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Clinical Effects of Pollution
Published in William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel, Reversibility of Chronic Disease and Hypersensitivity, Volume 5, 2017
William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel
Venous limb gangrene and symmetric peripheral gangrene are observed in a small minority (<1%) of patients with DIC, so treatment considerations are based primarily on theoretical considerations and case-based observations, rather than on results of clinical trials. Theoretical considerations include pharmacologic interruption of thrombin generation (e.g., heparin anticoagulation), coagulation-factor replacement aimed at correcting depletion of natural anticoagulants such as protein C and antithrombin (given either as frozen plasma or specific factor concentrates), and efforts to minimize risk factors for decreased limb perfusion (e.g., correction of hypotension and reduction or avoidance of vasopressors). However, since ischemic limb injury that is associated with profoundly disturbed procoagulant–anticoagulant balance can occur quickly when the “perfect storm” conditions are met, initiating anticoagulation even at the first signs of ischemic limb injury may already be too late. Some experts advise early protein C replacement therapy in patients with severe meningococcemia.534,535 However, in order to become activated, protein C requires the presence of thrombomodulin on the surface of endothelial cells. Since injured endothelial cells downregulate and shed thrombomodulin, current experimental approaches include the infusion of recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin.536
Proteins for Conditioning Hair and Skin
Published in Randy Schueller, Perry Romanowski, Conditioning Agents for Hair and Skin, 2020
The vast majority of early protein hydrolyzates were derived from animals, and for good reason: significant portions of the animals slaughtered for food were unsuitable for this or other purposes unless modified and so would otherwise be discarded. So methods were developed to produce protein hydrolyzates of skin, connective tissue, and bone (e.g., gelatin and hydrolyzed eiastin), concurrently providing an environmental benefit. Plant-derived protein hydrolyzates arose primarily to meet a new definition of environmental friendliness (5).
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Published in Valerio Voliani, Nanomaterials and Neoplasms, 2021
Daniel Bobo, Kye J. Robinson, Jiaul Islam, Kristofer J. Thurecht, Simon R. Corrie
Protein nanoparticles span a number of different nanomedicine classes, from drugs conjugated to endogenous protein carriers to engineered proteins where the active therapeutic is the protein itself, and to combined complex platforms that rely on protein motifs for targeted therapeutic delivery. Early protein nanoparticles sought to use the natural properties of protein circulating in serum, allowing dissolution and transport of drug compounds in blood during circulation. This approach consisted of natural protein combined with known drugs in order to reduce toxicity. Abraxane® is an early example of protein-drug conjugation. Approved by the FDA in 2005, Abraxane® is albumin-bound paclitaxel in particle form designed to eliminate the need for the toxic solvent, Cremophor, normally required for paclitaxel delivery [57]. The 130 nm human serum albumin protein-bound paclitaxel particles improved infusion time and eliminated the need for coadministration of powerful antihistamines or dexamethasone in order to prevent immunoreaction to the Cremophor solvent (polyethoxylated castor oil). Beyond the initial goal of reducing toxicity, further study of Abraxane® has found improved pharmacokinetics and enhanced tumor inhibition when compared to the Cremophor-based therapy due to enhanced endothelial binding and transcytosis of the nanoparticle [58]. Abraxane® has exemplified protein-drug nanoparticles as excellent nanomaterials for improving toxicity and passive delivery to a desired target. As such, several albumin-bound nanoparticles (NABs) have been entered into clinical trials seeking to improve the therapeutic efficacy of other drugs. Examples include NAB-docetaxel, NAB-rapamycin, and NAB-heat shock protein inhibitor. Since its approval in 2005, there has been a shift from unmodified protein to the utilization of more highly engineered particle complexes in order to gain active targeting functionality.
Light Harvest: an interactive sculptural installation based on folding and mapping proteins
Published in Digital Creativity, 2018
Jiangmei Wu, Susanne Ressl, Kyle Overton
In 1951 György Kepes organized a pioneer exhibition titled ‘The New Landscape’ at MIT, showcasing a new visual world revealed by the science and technology of the time through macro, computer images, micro photographs, and artistic reproductions. As he later wrote: Modern physics and non-Euclidian geometry describe reality with far more subtlety and power. Interrelationships are now seen to be far more complex than we ever imagined before modern instruments allowed us to push back the limits of the very far, the very big, the very small. Behind our technical refinement is the refinement of our capacity for observing relationships in nature. (1956)It was not until a few years later, after Kepes’s exhibition, that the world saw its first protein structure (Kendrew et al. 1958). Since then, many scientists and artists have experimented with new ways of making protein sculptures. Early protein models include Kendrew’s Ball and Spoke model (Francoeur 2017) and Byron’s Bender model (Martz and Francoeur 2017). More recently, the art of protein sculpture has been pushed further by several contemporary artists. The term ‘Protein Sculpture’, was most likely coined by artist Julian Voss-Andreae (2005), the most prolific sculptor of protein structures. Artists Bathsheba Grossman (2018) also experimented with protein sculpture. Most recently, 3D printing and other digital fabrication techniques, as well as the Protein Data Bank (https://www.rcsb.org/), have allowed artists to build physical models of proteins rapidly and accurately.