nitric oxide levels that were significantly increased in the untreated mice were inhibited in the fermented mung bean treated groups. These results suggested that fermented mung bean has potential cancer chemoprevention effects through the stimulation of immunity, lipid peroxidation, and anti-inflammation.

Display of the nucleocapsid protein (NP) of Nipah virus (NiV) on the hepatitis B core (HBc) particle enhances the antigenicity of the NP. In addition, the NP fused to the amino-teminus (NP401-532 HBc) and immunodominant loop of HBc (HBc79.80NP4O1'S31) was shown to be less sensitive to proteinase K. Some of the proteinase K treated NP401.32HBc and HBc79.80NP,O].s32 remained intact and antigenic. These results indicated two important implications, (1) the use of HBc virus -like particle as a carrier platform for foreign epitopes, (2 ) the use of NP401.532HBc as a diagnostic reagent for NiV infection.

The C-terminal domain of Nipah virus (NiV) nucleocapsid protein (NP 401-532) was inserted at the N-terminus and the immunodominant loop of hepatitis B core antigen (HBc). The stability of NP 401-532 increased tremendously when displayed on the HBc particles. These particles reacted specifically with the swine anti-NiV and the human anti-HBc antisera.

The present invention discloses a novel antitumor agent which provides an antitumor activity based on metabolites with reduced side effects. Moreover, the antitumor agent is prepared starting with a highly safe bacterium used in food production, which is a probiotic lactic acid bacterium.

Problem statement: Numerous plants or remedies that are traditionally used for various diseases had been claimed to maintain general good health, particularly the immune system. With the advanced understanding on immunology and ethnopharmacology, study on the interaction of this herb with the immune system is critical to understand the safety and its efficacy as a potent immunomodulatory agent. Approach: Selecting proper immune cells from a suitable immune organ allowed for the understanding on the mode of immunomodulation. Lymphocytes isolated from mammalian thymus, spleen and bone marrow represented great candidates for this immunomodulatory study. Results: A number of herbal extracts including that of Rhaphidophora korthalsii and compounds isolated from this plant, namely lectin and zerumbone, had been identified as potent immunostimulators. Conclusion/Recommendations: Future studies are needed to elucidate the mechanism underlaying activites of these immunomodulatory agents.

Rhaphidophora korthalsii methanol extract was previously found as a potential in vitro immunomodulating agent. In this study, the in vitro immunomodulatory activity of R. korthalsii methanol extract on mice splenocyte were quantified through evaluating T/NK cell population, cytokine expression (IL-2 and IFN-) and cytotoxicity against Yac-1 cell. In vitro MTT proliferation study showed that R. korthalsii methanol extract stimulate significant proliferation of splenocyte, thymocyte and bone marrow cell at 25 g/ml after 72 h incubation as compared to rIL-2. Besides, 25 g/ml of extract also enhanced T-helper 1 cytokine (IL-2 and IFN-) secretion, natural killer cell (NK1.1+CD3-) population and cytotoxicity against natural killer sensitive Yac-1 leukemic cell line. It was concluded that R. korthalsii methanol extract is a potential immunomodulator agent that could activate the natural killer cell.

The cloning of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) gene fragment from Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM isolated from the soil in Malaysia into an Escherichia coli expression vector was successfully carried out. Analysis of the nucleotide sequences revealed the presence of an open reading frame of 2112 bp which encoded a protein containing 704 amino acids with a putative molecular weight of 78.6 kDa. The deduced amino acids sequence showed about 98% homology with the CGTase from Bacillus sp. KC201. Compared to the wild type, the CGTase that was produced in E. coli cells only required one-fourth of culture time and neutral pH to produce CGTase. After 12 h of cultivation, the CGTase activity in the culture medium reached 29.6 U/ml, which was approximately 2.5-fold higher than the CGTase from the parental strain. The CGTase was produced extracellularly by E. coli (94%) indicating the signal peptide was functional in E. coli.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of lyophilized bovine pericardium and tunica vaginalis in repairing large abdominal wall defect in a rabbit model. Full thickness (all the layers of muscles except the skin) abdominal wall defects (3 x 4 cm) were created in 18 anaesthetized male clinically healthy New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal group (n= 9 each). The defects of the first group were repaired with bovine pericardium, whereas the second group was with bovine tunica vaginalis parietalis. Three animals were sacrificed at 7th, 14th and 30th days of postimplantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic examinations. The explanted grafts were replaced by newly formed collagen fibres and neo-vascularisation without any infection as well as formation of seroma. The cellular reaction was almost similar in each group. Therefore, these scaffolds can provide a structural replacement for severe and large abdominal wall defects.

