Localization of S-100 proteins in the testis and epididymis of poultry and rabbits

Ahmed Abd Elmaksoud,Mahmoud Badran Shoeib,Hany E S Marei 대한해부학회 2014 Anatomy & Cell Biology Vol.47 No.3

The present investigation was conducted to demonstrate S-100 protein in the testis and epididymis of adult chickens, Sudani ducks, pigeons, and rabbits. This study may represent the first indication for the presence of S-100 in the male reproductive organs of these species and might therefore serve as a milestone for further reports. In the testis of chickens, pigeons and rabbits, intense S-100 was seen in Sertoli cells. S-100 was also seen in the endothelial lining of blood vessels in rabbit testis. On the contrary, no S-100 reaction was detected in the Sertoli cells of Sudani ducks. In epididymis, the localization of S-100 had varied according to species studied; it was seen in the basal cells (BC) of epididymal duct in duck, non-ciliated cells of the distal efferent ductules in pigeons and ciliated cells of the efferent ductules and BC of rabbit epididymis. Conversely, S-100 specific staining was not detected in the epithelial lining of the rooster and pigeon epididymal duct as well as the principal cells of the rabbit epididymis. In conclusion, the distribution of the S-100 proteins in the testis and epididymis might point out to its roles in the male reproduction.

Microwave assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles and their antibacterial activity against <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>)

Arshi, Nishat,Ahmed, Faheem,Kumar, Shalendra,Anwar, M.S.,Lu, Junqing,Koo, Bon Heun,Lee, Chan Gyu Elsevier 2011 Current Applied Physics Vol.11 No.1

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>We report a simple one step microwave irradiation method for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles using citric acid as reducing agent and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as binding agent. The reaction was completed under two different microwave irradiation times (40 s and 70 s) for the production of two types of gold nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. UV–Vis study revealed the formation of gold nanoparticles with surface plasmon absorption maxima at 590 and 560 nm for 40 and 70 s irradiation time respectively. From TEM analysis, it is observed that the gold nanoparticles have spherical shape with particle size distribution in the range 1–10 nm and 1–2 nm for 40 s and 70 s irradiation time respectively. Antibacterial activity of gold nanoparticles as a function of particle concentration against gram-negative bacterium <I>Escherichia coli</I> (<I>E. coli</I>) was carried out in solid growth media. The two types of gold nanoparticles show high antibacterial activity with zone of inhibition of about 22 mm against <I>E. coli</I> (ATCC 25922 strain). Very small difference in the antibacterial activity for the two types of gold nanoparticles were observed. Though nanoparticles synthesized for 70 s irradiation time show slightly better antibacterial activity.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P><P>► Gold nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized using microwave irradiation technique. ► The mean diameter was ∼ 4.05 nm for 40 s and ∼1.05 nm for 70 s. ► Characteristic absorption peak was found to be 590 nm for 40 s and 560 nm for 70 s. ► The zone of inhibition for the two types of nanoparticles was almost similar (22 mm). ► Smaller size nanoparticles synthesized for 70s showed a slightly better antibacterial action.</P>

Comparison of Single and Blend Acidifiers as Alternative to Antibiotics on Growth Performance, Fecal Microflora, and Humoral Immunity in Weaned Piglets

Ahmed, S.T.,Hwang, J.A.,Hoon, J.,Mun, H.S.,Yang, C.J. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.1

The banning of the use of antibiotics as feed additive has accelerated investigations of alternative feed additives in animal production. This experiment investigated the effect of pure citric acid or acidifier blend supplementation as substitute for antibiotic growth promoters on growth performance, fecal microbial count, and humoral immunity in weaned piglets challenged with Salmonella enterica serover Typhimurium and Escherichia coli KCTC 2571. A total of 60 newly weaned piglets (crossbred, 28-d-old; average 8 kg initial weight) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments included NC (negative control; basal diet), PC (positive control; basal diet+0.002% apramycin), T1 (basal diet+0.5% pure citric acid), and T2 (basal diet+0.4% acidifier blend). All piglets were orally challenged with 5 mL of culture fluid containing $2.3{\times}10^8$ cfu/mL of E. coli KCTC 2571 and $5.9{\times}10^8$ cfu/mL of S. typhimurium at the beginning of the experiment. The PC group showed the highest ADG and ADFI, whereas gain:feed was improved in the PC and T1 group (p<0.05). All dietary treatments showed significant reduction in fecal counts of Salmonella and E. coli, compared to NC (p<0.05), with PC being better than T1 and T2. Significant elevation in fecal Lactobacillus spp. counts was shown by treatments with T1, T2, and PC, whereas Bacillus spp. counts were increased by treatment with T1 and T2 compared to NC and PC diet (p<0.05). Serum IgG concentration was increased by T1 diet (p<0.05), whereas IgM and IgA were not significantly affected by any of the dietary treatments (p>0.05). From these above results, it can be concluded that, as alternatives to antibiotics dietary acidification with pure citric acid or acidifiers blend did not fully ameliorate the negative effects of microbial challenges in respect of growth performance and microbial environment, however improved immunity suggested further research with different dose levels.

