Anti PDG monoclonal Antibody, clone N497

Phomopsis sp. XP-8 (an endophytic fungus) was previously found to produce pinoresinol diglucoside (PDG), a major antihypertensive compound of Tu-Chung (the bark of Eucommia ulmoides Oliv.), which is widely used in Chinese traditional medicines. In the present study, two bioconversion systems were developed for the production of PDG in Tris-HCl buffer containing glucose and Phomopsis sp. XP-8 cells (both resting and freeze-dried). When other factors remained unchanged, the bioconversion time, glucose concentration, cell ages, cell dosage, pH, temperature, and stirring speed influenced PDG production in a similar and decreasing manner after an initial increase with increasing levels for each factor. Considering the simultaneous change of various factors, the optimal conditions for PDG production were established as 70 g/l cells (8-day-old), 14 g/l glucose, 28 degrees C, pH 7.5, and 180 rpm for systems employing resting cells, and 3.87 g/l cells, 14.67 g/l glucose, 28 degrees C, pH 7.5, and 180 rpm for systems employing freeze-dried cells. The systems employing freeze-dried cells showed lower peak PDG production (110.28 mu g/l), but at a much shorter time (12.65 h) compared with resting cells (23.62 mg/l, 91.5 h). The specific PDG production levels were 1.92 and 24 mu g per gram cells per gram glucose for freeze-dried cells and resting cells, respectively. Both systems indicated a new and potentially efficient way to produce PDG independent of microbial cell growth.

The surgical procedure of lung transplantation dates back to the middle of the 20th century. However, its use in standard clinical practice came much later in 1981, with the introduction of Ciclosporin providing the decisive breakthrough for the long-term survival of patients. The increasing incidence of end-stage or terminal lung diseases has resulted in a growing discrepancy between the number of available organs and patients on transplant waiting lists. To address this problem, researchers worldwide are now focusing on ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), which, in contrast to the current gold standard of hypothermic static organ preservation, perfuses and ventilates the explanted lung at body temperature. In this way, three main strategies to expand the donor pool can be followed. The use of EVLP for organ donation after cardiac death allows re-evaluation of the donor lung before transplantation, while longer term EVLP enables diagnosis-related therapy of suboptimal lungs, both with the aim of increasing the number of transplantable lungs. Furthermore, portable EVLP systems can increase geographical flexibility for donor management and minimize cold ischemic times. While all EVLP-systems consist of comparable components, there is a wide range of possibilities to design individually adapted EVLP protocols. Data analyses on the use of EVLP systems highlight their advantages for human lung transplantation. Fewer ischemic/reperfusion injuries were observed, which subsequently led to better gas exchange and also significantly lower primary graft dysfunction (PDG) scores compared with standard preserved lungs. Based on these promising results and the possibility to individually adapt EVLP protocols for a variety of settings, EVLP appears to hold significant potential not only for transplantation medicine, but also for a range of other applications, such as infection therapy, tumor therapy and immunomodulation.