An ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET)-based immunosensor was developed to detect/quantitate β-Bungarotoxin (β-BuTx), a potent presynaptic neurotoxin from the venom of Bungarus multicinctus. A murine monoclonal antibody (mAb 15) specific to β-BuTx was immobilized onto silicon nitrid...

Hearing impairment can be caused by a primary lesion to the spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) with the hair cells kept intact, for example via tumours, trauma or auditory neuropathy. To mimic these conditions in animal models various methods of inflicting damage to the inner ear have been used. How...

The structural organization of the genes encoding B2, B4, B5 and B6 chains of β-bungarotoxins are reported in this study. These genes shared virtually identical overall organization with three exons interrupted by two introns in similar positions. On the contrary, intron 1 of these genes had a ...

The mechanism of the action of β-bungarotoxin (β-BuTx) in the facilitation of spontaneous transmitter release at neuromuscular synapse was investigated in Xenopus cell culture using whole-cell patch clamp recording. Exposure of the culture to β-BuTx dose-dependently enhances the frequency of ...

β-Bungarotoxin from the Taiwan banded krait, Bungarus multicinctus is a basic protein (pI=9.5), with a molecular weight of 21,800 consisting of two different polypeptide subunits. A phospholipase A2 subunit named the A-chain and a non-phospholipase A2 subunit named the B-chain, which is homolog...

β-Bungarotoxin (β-Bgt) consists of A chain (a phospholipase A2 subunit) and B chain, cross-linked by an intersubunit disulfide bridge. In contrast to a marginal activity noted with β-Bgt, recombinant A1 chain and B1 chain markedly induced release of calcein from phospholipid vesicles. Reducti...

Snake venom neurotoxins with phospholipase A2 affect the neuromuscular junction with three distinct phases. There is a transient decrease in twitch height, followed by a facilitatory phase and finally a progressive blockade. It has been suggested that the initial phase is a direct consequence of...

The neurotoxic phospholipase A2, β-bungarotoxin, caused the failure of the mechanical response of the indirectly stimulated rat diaphragm. Exposure to β-bungarotoxin had no effect on the response of the muscle to direct stimulation. Resting membrane potentials of muscle fibres exposed to the t...

The authors tested the Soluene-350 method to detect diatoms in three cases of sea water drowning. The negative results obtained in all three cases prompted us to re-test the method on samples of fresh water and sea water microalgae. The experiment showed that the siliceous frustule of sea water ...

One of the objectives of fire accident reconstruction is to determine the cause of the fire and to examine the fire spread. The temperature and extent of fire damage are the two most important characteristics in a fire accident. They can be fully utilized in a fire accident simulation that is ba...

A range of oligosaccharide ester derivatives (OEDs) have been designed as drug delivery matrices for controlled release. The synthetic hormone analogue, leuprolide, was encapsulated within these matrices using hydrophobic ion pairing and solvent spray drying. The particles produced modified the ...

Climate change has drawn the attention of many researchers and practitioners to focus on the methods to address the challenges in achieving low-carbon buildings and cities and in future developments. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the application of orthogonal experimental design (OED) ...

Among the hydrogen storage properties of solid materials, e.g., metal hydrides, the reaction kinetics is of great importance and is often investigated by fitting reaction rate curves to given models. Thanks to such models, key parameters such as activation energies can be found. However, it is n...

This paper selected typical flat and tower residential buildings in Beijing, China, to assess comfortable outdoor wind environments in summertime. Numerical analysis was carried out to evaluate design parameters that could influence the outdoor pedestrian-level wind environment during the summer...

China government attaches great importance to the ocean energy development (OED) industry and, in national planning, lists it as a strategic emerging industry, and the ocean energy development is under rapid growth in China. Estimated on basis of relevant OED plans, there will be massive sea are...

Managing shale gas produced water (SGPW) is one of the greatest challenges for shale gas industry due to its high salinity and water volume. Osmotically enhanced dewatering (OED) has great potential for treating SGPW because of its higher water recovery and lower energy consumption. This study s...

Problems regarding purification efficacy in recombinant technologies is due to the protein structure. Experimental manipulation of genes and the subsequent proteins may overcome this issue. In order to improve production efficacy and maintain immunestimulatory effect of flagellin, the Toll-like ...

Our previous study showed that the Roseburia intestinalis (R. intestinalis), one of the dominant intestinal bacterial microbiota, was significantly decreased in Crohn's disease patients and protected colon epithelial cells from inflammatory damage. However, the roles of lncRNAs in R. intest...

Entolimod (CBLB502) is a flagellin-derived radiation countermeasure currently under clinical trial. Entolimod exerts radioprotective activity by directly interacting with TLR5, an innate immune receptor, using the conserved domains of flagellin. Entolimod was designed to contain an artificially ...

The leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase flagellin-sensing 2 gene (MdFLS2; Gene ID: MDP0000254112) was cloned from Royal Gala apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.). This gene contained a complete open reading frame of 3474 bp that encoded 1158 amino acids. The phylogenetic tree indicated that Prunus pe...