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Biomedical subjects

I J Higgins

Publications and source records attributed to I J Higgins.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Concerning the toxicity of two compounds used as mediators in biosensor devices: 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) and tetrathiafulvalene (TTF).

The lethal dose (LD50) and the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of TCNQ and TTF were determined experimentally by single-dose administration to CBA-line mice. The effect of the compounds on the blood constitution, accumulation, acute and subacute dermal and eye irritation, skin sensitization and delayed type hypersensitivity reaction were also monitored in mice and guinea pigs. The LD50s were found to be 1225 mg kg-1 (6.0 mmol kg-1) for TCNQ and 710 mg kg-1 (3.5 mmol kg-1) for TTF; MTDs were 750 mg kg-1 (3.7 mmol kg-1) and 450 mg kg-1 (2.2 mmol kg-1), respectively. Mice that had received the MTD showed no significant change in their measured blood parameters after five days for TTF; however, for TCNQ a decrease in the absolute leucocyte number and changes in the leucoformula were apparent by the fifth day. Oral administration to mice for 28 days at a concentration of 10% of the LD50 showed a super-accumulation, and the accumulation index was 0.94 and 0.53 for TCNQ and TTF, respectively. Neither compound caused acute or subacute dermal irritation of guinea pigs and there was no acute eye irritation. Skin sensitization in guinea pigs and delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction in mice indicated that TCNQ and TTF used as ethanol solutions were not allergic. This study indicates that TCNQ and TTF may be regarded as low-toxicity compounds.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Biosensors for process control.

Biosensors have been extensively studied during the last 20 years, and a myriad of laboratory biosensors have been developed. Improvements are required in biosensor design and performance before they become widely accepted in industrial process monitoring. However, as the biotechnology industry expands, biosensors may become more acceptable because, despite their limitations, they are the only devices capable of delivering the information required.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed1987

Introduction to the principles and applications of biosensors.

A biosensor is an analytical device that responds to an analyte in an appropriate sample and interprets its concentration as an electrical signal via a suitable combination of a biological recognition system and an electrochemical transducer. As a result of recent scientific and technological progress, such devices are likely to play an increasingly important role in generating analytical information in all sectors of human endeavour, from medicine to the military. In particular, biosensors will form the basis of cheap, simple devices for acquiring chemical information, bringing sophisticated analytical capabilities to the non-specialist and general public alike. The market opportunities for the rapid exploitation of novel developments in this sector are substantial. Biosensor research is also likely to have a significant impact on the development of modern electronics.

Biotechnology↗
PubMed1986

Quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase and its application in an amperometric glucose sensor.

Glucose dehydrogenase (GDH), one of the recently discovered NAD(P)+-independent 'quinoprotein' class of oxidoreductase enzymes, was purified from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus LMD 79.41 and immobilised on a 1,1'-dimethylferrocene-modified graphite foil electrode. The second-order rate constant (ks) for the transfer of electrons between GDH and ferrocenemonocarboxylic acid (FMCA) in a homogeneous system, determined using direct current (DC) cyclic voltammetry, was found to be 9.4 x 10(6) litres mol-1 s-1. This value of ks for GDH was more than 40 times greater than that for the flavoprotein glucose oxidase (GOD) under identical conditions. Such high catalytic activities were also observed when GDH was immobilised in the presence of an insoluble ferrocene derivative; a biosensor based on GDH was found to produce more than twice the current density of similar GOD-based electrodes. The steady-state current produced by the GDH-based electrode was limited by the enzymic reaction since methods which increased the enzyme loadings elevated the upper limit of glucose detection from 5 mM to 15 mM. The temperature, pH, stability and response characteristics of the GDH-based glucose sensor illustrate its potential usefulness for a variety of practical applications. In particular, the high catalytic activity and oxygen insensitivity of this biosensor make it suitable for in vivo blood glucose monitoring in the management of diabetes.

Acinetobacter↗
PubMed1977

Purification and properties of the methane mono-oxygenase enzyme system from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b.

1. A three-component enzyme system that catalyses the oxidation of methane to methanol has been highly purified from Methylosinus trichosporium. 2. The components are (i) a soluble CO-binding cytochrome c, (ii) a copper-containing protein and (iii) a small protein; the mol. wts. are 13 000, 47 000 and 9400 respectively. The cytochrome component cannot be replaced by similar cytochrome purified from Pseudomonas extorquens or by horse heart cytochrome c. 3. The stoicheiometry suggests a mono-oxygenase mechanism and the specific activity with methane as substrate is 6 micronmol/min per mg of protein. 4. Other substrates rapidly oxidized are ethane, n-propane, n-butane and CO. Dimethyl ether is not a substrate. 5. The purified enzyme system utilizes ascorbate or, in the presence of partially purified M. trichosporium methanol dehydrogenase, methanol as electron donor but not NADH or NADPH. 6. Activity is highly sensitive to low concentrations of a variety of chelating agents, cyanide, 2-mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol. 7. Activity is highly pH-dependent (optimum 6.9-7.0) and no component of the enzyme is stable to freezing. 8. The soluble CO-binding cytochrome c shows oxidase acitivity and the relationship between this and the oxygenase activity is discussed.

Ascorbate Oxidase↗
PubMed1975

Control of isocitrate lyase in Nocardia salmonicolor (NCIB9701).

Nocardia salmonicolor, grown on acetate, commercial D,L-lactate or hydrocarbon substrates, has high isocitrate lyase activities compared with those resulting from growth on other carbon sources. This presumably reflects the anaplerotic role of the glyoxylate cycle during growth on the former substrates. Amongst a variety of compounds tested, including glucose, pyruvate and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, only succinate and fumarate prevented an increase in enzyme activity in the presence of acetate. When acetate (equimolar to the initial sugar concentration) was added to cultures growing on glucose, there followed de novo synthesis of isocitrated lyase and isocitrate dehydrogenase, with increases in growth rate and glucose utilization, and both acetate and glucose were metabolized simultaneously. A minute amount of acetate (40 muM) caused isocitrate lyase synthesis (a three-fold increase in activity within 3 min of addition) when added to glucose-limited continuous cultures, but even large amounts added to nitrogen-limited batch cultures were ineffective. Malonate, at a concentration that was not totally growth-inhibitory (1mM) prevented the inhibition of acetate-stimulated isocitrate lyase synthesis by succinate, but fumarate still inhibited in the presence of malonate. Phosphoenolpyruvate is a non-competitive inhibitor of the enzyme (apparent Ki 1-7 mM). The results are consistent with the induction of isocitrate or a closely related metabolite, and catabolite repression by a C-4 acid of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, possibly fumarate.

Acetates↗