TY - JOUR A1 - Tippkötter, Nils A1 - Stückmann, Henning A1 - Kroll, Stephen A1 - Winkelmann, Gunda A1 - Noack, Udo A1 - Scheper, Thomas A1 - Ulber, Roland T1 - A semi-quantitative dipstick assay for microcystin JF - Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry N2 - An immunochromatographic lateral flow dipstick assay for the fast detection of microcystin-LR was developed. Colloid gold particles with diameters of 40 nm were used as red-colored antibody labels for the visual detection of the antigen. The new dipstick sensor is capable of detecting down to 5 µg·l−1 (ppb; total inversion of the color signal) or 1 ppb (observation of color grading) of microcystin-LR. The course of the labeling reaction was observed via spectrometric wave shifts caused by the change of particle size during the binding of antibodies. Different stabilizing reagents showed that especially bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein increase the assays sensitivity and the conjugate stability. Performance of the dipsticks was quantified by pattern processing of capture zone CCD images. Storage stability of dipsticks and conjugate suspensions over 115 days under different conditions were monitored. The ready-to-use dipsticks were successfully tested with microcystin-LR-spiked samples of outdoor drinking- and salt water and applied to the tissue of microcystin-fed mussels. Y1 - 2009 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-2750-8 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 394 IS - 3 SP - 863 EP - 869 PB - springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muschallik, Lukas A1 - Molinnus, Denise A1 - Jablonski, Melanie A1 - Kipp, Carina Ronja A1 - Bongaerts, Johannes A1 - Pohl, Martina A1 - Wagner, Torsten A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Siegert, Petra T1 - Synthesis of α-hydroxy ketones and vicinal (R, R)-diols by Bacillus clausii DSM 8716ᵀ butanediol dehydrogenase JF - RSC Advances N2 - α-hydroxy ketones (HK) and 1,2-diols are important building blocks for fine chemical synthesis. Here, we describe the R-selective 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from B. clausii DSM 8716ᵀ (BcBDH) that belongs to the metal-dependent medium chain dehydrogenases/reductases family (MDR) and catalyzes the selective asymmetric reduction of prochiral 1,2-diketones to the corresponding HK and, in some cases, the reduction of the same to the corresponding 1,2-diols. Aliphatic diketones, like 2,3-pentanedione, 2,3-hexanedione, 5-methyl-2,3-hexanedione, 3,4-hexanedione and 2,3-heptanedione are well transformed. In addition, surprisingly alkyl phenyl dicarbonyls, like 2-hydroxy-1-phenylpropan-1-one and phenylglyoxal are accepted, whereas their derivatives with two phenyl groups are not substrates. Supplementation of Mn²⁺ (1 mM) increases BcBDH's activity in biotransformations. Furthermore, the biocatalytic reduction of 5-methyl-2,3-hexanedione to mainly 5-methyl-3-hydroxy-2-hexanone with only small amounts of 5-methyl-2-hydroxy-3-hexanone within an enzyme membrane reactor is demonstrated. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA02066D SN - 2046-2069 VL - 10 SP - 12206 EP - 12216 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Küppers, Tobias A1 - Steffen, Victoria A1 - Hellmuth, Hendrik A1 - O'Connell, Timothy A1 - Bongaerts, Johannes A1 - Maurer, Karl-Heinz A1 - Wiechert, Wolfgang T1 - Developing a new production host from a blueprint: Bacillus pumilus as an industrial enzyme producer JF - Microbial cell factories Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-13-46 SN - 1475-2859 (E-Journal) VL - 13 SP - Article No. 46 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Al-Kaidy, Huschyar A1 - Kuthan, Kai A1 - Hering, Thomas A1 - Tippkötter, Nils T1 - Aqueous droplets used as enzymatic microreactors and their electromagnetic actuation JF - Journal of Visualized Experiments N2 - For the successful implementation of microfluidic reaction systems, such as PCR and electrophoresis, the movement of small liquid volumes is essential. In conventional lab-on-a-chip-platforms, solvents and samples are passed through defined microfluidic channels with complex flow control installations. The droplet actuation platform presented here is a promising alternative. With it, it is possible to move a liquid drop (microreactor) on a planar surface of a reaction platform (lab-in-a-drop). The actuation of microreactors on the hydrophobic surface of the platform is based on the use of magnetic forces acting on the outer shell of the liquid drops which is made of a thin layer of superhydrophobic magnetite particles. The hydrophobic surface of the platform is needed to avoid any contact between the liquid core and the surface to allow a smooth movement of the microreactor. On the platform, one or more microreactors with volumes of 10 µL can be positioned and moved simultaneously. The platform itself consists of a 3 x 3 matrix of electrical double coils which accommodate either neodymium or iron cores. The magnetic field gradients are automatically controlled. By variation of the magnetic field gradients, the microreactors' magnetic hydrophobic shell can be manipulated automatically to move the microreactor or open the shell reversibly. Reactions of substrates and corresponding enzymes can be initiated by merging the microreactors or bringing them into contact with surface immobilized catalysts. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3791/54643 SN - 1940-087X IS - Issue 126 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, D. A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Popescu, C. A1 - Weichold, O. T1 - Effect of side chain length and degree of polymerization on the decomposition and crystallization behaviour of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers JF - Thermochimica Acta N2 - Four members of a homologous series of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers CCl₃–(CH₂CH (OCO(CH₂)ₘCH₃))ₙ–Cl with degrees of polymerization of 10 and 20 were prepared by telomerisation using carbon tetrachloride. The number of side chain carbon atoms ranges from 2 (poly(vinyl acetate) to 18 (poly(vinyl stearate)). The effect of the n-alkyl side chain length and of the degree of polymerization on the thermal stability and crystallization behaviour of the synthesized compounds was investigated. All oligomers degrade in two major steps by first losing HCl and side chains with subsequent breakdown of the backbone. The members with short side chains, up to poly(vinyl octanoate), are amorphous and show internal plasticization, whereas those with high number of side chain carbon atoms are semi-crystalline due to side-chain crystallization. A better packing for poly(vinyl stearate) is also noticeable. The glass transition and melting temperatures as well as the onset temperature of decomposition are influenced to a larger extent by the side chain length than by the degree of polymerization. Thermal stability is improved if both the size and number of side chains increase, but only a long side chain causes a significant increase of the resistance to degradation. This results in a stabilization of PVAc so that oligomers from poly(vinyl octanoate) on are stable under atmospheric conditions. Thus, the way to design stable, chlorinated PVEs oligomers is to use a long n-alkyl side chain. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2016.05.015 SN - 0040-6031 (electronic) VL - 637 SP - 143 EP - 153 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ghosch, S. A1 - Baier, M. A1 - Schütz, J. A1 - Schneider, Felix A1 - Scherer, Ulrich W. T1 - Analysis of electronic autoradiographs by mathematical post-processing JF - Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids: Incorporating plasma science and plasma technology N2 - Autoradiography is a well-established method of nuclear imaging. When different radionuclides are present simultaneously, additional processing is needed to distinguish distributions of radionuclides. In this work, a method is presented where aluminium absorbers of different thickness are used to produce images with different cut-off energies. By subtracting images pixel-by-pixel one can generate images representing certain ranges of β-particle energies. The method is applied to the measurement of irradiated reactor graphite samples containing several radionuclides to determine the spatial distribution of these radionuclides within pre-defined energy windows. The process was repeated under fixed parameters after thermal treatment of the samples. The greyscale images of the distribution after treatment were subtracted from the corresponding pre-treatment images. Significant changes in the intensity and distribution of radionuclides could be observed in some samples. Due to the thermal treatment parameters the most significant differences were observed in the ³H and ¹⁴C inventory and distribution. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/10420150.2016.1155587 SN - 1029-4953 VL - 171 IS - 1-2 SP - 161 EP - 172 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Druckenmüller, Katharina A1 - Günther, Klaus A1 - Elbers, Gereon T1 - Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a tool to monitor exhaust air from poultry operations JF - Science of the Total Environment N2 - Intensive poultry operation systems emit a considerable volume of inorganic and organic matter in the surrounding environment. Monitoring cleaning properties of exhaust air cleaning systems and to detect small but significant changes in emission characteristics during a fattening cycle is important for both emission and fattening process control. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with chemometric techniques as a monitoring tool of exhaust air from poultry operation systems. To generate a high-quality data set for evaluation, the exhaust air of two poultry houses was sampled by applying state-of-the-art filter sampling protocols. The two stables were identical except for one crucial difference, the presence or absence of an exhaust air cleaning system. In total, twenty-one exhaust air samples were collected at the two sites to monitor spectral differences caused by the cleaning device, and to follow changes in exhaust air characteristics during a fattening period. The total dust load was analyzed by gravimetric determination and included as a response variable in multivariate data analysis. The filter samples were directly measured with NIR spectroscopy. Principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and factor analysis (FA) were effective in classifying the NIR exhaust air spectra according to fattening day and origin. The results indicate that the dust load and the composition of exhaust air (inorganic or organic matter) substantially influence the NIR spectral patterns. In conclusion, NIR spectroscopy as a tool is a promising and very rapid way to detect differences between exhaust air samples based on still not clearly defined circumstances triggered during a fattening period and the availability of an exhaust air cleaning system. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.072 SN - 0048-9697 VL - 630 SP - 536 EP - 543 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilas, Johanna A1 - Yazici, Y. A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Keusgen, M. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Application of a portable multi-analyte biosensor for organic acid determination in silage JF - Sensors N2 - Multi-analyte biosensors may offer the opportunity to perform cost-effective and rapid analysis with reduced sample volume, as compared to electrochemical biosensing of each analyte individually. This work describes the development of an enzyme-based biosensor system for multi-parametric determination of four different organic acids. The biosensor array comprises five working electrodes for simultaneous sensing of ethanol, formate, d-lactate, and l-lactate, and an integrated counter electrode. Storage stability of the biosensor was evaluated under different conditions (stored at +4 °C in buffer solution and dry at −21 °C, +4 °C, and room temperature) over a period of 140 days. After repeated and regular application, the individual sensing electrodes exhibited the best stability when stored at −21 °C. Furthermore, measurements in silage samples (maize and sugarcane silage) were conducted with the portable biosensor system. Comparison with a conventional photometric technique demonstrated successful employment for rapid monitoring of complex media. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/s18051470 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 18 IS - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wilson, C. E. A1 - Dickie, A. P. A1 - Schreiter, K. A1 - Wehr, R. A1 - Wilson, E. M. A1 - Bial, J. A1 - Scheer, Nico A1 - Wilson, I. D. A1 - Riley, R. J. T1 - The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of diclofenac in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice JF - Archives of Toxicology N2 - The pharmacokinetics of diclofenac were investigated following single oral doses of 10 mg/kg to chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG and C57BL/6 mice. In addition, the metabolism and excretion were investigated in chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG mice. Diclofenac reached maximum blood concentrations of 2.43 ± 0.9 µg/mL (n = 3) at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 3.67 µg h/mL and an effective half-life of 0.86 h (n = 2). In the murinized animals, maximum blood concentrations were determined as 3.86 ± 2.31 µg/mL at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 4.94 ± 2.93 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.52 ± 0.03 h (n = 3). In C57BL/6J mice, mean peak blood concentrations of 2.31 ± 0.53 µg/mL were seen 0.25 h post-dose with a mean AUCinf of 2.10 ± 0.49 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.51 ± 0.49 h (n = 3). Analysis of blood indicated only trace quantities of drug-related material in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice. Metabolic profiling of urine, bile and faecal extracts revealed a complex pattern of metabolites for both humanized and murinized animals with, in addition to unchanged parent drug, a variety of hydroxylated and conjugated metabolites detected. The profiles in humanized mice were different to those of both murinized and wild-type animals, e.g., a higher proportion of the dose was detected in the form of acyl glucuronide metabolites and much reduced amounts as taurine conjugates. Comparison of the metabolic profiles obtained from the present study with previously published data from C57BL/6J mice and humans revealed a greater, though not complete, match between chimeric humanized mice and humans, such that the liver humanized FRG model may represent a model for assessing the biotransformation of such compounds in humans. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-018-2212-1 SN - 1432-0738 VL - 92 IS - 6 SP - 1953 EP - 1967 PB - Springer ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ross, Jillian A1 - Plummer, Simon M. A1 - Rode, Anja A1 - Scheer, Nico A1 - Bower, Conrad C. A1 - Vogel, Ortwin A1 - Henderson, Colin J. A1 - Wolf, C. Roland A1 - Elcombe, Clifford R. T1 - Human constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR) support the hypertrophic but not the hyperplastic response to the murine nongenotoxic hepatocarcinogens phenobarbital and chlordane in vivo JF - Toxicological Sciences N2 - Mouse nongenotoxic hepatocarcinogens phenobarbital (PB) and chlordane induce hepatomegaly characterized by hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Increased cell proliferation is implicated in the mechanism of tumor induction. The relevance of these tumors to human health is unclear. The xenoreceptors, constitutive androstane receptors (CARs), and pregnane X receptor (PXR) play key roles in these processes. Novel “humanized” and knockout models for both receptors were developed to investigate potential species differences in hepatomegaly. The effects of PB (80 mg/kg/4 days) and chlordane (10 mg/kg/4 days) were investigated in double humanized PXR and CAR (huPXR/huCAR), double knockout PXR and CAR (PXRKO/CARKO), and wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice. In WT mice, both compounds caused increased liver weight, hepatocellular hypertrophy, and cell proliferation. Both compounds caused alterations to a number of cell cycle genes consistent with induction of cell proliferation in WT mice. However, these gene expression changes did not occur in PXRKO/CARKO or huPXR/huCAR mice. Liver hypertrophy without hyperplasia was demonstrated in the huPXR/huCAR animals in response to both compounds. Induction of the CAR and PXR target genes, Cyp2b10 and Cyp3a11, was observed in both WT and huPXR/huCAR mouse lines following treatment with PB or chlordane. In the PXRKO/CARKO mice, neither liver growth nor induction of Cyp2b10 and Cyp3a11 was seen following PB or chlordane treatment, indicating that these effects are CAR/PXR dependent. These data suggest that the human receptors are able to support the chemically induced hypertrophic responses but not the hyperplastic (cell proliferation) responses. At this time, we cannot be certain that hCAR and hPXR when expressed in the mouse can function exactly as the genes do when they are expressed in human cells. However, all parameters investigated to date suggest that much of their functionality is maintained. Y1 - 2010 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfq118 SN - 1096-0929 VL - 116 IS - 2 SP - 452 EP - 466 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER -