The effect of different salts (heavy metals) on the mycelium growth of Nematophagus fungi

Environmental pollution in addition to direct damage on plant growth, with the destruction of biological control agents, causes indirect damage to plants. The aim of this research was to study the effects of different concentrations (0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm) of heavy metals including Ag, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn on the mycelial growth and to assess the fungicidal or fungistatic effects of these salts on five Nematophagus fungi including Trichoderma harzianum (T8), Trichoderma virens (T21), Trichoderma hamatum (T9), Pochonia chlamydosporia var. chlamydosporia and Arthrobotrys oligospora. The results show that Ag, Co, Cu, Fe and Hg could stop the mycelium growth of all fungi, but Mn, Pb and Zn cannot inhibit the growth of these fungi completely. Among the first group, Hg and Cu stopped the growth of fungi even in 500 ppm. Among these metals that inhibit the growth of fungi, Cu has fungistatic effect and others have fungicide effect. The experiment was conducted in vitro condition, using potato dextrose agar (PDA) under complete randomised design with four replications. The data of mycelium growth were recorded at seven days after inoculation at 25 ± 2°C.     

Activity of digestive proteinases and carbohydrases in the alimentary tract of the fig leaf roller,Choreutis nemorana Hübner (Lepidoptera: Choreutidae)

.The fig leaf roller or Fig-tree Skeletoniser, Choreutis nemorana (Lep.: Choreutidae), is a destructive pest of fig trees found in some fig-growing areas of Iran. The larvae feed on the upper level of leaves, near the main vein. In this study, digestive carbohydrases including α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, α-galactosidase, β-galactosidase and proteinases including trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase were investigated. The results showed that the carbohydrases were present in the alimentary tracts of the pest. Optimum pH for α-glucosidase and β-glucosidase activity was at pH 6.0 and 7.0, respectively. Maximum activity of α-galactosidase and β-galactosidase occurred at pH 6.0. Total proteolitic activity against the substrate azocasein was optimally occurred at pH 10.0. The greatest activity of trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase was determined at pH 10.0, 11.0 and 11.0, respectively. Zymogram analyses using nitrocellulose membrane revealed two trypsin isoforms in which one of them was completely inhibited by Soybean Kunitz inhibitor and the other was notably inhibited.     

Cytokine gene polymorphism and graft-versus-host disease: a survey in Iranian bone marrow transplanted patients

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is a major complication of bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Numerous studies have shown the potential role of cytokine genotypes in the occurrence of GVHD. In this retrospective, case–control study we aimed to investigate the association between 13 cytokine genes and acute GVHD (aGVHD) after HLA-identical sibling BMT in 91 Iranian subjects. Negative association was found between aGVHD and donor IL-10/GCC haplotype or donor IL-4Ra-A allele in the population study. When compared within the leukemia subgroup, we observed positive association between recipient IL-1α ?889/C allele and aGVHD. Also there were negative association between recipient IL-10/CAA haplotype and donor IL-4Ra/A allele and development of aGVHD. Among the different genotypes only donor IL-4Ra and donor IL-12 showed significant association. We conclude that several cytokine polymorphisms are positively and negatively associated with aGVHD in Iranian HLA matched siblings, of which IL-4Ra and IL-12 may play important roles.     

Insights into the structural stability of nuclear matrix ribonucleoprotein,LMG160: thermodynamic and spectroscopic analysis

Low-mobility group nonhistone chromatin protein, LMG_160, is a nuclear matrix ribonucleoprotein particle (RNP) which has a RNA molecule with approximately 300 bases. In this study, structural stability of the intact LMG₁₆₀ (I-LMG₁₆₀) was investigated at different ionic strength and in the absence of its RNA moiety (T-LMG₁₆₀) employing spectroscopic and thermodynamic techniques. The UV absorption spectra showed hypochromicity and red shift under increasing ionic strength for both forms of LMG₁₆₀ but in different extents. The fluorescence emission intensity was decreased as ionic strength was increased and the Stern–Volmer quenching constant (K_sv) for T-LMG₁₆₀ was 3.7 times less than for I-LMG₁₆₀. In the absence of sodium chloride, I-LMG₁₆₀ exhibited a very stable structure against the temperature change compared to T-LMG₁₆₀. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the positive values of ΔH_m and ΔS_m increased by increasing ionic strength in both forms of LMG₁₆₀. Removal of the RNA moiety altered secondary structure: as T-LMG₁₆₀ showed more helical content than I-LMG₁₆₀. From the results, it is concluded that I-LMG₁₆₀ is more sensitive to alteration of environment and the RNA has an important role in this RNP conformation. Also, interaction of both I- and T-LMG₁₆₀ with sodium chloride is entropy driven and is usually accompanied by surface hydrophobicity.     

