Myricetin ameliorates high glucose-induced endothelial dysfunction in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

Endothelial dysfunction is recognized as the initial detectable stage of cardiovascular disease, a serious complication of diabetes. In this study, we evaluated effects of myricetin on high glucose (HG)-elicited oxidative damage in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The cells were pre-incubated with myricetin and then treated with HG to induce apoptosis. The effect of myricetin on viability was investigated by MTT assay. The levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) were determined by thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method. The protein expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase-3 was measured by western blot analysis. Moreover, the effect of myricetin on total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total thiol molecules was also determined. Our results showed that myricetin was able to markedly restore the viability of endothelial cells under oxidative stress. Myricetin reduced HG-caused increase in LPO levels. Also, TAC and total thiol molecules were notably elevated by myricetin. Incubation with myricetin decreased the protein expression levels of Bax, whereas it increased the expression levels of the Bcl-2, compared with HG treatment alone. Furthermore, myricetin significantly decreased cleaved caspase-3 protein expression. It is concluded that myricetin may protect HUVECs from oxidative stress induced by HG via increasing cell TAC and reducing Bax/Bcl-2 protein ratio, and caspase-3 expression.     

Association Between Hypertension in Healthy Participants and Zinc and Copper Status: a Population-Based Study

Biological Trace Element Research - The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) is increasing globally. It has been shown that there is an association between micronutrient deficiency and HTN. In the...     

Cross comparison of rapid mycoplasma detection platforms

The use of animal and plant derived raw materials in mammalian cell culture processes may provide a possible route of entry for adventitious contaminants such as mycoplasma. Mycoplasma contaminations of cell culture represent a serious challenge to the production of biotechnology derived therapeutics. The slow growing nature of mycoplasma can disguise their infection of cultures since cells may continue to proliferate, though at reduced levels and with lesser output of engineered protein. Rapid identification of mycoplasma contaminated cell cultures and materials enables a faster response time to prevent the spread of the contamination. We describe here the comparison of different mycoplasma detection methods: two nucleic acid-based technologies, the standard mycoplasma culture procedure, and a hybrid culture-quantitative PCR assay. In this study, a cell line infected with two species of mycoplasma was used to compare the different detection methods. Our data demonstrates that the two nucleic acid-based techniques are robust methods for detection of mycoplasma and have similar detection capability. In contrast, no mycoplasma was detected in the standard culture assay or in a hybrid culture-quantitative PCR assay. This shows a potential limitation of the culture assay that relies on the ability of mycoplasma to grow in broth media.     

Chitosan magnetic nanoparticles for drug delivery systems

The potential of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in drug delivery systems (DDSs) is mainly related to its magnetic core and surface coating. These coatings can eliminate or minimize their aggregation under physiological conditions. Also, they can provide functional groups for bioconjugation to anticancer drugs and/or targeted ligands. Chitosan, as a derivative of chitin, is an attractive natural biopolymer from renewable resources with the presence of reactive amino and hydroxyl functional groups in its structure. Chitosan nanoparticles (NPs), due to their huge surface to volume ratio as compared to the chitosan in its bulk form, have outstanding physico-chemical, antimicrobial and biological properties. These unique properties make chitosan NPs a promising biopolymer for the application of DDSs. In this review, the current state and challenges for the application magnetic chitosan NPs in drug delivery systems were investigated. The present review also revisits the limitations and commercial impediments to provide insight for future works.     

Expression of novel lhmlt fusion protein using plant viral vector and study of its anticancer effect

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Melittin peptide is the main component of honey bee venom with the cytotoxic and anti-cancer effect which can affect healthy and cancerous cells...     

Association between serum cell adhesion molecules with hs-CRP,uric acid and VEGF genetic polymorphisms in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Molecular Biology Reports - Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with a pro-inflammatory state and endothelial dysfunction that places subjects with MetS at a higher risk of atherosclerosis....     

Recurrent Implantation Failure-update overview on etiology,diagnosis, treatment and future directions

Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) refers to cases in which women have had three failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) attempts with good quality embryos. The definition should also take advanced maternal age and embryo stage into consideration. The failure of embryo implantation can be a consequence of uterine, male, or embryo factors, or the specific type of IVF protocol. These cases should be investigated to determine the most likely etiologies of the condition, as this is a complex problem with several variables. There are multiple risk factors for recurrent implantation failure including advanced maternal age, smoking status of both parents, elevated body mass index, and stress levels. Immunological factors such as cytokine levels and presence of specific autoantibodies should be examined, as well as any infectious organisms in the uterus leading to chronic endometritis. Uterine pathologies such as polyps and myomas as well as congenital anatomical anomalies should be ruled out. Sperm analysis, pre-implantation genetic screening and endometrial receptivity should be considered and evaluated, and IVF protocols should be tailored to specific patients or patient populations. Treatment approaches should be directed toward individual patient cases. In addition, we suggest considering a new initial step in approach to patients with RIF, individualized planned activities to activate the brain's reward system in attempt to improve immunological balance in the body.     

Metabolic engineering of cofactor F420 production in Mycobacterium smegmatis

Cofactor F(420) is a unique electron carrier in a number of microorganisms including Archaea and Mycobacteria. It has been shown that F(420) has a direct and important role in archaeal energy metabolism whereas the role of F(420) in mycobacterial metabolism has only begun to be uncovered in the last few years. It has been suggested that cofactor F(420) has a role in the pathogenesis of M. tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. In the absence of a commercial source for F(420), M. smegmatis has previously been used to provide this cofactor for studies of the F(420)-dependent proteins from mycobacterial species. Three proteins have been shown to be involved in the F(420) biosynthesis in Mycobacteria and three other proteins have been demonstrated to be involved in F(420) metabolism. Here we report the over-expression of all of these proteins in M. smegmatis and testing of their importance for F(420) production. The results indicate that co-expression of the F(420) biosynthetic proteins can give rise to a much higher F(420) production level. This was achieved by designing and preparing a new T7 promoter-based co-expression shuttle vector. A combination of co-expression of the F(420) biosynthetic proteins and fine-tuning of the culture media has enabled us to achieve F(420) production levels of up to 10 times higher compared with the wild type M. smegmatis strain. The high levels of the F(420) produced in this study provide a suitable source of this cofactor for studies of F(420)-dependent proteins from other microorganisms and for possible biotechnological applications.