Development of spermatic granuloma in albino rats following administration of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk

A spermatic granuloma is a chronic inflammatory reaction produced in response to extravasated sperm within the intertubular connective tissue. The present study investigates the possible toxic effects of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum on the reproductive system of male albino rats and the associated potential for the development of spermatic granulomas. H. bacciferum is a herbal plant used in traditional medicine and reported to have cytotoxic effects due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Histological examinations revealed no changes in the tissues of the testes, although, some changes were detected in the cauda epididymis, the most important of which was the development of small lesions of spermatic granulomas. Clear gaps were observed between the epithelial linings of the epididymal tubules.     

Effect of mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes on tumor microenvironment: Tumor progression versus tumor suppression

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells with the potential to differentiate into different cell types. Owing to their immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties, they are widely used in regenerative medicine, but they have a dual effect on cancer progression and exert both growth-stimulatory or -inhibitory effects on different cancer types. It has been proposed that these controversial effects of MSC in tumor microenvironment (TME) are mediated by their polarization to proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory phenotype. In addition, they can polarize the immune system cells that in turn influence tumor progression. One of the mechanisms involved in the TME communications is extracellular vesicles (EVs). MSCs, as one of cell populations in TME, produce a large amount of EVs that can influence tumor development. Similar to MSC, MSC-EVs can exert both anti- or protumorigenic effects. In the current study, we will investigate the current knowledge related to MSC role in cancer progression with a focus on the MSC-EV content in limiting tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. We suppose MSC-EVs can be used as safe vehicles for delivering antitumor agents to TME.     

Tail-associated structural protein gp61 of Staphylococcus aureus phage φMR11 has bifunctional lytic activity

A tailed bacteriophage, φMR11 (siphovirus), was selected as a candidate therapeutic phage against Staphylococcus aureus infections. Gene 61, one of the 67 ORFs identified, is located in the morphogenic module. The gene product (gp61) has lytic domains homologous to CHAP (corresponding to an amidase function) at its N-terminus and lysozyme subfamily 2 (LYZ2) at its C-terminus. Each domain of gp61 was purified as a recombinant protein. Both the amidase [amino acids (aa) 1–150] and the lysozyme (aa 401–624) domains but not the linker domain (aa 151–400) caused efficient lysis of S . aureus . Immunoelectron microscopy localized gp61 to the tail tip of the φMR11 phage. These data strongly suggest that gp61 is a tail-associated lytic factor involved in local cell-wall degradation, allowing the subsequent injection of φMR11 DNA into the host cytoplasm. Staphylococcus aureus lysogenized with φMR11 was also lysed by both proteins. Staphylococcus aureus strains on which φMR11 phage can only produce spots but not plaques were also lysed by each protein, indicating that gp61 may be involved in 'lysis from without'. This is the first report of the presence of a tail-associated virion protein that acts as a lysin, in an S. aureus phage.     

Vibrio Trends in the Ecology of the Venice Lagoon

Vibrio is a very diverse genus that is responsible for different human and animal diseases. The accurate identification of Vibrio at the species level is important to assess the risks related to public health and diseases caused by aquatic organisms. The ecology of Vibrio spp., together with their genetic background, represents an important key for species discrimination and evolution. Thus, analyses of population structure and ecology association are necessary for reliable characterization of bacteria and to investigate whether bacterial species are going through adaptation processes. In this study, a population of Vibrionaceae was isolated from shellfish of the Venice lagoon and analyzed in depth to study its structure and distribution in the environment. A multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) was developed on the basis of four housekeeping genes. Both molecular and biochemical approaches were used for species characterization, and the results were compared to assess the consistency of the two methods. In addition, strain ecology and the association between genetic information and environment were investigated through statistical models. The phylogenetic and population analyses achieved good species clustering, while biochemical identification was demonstrated to be imprecise. In addition, this study provided a fine-scale overview of the distribution of Vibrio spp. in the Venice lagoon, and the results highlighted a preferential association of the species toward specific ecological variables. These findings support the use of MLSA for taxonomic studies and demonstrate the need to consider environmental information to obtain broader and more accurate bacterial characterization.     

Hybrid nanoreservoirs based on dextran-capped dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles for CD133-targeted drug delivery

In this study, the chemical features of dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) provided the opportunity to design a nanostructure with the capability to intelligently transport the payload to the tumor cells. In this regard, doxorubicin (DOX)-encapsulated DMSNs was electrostatically surface-coated with polycarboxylic acid dextran (PCAD) to provide biocompatible dextran-capped DMSNs (PCAD-DMSN@DOX) with controlled pH-dependent drug release. Moreover, a RNA aptamer against a cancer stem cell (CSC) marker, CD133 was covalently attached to the carboxyl groups of DEX to produce a CD133-PCAD-DMSN@DOX. Then, the fabricated nanosystem was utilized to efficiently deliver DOX to CD133+ colorectal cancer cells (HT29). The in vitro evaluation in terms of cellular uptake and cytotoxicity demonstrated that the CD133-PCAD-DMSN@DOX specifically targets HT29 as a CD133 overexpressed cancer cells confirmed by flow cytometry and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay. The potentially promising intelligent-targeted platform suggests that targeted dextran-capped DMSNs may find impressive application in cancer therapy.     

Testing Equality of Coefficients of Variation of Two Populations

The test statistics are proposed for testing the equality of the coefficients of variation of two normal populations based on independent samples. The asymptotic distributions of the statistics are approximated by well-known distributions. The empirical sizes and powers of these statistics are computed and compared.     

Reduced calcium and inhibition of protein kinase C mimic the enhancement of ornithine decarboxylase activity of prolactin in Ambystoma tigrinum tissues

We previously reported that prolactin (PRL) could increase the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in liver slices taken from larval tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). This action of the hormone was inhibited by oxytocin (OT), the calcium ionophore A23187, and diacyglycerol (DG) and was duplicated by 10 microM verapamil (VML), a calcium channel blocker. Here, we expand these results to show that 1) a higher dose of VML (50 microM) produces an additive effect with PRL; 2) addition of small amounts of calcium (0.1 mM) to the liver culture medium blocks PRL action; 3) neither nifedipine (NIF), a different type of calcium channel blocker, nor EDTA alter PRL action; and 4) gossypol, a reported inhibitor of protein kinase C, mimics PRL action. Additionally, we show that PRL increases ODC activity in tiger salamander tail skin in vitro, a tissue previously demonstrated to be a PRL target tissue in this species. The same set of treatments which we have shown to modify PRL effects on ODC in liver slices affects PRL action in the tail skin in a parallel manner. Thus, the mechanism whereby PRL enhances ODC activity appears to be the same in both these tissues. These results are discussed in conjunction with the findings from similar studies using mammalian tissues in an attempt to assess the current picture of the mechanism of PRL action and the possible role of inositol phospholipid turnover, calcium, and protein kinase C in the action of this hormone.     

Cultivation of newly isolated microalgae Coelastrum sp. in wastewater for simultaneous CO2 fixation,lipid production and wastewater treatment

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Cultivation of microalgae in wastewater is a promising and cost-effective approach for both CO2 biofixation and wastewater remediation. In this study, a new...     

Alternating Magnetic Field Induced Membrane Permeability in Erythromycin Magneto-Liposomes A Potential Solution to Antibiotic Resistance

Biophysics - Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem facing the world; it is increasing every year due to over or misuse of antibiotics that led to developing new mechanisms of drug resistance...