Identification and absolute quantification of enzymes in laundry detergents by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A Hydrothermal Method to Generate Carbon Quantum Dots from Waste Bones and Their Detection of Laundry Powder

Surfactants are one of the major pollutants in laundry powder, which have an impact on the environment and human health. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are spherical zero-dimensional fluorescent nanoparticles with great potential for fluorescent probing, electrochemical biosensing and ion sensing. Herein, a bottom-up approach was developed for the synthesis of CQDs from biomass to detect laundry detergent and laundry powder. Waste chicken bones were used as carbon precursors after being dried, crushed and reacted with pure water at 180 °C for 4 h to generate CQDs, which exhibited a monodisperse quasi-spherical structure with an average particle size of 3.2 ± 0.2 nm. Functional groups, including -OH, C=O, C=C and C-O, were identified on the surface of the prepared CQDs. The optimal fluorescence excitation wavelength of the yellow-brown CQDs was 380 nm, with a corresponding emission peak at 465 nm. CQDs did not significantly increase cell death in multiple cell lines at concentrations of 200 µg·mL⁻¹. Fluorescence enhancement of CQDs was observed after addition of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate, a major anionic surfactant in laundry powder. A linear relationship between fluorescence enhancement CQDs and the concentration of laundry powder was established. Thus, a hydrothermal method was developed to generate CQDs from waste biomass that may be used as a fluorescent probe to detect laundry powder.

Identification of industrial detergent enzymes by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

An efficient method was proposed for routine analysis of the most widely used detergent enzymes.

Construction of a trifunctional cellulase and expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a fusion protein

Background

Cellulose is the most important component of lignocellulose, and its degradation requires three different types of enzymes to act synergistically. There have been reports of single gene duality, but no gene has been described to have more than two functions. Cloning and expression of fusion cellulases containing more than two kinds of catalytic domains has not been reported thus far.

Results

We synthesized three different cellulase genes and linked the three catalytic domains with a (G₄S)₃ flexible linker. The trifunctional cellulase gene (BCE) containing three types of cellulase functions was constructed and expressed in S. cerevisiae successfully. The β-glucosidase, the exoglucanase and the endoglucanase activity of the trifunctional cellulase BCE reached 16.80 IU/mg, 2.26 IU/mg and 20.67 IU/mg, which was 46.27, 6.73 and 46.20% higher than the activities of the β-glucosidase BG, the endoglucanase CBH and the endoglucanase EG. The filter paper enzyme activity of BCE was higher than those of BG, CBH and EG, reached 2.04 IU/mg.

Conclusions

The trifunctional cellulase BCE was designed based on β-glucosidase BG, endoglucanase EG and exoglucanase CBH, and it possessed β-glucosidase activity, endoglucanase activity and exoglucanase activity simultaneously. The BCE has better filter paper activity, it means the potential practical application.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12896-018-0454-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Skin as a Route of Allergen Exposure: Part II. Allergens and Role of the Microbiome and Environmental Exposures

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This second part of the article aims to highlight recent contributions in the literature that enhance our understanding of the cutaneous immune response to allergen.

RECENT FINDINGS

Several properties of allergens facilitate barrier disruption and cutaneous sensitization. There is a strong epidemiologic relationship between the microbiome, both the gut and skin, and atopic dermatitis (AD). The mechanisms connecting these two entities remain enigmatic; however, recent murine models show that commensal skin bacteria play an active role in supporting skin barrier homeostasis and defense against microbial penetration. Likewise, the association between the lack of colonization with Staph species and AD development suggests a potentially functional role for these organisms in regulating the skin barrier and response to environmental allergens. In undisrupted skin, evidence suggests that the cutaneous route may promote allergen tolerance. Properties of environmental allergens and commensal bacteria add to the complex landscape of skin immunity. Further investigation is needed to elucidate how these properties regulate the cutaneous immune response to allergen.