Ultraweak,spontaneous photon emission in seedlings: toxicological and chronobiological applications

The detection of ultraweak light emission in seedlings has been explored in toxicological and chronobiological studies. The main studies in this area are reviewed briefly, including a report on applied tests held in the last 7 years at LaFA – UNICAMP (Brazil). In general, results indicate that a linear relation for total light emission versus germination performance is found if only strong stress situations are considered, when external factors depress a seedling's development, even when considering a sequential series of tests. Light emitted by a single seedling was detected in a compact apparatus, and data are presented here for the first time showing pronounced circadian cycles are evident, with similar time and frequency profiles as those of the local gravimetric tide. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies and rheumatoid factors: two distinct autoantibody systems

In a previous issue of Arthritis Research and Therapy, Ursum and colleagues report the relative stabilities of anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) and IgM rheumatoid factors during the course of rheumatoid arthritis and their differential correlation with markers of the acute-phase response. These findings add to a growing body of evidence highlighting the distinct nature of these two autoantibody systems and the role of ACPAs as a disease-specific marker of rheumatoid arthritis.     

Synthesis,characterization and cytotoxic activity on breast cancer cells of new half-titanocene derivatives

A series of novel titanocene-complexes has been prepared and evaluated for their growth regulatory effects in MCF7 and SkBr3 breast cancer cells. The capability of some of these compound to elicit relevant repressive effects on cancer cell growth could be taken into account towards novel pharmacological approaches in cancer therapy.     

Going with the Flow: Detection of Drift in Response to Hypo-Saline Stress by the Estuarine Benthic Diatom Cylindrotheca closterium

Avoidance response is a well-known mechanism for escaping environmental stress. For organisms with reduced active movement, such as benthic microalgae, drifting could be a specifically selected mean of avoiding less favorable environments. To test this hypothesis, a system was developed to assess if hypo-saline stress triggers drift in the estuarine benthic diatom Cylindrotheca closterium. Concurrently, the effects of salinity on growth inhibition were also investigated in order to compare the sensitivity of this endpoint with the drift response, and to estimate the immediate population decline caused by both drift and population growth responses. It was verified that the salinity value that inhibited the algal population growth by 50% (IGS₅₀) was 19, while the salinity value that triggered the drift response by 50% of the population (TDS₅₀) was 15. These results indicate that drift is an identifiable response triggered to escape stressful environments. The combination of the two responses (population growth and drift) showed that population decline based exclusively on the inhibition of population growth may result in an underestimation of the risk, compared with the decline when drifting to avoid stress is also taken into account.     

Role of killer effect in fermentations conducted by mixed cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract The present work reports on population dynamics in musts (pH 3.2) inoculated with pairs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild strains. Two assays determined the growth of both killer and sensitive strains; the latter were not totally eliminated from the must and non-proliferating populations were detected. Another two were carried out with two killer or two sensitive strains, respectively; the exponential growth of the two populations was observed in both cases. The succession of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains was seen to be common in the four assays; only one strain proved to have the ability to complete fermentation, whereas the other disappeared after 28 days of fermentation. The most important fermentation compounds were estimated at the end of fermentations.     

Oscillations in cytosolic free Ca2+, oxygen consumption, and insulin secretion in glucose-stimulated rat pancreatic islets

