Anti-MNT (aa 473-582) polyclonal antibody

NEET proteins comprise a new class of [2Fe-2S] cluster proteins. In human, three genes encode for NEET proteins: cisd1 encodes mitoNEET (mNT), cisd2 encodes the Nutrient-deprivation autophagy factor-1 (NAF-1) and cisd3 encodes MiNT (Miner2). These recently discovered proteins play key roles in many processes related to normal metabolism and disease. Indeed, NEET proteins are involved in iron, Fe-S, and reactive oxygen homeostasis in cells and play an important role in regulating apoptosis and autophagy. mNT and NAF-1 are homodimeric and reside on the outer mitochondrial membrane. NAF-1 also resides in the membranes of the ER associated mitochondrial membranes (MAM) and the ER. MiNT is a monomer with distinct asymmetry in the molecular surfaces surrounding the clusters. Unlike its paralogs mNT and NAF-1, it resides within the mitochondria. NAF-1 and mNT share similar backbone folds to the plant homodimeric NEET protein (At-NEET), while MiNT's backbone fold resembles a bacterial MiNT protein. Despite the variation of amino acid composition among these proteins, all NEET proteins retained their unique CDGSH domain harboring their unique 3Cys:1His [2Fe-2S] cluster coordination through evolution. The coordinating exposed His was shown to convey the lability to the NEET proteins' [2Fe-2S] clusters. In this minireview, we discuss the NEET fold and its structural elements. Special attention is given to the unique lability of the NEETs' [2Fe-2S] cluster and the implication of the latter to the NEET proteins' cellular and systemic function in health and disease. [GRAPHICS] .

In this study, Mint (Mentha Spicata L.) was used as a source of natural antioxidant in the preparation of biscuits with optimized levels of different forms of mint (powder, extract and pure menthol). The biscuits were stored for five months packed in unit pouches of metalized polyester/poly laminated pouch at room temperature and tested periodically for sensory parameters. The stability of biscuit lipids were studied by determining free fatty acid, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid value and total antioxidant capacity. In sensory evaluation, pure menthol (MNT-M) scored higher (p<0.05) panel score than mint powder (MNT-P) and mint extract (MNT-E) biscuits. The antioxidative activity of mint biscuits was compared with that of biscuit incorporated with Butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA) initially as well as at the end of five months. The results indicated that mint powder had shown good antioxidant property as natural antioxidant along with other chemical parameters in biscuits, which were quite comparable with BHA biscuits.