Fine needle aspiration cytology in malignant Sertoli cell tumor of the testis. A case report.

A rare case of malignant Sertoli cell tumor of the testis occurred in which the diagnosis was initially suggested on fine needle aspiration cytology. Smears of the testicular, inguinal and cervical lymph node aspirates showed cells resembling normal Sertoli cells arranged in nests and tubules. Histopathology of the orchidectomy specimen confirmed the diagnosis. The literature is briefly reviewed.     

Marine Bacterial Compounds Evaluated by In Silico Studies as Antipsychotic Drugs Against Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is one of the brain disorders which affects the thinking and behavioral skills of patients. This disorder comes along with an overproduction of kynurenic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid and the prefrontal cortex of SCZ patients. In this study, marine bacterial compounds were screened for their suitability as antagonists against human kynurenine aminotransferase (hKAT-1) which causes the synthesis of kynurenic acid downstream which ultimately causes the SCZ disorder according to the kynurenic hypothesis of SCZ. The marine actinobacterial compound bonactin shows more promising results than other tested marine compounds such as the histamine H2 blocker famotidine and indole-3-acetic acid (IAC) from docking and in silico toxicological studies carried out here. The obtained results of the Grid-based Ligand Docking with Energetics (Glide) scores of extra-precision (XP) Glide against the target protein hKAT-1 on IAC, famotidine, and bonactin were ??6.581, ??6.500 and ??7.730 kcal/mol where Glide energies were ??29.84, ??28.391, and ??47.565 kcal/mol, respectively. Bonactin is known as an antibacterial and antifungal compound being extracted from a marine Streptomyces sp. Comparing tested compounds against the drug target hKAT-1, bonactin alone showed the best Glide score and Glide energy on the target protein hKAT-1.     

Stable,fertile somatic hybrids between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sinapis alba</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica juncea</Emphasis> show resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alternaria brassicae</Emphasis> and heat stress

Wild relatives of Brassica are a rich reservoir of genes that are invaluable for the improvement of cultivated species. Sinapis alba is a close relative of crop Brassicas that possesses several desirable traits such as tolerance to Alternaria black spot disease, heat stress, insect pests and nematodes. This study is aimed at developing and characterizing hybrids between Brassica juncea and S. alba with the ultimate goal of transferring genes for tolerance to Alternaria brassicae and heat stress, the traits that are lacking in cultivated Brassica. We generated three hybrids between B. juncea and S. alba through protoplast fusion. The hybridity was confirmed through cytology and molecular markers. While two of the hybrids were symmetric, the third one was asymmetric and had greater resemblance to B. juncea. Hybrids showed some characteristic features of the parents and were fully male and female fertile and also set seeds upon back crossing with the parent species. In vitro leaf assay and field inoculation studies revealed that the hybrids are highly resistant to A. brassicae. Besides, hybrids set seeds at temperature of >?38 °C when parents failed to produce seeds indicating that hybrids possess heat tolerance. These stable hybrids provide a reliable genetic resource for transfer of genes from S. alba into cultivated Brassica species.     

Staged Reimplantation of a Total Hip Prosthesis After Co-infection with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida tropicalis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Staphylococcus haemolyticus</Emphasis>: A Case Report

Fungal prosthetic joint infection is a rare complication in total joint arthroplasty. There are no established guidelines for management of these infections. We present a case of a 53-year-old male with a hip joint prosthesis co-infected with Candida tropicalis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus. A two-stage exchange arthroplasty was performed. The patient underwent implant removal, debridement, irrigation with saline solution and application of cement spacer impregnated with vancomycin followed by aggressive antimicrobial treatment in first stage. Complete eradication of infection was demonstrated by negative culture of sonicated cement spacer fluid and negative 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene PCR of sonicate fluid, synovial fluid and periprosthetic tissue samples. He underwent second-stage revision hip arthroplasty after 9 months of the first stage. At the latest follow-up, there was no evidence of recurrence of infection. This case illustrates the utility of sonication of biomaterials and molecular techniques for microbiological confirmation of absence of infection in staged surgeries which is required for a successful outcome.     

The key role of extracellular vesicles in the metastatic process

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, have a key role in the paracrine communication between organs and compartments. EVs shuttle virtually all types of biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, metabolites and even pharmacological compounds. Their ability to transfer their biomolecular cargo into target cells enables EVs to play a key role in intercellular communication that can regulate cellular functions such as proliferation, apoptosis and migration. This has led to the emergence of EVs as a key player in tumor growth and metastasis through the formation of “tumor niches” in target organs. Recent data have also been shown that EVs may transform the microenvironment of primary tumors thus favoring the selection of cancer cells with a metastatic behavior. The release of EVs from resident non-malignant cells may contribute to the metastatic processes as well. However, cancer EVs may induce malignant transformation in resident mesenchymal stem cells, suggesting that the metastatic process is not exclusively due to circulating tumor cells. In this review, we outline and discuss evidence-based roles of EVs in actively regulating multiple steps of the metastatic process and how we can leverage EVs to impair metastasis.     

Serum metabolomics reveals many novel metabolic markers of heart failure, including pseudouridine and 2-oxoglutarate

There is intense interest in the identification of novel biomarkers which improve the diagnosis of heart failure. Serum samples from 52 patients with systolic heart failure (EF < 40% plus signs and symptoms of failure) and 57 controls were analyzed by gas chromatography – time of flight – mass spectrometry and the raw data reduced to 272 statistically robust metabolite peaks. 38 peaks showed a significant difference between case and control (p < 5 × 10⁻⁵). Two such metabolites were pseudouridine, a modified nucleotide present in t- and rRNA and a marker of cell turnover, as well as the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate 2-oxoglutarate. Furthermore, 3 further new compounds were also excellent discriminators between patients and controls: 2-hydroxy, 2-methylpropanoic acid, erythritol and 2,4,6-trihydroxypyrimidine. Although renal disease may be associated with heart failure, and metabolites associated with renal disease and other markers were also elevated (e.g. urea, creatinine and uric acid), there was no correlation within the patient group between these metabolites and our heart failure biomarkers, indicating that these were indeed biomarkers of heart failure and not renal disease per se. These findings demonstrate the power of data-driven metabolomics approaches to identify such markers of disease. Warwick B. Dunn, David I. Broadhurst and Sasalu M. Deepak contributed equally to this work.     

Phenotypic divergence and molecular characterization of two sympatric species of genus Barilius (Hamilton) from the River Chenab of Western Himalaya

Barilius bendelisis and Barilius vagra inhabit mostly in the spring‐fed streams of Indian Himalaya and constitute an important portion of protein diet of the rural human population residing near the stream banks. In spite of large aquaculture importance of this genus very less morphometric and molecular studies have been conducted. This study addresses morphometric and molecular characterization of B. bendelisis and B. vagra by using truss analysis and mitochondrial COI gene. A total of 293 samples of Barilius bendelisis and 127 samples of Barilius vagra were collected from three different sites of Chenab river basin from March 2015 to April 2017. 14 landmarks were used to measure 90 truss measurements from digital images of specimens using network of three softwares, tpsUtil, tpsDig2 and PAST. A total of 89 distance variables exhibited significant differences among the populations. The principal component analysis generated ten components explaining 89.164% of total variance among six populations of B. bendelisis and B. vagra. 89.0% of individuals of B. bendelisis and B. vagra were classified into their original groups. The Phylogenetic analysis with other published COI sequences revealed distinct nature of these two species. The study may aid in taxonomic identification and phenotypic divergence which will be helpful in proper conservation and management of these species of hill trout in India.     

Altered lipid metabolism in post-traumatic epileptic rat model: one proposed pathway

Molecular Biology Reports - Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) is a common long-term risk associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). PTE rat model, proposed by Willmore et al., is a well known model...