Study on the Soy Protein-Based Adhesive Cross-Linked by Glyoxal

Based on the ESI-MS and ^(13)C-NMR analysis of the forms of glyoxal in acidic and alkaline solutions,the soy-based adhesive cross-linked by glyoxal was prepared in this work.The results showed that glyoxal existed in water in different forms at different pH levels.Under alkaline conditions,glyoxal transformed to glycolate through the intramolecular disproportionation reaction.Under acidic conditions,although some of glyoxal transformed to glycolate as what happened under alkaline conditions,most of glyoxal molecules existed in the form of fiveor six-membered cyclic ether structure.No ethylene tetraol or free aldehyde group was actually detected under these conditions.Although glyoxal reacted with soy protein under both acidic and alkaline conditions,alkaline conditions were more favorable for the improvement of mechanical performance and water resistance of soybased adhesives than acid conditions.

A Soy Protein-Based Composite Film with a Hierarchical Structure Inspired by Nacre

Soy protein-based composite film is a potential replacement for petroleum-based film with multipurpose applica-tions and cleaner production.It is difficult to improve both the tensile strength and toughness of a protein-based film without sacrificing its elongation.In this study,inspired by the hierarchical structure of nacre,a facile yet delicate strategy was developed to fabricate a novel bio-based film with excellent toughness and high strength.Triglycidylamine(TGA)crosslinked soy protein(SPI)as hard phase and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer(TPU)as soft phase comprise an alternative lay-up hierarchical structure.The interface of these two phases is enhanced using triglycidylamine(TGA)surface-modified TPU(MTPU).The tensile strength of SPI/MTPU/TGA films increases by 392%to 7.78 MPa and their toughness increases by 391%to 8.50 MJ/m^(3) compared to soy protein/glycerol film.The proposed hierarchical structure can also be extended to other high-performance materials and polymers.

Efficient Protein-based Bait Formulation for Attraction and Feeding Response of Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Myanmar

Protein baitsprays were produced from many different sources for the controlling fruit flies in the integrated pest management program around the world.Here,fruit fly baits were formulated based on cost-effective bait mixtures such as local jaggery,brewers spent grain(BSG),apple cider vinegar,wheat bran powder and local red wine with the fresh enzyme from papaya and pineapple.Fruit fly Baits were prepared by mixing the small amount of local detergent as insecticide.Our results indicated that the best efficient fruit fly bait for area wide integrated pest management(AW-IPM)is the BSG-based bait whereas the second efficient bait is local red wine-based bait.The highest fruit fly per trap per day(FTD)value by BSG-based bait traps was discovered.The highest female captured percentage is BSG-based bait with papaya solution.The field analysis of one week and one month old protein-based bait showed that FTD values decreased slightly while only one month old wheat bran-based bait dropped to the base.The BSG-based baits analysis is effective not only female fruit flies but also cockroaches male in Myanmar’s tropical region.Thus our results reveal that the efficient protein-based bait is the fresh BSG-based bait with papaya solution.

Protein-based biomaterials for combating viral infections:Current status and future prospects for development

The outbreak of viral infections are serious threat to human life and health.However,there remains to be a lack of effective treatments and prophylactic measures against some viral infections.Additionally,there are numerous challenges in developing vaccines and antiviral drugs(e.g.,antibodies and protein inhibitors),such as low immunogenicity of vaccines,difficulties in storing vaccines,instability and easy degradation of protein drugs,and lack of drug selectivity.Protein-based biomaterials can interact with antiviral drugs or vaccines to achieve synergistic or enhanced effects,making them a promising antiviral tool with many advantages.Silk fibroin has the potential to stabilize liquid vaccines at room temperature.Elastin-like polypeptide modification can improve the stability and yield of virus-neutralizing antibodies.Drugs in combination withβ-casein or serum albumin(SA)has good prospects in treating human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)infections.Moreover,the greatest value of SA as a protein-based antiviral material lies in its ability to target the liver and macrophages.In the future,combination with SA(direct conjugation or encapsulation with drugs)may be a better treatment strategy for viral hepatitis and HIV infections because it leads to fewer adverse reactions.In addition,selfassembling protein nanoparticles(SApNPs)are found to improve vaccine immunogenicity.The combination of multiple viral immunogens and multiple SApNPs produces different promising vaccine candidates,thus highlighting the value of SApNPs.This review aimed to discuss the current status and future prospects for the development of protein-based biomaterials to combat viral infections.

Systematic Analysis of Post-Translational Modifications for Increased Longevity of Biotherapeutic Proteins

Protein-based therapeutics (PPTs) are drugs used to treat a variety of different conditions in the human body by alleviating enzymatic deficiencies, augmenting other proteins and drugs, modulating signal pathways, and more. However, many PPTs struggle from a short half-life due to degradation caused by irreversible protein aggregation in the bloodstream. Currently, the most researched strategies for improving the efficiency and longevity of PPTs are post-translational modifications (PTMs). The goal of our research was to determine which type of PTM increases longevity the most for each of three commonly-used therapeutic proteins by comparing the docking scores (DS) and binding free energies (BFE) from protein aggregation and reception simulations. DS and BFE values were used to create a quantitative index that outputs a relative number from −1 to 1 to show reduced performance, no change, or increased performance. Results showed that methylation was the most beneficial for insulin (p < 0.1) and human growth hormone (p < 0.0001), and both phosphorylation and methylation were somewhat optimal for erythropoietin (p < 0.1 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Acetylation consistently provided the worst benefits with the most negative indices, while methylation had the most positive indices throughout. However, PTM efficacy varied between PPTs, supporting previous studies regarding how each PTM can confer different benefits based on the unique structures of recipient proteins.