Potential antifilarial activity of the fruit, leaf and stem extract of Melia azedarach Linn. on cattle filarial parasite Setaria cervi in vitro

Ahmed, Qamar U.,Zaidi, S.M.K.R.,Kaleem, M.,Khan, N.U.,Singhal, K.C. Kyung Hee Oriental Medicine Research Center 2006 Oriental pharmacy and experimental medicine Vol.6 No.2

The effect of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the fruit, leaf and stem of Melia azedarach Linn. (Meliaceae) on the spontaneous movements of both the whole worm and the nerve-muscle (n.m.) preparation of Setaria (S.) cervi and on the survival of microfilariae in vitro was studied. Alcoholic extracts of fruit, leaf and stem caused inhibition of the spontaneous movements of the whole worm and the n.m. preparation of S. cervi, while only aqueous extract of fruit caused inhibition of the spontaneous movements of the whole worm and the n.m. preparation of S. cervi. The initial stimulatory effect was not observed by the aqueous and alcoholic extracts of fruit on n.m. preparation. The concentrations required to inhibit the movements of the whole worm and n.m. preparation for alcoholic extracts of fruit, leaf and stem were 250, $40\;{\mu}g/ml$; 280, $40\;{\mu}g/ml$ and 270, $25\;{\mu}g/ml$ respectively, whereas an aqueous extract of fruit caused inhibition of whole worm and n.m. preparation at $200\;{\mu}g/ml$ and $40\;{\mu}g/ml$ respectively. Alcoholic extracts of the fruit, leaf and stem and aqueous extract of the fruit of M. azedarach caused concentration related inhibition on the survival of microfilariae (m.f.) of S. cervi. The $LC_{50}$ and $LC_{90}$ as observed after 6 h were found to be 5, 15, 10, 20 ng/ml and 10, 25, 20 and 35 ng/ml, respectively. This work was conducted in view of the exploration of potential antifilarial herbal drug.

Synergistic activity of Bacillus thuringiensis δ‐endotoxin and TMOF against Culex pipiens and Spodoptera littoralis larvae

Ahmed M.A. Mohammed,Mervat R. DIAB,Sayed M.S. KHALIL 한국곤충학회 2018 Entomological Research Vol.48 No.3

Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (TMOF) is a decapeptide hormone that inhibits the biosynthesis of digestive enzymes in the mosquito midgut. The hormone inhibits food digestion and ultimately leads to starvation and death. It has been used as a biological insecticide to control mosquitoes. In an attempt to increase the insecticidal activity of TMOF, a combination of CryIC (δ‐endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis) and TMOF was determined. Eight recombinant proteins fused with GST (glutathione‐S‐transferase) were expressed in Escherichia coli cells. Their insecticidal activities were determined against Culex pipiens and Spodoptera littoralis larvae. Purified GST‐TMOF and its analogue GST‐YDPAS exhibited a moderate toxicity on C. pipiens larvae with LC50 of 145.9 and 339.9 μg/mL, respectively. Unexpectedly, no mortality was observed in first instar larvae of S. littoralis. Puirified GST‐TMOF and GST‐YDPAS together with Bt toxin showed a synergistic toxic effect on both Culex and Spodoptera larvae. In the presence of 100 μg/mL GST‐TMOF and GST‐YDPAS, the median lethal concentration of entomocidus on culex larvae decreased from 52.1 to 16.7 and 31.9 μg/mL, respectively. Likewise, GST‐TMOF and GST‐YDPAS incorporated with 0.07 μg/cm2 of enotmocidus showed insecticidal activity against S. littoralis with LC50 of 16.4 and 21.9 μg/cm2. The E. coli lysates containing GST‐CryIC and its 3′‐truncated version showed low toxicity against the lepidopteran insect (10.8 and 16.6 μg/cm2) compared to 0.15 μg/cm2 of the native crystalline form of CryIC. Similarly, the mosquitocidal activity of the recombinant Bt toxins was low.