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) is one of the most important groups of microbial amylolytic enzymes that have been used for degradation of starch to yield cyclodextrin (CD) via cyclization reaction. The increasing demand for CD in industrial application has led to an extensive study about CGTase which begin with screening, isolation and characterization of CGTase-producing bacteria. The identification of CGTase producer involves the use of solid media containing phenolphthalein and methyl orange as indicators that was detected by the colour changes. The formations of clearance zone around the bacterial colony in the starch-containing medium were observed and the diameters were measured to gauge the hydrolytic efficiency of the bacteria. Out of 65 soil bacterial samples screened, Bacillus sp. NR5 UPM was identified as the most prolific CGTase producer, which produced highest CGTase activity (11.709 U/ml) and highest b-CD concentration (2.504 mg/ml) with a-CD:b-CD:g-CD ratio was 0.5:91.1:8.4 when using raw soluble starch as a substrate. It also showed as the best CGTase producer when using sago starch as a substrate (15.514 U/ml). This isolate was known as a raw starch-degrading enzyme producer since it has the capability touse raw starch as a substrate. Thus, in the future, this new isolate perhaps can share the biggest market in industrial application.

The cytotoxic effect of betulinic acid (BA), isolated from Melaleuca cajuput a Malaysian plant and its four synthetic derivatives were tested for their cytotoxicity in various cell line or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by 3-[4,5-dimethylthizol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Betulinic acid acetate (BAAC) was most effective than other betulinic acid derivatives. It had most active cytotoxic activity against human myeloid leukemia (HL-60), human T4-lymphoblastoid (CEM-SS), BALB/c murine myelomonocytic leukemia (WEHI-3B) and human cervical epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) but not on normal human lymphocytes (PBMC), suggesting its action is specific for tumor cells. BA and BAAC inhibit HL-60 cell line at low concentration after 72 h with IC50 values at 2.60 and 1.38 g/mL, respectively. DNA fragmentation analysis showed ladder formation in the 100 - 1500 bp region in HL-60 cell lines after 24 h of treatment with IC50 values. The induction of apoptosis was also confirmed by flow cytometric analysis of cell cycle. BA and BAAC have been shown to induce a time dependant increase in the sub G1 peak indicating apoptotic phenomenon as obtained from the DNA content histogram analysis. Thus, betulinic acid isolated from Malaysia plant showed good potential as an anti-cancer compound with less toxicity to human normal cells.

A novel tissue engineered construct was used to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for reconstruction of abdominal wall defects, which is a common challenge to surgeons, due to insufficient autogenous tissue. Myoblasts were isolated from soleus muscle fibers, seeded onto the scaffold and cultivated in vitro for 5 days. Full-thickness abdominal wall defects (3 × 4 cm) were created in 18 male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal groups (n=9 each). The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast seeded bovine pericardium (treatment group) whereas the second group involved non-seeded bovine pericardium (control group). Three animals were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 30 days post-implantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic, light, fluorescence and electron microscopic analysis. In each case, the tissue engineered construct was thicker from deposition of newly formed collagen with neo-vascularisation, than the control group. Most importantly, multinucleated myotubes and myofibers were only detected in the treatment group. Therefore, this study demonstrates that myoblast-seeded bovine pericardium construct can provide a structural replacement for severe and large abdominal wall defects with profound regeneration of skeletal muscle tissues.

Serum deprivation inhibits cell growth and initiates apoptosis cell death in mammalian cell cultures. Since apoptosis is a genetically controlled cell death pathway, over-expression of anti-apoptotic proteins may provide a way to delay apoptosis. This study investigated the ability of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) to inhibit apoptosis induced by serum deprivation. Study includes evaluation of the ability of XIAP to prolong culture period and its effect on cell proliferation in serum-deprived media. The full length human XIAP was introduced into CHO-K1 cell lines and the effects of XIAP over-expression on the inhibition of apoptosis induced by serum-deprived conditions were examined. In batch cultures, cells over-expressing XIAP showed decreased levels of apoptosis and a higher number of viable cell under serum-deprived conditions compared to the control cell lines. The viability of control cells dropped to 40% after 2days of serum deprivation, the XIAP expressing cells still maintained at a viability higher than 90%. Further investigation revealed that the caspase-3 activity of the CHO-K1 cell line was inhibited as a result of XIAP expression.

Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) is used as a diagnostic reagent for the detection of hepatitis B virus infection. In this study, immobilized metal affinity-expanded bed adsorption chromatography (IMA-EBAC) was employed to purify N-terminally His-tagged HBcAg from unclarified bacterial homogenate. Streamline Chelating was used as the adsorbent and the batch adsorption experiment showed that the optimal binding pH of His-tagged HBcAg was 8.0 with a binding capacity of 1.8 mg per ml of adsorbent. The optimal elution condition for the elution of His-tagged HBcAg from the adsorbent was at pH 7 in the presence of 500 mM imidazole and 1.5 M NaCl. The IMA-EBAC has successfully recovered 56% of His-tagged HBcAg from the unclarified E. coli homogenate with a purification factor of 3.64. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the antigenicity of the recovered His-tagged HBcAg was not affected throughout the IMA-EBAC purification process and electron microscopy revealed that the protein assembled into virus-like particles (VLP).