A comparison study of the interaction between β-lactoglobulin and retinol at two different conditions: spectroscopic and molecular modeling approaches

The interaction between bovin β-Lactoglobulin (β-LG) and retinol at two different pH values was investigated by multispectroscopic, zeta potential, molecular modeling, and conductometry measurements. The steady state and polarization fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that complex formation at two different pH values could occur through a remarkable static quenching. According to fluorescence quenching, one set of binding site at pH 2 and two sets of binding sites at pH 7 were introduced for binding of retinol to β-LG that show the enhancement of saturation score of β-LG to retinol in dimmer condition. The polarization fluorescence analysis represented that there is more affinity between β-LG and retinol at pH 7 rather than at pH 2. The effect of retinol on β-LG was studied by UV-visible, circular dichroism (CD), and synchronous fluorescence, which indicated that retinol induced more structural changes on β-LG at pH 7. β-LG–retinol complex formation at two different pH values was recorded via applying resonance light scattering (RLS) and zeta potential. Conductometry and RLS showed two different behaviors of interaction between β-LG and retinol at two different pH values; therefore, dimmer formation played important roles in different behaviors of interaction between β-LG and retinol. The zeta potential was the implied combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic forces which are involved in β-LG–retinol complex at two different pH values, and the hydrophobic interactions play a dominant role in complex formation. Molecular modeling was approved by all experimental results. The acquired results suggested that monomer and dimmer states of β-LG can be induced by retinol with different behaviors.     

Effects of Zinc Supplement on Plasma Homocysteine Level in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients: a Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Increased homocysteine (hCys) level is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular complications in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate effect of zinc (Zn) supplement on serum hCys level in ESRD patients. One hundred ESRD patients with Zn deficiency were enrolled in this double-blind randomized clinical trial. They were randomly subdivided into two groups and supplemented with Zn (Zn group) or placebo (control group) for 6 weeks. Fasting plasma hCys and Zn levels were measured before and at 43rd days after the start of the study. Serum Zn levels increased significantly (p?<?0.0001), in Zn-treated group in comparison to placebo-treated group. In the Zn-treated group, serum hCys levels reduced significantly (p?<?0.0001), compared to placebo group (p?>?0.05). There was a significant (p?<?0.0001) reduction of mean percentage of hCys in Zn-treated group compared to the placebo group. Our study showed that Zn supplementation decreases serum hCys levels in ESRD patients with Zn deficiency.     

Efficiency of direct and indirect shoot organogenesis in different genotypes of Rosa hybrida

To optimize indirect regeneration (IR) and direct regeneration (DR) in Rosa hybrida cv. Apollo different explant types and different concentrations of plant growth regulators were investigated. Among the different auxins studied and over all explant types, 10???M 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) promoted the highest frequency of callus production for IR. The highest frequency of regeneration (60.8?%) was obtained when calli were transferred to Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2.5???M thidiazuron (TDZ) and 2???M gibberellic acid. The highest frequency of regeneration (80.2?%) for DR was obtained from leaves cultured on the medium containing 10???M TDZ. The efficiency of IR and DR were compared in four different rose cultivars including ??Apollo??, ??Black Baccara??, ??Maroussia?? and ??Amanda??. The frequency of regeneration in all four cultivars was significantly higher in DR compared to IR. Also shoots regenerated by DR appeared earlier than the shoots regenerated by IR. The results of flow cytometry showed that the shoots derived from IR to DR were tetraploid like the original cultivars.     

Alteration in genes expression patterns during in vitro differentiation of mouse spermatogonial cells into neuroepithelial-like cells

Pluripotent stem cells derived from testis is a new, natural, and unlimited source for cell therapy in regenerative medicine and represent a possible alternative to replacing of all cells in the body. Here, we designed a simple co-culture system of spermatogonia cells with Sertoli cells for the generation of embryonic stem-like cells from mouse testis. The importance of our simple method will be clear when we compared it with other complex and time-consuming methods. Embryonic stem-like colonies with sharp border confirmed by real-time PCR, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry assessments. Embryonic stem-like colonies were immunopositive for pluripotency markers. Transition of spermatogonia cells to embryonic stem-like cells was accompanied by extensive changes in gene expression. These changes included significant increase in pluripotency genes expression and significant decrease in germ cell-specific genes expression. Also, we proved the differentiation capacity of embryonic stem-like cells to neuroepithelial-like cells which were immunoreactive to Nestin and Neurofilament 68. Evaluation of genes expression during in vitro differentiation into neuroepithelial-like cells showed high-level expression of Nestin whether this gene approximately has no expression in undifferentiated embryonic stem-like cells. Also, expression of pluripotency genes has significantly decreased in neuroepithelial-like cells compared with embryonic stem-like cells. This study shows that embryonic stem-like cells derived from testis are capable to differentiate into neuroepithelial-like cells that may provide a cellular reservoir usable for neurodegenerative disorders.     

Comparison of Th1 and Th2 responses in non-healing and healing patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis

Background:

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in many regions of Iran, including the city of Mashhad. In recent years, some cases have not responded to Glucantime, the usual treatment for this disease. The cellular immune response caused by T-helper type 1 (Th1) cells has an important role in protection against leishmaniasis, and activation of the T-helper type 2 (Th2) response causes progression of the disease. By analyzing these responses we hope to find a more effective treatment than that currently in use for leishmaniasis patients.

Methods:

The cellular immune responses in 60 cases of non-healing and healing cutaneous leishmaniasis, and individuals in a control group, were analyzed by measuring cytokines released by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) when stimulated with Leishmania major antigens by Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA).

Results:

Subjects from the healing group secreted more interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) (p<0.05) and less interleukins -4, -5, -10 (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10) (p<0.005) and -18 (IL-18) (p=0.003) than the non-healing group.

Conclusions:

The results demonstrate that secretion of cytokines that activate Th2 response including IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 in non-healing subjects was higher than healing subjects and secretion of cytokines that activate Th1 response including IL-12 and IFN-γ in healing subjects was higher relative to the non-healing subjects. In this study it has been shown that the level of IL-18 progresses disease in non-healing patients when the level of IL-12 gets decreased. Key Words: Cytokines, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Glucantime