Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Polyhydroxybutyrates”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

[Histological study on the polyhydroxybutyric ester(PHB) membrane used for guided bone regeneration around titanium dental implants].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of PHB membrane around dental titanium implants used in guided bone regeneration technique. METHODS: Endosseous cylindrical implants were placed in dogs' mandibles after extraction of all the mandibular premolars and the first molars immediately. Ideal implant placement sites were modified by creating standardized 3 mm x 5 mm facial dehiscent defects. The defects were covered with PHB membrane and titanium membrane respectively, then the membranes were fixed on the periosteum by sutures, and the remainder served as controls. Tissue closure was achieved with mattress and interrupted single sutures, and antibiotic injection was given to the dogs in the following 3 days. The dogs were divided into three groups according to the healing time of 1, 2 and 3 months, then the three groups of dogs were sacrificed. After that, tissue blocks containing the implants and the control ones were removed and studied by gross observation, X-ray radiograph and fluorescence microscope, and the surfaces of the membranes were observed by scanning electron microscope. The specimen used for light microscope study were fixed with 10% formaldehyde for 24 hours, and decalcified with 0.5 mol/L EDTA for 2 weeks. After the titanium implants were carefully removed, the tissue blocks were embedded into the paraffin wax, and the sections were obtained. RESULTS: The PHB membrane degraded slowly and partly 3 months after placement, and the biodegradable property of the PHB membrane deserved a longer period of study; The bone defects covered with PHB and titanium membrane were filled with much more new bone than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: PHB membrane can enhance bone formation and can be used for guided bone regeneration.

Animals↗

Biocompatibility test of polyhydroxybutyrate on human cell line.

The human fibroblast MRC-5 cells incubated with PHB granules (TM) added at a final concentration of 4 mg/ml showed a time-course pattern of survival. The percentages of dead cells obtained were at the rate of 3.8% after 7 days, respectively. When the MRC-5 cells grown in different material, using the test concentration of 4 mg/ml PCM, they were found to show a similar time-course increasing pattern of death as that obtained with PHB. However, the death was noted in the cells incubated for 7 days, the death rates obtained was 40.54% respectively.

Cell Line↗

Increased poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats.

Poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, a linear polymer of the ketone body, R-3-hydroxybutyric acid, is an amphiphilic, water-insoluble, salt-solvating polymer. In humans, shortchain, complexed polyhydroxybutyrate has been found in a wide variety of tissues and in atherosclerotic plaques. In the circulation, plasma polyhydroxybutyrate concentrations correlate strongly with atherogenic lipid profiles. We compared polyhydroxybutyrate levels in plasma, kidney, eye, sciatic nerve, aorta, and brain of streptozotocin-diabetic and healthy control Sprague-Dawley rats, three weeks after injection. With the exception of brain, which showed only a marginal increase (1.3-fold), polyhydroxybutyrate levels were 3- to 8-fold greater in tissues from diabetic vs. control rats. Increases in polyhydroxybutyrate levels between normal and diabetic rat tissues were in order: sciatic nerve (9.0-fold), kidney (7.2-fold), plasma (6.0-fold), aorta (4.4-fold), and whole eye (2.9-fold). These data indicate a significant increase in polyhydroxybutyrate levels in organs affected by complications of diabetes, and further suggest that plasma polyhydroxybutyrate levels may serve as a marker for the disease.

Animals↗

Polymers for biodegradable medical devices. VIII. Hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate copolymers: physical and degradative properties of blends with polycaprolactone.

The physical and degradative properties of polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate copolymer blends with polycaprolactone were investigated. Blends containing low levels of polycaprolactone (less than 20%) were found to possess a considerable degree of compatibility, whilst those with higher levels of polycaprolactone were incompatible and showed phase separation behaviour. This incompatibility was most marked in blends containing approximately 50% of each component. In blends containing low levels of polycaprolactone, processing conditions governed the ease of crystallization of polycaprolactone in the polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate matrix and thus the mechanical property of the blend. The degradation rate of these blends was found to be influenced by a complex set of factors, including temperature, pH and polycaprolactone content of the blend. Although crystallinity affected the mechanical properties of the blends, its influence on the hydrolytic degradation rate was masked by the large difference in the molecular weight of the polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate copolymers (MW approximately 300,000) and polycaprolactone. (MW approximately 50,000). The polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate/polycaprolactone blends were found to be much more stable to hydrolytic degradation than polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate/polysaccharide blends previously studied. Here the combined techniques of goniophotometry and surface energy measurements proved extremely valuable in monitoring the early stages of degradation, during which surface, rather than bulk degradation, processes predominate.