The aim of this study was to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for repair abdominal wall defects. Myoblast were seeded onto the scaffolds and cultivated in vitro for 5 days. Full thickness abdominal wall defects (3 × 4 cm) were created in 18 male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal groups. The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis whereas the second group repaired with non-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis and function as a control. Three animals were sacrificed at 7th, 14th, and 30th days of post-implantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic analysis. In every case, seeded scaffolds have better deposition of newly formed collagen with neo-vascularisation than control group. Interestingly, multinucleated myotubes and myofibers were only detected in cell-seeded group. This study demonstrated that myoblast-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis can be used as an effective scaffold to repair severe and large abdominal wall defects with regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue.

This invention provides a method for immune activation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by treatment with immunogens derived from New Castle Disease virus (NDV). The invention describes a method of activation of PBMC by NDV, the activated PBMCs produced by the inventive method as well as pharmaceutical compositions and vaccines comprising the same. Further embodiments of the invention relate to the use of NDV derived immunogens and the inventive activated PBMCs in immunetheraphy of proliferative diseases - such as cancer. The invention finally provides a method for killing target cells, preferably cancer cells, by co-culturing the target cells together with the inventive activated PBMCs.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a gram negative bacterium and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. In this study, twenty five out of fifty cockle samples from Padang, Indonesia produced purple colonies when they were grown on selective medium, CHROMagarTM Vibrio. Specific–PCR for toxR gene detection gave positive results in which a band with 368 base pairs size appeared on the gel for all the isolates that confirmed the presence of V. parahaemolyticus. In the virulence properties test, all the isolates showed negative results for tdh and trh genes detection. The results indicate that the isolates under this study do not contain virulence properties that correlate to the ability of infection and diseases, which means that they are nonpathogenic.

2’,3’-Epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol are two bioactive compounds isolated from the leaves of Micromelum minutum. In this study, the induction of apoptosis by 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol on CEM-SS cells were investigated. The cytotoxicity of 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol was screened on CEM-SS by using MTT assay. The apoptotic effect of both compounds on CEM-SS was evaluated by using fluorescence and electron microcopies morphological observation and DNA laddering analysis. The inhibition effect of 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol at 50% of cell population (IC50) was found to be 4.6 µg/ml (13.5 µM) and 3 µg/ml (7.8 µM) on CEM-SS cells, respectively. From DNA fragmentation, Acridine orange and Propidium iodide staining and electron microscope analyses, the compounds were confirmed to have ability in promoting apoptosis. However, the % of apoptosis induced is low and the event is time-dependent. At high concentration of 10 µg/mL,2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol induced necrosis. Furthermore, 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol also exhibited better cytotoxicity compared to 2’,3’-epoxyisocap-nolactone. The induction time for apoptosis by 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol in CEM-SS is earlier than 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone, which is 4 h and 12 h after treatment. Both 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone and 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2’,3’-diol are potential as anticancer agent.

Elephantopus scaber Linn. is known as Prickly-leaves elephant’s foot or di dan tou in Chinese. It has been used in traditional medicine to stimulate diuresis, reduce fever and eliminate bladder stones, as well as to treat nephritis, edema, dampness, chest pain, pneumonia, scabies, arthralgia and leukemia. A number of phytochemicals have also been isolated from this plant, such as deoxyelephantopin, 11,13, dihydrodeoxyelephantopin, lupeol, epifriedelinol and stigmasterol. Most of the major studies only involved the bioactivities of the compounds especially deoxyelephantopin. The effects of the plant extract which can benefit a broad mass of people are still lacking. This paper briefly reviews the traditional usage and scientifically proven bioactivities of E. scaber which contributed its commercialization potential.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the most widely recognized pathogenic Vibrio species due to numerous outbreaks and its’ wide occurrence in marine environment. In this study, 32 isolates of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from cockles were tested for sensitivity to 16 antibiotics and the presence of plasmids. All the isolates were multi-resistance, defined as resistant to at least three different antibiotics with multiple antibiotic resistance indexes ranging from 0.31 to 0.69, indicating the isolates originate from high risk sources of contamination where antibiotics are often used. In the plasmid profiling test, only 15 isolates (47%) harbored plasmid DNA, which ranged in size from 2.7 to 56.2 kb, separating the isolates into 14 plasmid profiles. Hence, food contaminated with antibiotic resistant V. parahaemolyticus could be a major threat to public health due to the distinct possibility that they can be a significant reservoir of genes encoding antibiotic resistance determinants that can be transferred intra or interspecies. As in many developing countries, raw food hygiene and antimicrobial resistance epidemiology is still in the infancy stage in the locality of the study and thus our data provide a current baseline profile of antimicrobial resistance and plasmid of V. parahaemolyticus from cockles in Padang, Indonesia.