Simultaneous reduction and sulfonation of graphene oxide for efficient hole selectivity in polymer solar cells

Asghar Ali,Zuhair S. Khan,Mahmood Jamil,Yaqoob Khan,Nisar Ahmad,S. Ahmed 한국물리학회 2018 Current Applied Physics Vol.18 No.5

We developed sulfonated, reduced graphene oxide (S-RGO) through fuming/concentrated sulfuric acid treatment of graphene oxide (GO) in ambient conditions. It was demonstrated that the optical band gap and electrical conductivity of S-RGO are easily tunable, and depend on the level of reduction and sulfonation of GO. Whereas, reduction and sulfonation were found dependent on SO3 content, acid strength, and gas tightness of the reaction mixture. It's actually the water content of oleum that determines the nature of the final product. The easily adjustable band gap and electrical conductivity suggest that S-RGO can be employed as a potential hole extraction layer (HEL) material for several donor-acceptor systems. For P3HT:PC61BM based inverted polymer solar cells, it was observed that the shape of the JeV curve is tailorable with the choice of HEL. Compared to a 2.75% power conversion efficiency (PCE) attained with PEDOT:PSS, a PCE of 2.80% was achieved with tuned S-RGO. Our results imply that an S-RGO of sufficiently high band gap and conductivity can replace some of the state of the art HEL materials for a host of device applications.

Immune Defense of Rats Immunized with Fennel Honey, Propolis, and Bee Venom Against Induced Staphylococcal Infection

S.M. Sayed,Ghada A. Abou El-Ella,Nahed M. Wahba,Neveen A. El Nisr,Khaled Raddad,M.F. Abd El Rahman,M.M. Abd El Hafeez,Ahmed Abd El Fattah Aamer 한국식품영양과학회 2009 Journal of medicinal food Vol.12 No.3

The objective of this work was to evaluate the potency of bee product-immunized rats to overcome an induced Staphylococcus aureus infection. Forty rats were divided to eight groups: T1, T3, and T5 received, respectively, fennel honey, ethanol, and aqueous propolis extracts orally, and T2, T4, and T6 were administered the respective materials intraperitoneally; T7 received bee venom by the bee sting technique; and T8 was the control group. All groups were challenged by a bovine clinical mastitis isolate of S. aureus. Each rat received 2mL of broth inoculated with 1×105 colony-forming units/mL intraperitoneally. Two weeks post-induced infection all rats were sacrificed and eviscerated for postmortem inspection and histopathological study. Three rats from T8 and one rat from T7 died before sacrifice. Another two rats, one each in T4 and T5, had morbidity manifestations. The remaining experimental animals showed apparently healthy conditions until time of sacrifice. Postmortem inspection revealed that all T8 rats showed different degrees of skeletal muscle and internal organ paleness with scattered focal pus nodules mainly on lungs and livers. All rats of the treated groups showed normal postmortem features except three rats. A dead rat in group T7 showed focal pus nodules on the lung surface only, whereas the affected two rats in groups T4 and T5 appeared normal except with some pus nodules, but much smaller than in the control, scattered on the hepatic surface and mesentery. Histopathological studies revealed that T8 rats had typical suppurative bronchopneumonia and or severe degenerative and necrobiotic changes in hepatic tissues. Three affected rats of the treated groups showed slight bronchopneumonia or degenerative hepatic changes only. The other animals of the treated groups showed completely normal parenchymatous organs with stimulated lymphatic tissues. It was concluded that all tested previously bee product-immunized rats could significantly challenge the induced S. aureus infection (P<.01). The effects were more pronounced in rats that had received fennel honey solution.

Optimization, Purification, and Characterization of Haloalkaline Serine Protease from a Haloalkaliphilic Archaeon Natrialba hulunbeirensis Strain WNHS14

( Rania S Ahmed ),( Amira M Embaby ),( Mostafa Hassan ),( Nadia A Soliman ),( Yasser R Abdel-fattah ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2021 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.49 No.2

The present study addresses isolation, optimization, partial purification, and characterization of a haloalkaline serine protease from a newly isolated haloarchaeal strain isolated from Wadi El Natrun in Egypt. We expected that a two-step sequential statistical approach (one variable at a time, followed by response surface methodology) might maximize the production of the haloalkaline serine protease. The enzyme was partially purified using Hiprep 16/60 sephacryl S-100 HR gel filtration column. Molecular identification revealed the newly isolated haloarchaeon to be Natrialba hulunbeirensis strain WNHS14. Among several tested physicochemical determinants, casamino acids, KCl, and NaCl showed the most significant effects on enzyme production as determined from results of the One-Variable-At-A-time (OVAT) study. The Box- Behnken design localized the optimal levels of the three key determinants; casamino acids, KCl, and NaCl to be 0.5% (w/v), 0.02% (w/v), and 15% (w/v), respectively, obtaining 62.9 U/ml as the maximal amount of protease produced after treatment at 40℃, and pH 9 for 9 days with 6-fold enhancement in yield. The enzyme was partially purified after size exclusion chromatography with specific activity, purification fold, and yield of 1282.63 U/mg, 8.9, and 23%, respectively. The enzyme showed its maximal activity at pH, temperature, and NaCl concentration optima of 10, 75℃, and 2 M, respectively. Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF, 5 mM) completely inhibited enzyme activity.

First Molecular Characterization of Hypoderma actaeon in Cattle and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Portugal

Haroon Ahmed,Sérgio Ramalho Sousa,sami simsek,Sofia Anastácio,Seyma Gunyakti Kilinc 대한기생충학ㆍ열대의학회 2017 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.55 No.6

Hypoderma spp. larvae cause subcutaneous myiasis in several animal species. The objective of the present investigation was to identify and characterize morphologically and molecularly the larvae of Hypoderma spp. collected from cattle (Bos taurus taurus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the district of Castelo Branco, Portugal. For this purpose, a total of 8 larvae were collected from cattle (n=2) and red deer (n=6). After morphological identification of Hypoderma spp. larvae, molecular characterization was based on PCR-RFLP and mitochondrial CO1 gene sequence analysis. All larvae were morphologically characterized as the third instar larvae (L3) of H. actaeon. Two restriction enzymes were used for molecular identification of the larvae. TaqI restriction enzyme was not able to cut H. actaeon. However, MboII restriction enzyme differentiated Hypoderma species showing 210 and 450 bp bands in H. actaeon. Furthermore, according to the alignment of the mt-CO1 gene sequences of Hypoderma species and to PCR-RFLP findings, all the identified Hypoderma larvae were confirmed as H. actaeon. This is the first report of identification of Hypoderma spp. (Diptera; Oestridae) from cattle and red deer in Portugal, based on morphological and molecular analyses.

Design, Synthesis, and Antibacterial Activity of Spiropyrimidinone Derivatives Incorporated Azo Sulfonamide Chromophore for Polyester Printing Application

Sherif S. Ragab,Ayman M. K. Sweed,Zeinab K. Hamza,Elkhabiry Shaban,Ahmed A. El-Sayed 한국섬유공학회 2022 Fibers and polymers Vol.23 No.8

We designed and developed a novel series of bioactive disperse dyes by conjugation of spirocyclic 2-thiopyrimidine scaffold with aryl or sulfa drug moieties in the same construct through azo linker to take advantage of thebioactive character of both motifs. The target molecules were simply approached on a gram scale via the diazocoupling ofspirocyclic 2-thiouracil 1 with aryl diazonium chloride derivatives to afford the heterocyclic azo-disperse dyes 4a-e inexcellent yield. These azo dyes were effectively utilized to make pastes for silkscreen printing of polyester fabrics. The colorcharacteristics of the dyes and their fastness properties including washing, rubbing, perspiration, sublimation, and lightfastness were also investigated. The antimicrobial activity of the produced dyes 4a-e was evaluated against some Grampositiveand Gram-negative bacteria, and the results revealed that 4d was more active than the standard drug cefoperazoneagainst the Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus. The antibacterial efficacy of the treated fabrics has also been investigatedrevealing that the dyed fabric 4b was found to have a potent inhibition on B. cereus (93 %), and against E. coli with areduction of (90 %).