Biocompatible Materials↗

Putative structure and functions of a poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate/calcium polyphosphate channel in bacterial plasma membranes.

A poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate complex extracted from the plasma membranes of genetically competent Escherichia coli contained polyhydroxybutyrate:polyphosphate:calcium in molar ratios approximating 1:1:0.5. The chain length of the polyhydroxybutyrate was estimated as 120-200 subunits, and that of the polyphosphate was estimated as 130-170 subunits. The extracted complex, when incorporated into liposomes, exhibited a lipid phase transition in the same temperature range as that of the membrane complex in whole cells as well as the same properties of irreversibility, lability, and sensitivity to chelating buffers. Space-filling molecular models and molecular energy minimization methods (Charmm) were used to develop and evaluate a plausible structure for the complex. It is proposed that the polyhydroxybutyrate forms an exolipophilic-endopolarophilic helix around an inner framework helix of calcium polyphosphate. The calcium ions link the two polymers by forming ionic bonds with phosphoryl oxygens of the polyphosphate and ion-dipole bonds with the ester carbonyl oxygens of the polyhydroxybutyrate. This symmetrical structure forms a channel through the membrane and may play a role in the transport of calcium, phosphate, and DNA.

Calcium Phosphates↗

Accumulation of intracellular carbon reserves in relation to chloramphenicol biosynthesis by Streptomyces venezuelae.

Two chloramphenicol-producing strains of Streptomyces venezuelae accumulated small amounts of polyhydroxybutyrate during exponential growth; the compound disappeared from the mycelium as the cultures entered stationary phase. Depletion of polyhydroxybutyrate coincided with chloramphenicol production but the amount of polymer stored in the mycelium was insufficient to supply the precursor requirement for biosynthesis of the antibiotic. Accumulation of polyhydroxybutyrate in the S. venezuelae strains was appreciably lower than in two other streptomycetes examined. Glycogen and lipids accumulated in the mycelium of S. venezuelae 13s during the stationary phase, after nitrogen depletion; under the culture conditions used, they were the principal storage compounds in S. venezuelae. Trehalose was absent from the mycelium in vegetative cultures grown under nonsporulating conditions but it was abundant in spores obtained from submerged and surface cultures. Glycogen and polyhydroxybutyrate were absent from spores.

Chloramphenicol↗

Regulation of the TCA cycle and the general amino acid permease by overflow metabolism in Rhizobium leguminosarum.

Mutants of Rhizobium leguminosarum were selected that were altered in the uptake activity of the general amino acid permease (Aap). The main class of mutant maps to sucA and sucD, which are part of a gene cluster mdh-sucCDAB, which codes for malate dehydrogenase (mdh), succinyl-CoA synthetase (sucCD) and components of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (sucAB). Mutation of either sucC or sucD prevents expression of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (sucAB). Conversely, mutation of sucA or sucB results in much higher levels of succinyl-CoA synthetase and malate dehydrogenase activity. These results suggest that the genes mdh-sucCDAB may constitute an operon. suc mutants, unlike the wild-type, excrete large quantities of glutamate and 2-oxoglutarate. Concomitant with mutation of sucA or sucD, the intracellular concentration of glutamate but no 2-oxoglutarate was highly elevated, suggesting that 2-oxoglutarate normally feeds into the glutamate pool. Elevation of the intracellular glutamate pool appeared to be coupled to glutamate excretion as part of an overflow pathway for regulation of the TCA cycle. Amino acid uptake via the Aap of R. leguminosarum was strongly inhibited in the suc mutants, even though the transcription level of the aap operon was the same as the wild-type. This is consistent with previous observations that the Aap, which influences glutamate excretion in R. leguminosarum, has uptake inhibited when excretion occurs. Another class of mutant impaired in uptake by the Aap is mutated in polyhydroxybutyrate synthase (phaC). Mutants of succinyl-CoA synthetase (sucD) or 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (sucA) form ineffective nodules. However, mutants of aap, which are unable to grow on glutamate as a carbon source in laboratory culture, show wild-type levels of nitrogen fixation. This indicates that glutamate is not an important carbon and energy source in the bacteroid. Instead glutamate synthesis, like polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis, appears to be a sink for carbon and reductant, formed when the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex is blocked. This is in accord with previous observations that bacteroids synthesize high concentrations of glutamate. Overall the data show that the TCA cycle in R. leguminosarum is regulated by amino acid excretion and polyhydroxybutyrate biosynthesis which act as overflow pathways for excess carbon and reductant.

