Nanosized paclitaxel-loaded niosomes: formulation,in vitro cytotoxicity,and apoptosis gene expression in breast cancer cell lines

Molecular Biology Reports - In this study, the optimized niosomal formulation containing paclitaxel using non-ionic surfactants and cholesterol was designed and its cytotoxic effects against...     

The correlation of long non-coding RNAs IFNG-AS1 and ZEB2-AS1 with IFN-γ and ZEB-2 expression in PBMCs and clinical features of patients with coronary artery disease

Molecular Biology Reports - Aberrant expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can contribute to the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the...     

OCC-1D regulates Wnt signaling pathway: potential role of long noncoding RNA in colorectal cancer

Molecular Biology Reports - Aberrant activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is observed in most colorectal cancers (CRC). OCC-1D is a splice variant of OCC-1 gene which is considered as a long...     

Efficient and specific bioaccumulation of arsenic in the transgenic Escherichia coli expressing ArsR1 from Corynebacterium glutamicum

BioMetals - The toxic nature of arsenic has left a trail of disastrous health consequences around the world. Microorganisms have developed various strategies to deal with arsenic. The presence of...     

The spatiotemporal development of adipose tissue

Adipose tissue is a structure highly specialized in energy storage. The adipocyte is the parenchymal component of adipose tissue and is known to be mesoderm or neuroectoderm in origin; however, adipocyte development remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the development of adipose tissue by analyzing postnatal epididymal adipose tissue (EAT) in mouse. EAT was found to be generated from non-adipose structure during the first 14 postnatal days. From postnatal day 1 (P1) to P4, EAT is composed of multipotent progenitor cells that lack adipogenic differentiation capacity in vitro, and can be regarded as being in the 'undetermined' state. However, the progenitor cells isolated from P4 EAT obtain their adipogenic differentiation capacity by physical interaction generated by cell-to-matrix and cell-to-cell contact both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we show that impaired angiogenesis caused by either VEGFA blockade or macrophage depletion in postnatal mice interferes with adipose tissue development. We conclude that appropriate interaction between the cellular and matrix components along with proper angiogenesis are mandatory for the development of adipose tissue.     

Electrodeposition of gold-platinum alloy nanoparticles on ionic liquid-chitosan composite film and its application in fabricating an amperometric cholesterol biosensor

An electrodeposition method was applied to form gold-platinum (AuPt) alloy nanoparticles on the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a mixture of an ionic liquid (IL) and chitosan (Ch) (AuPt-Ch-IL/GCE). AuPt nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods. AuPt-Ch-IL/GCE electrocatalyzed the reduction of H(2)O(2) and thus was suitable for the preparation of biosensors. Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) was then, immobilized on the surface of the electrode by cross-linking ChOx and chitosan through addition of glutaraldehyde (ChOx/AuPt-Ch-IL/GCE). The fabricated biosensor exhibited two wide linear ranges of responses to cholesterol in the concentration ranges of 0.05-6.2 mM and 6.2-11.2 mM. The sensitivity of the biosensor was 90.7 μA mM(-1) cm(-2) and the limit of detection was 10 μM of cholesterol. The response time was less than 7 s. The Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)) was found as 0.24 mM. The effect of the addition of 1 mM ascorbic acid and glucose was tested on the amperometric response of 0.5 mM cholesterol and no change in response current of cholesterol was observed.     

Biodegradation pathway and detoxification of the diazo dye Reactive Black 5 by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The in vivo biodegradation of the diazo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium immobilised on cubes of nylon sponge and on sunflower-seed shells (SS) in laboratory-scale bioreactors was investigated. The SS cultivation led to the best results with a decolouration percentage of 90.3% in 72 h for an initial RB5 concentration of 100 mg/L. It was found that the addition of 0.4 mM veratryl alcohol (VA) into the medium considerably increased the decolouration rate in SS cultivation. However, the addition of VA had no effect in the nylon cultivation. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) revealed that RB5 was transformed into one metabolite after 24 h. UV-vis spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) also confirmed the biodegradation of RB5. