MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human and caprine MFGM proteins were isolated and analyzed, initially by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and subsequently by quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. This was then followed by database search and gene ontology analysis. In general, this method selectively analyzed the abundantly expressed proteins in milk MFGM.
RESULTS: Human MFGM contains relatively more abundant bioactive proteins compared with caprine. While a total of 128 abundant proteins were detected in the human MFGM, only 42 were found in that of the caprine. Seven of the bioactive proteins were apparently found to coexist in both human and caprine MFGM.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION: Among the commonly detected MFGM proteins, lactotransferrin, beta-casein, lipoprotein lipase, fatty acid synthase, and butyrophilin subfamily 1 member A1 were highly expressed in human MFGM. On the other hand, alpha-S1-casein and EGF factor 8 protein, which are also nutritionally beneficial, were found in abundance in caprine MFGM. The large number of human MFGM abundant proteins that were generally lacking in caprine appeared to mainly support human metabolic and developmental processes.
CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated superiority of human MFGM by having more than one hundred nutritionally beneficial and abundantly expressed proteins, which are clearly lacking in caprine MFGM. The minor similarity in the abundantly expressed bioactive proteins in caprine MFGM, which was detected further, suggests that it is still nutritionally beneficial, and therefore should be included when caprine milk-based formula is used as an alternative.
Materials and Methods: Red tilapia exposed to subacute (0.105 mg/L for 20 days) and sublethal (0.053 mg/L for 60 days) concentrations were evaluated for total plasma protein, total immunoglobulin, nitroblue tetrazolium activity, malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) activity levels. The residues of MG and leuco-MG (LMG) were also quantified in the fish muscles using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Results: Fish exposed to subacute concentration showed higher CAT on day 10 in the liver and days 5 and 15 in the spleen, whereas in fish exposed to the sublethal concentration, higher levels of GSH were observed on day 1 in the kidney and day 50 in the spleen. Fish muscle was able to accumulate the sum of MG and LMG of 108.04 µg/kg for subacute (day 20) and 82.68 µg/kg for sublethal (day 60).
Conclusion: This study showed that red tilapia was able to adapt to the stress caused by exposure to MG at sublethal concentration.
METHOD: The effects of organic modifiers in mobile phase, protein precipitation agent to plasma sample ratio, and light on montelukast stability in unprocessed and processed human plasma, were evaluated. Validation was conducted in accordance with European Medicines Agency Guideline on bioanalytical method validation.
RESULTS: No interference peak was observed when acetonitrile was used as an organic modifier. Acetonitrile to plasma ratio of 4:1 produced clean plasma sample. Approximately 3 % of cis isomer was detected in unprocessed plasma samples while 21 % of cis isomer was detected in processed plasma samples after exposing to fluorescent light for 24h. The standard calibration curve was linear over 3.00-1200.00 ng/mL. All method validation parameters were within the acceptance criteria.
CONCLUSION: The validated method was successfully applied to a bioequivalence study of two montelukast formulations involving 24 healthy Malaysian volunteers. The light stability of a light sensitive drug in unprocessed and processed human plasma samples should be studied prior to pharmacokinetic/bioequivalence studies. Measures could then be taken to protect the analyte in human plasma from light degradation.
FINDINGS: We present a draft genome assembly that includes 200 Gb of Illumina reads, 4 Gb of Moleculo synthetic long reads, and 108 Gb of Chicago libraries, with a final size matching the estimated genome size of 2.7 Gb, and a scaffold N50 of 4.8 Mb. We also present an alternative assembly including 27 Gb raw reads generated using the Pacific Biosciences platform. In addition, we sequenced the proteome of the same individual and RNA from 3 different tissue types from 3 other species of squid (Onychoteuthis banksii, Dosidicus gigas, and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) to assist genome annotation. We annotated 33,406 protein-coding genes supported by evidence, and the genome completeness estimated by BUSCO reached 92%. Repetitive regions cover 49.17% of the genome.
CONCLUSIONS: This annotated draft genome of A. dux provides a critical resource to investigate the unique traits of this species, including its gigantism and key adaptations to deep-sea environments.