Amino Acid Transport Systems↗

In vivo 13C-NMR studies of polymer synthesis in rhizobium meliloti M5N1 strain

The use of in vivo 13C-NMR approach for the monitoring of the synthesis of various polymers within cells of Rhizobium meliloti (M5N1 strain) is reported. Significant differences in polymer biosynthesis have been shown as a function of the metabolic state of the cells and the labeled carbon source used. Consumption of carbon source and produced glycogen was complete with mid-exponential phase harvested cells. This was not the case with stationary phase harvested cells, for which polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis was higher and gluconate synthesis was lower than the former. [1-13C]fructose-grown cells produced more exopolysaccharide and polyhydroxybutyrate, but less beta-(1,2) glucan and gluconate than [1-13C]glucose-grown cells. This approach offers a suitable tool to examine the kinetics of polymer biosynthesis by Rhizobia. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Journal Article↗

Gene discovery in the Acanthamoeba castellanii genome.

Acanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba found in soil, freshwater, and marine environments and an important predator of bacteria. Acanthamoeba castellanii is also an opportunistic pathogen of clinical interest, responsible for several distinct diseases in humans. In order to provide a genomic platform for the study of this ubiquitous and important protist, we generated a sequence survey of approximately 0.5 x coverage of the genome. The data predict that A. castellanii exhibits a greater biosynthetic capacity than the free-living Dictyostelium discoideum and the parasite Entamoeba histolytica, providing an explanation for the ability of A. castellanii to inhabit a diversity of environments. Alginate lyase may provide access to bacteria within biofilms by breaking down the biofilm matrix, and polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase may facilitate utilization of the bacterial storage compound polyhydroxybutyrate as a food source. Enzymes for the synthesis and breakdown of cellulose were identified, and they likely participate in encystation and excystation as in D. discoideum. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase is present, suggesting that trehalose plays a role in stress adaptation. Detection and response to a number of stress conditions is likely accomplished with a large set of signal transduction histidine kinases and a set of putative receptor serine/threonine kinases similar to those found in E. histolytica. Serine, cysteine and metalloproteases were identified, some of which are likely involved in pathogenicity.

Acanthamoeba castellanii↗

Tissue-specific and developmental regulation of cotton gene FbL2A. Demonstration of promoter activity in transgenic plants.

A gene (FbL2A) that is preferentially expressed in cotton (Gossypium barbadense L. cv Sea Island) fiber was isolated and characterized. Genomic and cDNA analyses suggest multiple FbL2A genes in cotton. The gene is developmentally regulated and is activated during late primary and early secondary wall synthesis stages. FbL2A encodes a polypeptide of 43.4 kD and a predicted isoelectric point of 5.97. The nucleotide-derived protein is highly hydrophilic except for a hydrophobic N terminus and has a compositional bias for glutamic acid (26.3 mol%) and lysine (18.9 mol%). Sixty-two percent of the putative protein is composed of repeat motifs. A 55-amino-acid peptide region is repeated four times in a concatenate fashion within the protein. The function of the protein in the fiber cells is not known. A 2.3-kb DNA fragment 5' from the FbL2A gene is shown to direct expression of heterologous proteins in transgenic cotton in a fiber-specific and developmentally regulated fashion. The FbL2A promoter was used to express in transgenic cotton genes encoding acetoacetyl-coenzyme A reductase and polyhydroxyalkanoic acid synthase, which are involved in the synthesis of the thermoplastic polymer polyhydroxybutyric acid. Transgenic plants containing both enzymes produced polyhydroxybutyric acid in fiber. Thus, the FbL2A promoter is useful in genetic engineering schemes to modify cotton fiber.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Neuronal survival using a resorbable synthetic conduit as an alternative to primary nerve repair.

Clinically optimal situations for primary nerve repair are rarely observed. Crushed nerve ends result in either suboptimal repair or a need for nerve grafting. Functional results after nerve surgery are relatively poor, including major sensory deficits, which may be due to the death of primary sensory neurons that follows the nerve injury. The aim of this study was to determine if using polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a resorbable nerve conduit, could be an alternative to primary nerve repair in reducing loss of neurons. The superficial radial nerves in 20 cats were sectioned bilaterally and primarily repaired microsurgically by the use of two different strategies; either wrapping the nerve ends in sheets of PHB or epineurally suturing of the nerve. After 6 or 12 months, the surviving neurons within the dorsal root ganglia [C5-T1] were counted. No statistically significant differences were found between the two methods. This may imply a future possibility of using PHB as a synthetic nerve graft in situations where suboptimal primary repair or nerve grafts are the alternatives.

Absorbable Implants↗

Comparison of cytocompatibility of zein film with other biomaterials and its degradability in vitro.

UNLABELLED: Cytocompatibility of particle zein (Pzein) and film zein (Fzein) was evaluated and compared with polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), its copolymer poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), polylactic acid (PLA), and collagen, using HL-7702 cells, in terms of cell attachment rate within 3 h, and cell viabilities at 3 and 6 days determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. The zein degradation test was carried out using collagenase and trypsin, and the degradation product was added to the culture medium at different concentrations in order to examine the concentration-dependent cytotoxic effect. RESULT: The adhesion rate of the HL-7702 cells on both Pzein and Fzein was higher than that on collagen film. Cell viabilities were higher on both Pzein and Fzein than on films of PLA, PHB, PHBV, and collagen from fish skin. Zein can be degraded by both trypsin and collagenase, and the degradation product can enhance cell viability within a certain range of concentrations.

Animals↗

Inhibitory effect of carbon dioxide on the fed-batch culture of Ralstonia eutropha: evaluation by CO2 pulse injection and autogenous CO2 methods.

In order to see the effect of CO(2) inhibition resulting from the use of pure oxygen, we carried out a comparative fed-batch culture study of polyhydroxybutyric acid (PHB) production by Ralstonia eutropha using air and pure oxygen in 5-L, 30-L, and 300-L fermentors. The final PHB concentrations obtained with pure O(2) were 138.7 g/L in the 5-L fermentor and 131.3 g/L in the 30-L fermentor, which increased 2.9 and 6.2 times, respectively, as compared to those obtained with air. In the 300-L fermentor, the fed-batch culture with air yielded only 8.4 g/L PHB. However, the maximal CO(2) concentrations in the 5-L fermentor increased significantly from 4.1% (air) to 15.0% (pure O(2)), while it was only 1.6% in the 30-L fermentor with air, but reached 14.2% in the case of pure O(2). We used two different experimental methods for evaluating CO(2) inhibition: CO(2) pulse injection and autogenous CO(2) methods. A 10 or 22% (v/v) CO(2) pulse with a duration of 3 or 6 h was introduced in a pure-oxygen culture of R. eutropha to investigate how CO(2) affects the synthesis of biomass and PHB. CO(2) inhibited the cell growth and PHB synthesis significantly. The inhibitory effect became stronger with the increase of the CO(2) concentration and pulse duration. The new proposed autogenous CO(2) method makes it possible to place microbial cells under different CO(2) level environments by varying the gas flow rate. Introduction of O(2) gas at a low flow rate of 0.42 vvm resulted in an increase of CO(2) concentration to 30.2% in the exit gas. The final PHB of 97.2 g/L was obtained, which corresponded to 70% of the PHB production at 1.0 vvm O(2) flow rate. This new method measures the inhibitory effect of CO(2) produced autogenously by cells through the entire fermentation process and can avoid the overestimation of CO(2) inhibition without introducing artificial CO(2) into the fermentor.

Bioreactors↗

Physiological analysis of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 grown in continuous and batch cultures.

Chemostat cultures of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 grown on methanol or succinate at a range of dilution rates were compared to batch cultures in terms of enzyme levels, poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate content, and intracellular concentrations of adenine and pyridine nucleotides. In both chemostat and batch cultures, enzymes specific to C1 metabolism were up-regulated during growth on methanol and down-regulated during growth on succinate, polyhydroxybutyrate levels were higher on succinate, intracellular ATP levels and the energy charge were higher during growth on methanol, while the pools of reducing equivalents were higher during growth on succinate. For most of the tested parameters, little alteration occurred in response to growth rate. Overall, we conclude that the chemostat cultivation conditions developed in this study roughly mimic the growth in batch cultures, but provide a better control over the culturing conditions and a better data reproducibility, which are important for integrative functional studies. This study provides baseline data for future work using chemostat cultures, defining key similarities and differences in the physiology compared to existing batch culture data.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Evidence of an association between poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) accumulation and phosphotransbutyrylase expression in Bacillus megaterium.

