Length-weight relationship of six demersal fish species from Gulf of Mannar,Bay of Bengal,Eastern Indian Ocean

Length-weight relationship (LWR) parameters were analysed for six demersal finfish species from the Gulf of Mannar coast, Bay of Bengal. Fishes were sampled monthly from the landings of trawlers operated along the coast of Tuticorin and Rameshwaram with a cod-end mesh size of 35 mm at the depth of 60–80 m. Fish specimens were sampled by measuring the total length (TL) and total weight (TW) with precision to 0.1 cm and 0.1 g respectively. The present study also recorded a new maximum total length for Engyprosopon macrolepis, Torquigener brevipinnis and Leiognathus brevirostris.     

Xanthomonas sontii sp. nov., a non-pathogenic bacterium isolated from healthy basmati rice (Oryza sativa) seeds from India

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek - We report three yellow-pigmented, Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, motile bacterial isolates designated as PPL1T, PPL2, and PPL3 from healthy basmati rice seeds....     

Resveratrol depletes mitochondrial DNA and inhibition of autophagy enhances resveratrol-induced caspase activation

We recently demonstrated that resveratrol induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in multiple cancer cell types. Whether apoptosis is also regulated by other cell death mechanisms such as autophagy is not clearly defined. Here we show that inhibition of autophagy enhanced resveratrol-induced caspase activation and apoptosis. Resveratrol inhibited colony formation and cell proliferation in multiple cancer cell types. Resveratrol treatment induced accumulation of LC3-II, which is a key marker for autophagy. Pretreatment with 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagy inhibitor, increased resveratrol-mediated caspase activation and cell death in breast and colon cancer cells. Inhibition of autophagy by silencing key autophagy regulators such as ATG5 and Beclin-1 enhanced resveratrol-induced caspase activation. Mechanistic analysis revealed that Beclin-1 did not interact with proapoptotic proteins Bax and Bak; however, Beclin-1 was found to interact with p53 in the cytosol and mitochondria upon resveratrol treatment. Importantly, resveratrol depleted ATPase 8 gene, and thus, reduced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content, suggesting that resveratrol induces damage to mtDNA causing accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria triggering autophagy induction. Together, our findings indicate that induction of autophagy during resveratrol-induced apoptosis is an adaptive response.     

Codon usage of human hepatitis C virus clearance genes in relation to its expression

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is among the leading causes of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis globally, with a high economic burden. The disease progression is well established, but less is known about the spontaneous HCV infection clearance. This study tries to establish the relationship between codon biasness and expression of HCV clearance candidate genes in normal and HCV infected liver tissues. A total of 112 coding sequences comprising 151 679 codons were subjected to the computation of codon indices, namely relative synonymous codon usage, an effective number of codon (Nc), frequency of optimal codon, codon adaptation index, codon bias index, and base compositions. Codon indices report of GC3s, GC12, hydropathicity, and aromaticity implicates both mutational and translational selection in the candidate gene set. This was further correlated with the differentially expressed genes among the selected genes using BioGPS. A significant correlation is observed between the gene expression of normal liver and cancerous liver tissues with codon bias (Nc). Gene expression is also correlated with relative codon bias values, indicating that CCL5, APOA2, CD28, IFITM1, and TNFSF4 genes have higher expression. These results are quite encouraging in selecting the high responsive genes in HCV clearance. However, there could be additional genes which could also orchestrate the clearance role with the above mentioned first line of defensive genes.     

Conformational insights into the inhibitory mechanism of phyto-compounds against Src kinase family members implicated in psoriasis

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic immune mediated disorder of the skin. There is growing evidence that the Src family tyrosine kinases (SFK) are highly upregulated in psoriasis. The SFK are the key components of the signaling pathways triggering cell growth and differentiation in addition to the immune cascades. In the current work, the interactions between SFK and selective phyto-compounds were studied using molecular docking approach. Based on the results of docking and binding energy calculations quercetin was identified as potential lead compound. To get a deeper insight into the binding of quercetin with the SFK, a combined molecular dynamics and binding free energy calculations were performed. The binding of quercetin disrupted the intra-molecular contacts making the SFK compact except Src kinase. The MM/PBSA free energy decomposition analysis highlighted the significance of hydrophobic and polar residues which are involved in the binding of quercetin. An experimental validation was carried out against the activated forms of Fyn, Lyn and Src kinases, the top three proteins which showed high preference for quercetin. The flow cytometry analysis showed that the expression levels of Fyn, Lyn and Src kinases were dramatically increased in HaCaT cells. However, the treatment of quercetin at the concentration of 51.65 µM for 24?h markedly decreased their expression in HaCaT cells. Besides, similar results were also observed when the HaCaT cells were treated with the kinase inhibitor Ponitinib (1.43 µM) for 24?h.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Synthesis,angiopreventive activity,and in vivo tumor inhibition of novel benzophenone–benzimidazole analogs

Aim

The development of anticancer drugs with specific targets is of prime importance in modern biology. This study investigates the angiopreventive and in vivo tumor inhibition activities of novel synthetic benzophenone–benzimidazole analogs.

