Nida’a H. Alshubbak

Backgrounds: Various physiological functions and reaction cascades, as well as disease progression in the living systems, are controlled by the activity of specific proteolytic enzymes. We conducted the study to evaluate protease activity by assessing peptide fragments from either conserved or labeled red blood cells (RBCs) with aminofluorescein (AF) in the reaction media.Methods: RBCs were incubated in media containing trypsin. Subsequently, the concentration of peptide fragments in the reaction media, resulted by the digestion with trypsin from conserved cells, was estimated by 3‐(4‐carboxybenzoyl)quinoline‐2‐carboxaldehyde (CBQCA) as an amine‐reactive fluorogenic reagent. In a second approach, we conjugated AF to the conserved RBCs and then exposed AF‐labeled RBCs to trypsin. This was followed by directly measuring the fluorescence intensity (FI) in the reaction media to estimate the concentration of AF‐labeled peptide fragments resulting from the enzyme’s activity.Results: Show a concentration‐ and time‐dependent increase in FIs, reflecting the activity of trypsin as a proteolytic enzyme. The FIs increased significantly by 4 to 5 folds in samples treated with different enzyme concentrations, and by over 11 folds after 2 h incubation in media containing a 50 μL trypsin, as evidenced by CBQCA assays.Conclusion: These fast and affordable approaches could be applied with high reliability for the general estimation of protease activity in samples and customized for diagnostic purposes and prognostic evaluation in various diseases.

(1) Background: Earthquakes are natural disasters that often result in significant loss of life and property. The objective of this study is to explore the frequency of symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), levels of meaning in life (ML), and perceived social support (SS) among university students in the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred in Turkey and Syria in 2023. (2) Methods: This study utilizes a cross-sectional correlation design to achieve its objectives among 603 university students from two public universities using an online survey (via Google Forms). The survey was launched one month after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria and concluded on 6 April 2023. (3) Results: The results indicate that a total of 158 university students, constituting 26.20% of the sample, reported extreme symptoms of PTSD. The results also indicate that 184 students (30.51), and 140 students (23.22%) reported low levels of ML and SS, respectively. Female students were significantly more vulnerable to experiencing PTSD symptoms, as well as difficulties in finding ML and SS. Finally, results revealed that students who were pursuing postgraduate studies had a greater likelihood of exhibiting symptoms indicative of PTSD. (4) Conclusions: It is recommended that universities provide support services and resources for students experiencing PTSD symptoms.