2^nd World Congress on Biopolymers August 04-05, 2016 Manchester, UK

Xi Zhao obtained his PhD in 2007 from Jilin University and was a visiting scholar from University of California Irvine, department of Chemistry. Now he is a associate professorof Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University. His researches focus on biomolecular simulation. He has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals.

The nucleobase/cation symporter 2 (NCS2) family proteins affect several crucial processes such as the uptake of nucleobases and transport of vitamin C for most living organisms on Earth. Uracil Transporter(UraA)from the Escherichia coli , known as the representative NCS2 protein, catalyzes symport of a uracil and an H+ via an alternating access mechanism. The experimental results shows that protonation state changes of some key amino acid residues can regulate conformational changes of UraA, but the details and process of conformational transitions are unknown during transporting uracil. We study that the different protonation states of Glu241, Glu290 and His 245 effect on UraA conformational transitions using molecular simulations. We observed that inward-open conformation reverts to the outward-open conformation of UraA in DDP+L (Glu241 and Glu290 deprotonation, His 245 protonation, substrate exits) and DDP-L (Glu241 and Glu290 deprotonation, His 245 protonation, no substrate exits). The results show that the presence of proton in the His245 directly restricts the motions of gate domain and further changes motion modes between core domain and gate domain. Therefore, we propose a new transport model for UraA.

Abi Santhosh Aprem has completed his PhD at the age of 29 years from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is currently the Deputy Vice President of Corporate R&D Centre of HLL Lifecare Ltd. He has published more than 26 papers in peer reviewed journals.

Copper Intra uterine devices represent an important contraceptive option for nearly 160 million women worldwide [1]. The main attraction of copper IUD is that it is comparatively less expensive and highly effective (99%) over other long term methods of contraception [2]. Major side effect related to a copper bearing IUD is increased menstrual bleeding, cramping and abdominal pain. Research results showed that this is due to the high corrosive rate during the first few months of insertion [3, 4]. In the present study PLGA films having proper degradation period were prepared by extrusion method which could prevent initial bulk release of copper ions from a copper intrauterine device, leading to increased efficacy and acceptability. Based on our experiments, we proved that PLGA film with thickness 0.1±0.02 mm coated over the copper Intra uterine device is safe and effective in controlling copper ion release in the required level of contraception. The Biodegradable polymer coated copper T (Coated CuT) has been characterized and Intracutaneous irritation studies showed that Coated CuT is a non irritant and non sensitizer. The results of acute systemic toxicity study suggested that Coated CuT did not induce any toxic symptoms till the end of the experimental period and there was neither development of gross abnormalities nor pathological lesions observed in any of the tissues during the histopathological evaluation. Hence the novel device meets the requirements of the standard practices recommended for evaluating the biological activity for implantable devices. A randomized multicenter clinical evaluation of the device is in progress on 100 subjects in India.

Tae-Il Son was awarded the degree of PhD by Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1989. He is a professor in the department of Systems Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University, Republic of Korea and the president of biomaterial field in The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (KSEIC). He has published more than 70 papers in reputed journals.

Visible-light curable low-molecular-weight chitosan derivative (furfuryl low-molecular-weight chitosan, F-LMC) was prepared to reduce adhesion of inter-tissue after surgical operation. If unexpected adhesion is happened after surgical treatment, re-operation is needed because of reserve pains and inflammation reactions to patient. The adhesion that occurs after tendon-repair surgery results in fail to recover original strength of tendon. Recently, to minimizing these side effects, biomaterial barriers, nanofibrous, and gels are used. Chitosan is a natural polymer obtained from the deacetylation of chitin. Chitosan has biocompatibility, wound-healing effect, hemostatic activity, fungistatic, antitumor, anti-cholesteremic activities and biodegradable properties. Especially, β-foam chitosan that was already studied has the anti-bacterial activity than α-foam. High-molecular-weight chitosan is insoluble, while low-molecular-weight chitosan can be dissolved in water. In this study, low-molecular-weight chitosan was modified by introducing furfuryl group for photo-curing. We expect that F-LMC could prevent adhesion because F-LMC could make physical separation by coating the surgical surface. Structure of prepared F-LMC was analyzed using 1H-NMR and photo-reactive property of F-LMC was confirmed through micro-patterning. Also, for medical application, biocompatibility of F-LMC was evaluated by WST assay. In animal experiment, especially chicken model, prepared F-LMC showed improved anti-adhesive property than other groups. From these results, F-LMC could be developed as biocompatible anti-adhesion.

Aisha Alwuhaib is a Lab scientist working at Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) on Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 2008-2013. Currently she is a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth studying Molecular Microbiology

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biopolymers that are of interest because they can be used to produce bio-plastics. They are produced by many types of bacteria when environmental conditions are rich in carbon but poor in nitrogen (1). In this study we describe the occurrence of PHA-producing bacteria from waste water and composts. Environmental samples were collected from a waster water treatment plant at Petersfield and from garden compost. Bacterial isolates were recovered after growth on a range of media, including M9 minimal medium, minimal salt medium (MSM) and LB. The minimal media contained a low nitrogen, high carbon ratio. PHA production was initially tested after staining with Nile Blue. From the isolates recovered from the waste water, 40.4% were capable of producing PHAs, whereas 44% of the isolates recovered from compost were able to produce PHAs. rRNA genes were amplified from the isolates and BLAST homology matches identified that the bacteria came from the following genera: Alcaligenes, Aeromonas, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Citrobacter, Acinetobacter, Klebsiella and Raoultella. The presence of a PHA synthase gene (phaC) was confirmed for 23 strains by PCR amplification using primers phaCF1BO and phaCR2BO, however some strains did not amplify for the phaC gene although they gave a positive staining reaction with Nile Blue. The nature of these strains is being further investigated using a biochip using probes designed as part of this study.

Xu-ri Huang has completed his PhD in 1991 from Jilin University. Now He is a professor of Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University. His research focuses on theoretical chemistry, such as catalysis reaction mechanism and biomolecular simulation. He has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals.

Takeout (To) proteins exist in a diverse range of insect species and are involved in many important processes of insect physiology and behaviours. As ligand carriers, To proteins can also transport the small molecule to the target tissues. However, ligand release mechanism of To proteins is unclear. In this contribution, the process and pathway of the ligand binding and release are revealed by conventional molecular dynamics simulation, steered molecular dynamics simulation and umbrella sampling methods. Our results show that the α4-side of the protein is the unique gate for the ligand binding and release. The structural analysis confirms that the internal cavity of the protein has high rigidity, which is in accordance with the recent experimental results. By using the potential of mean force (PMF) calculations in combination with residue cross correlation calculation, we concluded that the binding between the ligand and To proteins is a process of conformational selection. Furthermore, the conformational changes of To proteins and the hydrophobic interactions between ligand and protein internal cavity can both be key factors for ligand binding and release.

Nahid Shajari has completed her PhD at the age of 37 years from Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran. She is the assistant professor of organic chemistry in Department of Chemistry, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran. She has published more than 17 papers in reputed journals.

Chitosan is the N-deacetylated form of chitin that can be extracted from crustaceans. Chitosan has been extensively investigated for several decades for food packaging, water engineering and so on, owing to its good mechanical properties, biodegradability, biocompatibility, as well as solubility in aqueous medium [1, 2]. Montmorillonite is a kind of natural clay mineral with high cation exchange capacity, high surface area and swelling ability [3]. In recent years, the use of nano--alumina has attracted considerable interest in chemistry due to their eco-friendliness, easy reusability and low cost [4]. Wang et al. prepared Chitosan/montmorillonite (CTS/MMT) nanocomposites [5]. Teimouri et al. prepared Chitosan/montmorillonite/ZrO2 nanocomposites for water treatment [6]. In this study we are focusing on the preparation, and characterization, of chitosan/montmorillonite/nano γ-Al2O3 nanocomposites in detail.

Norma Mallegni PhD student in University of Pisa, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Master Degree in Chemistry, is working on copolymerization, blending and processing of biobased polymers for tuning properties and sustainability of biobased materials.

Bio-based polymers have attracted increasing attention over the last two decades, predominantly due to their environmental friendly nature and no dependence on petroleum resources. This type of polymers has got a growing consideration which has been so far focused specifically on starch based products, PLA (Polylactic acid), PHA (Polyhydroxylalkanoates) in particular PHB (Poly hydroxyl butyrate), cellulose derived plastics, etc. The production of these materials is based on renewable agricultural and biomass feedstocks. The degradability of biobased materials not just in compost but also in different natural environments is an important property for sustainability and reduction of plastic pollution. In this work, blends of PHA and PHB with Posidonia Oceanica fibres were investigated to assess the feasibility of producing materials biodegradable in marine environment, varying the fiber percentage from 10 to 30 wt%. The chemical composition of the Posidonia O. fiber is similar to that of other lignocellulosic materials. It consists mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Thermal, rheological, mechanical and morphological characterization of the developed PHA/PHB-fiber blends has been conducted in order to investigate the effect of the fibres on the their processability and tensile properties. Biodegradability of the produced composites has been investigated in sea water in view of their use in marine environment.