Insulin secretion in the intact organism, and by the perfused pancreas and groups of isolated perifused islets, is pulsatile. We have proposed a metabolic model of glucose-induced insulin secretion in which oscillations in the ATP/ADP ratio drive alterations in metabolic and electrical events that lead to insulin release. A key prediction of our model is that metabolically driven Ca2+ oscillations will also occur. Using the fluorescent Ca2+ probe, fura 2, digital image analysis, and sensitive O2 electrodes, we investigated cytosolic free Ca2+ responses and O2 consumption in perifused rat islets that had been maintained in culture for 1-4 days. We found that elevated ambient glucose increased the average cytosolic free Ca2+ level, the ATP/ADP ratio, and oxygen consumption, as previously found in freshly isolated islets. Oscillatory patterns were obtained for Ca2+, O2 consumption, and insulin secretion in the presence of 10 and 20 mM glucose. Very low amplitude oscillations in cytosolic free Ca2+ were observed at 3 mM nonstimulatory glucose levels. Evaluation of the Ca2+ responses of a large series of individual islets, monitored by digital image analysis and perifused at both 3 and 10 mM glucose, indicated that the rise in glucose concentration caused more than a doubling of the average cytosolic free Ca2+ value and a 4-fold increase in the amplitude of the oscillations with little change in period. The pattern of Ca2+ change within the islets was consistent with recruitment of responding cells. The coexistence of oscillations with similar periods in insulin secretion, oxygen consumption, and cytosolic free Ca2+ is consistent with the model of metabolically driven pulsatile insulin secretion.     

Augmentation of natural killer activity, induction of IFN and development tumor immunity during the successful treatment of established murine renal cancer using flavone acetic acid and IL-2

The investigational drug flavone acetic acid (FAA) has been previously shown to systemically augment NK activity in vivo in normal mice within 24 h of i.p. or i.v. administration. The current study investigates the ability of FAA, and/or rIL-2, to augment NK activity and antitumor responses in mice bearing murine renal cancer (Renca). The results demonstrate that FAA potently augments NK activity in the blood, spleen, and liver of Renca-bearing mice and that the administration of rIL-2 in addition to FAA results in a further augmentation of NK activity over that observed with FAA alone. Renca-bearing mice treated with FAA (200 to 250 mg/kg) plus rIL-2 exhibited a significantly increased incidence of long term survivors (59%) over that observed following treatment with FAA (0%) or rIL-2 (5%) alone. Therapeutic synergy between FAA and rIL-2 was observed against primary tumors, minimal residual disease, and experimental-induced pulmonary metastases. Mice cured of Renca by FAA plus rIL-2 treatment were largely resistant to rechallenge with Renca suggesting a role for T lymphocytes. The augmentation of NK activity and the therapeutic effects of FAA coincided with the rapid induction of high titers of serum IFN of the alpha/beta type within 4 h of FAA administration. Subsequent studies demonstrated that the contribution of FAA could be partially replaced by the administration of several doses of human rIFN-alpha A/D Bg1 before the initiation of rIL-2 administration. The observed synergistic antitumor effects of FAA plus rIL-2 coincided with the augmentation of NK activity, induction of IFN-alpha/beta, and induction of long lasting tumor immunity. Overall, these results suggest that this approach may obviate the need for adoptive immunotherapy in association with rIL-2 administration for at least some tumor types.     

Freeze-drying duration influences the amino acid and rutin content in honeybee-collected chestnut pollen

Honeybee-collected pollen is gaining attention as functional food for human consumption, due to antiproliferative, antiallergic, antibiotic, antidiarrheic and antioxidant activities. Among the different bioactive compounds, flavonoids from bee-collected pollen are currently recognised as powerful antioxidant and antiradical molecules. Traditional conservation methods influence pollen organoleptic properties as well as the contents of nutrients and nutraceutical compounds. Here, freeze-drying (FD) was proposed as a novel conservation method, estimating its adequacy as drying process by the evaluation of changes in free and total amino acids and proline as well as in their ratios. Honeybee-collected chestnut pollen was taken into consideration and the level of rutin, as main flavonoid, was considered as marker compound highlighting the maintenance of pollen nutraceutical properties. Results showed that FD influenced rutin level, depending on the FD duration. However, the free proline to free amino acid ratio was always below 80%, and the free amino acid to total amino acid ratio remained unaltered indicating the adequacy of the FD treatment, which did not affect the nutritional value of chestnut pollen. Overall, this study shed light on the nutraceutical profile of honeybee-collected chestnut pollen, highlighting the promising potential of FD as a novel method to treat pollen for human consumption.