Main methods

The multistep synthesis of novel benzophenone–benzimidazole analogs (8a–n) allowing substitution with methoxy, methyl and halogen groups at different positions on the identical chemical backbone and the variations in the number of substituents were synthesized and characterized. The newly synthesized compounds were further evaluated for cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. The potent lead compounds were further assessed for antiangiogenic effects in a CAM model and a tumor-induced vasculature in vivo model. The effect of angioprevention on tumor growth was verified in a mouse model.

Key findings

The cytotoxicity studies revealed that compounds 8f and 8n are strongly cytotoxic. Analyzing the structure–activity relationship, we found that an increase in the number of methyl groups in addition to methoxy substitution at the para position of the benzoyl ring in compound 8n resulted in higher potency compared to 8f. Furthermore, neovessel formation in in vivo systems, such as the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and tumor-induced mice peritoneum models, was significantly suppressed and reflected the tumor inhibition observed in mice.

Significance

These results suggest the potential clinical application of compound 8n as an antiangiogenic drug for cancer therapy.     

Stroke Damage Is Exacerbated by Nano-Size Particulate Matter in a Mouse Model

This study examines the effects of nano-size particulate matter (nPM) exposure in the setting of murine reperfused stroke. Particulate matter is a potent source of inflammation and oxidative stress. These processes are known to influence stroke progression through recruitment of marginally viable penumbral tissue into the ischemic core. nPM was collected in an urban area in central Los Angeles, impacted primarily by traffic emissions. Re-aerosolized nPM or filtered air was then administered to mice through whole body exposure chambers for forty-five cumulative hours. Exposed mice then underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion/ reperfusion. Following cerebral ischemia/ reperfusion, mice exposed to nPM exhibited significantly larger infarct volumes and less favorable neurological deficit scores when compared to mice exposed to filtered air. Mice exposed to nPM also demonstrated increases in markers of inflammation and oxidative stress in the region of the ischemic core. The findings suggest a detrimental effect of urban airborne particulate matter exposure in the setting of acute ischemic stroke.     

Versatility of thermoluminescence materials and radiation dosimetry – A review

Thermoluminescence (TL) materials exhibit a wide range of applications in different areas such as personal dosimetry, environmental dosimetry, medical research etc. Doping of different rare earth impurities in different hosts is responsible for changing the properties of materials useful for various applications in different fields. These materials can be irradiated by different types of beams such as γ‐rays, X‐rays, electrons, neutrons etc. Various radiation regimes, as well as their dose–response range, play an important role in thermoluminescence dosimetry. Several TL materials, such as glass, microcrystalline, nanostructured inorganic materials and recently developed materials, are reviewed and described in this article.     

Crystal structure of Rsr, an ortholog of the antigenic Ro protein, links conformational flexibility to RNA binding activity

Ro ribonucleoproteins are a class of antigenic ribonucleoproteins associated with rheumatic autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus and Sj?grens syndrome in humans. Ro ribonucleoproteins are mostly composed of the 60-kDa Ro protein and small cytoplasmic RNAs, called Y RNAs, of unknown function. In eukaryotes, where Ro has been found to associate with damaged or mutant RNAs, it has been suggested that Ro may play a role in RNA quality control. In the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans and some eukaryotes, Ro has also been implicated in cell survival following UV damage. Here we present the first high resolution structure of a prokaryotic Ro ortholog, Rsr from D. radiodurans. The structure has been solved to 1.9 A resolution and shows distinct differences when compared with the eukaryotic apo- and RNA-bound Ro structures. Rsr is composed of two domains: a helical RNA binding domain and a mixed "von Willebrand factor A-like" domain containing a divalent metal binding site. Although the individual domains of Rsr are similar to the eukaryotic Ro, significantly large differences are seen at the interface of the two domains. Since this interface communicates with the conserved central cavity of Ro, which is implicated in RNA binding, changes at this interface could potentially influence RNA binding by Ro. Although the apo-Rsr protein is monomeric, Rsr binds Y RNA to form multimers of approximately 12 molecules of a 1:1 Rsr-Y RNA complex. Rsr binds D. radiodurans Y RNA with low nanomolar affinity, comparable with previously characterized eukaryotic Ro orthologs.