Introduction: Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a virus of paramyxovirus family and lately has been studied for the treatment of cancer in human. In this study, we successfully determined the oncolysis potential of NDV vaccine, V4UPM tested on the human glioblastoma multiform cell line (DBTRG.05MG) and human glioblastoma astrocytoma cell line (U-87MG) in vitro and in vivo. The V4UPM strain is a modified V4 strain developed as thermostable feed pellet vaccine for poultry. Objective: The objectives of this study were mainly to evaluate the cytolytic effect and subsequently determine the brain tumor regression potential induced by this strain in athymic mice model. Methodology and results: V4UPM, the avirulent strain of NDV, was propagate and screened for the cytolytic activity towards DBTRG.05MG and U-87MG using MTT assay. The inhibition concentration 50% (IC50) values by monolayer method measured at hour 72 were 23 and 9 HAU/ml, respectively. Further study was carried out to observe an apoptosis of the infected cells by AO/PI staining and revealed the apoptosis features of the treated cells. Subcutaneous human brain tumors grown on the nude mice were treated by V4UPM at IC80 and complete regression of U-87MG-bearing tumor mice was observed. TUNEL assay analysis of treated tumor tissues from treated mice showed an occurrence of apoptosis. Conclusion: From this study, NDV strain V4UPM inhibits the proliferation of experimental human gliomas in tissue culture and IC80 at 520 HAU V4UPM gives potent effect to induced tumor regression and apoptosis in malignant gliomas.

The present invention relates to a biomaterial for repair of abdominal wall defects comprising a sterile processed bovine tunica vaginalis and myoblast cells and a method for making the same. The preferred embodiment, collagen based biomaterials, which can be used for reconstruction of a abdominal wall defects for regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue in human and veterinary medicine. The present invention also provides a novel method for making/ preparing which increased the biocompatibility and shef life of the invented scaffolds, thereby following of seeding of myoblast on the bovine tunica vaginalis to improve its mechanical performances through skeletal muscle tissue engineering.

The present invention comprises myoblast seeded bovine pericardium and a method of making the same. The preferred embodiment, biological biomaterials which can be used for reconstruction of abdominal wall defects for regeneration o skeletal muscle both in human medicine and veterinary medicine. The present invention also provides a novel method of making/ preparation which possesses an excellent biocompatibility as well as an increased stability of the grant thereby following of seeding of myoblast on the bovine pericardium.

The current increase in amount of seafood wastes produced by the shrimp industry has lead to the finding of new methods for shrimp waste disposal or waste reused. For this respect, chitinase-producing fungi have been extensively studied as biocontrol agents. Locally isolated Trichoderma viren UKM1 was used in this study. From preliminary study, commercialized Trichoderma Minimal Medium (TMM) was selected for the degradation study. The substrates used were colloidal chitin as control substrate, sun dried ground and unground shrimp shells. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies showed penetration of fungus mycelium into the colloidal chitin as compare to sun dried ground and unground. This observation suggested that colloidal chitin was the best carbon source for modeling the degradation of chitin materials. Stereo microscope studies suggested that the fungus removed (degraded) the chitinous materials layer by layer as indicated by the significant reduction in shell thickness. Shrimp shells were further evaluated for end products in the crude medium using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). A simple, rapid, selective and specific HPLC method was developed to quantify glucosamine indirectly using the value of total N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG) produced which the production of chitooligomer was used as marker. Results showed that the Trichoderma virens UKM1 secretes a significant amount of exochitinase compared to endochitinase by the identification of monomeric N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG) from the chitinous substrate. The highest specific enzyme activity obtained using colloidal chitin was 14.59 U mg-1. Percentage of residual chitooligomer in impure chitinases samples was 86%.

Identification of Bifidobacterium species are a difficult task because of phenotypic and genetic heterogeneities. Various DNA-based techniques to rapidly characterise Bifidobacterium species and to support the conventional biochemical and morphological classification methods have been described. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and 16S to 23S internally transcribed spacer region and comparing with the sequences data present in GenBank are the most popular techniques in identifying Bifidobacterium species. Conserved sequences other than the 16S rRNA gene such as ldh, recA and hsp60 genes have become worthy tools for the elucidation of various taxonomic features such as genera, species and strains of Bifidobacterium. However, as an alternative to sequencing which is both time consuming and technically demanding, genus- or species-specific primers or probes were successfully designed to rapidly identify Bifidobacterium species. In this review, amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) method derived from the 16S rRNA gene is also discussed because of it rapid, reproducible and easy to handle characteristics. Furthermore, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and repetitive elements fingerprinting (Rep) were the popular methods to study the genetic diversity among Bifidobacterium species due to its versatility.