Immanuel Schäfer has completed his Diploma 2009 in Biology at the university of Collogne, Germany. In 2011 he got a Master of Science in Engineering degree at the Carinthia University of Aplied sciences in the field of Biomimetics in Energy Systems. He is now working in the simulations of biological and bioinspired materials at the university of Stuttgart. He has published more than 5 papers in reputed journals.

The authors reproduced by computanional means a material by using a ceramic component and a connection component for the binding of the composite inspired by Nacre, the shiny layer in seashells. The goal was to define a protein conformation that shows the highest binding capabilities to a Zincoxide (ZnO) surface. For that, a multiscale simulation approach of coupling molecular dynamics (MD) and finite element method (FEM) simulations was established. MD simulations of a single 6-mer peptide (Fig. 1A) adsorbed on the polar ZnO(0001)-O surface were accomplished to estimate the adsorbed peptide conformations and their adsorption force parameters. The results were transfered in FE simulations with cohesive elements to define special properties of an artificial ZnO-peptide composite material. A parameter study was performed to analyze the influence of the Young’s modulus of the Peptide on the mechanical properties of the material in a three point bending test. One important result in analyzing the Crack Opening Displacement (COD) (Fig. 1B) was that not only the binding capabilities of the protein should be considered as important for the fracture behavior of the nanocomposite, but also its Young’s modulus.

Reem Mohammed is a Postgraduate student in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Poly acrylic/ polyvinyl alcohol P(AAc/ PVA) hydrogel having varied PVA content is prepared by gamma induced radiation polymerization. This hydrogel is used in water purification. The effect of PVA amount and absorbed dose on gel fraction and swelling percent is studied. The gel fraction and the swelling property are found to be 82% and 273% respectively at absorbed dose 20 kGy. The kinetic swelling and effect of solution pH on the swelling percent is also studied. The functional structure is characterized by FT-IR. The hydrogel has been applied for the separation of Co+2, Cu+2 and Ni+2 ions from a test water solution. The factors affecting the metal uptake, such as pH, treatment time, and initial feed metal concentration are studied. After 24h, the results of maximum adsorption of Cu+2 ,Co+2 and Ni+2 at pH 5 are found to be 160 mg/g, 194 mg/g and 199 respectively, which is higher than the maximum adsorption of pure PAAc of 150, 155, 193 mg/g. The selectivity of hydrogels at different contact time towards metal ions follows the order Ni+2>Co+2>Cu+2. The microstructure of the prepared hydrogel before and after adsorption are investigated by means of SEM.

Somayeh Mollasalehi has completed her PhD at the University of Manchester and she is working as a researcher at the University of Manchester.

During the last thirty years, extensive research has been conducted to develop biodegradable plastics as more environmentally benign alternatives to traditional plastic polymers (Larry et al., 1992). Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a water-soluble polymer which has recently attracted interest for the manufacture of biodegradable plastic materials (Solaro et al., 2000). PVA is widely used as a paper coating, in adhesives and films, as a finishing agent in the textile industries and in forming oxygen impermeable films (Larking et al., 1999). Consequently, waste-water can contain a considerable amount of PVA and can contaminate the wider environment where the rate of biodegradation is slow (Lee &Kim, 2003). Despite its growing use, relatively little is known about its degradation and in particular the role of fungi in this process. In this study, we used culture enrichment to isolate fungal degraders from eight uncontaminated soil samples which were shown to have very different fungal populations and dominant species revealed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). While all soils contained fungal degraders, the number of recovered species was restricted with the most common being Galactomyces geotrichum and Trichosporon laibachii. One thermophilic strain, Talaromyces emersonii was recovered at 50°C. For G. geotrichum, a molecular weight range of 13-23 KDa, 30-50 KDa or 85-124 KDa had no significant effect on the growth rate (mean doubling time 6.3 to 6.9 h-1) although there was an increased lag phase for the higher molecular weight PVA.