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The article focuses on the characterization and gene cloning of L-Ribulose 3-epimerase (L-RE) from Mesorhizobium loti and also reflects on its application in rare sugar production. It states that the enzyme showed highest reactivity toward keto-pentose and its optimum enzyme reaction conditions were determine at 60 degree Celsius on sodium phosphate buffer. It mentions that L-RE is an important enzyme for the production of rare sugar by the Izumoring strategy.

Congenital bone marrow failure syndromes (BMFSs) are relatively rare disorders characterized by aberrant development in one or more hematopoietic lineages. Genetic alterations have now been identified in most of these disorders although the exact role of the molecular defects has yet to be elucidated. Most of these diseases are successfully managed with supportive care, however, treatment refractoriness and disease progression-often involving malignant transformation-may necessitate curative treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Due to the underlying molecular defects, the outcome of transplantation for BMFS may be dramatically different than those associated with transplantation for more common diseases, including leukemia. Given recent improvements in survival and molecular diagnosis of bone marrow failure syndrome patients presenting at adult ages without physical stigmata, it is important for both pediatric and adult hematologists to be aware of the possible diagnosis of BMF syndromes and the unique approaches required in treating such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes how D-psicose can be produced conveniently from allitol by microbial oxidation of the isolated strain Enterobacter aerogenes IK7. According to the authorS, cells grown in tryptic soy broth medium (TSB) supplemented with D-mannitol at 37°C were found to have the best oxidation potential. They add that 10% of allitol was completely transformed to the product D-psicose, which becomes economically feasible for the mass production of D-psicose.

The article describes the cloning and sequencing of arabinose metabolite genes from Mycobacterium smegmatis and the purification and characterization of recombinant L-arabinose isomerase. According to the authors, L-arabinose isomerase gene expression is regulated at the transcription level by the induction of various sugars from Escherichia coli with the same hydroxyl configurations at C2, C3 and C4 positions.

A novel chitinase gene chiC of Clostridium paraputrificum M-21, a chitinolytic and hydrogen-gas-producing bacterium, was characterized along with its translated product. The chi18C gene encodes 683 amino acids (signal peptide included) with a deduced molecular weight of 74,651. Chi18C is a modular enzyme composed of a family-18 catalytic module of glycoside hydrolases, two reiterated modules of unknown function, and a family-12 carbohydrate-binding module. Recombinant Chi18C was active toward soluble and insoluble chitin preparations, and synthetic substrates such as 4-methylumbelliferyl-β- d- N-N′ -N″-triacetylchitotriose, but not active toward 4-MU- N-acetylglucosamine or 4-MU-β- d- N-N′-diacetylchitobioside. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunological analyses suggested that the expression of chi18C was inducible with chitinous substrates and that Chi18C was secreted into the culture medium. A possible role of Chi18C in the chitinolytic system of C. paraputrificum M-21 is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A [Fe]-hydrogenase gene (hydA) was cloned from Clostridium paraputrificum M-21 in Escherichia coli using a conserved DNA sequence of clostridial hydrogenase genes amplified by PCR as the probe. The hydA gene consisted of an open reading frame of 1749 bp encoding 582 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 64,560 Da. It was ligated into a shuttle vector, pJIR751, originally constructed for Clostridium perfringens and E. coli, and expressed in C. paraputrificum. Hydrogen gas productivity of the recombinant increased up to 1.7-fold compared with the wild-type. In the recombinant, overexpression of hydA abolished lactic acid production and increased acetic acid production by over-oxidation of NADH, which is required for reduction of pyruvic acid to lactic acid in the wild-type. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to identify the potential predictors to assess the impact of maintenance therapy after induction immunochemotherapy in the real-world setting of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We retrospectively identified 152 patients with advanced NSCLC who received immunochemotherapy at 8 hospitals in Japan between January 2019 and December 2019. Patients who received at least four cycles of induction immunochemotherapy and one cycle of maintenance therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors were included. We investigated the biomarkers for progression-free survival (PFS) for maintenance therapy after induction immunochemotherapy. Results: Out of the 92 patients with advanced NSCLC included in the study, 42 received maintenance therapy with cytotoxic agents, whereas 50 received maintenance therapy without cytotoxic agents. Among those who received maintenance therapy without cytotoxic agents, responders to prior immunochemotherapy had significantly longer PFS than non-responders (p = 0.004), except those with maintenance therapy with cytotoxic agents. In non-responders to prior immunochemotherapy, patients with maintenance therapy with cytotoxic agents had significantly longer PFS than those with maintenance therapy without cytotoxic agents (log-rank p = 0.007), whereas, among responders to prior immunochemotherapy, there was no significant difference in PFS for different maintenance regimens (log-rank p = 0.31). Conclusions: This retrospective study showed that response to prior immunochemotherapy was associated with clinical outcomes among patients with advanced NSCLC who received maintenance therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]