Molecular analysis of a genomic region of Bacillus megaterium, a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-producing microorganism, revealed the presence of a gene coding for the enzyme phosphotransbutyrylase (Ptb). Enzyme activity was measured throughout the different growth phases of B. megaterium and was found to correlate with PHB accumulation during the late-exponential growth phase. Ptb expression was repressed by glucose and activated by the branched amino acids isoleucine and valine. Overexpression of Act(Bm), a sigma(54) regulator from B. megaterium whose gene is located upstream from ptb, caused an increase in Ptb activity and PHB accumulation in B. megaterium.

Amino Acids, Branched-Chain↗

Degradation of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates in tropical forest and mangrove soils.

Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are perceived to be a suitable alternative to petrochemical plastics because they have similar material properties, are environmentally degradable, and are produced from renewable resources. In this study, the in situ degradation of medium-chain-length PHA (PHAMCL) films in tropical forest and mangrove soils was assessed. The PHAMCL was produced by Pseudomonas putida PGA1 using saponified palm kernel oil (SPKO) as the carbon source. After 112 d of burial, there was 16.7% reduction in gross weight of the films buried in acidic forest soil (FS), 3.0% in the ones buried in alkaline forest soil by the side of a stream (FSst) and 4.5% in those buried in mangrove soil (MS). There was a slight decrease in molecular weight for the films buried in FS but not for the films buried in FSst and in MS. However, no changes were observed for the melting temperature, glass transition temperature, monomer compositions, structure, and functional group analyses of the films from any of the burial sites during the test period. This means that the integral properties of the films were maintained during that period and degradation was by surface erosion. Scanning electron microscopy of the films from the three sites revealed holes on the film surfaces which could be attributed to attack by microorganisms and bigger organisms such as detritivores. For comparison purposes, films of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a short-chain-length PHA, and polyethylene (PE) were buried together with the PHAMCL films in all three sites. The PHB films disintegrated completely in MS and lost 73.5% of their initial weight in FSst, but only 4.6% in FS suggesting that water movement played a major role in breaking up the brittle PHB films. The PE films did not register any weight loss in any of the test sites.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Microbial synthesis and properties of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) in Comamonas acidovorans.

Comamonas acidovorans DS-17 was isolated from activated sludge and found to produce copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) at 30 degrees C under growth-limited conditions. When 1,4-butanediol or 4-hydroxybutyric acid was used as the sole carbon source, a P(4HB) homopolymer was produced. Random copolymers of 3HB and 4HB units were produced on the addition of glucose or 3-hydroxybutyric acid to the culture solution of 4-hydroxybutyric acid. The physical properties of P(3HB-co-4HB) copolyesters with high 4HB fractions (64-100 mol%) were investigated. The copolyester films with high 4HB fractions exhibited the characteristics of a thermoplastic elastomer, and the tensile strength increased from 17 to 104 MPa as the 4HB fraction was increased from 64 to 100 mol%. The biodegradabilities of P(3HB-co-4HB) films were studied in aqueous solutions of extracellular polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase from Alcaligenes faecalis or of lipase from Rhizopus delemer. The erosion rate of P(3HB-co-4HB) films by PHB depolymerase decreased as the 4HB fraction in copolyester was increased from 64 to 100 mol%. In contrast, the erosion rate of films by lipase increased with the 4HB fraction.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

Gold-resistant bacteria: excretion of a cystine-rich protein by Pseudomonas cepacia induced by an antiarthritic drug.

P. cepacia bacteria adapted to growth in a chemically defined medium containing millimolar concentrations of Au(I) thiolates including the antiarthritic drug Au(I) thiomalate. The bacteria became very large, accumulated polyhydroxybutyrate and gold, and excreted a yellow protein ("thiorin"), which caused foaming of the culture medium. Thiorin was shown by 1H-NMR, amino acid analysis, and gel filtration chromatography to be of low molecular weight (ca. 9500) and to contain predominantly Cys (oxidized), Glx, and Gly.

Bacterial Proteins↗