In this study, the effects of the disulfide bond cleavage induced by peracetic acid oxidation on the surface properties and surface hydrophobicity of soy proteins isolate (SPI) were investigated. The surface hydrophobicity, foaming capacity and emulsifying capacity of oxidized-SPI increased gradually at the initial stage with the increase of peracetic acid concentration. When the concentration of peracetic acid was increased up to 0.4%, compared with that of native SPI, the surface hydrophobicity, foaming capacity, emulsifying capacity and emulsifying stability of oxidized-SPI increased by 114.0, 81.4, 65.2, 49.8%, respectively, and achieved optimal results. However, excessive oxidation led to a decrease in surface hydrophobicity, foaming capacity and emulsifying stability of SPI, but it had no obvious effect on the foaming stability and emulsifying capacity of SPI. The foaming capacity, emulsifying capacity and emulsifying stability of SPI were positively related to the changes of surface hydrophobicity which caused by disulfide bond cleavage. The results of fluorescence spectroscopy, CD spectroscopy, and particle size analysis showed that the disulfide bond cleavage did cause great changes in the molecular structure of SPI, but there was no clear correlation between the molecular structural change and the surface activity of SPI. These suggested that the improvement of foaming capacity, emulsifying capacity and emulsifying stability of SPI could be achieved by changing its surface hydrophobicity via peracetic acid oxidation.
In this study, the fibrillation of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) in the absence and presence of different concentrations of silybin was studied by thioflavin T spectroscopy, Congo red binding assays, 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence assay, circular dichroism, and transmission electron microscopy. The experimental results indicated that not only the fibrillation of HEWL at high temperature (65°C) and low pH (pH = 2.0) could be inhibited effectively by silybin but also the inhibition of HEWL by silybin followed a dose-dependent manner. Molecular docking studies indicated that 2 possible binding modes could be found in the interaction between silybin and HEWL via van der Waals forces and electrostatic forces as well as hydrogen bonding. One of these 2 conformations was directly entered into the cavity of HEWL (binding site I); the other was bound to the surface of HEWL (binding site II). In this way, silybin could not only increase the hydrophobicity of the cavity or the surface of HEWL but also influence the microenvironment of the binding site, which was able to stabilize the structure of HEWL and delay the process of HEWL fibrosis.
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiofilm activity of coumarin against Candida albicans . Methods The efficacy of coumarin against biofilm formation and the mature biofilm of C. albicans was quantified by crystal violet (CV) staining and the 2,3-bis (2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-5-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-2H-tetrazolium hydroxide (XTT) reduction assay. The effect of coumarin on C. albicans adhesion was assessed on polystyrene plates and by using the cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) assay. The morphological transition of C. albicans was conducted in two types of hyphae-inducing media at 37 °C. The expression of hypha/biofilm-related genes was evaluated using qRT-PCR analysis. A rescue experiment involving addition of exogenous cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) was performed to investigate the involvement of cAMP in the yeast-to-hyphae transition. A C. albicans -infected Caenorhabditis elegans model was used to test the anti-virulence efficacy of coumarin. Results Treatment with coumarin strongly affected the capacity of C. albicans to form biofilm and significantly impaired the preformed mature biofilm. The addition of coumarin notably inhibited C. albicans adhesion, CSH, and filamentation . The expression of some adhesion- and hypha-related genes, including HWP1 , HYR1 , ECE1 , and ALS3 , was remarkably down-regulated upon exposure to coumarin. Supplementation with cAMP partly rescued the coumarin-induced defects in hyphal development. Finally, coumarin prolonged survival in C. albicans -infected nematodes. Conclusion Coumarin inhibited C. albicans biofilm, which was associated with attenuated adhesion and hyphal growth.