Induced gene expression in industrial Saccharomyces pastorianus var. carlsbergensis TUM 34/70: evaluation of temperature and ethanol inducible native promoters.

Induced gene expression is an important trait in yeast metabolic engineering, but current regulations prevent the use of conventional expression systems, such as galactose and copper, in food and beverage fermentations. This article examines the suitability of temperature-inducible native promoters for use in the industrial yeast strain Saccharomyces pastorianus var. carlsbergensis TUM 34/70 under brewing conditions. Ten different promoters were cloned and characterized under varying temperature shifts and ethanol concentrations using a green fluorescent protein reporter. The activities of these promoters varied depending upon the stress conditions applied. A temperature shift to 4°C led to the highest fold changes of PSSA3, PUBI4 and PHSP104 by 5.4, 4.5 and 5.0, respectively. Ethanol shock at 24°C showed marked, concentration-dependent induction of the promoters. Here, PHSP104 showed its highest induction at ethanol concentrations between 4% (v/v) and 6% (v/v). The highest fold changes of PSSA3 and PUBI4 were found at 10% (v/v) ethanol. In comparison, the ethanol shock at a typical fermentation temperature (12°C) leads to lower induction patterns of these promoters. Taken together, the data show that three promoters (PHSP104, PUBI4 and PSSA3) have high potential for targeted gene expression in self-cloning brewing yeast using temperature shifts.

Gamma dose rate calculation and mapping of piemonte (North-West Italy) from gamma spectrometry soil data.

In this study the air gamma dose rate map of Piemonte, a region in the North-West of Italy, was produced from gamma spectrometry soil data. Soil samples collected in 110 different sites of Piemonte were analysed with Hyperpure Germanium (HPGe) detectors (30% relative efficiency), which allow the evaluation of the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides and (137)Cs. Then, using the available mathematical models, the gamma absorbed dose rate in air due to radionuclides was calculated. The contribution of the cosmic radiation to the total absorbed dose rate, which depend on the site altitude was also evaluated and added to the soil contribution. Finally, the map of the whole region was obtained by fitting the dose rate values of the different sites with kriging algorithms.

Sensitive SPE-HPLC method to determine a novel angiotensin-AT1 antagonist in biological samples.

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-method after solid-phase extraction (SPE) has been developed in order to determine a new angiotensin-AT1 antagonist, i.e. CR 3210 (C27H24N8; MW = 460.54), 4-[4-[(2-ethyl-5,7-dimethylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-3-yl)methyl]phenyl]-3-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)quinoline in rat plasma and urine after oral administration to Sprague-Dawley rats. CR 3210 and the internal standard (IS) CR 1505 (loxiglumide), i.e. 4-[(3,4-dichlorobenzoyl)amino]-5-[(3-methoxypropyl)pentylamino]-5-oxopentanoic acid, were isolated from rat urine and plasma by solid-phase extraction. The procedure was optimized regarding the sorbent extraction material, the pH in the conditioning solution, the washing step, the dry time and the type of elution solvent. The separation was performed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The samples were injected onto the analytical column (Tracer Extrasil ODS1) and detected at 238 nm, giving a capacity factor of 1.87 for CR 3210 and 1.10 for the internal standard. The selectivity of the method was satisfactory. The mean recovery of CR 3210 from spiked rat plasma was 68.5 at 75 ng/ml and 80.9 at 3000 ng/ml; the mean recovery of CR 3210 from spiked rat urine was 69.9 at 75 ng/ml and 78.6 at 3000 ng/ml. The lower limit of detection (LOD) was 14 ng/ml in plasma and 22 ng/ml in urine samples. The lower limit of quantification (LOQ) was taken as 30 ng/ml, the lowest calibration standard using 500 microl rat plasma and urine. The procedures were validated according to international standards with a good reproducibility and linear response from 30 to 3000 ng/ml, for either plasma or urine. The sensitivity of the method allowed for its application to pharmacokinetic studies.

Determination of a novel angiotensin-AT1 antagonist CR 3210 in biological samples by HPLC.

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of a new angiotensin-AT(1) antagonist i.e. CR 3210, 4-[4-[(2-ethyl-5,7-dimethylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-3-yl)methyl]phenyl]-3-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)quinoline, is described. The assay was utilised to describe the pharmacokinetic profile of the title compound after intravenous and intraperitoneal administration to Sprague Dawley rats. CR 3210 and the internal standard CR 1505 (loxiglumide, 4-[(3,4-dichlorobenzoyl)amino-5-[(3-methoxypropyl)pentylamino]-5-oxopentanoic acid) were isolated from rat plasma by solid-phase extraction. The sorbent extraction material along with the pH in the conditioning solution and the washing volume were considered pivotal parameters for the optimisation of the procedure. The separations were performed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The samples were injected onto the analytical column (Tracer Extrasil ODS1) and detected at 238 nm, giving a retention time of 6.19 min for CR 3210 and 4.39 min for the internal standard, respectively. The selectivity of the method showed to be satisfactory. The mean recovery of CR 3210 from spiked rat plasma was 80.3 at 1 microg/ml and 79.9 at 2 microg/ml. The lower limit of detection (LOD) was taken as 0.014 microg/ml in plasma samples. The lower limit of quantification (LOQ) was taken as 0.02 microg/ml, the lowest calibration standard using 500 microg rat plasma. The procedures were validated according to international standards with a good reproducibility and linear response from 0.02 to 2 microg/ml. The sensitivity of the method allowed for its application to pharmacokinetic studies. The maximal concentration was detected 5' after the IV administration, whereas no significant absorption was evident after IP administration of CR 3210 to Sprague-Dawley rats. Our study suggests the absence of extensive bio-transformation of the drug in vivo, supported by the evidence that no metabolites were detected in plasma samples.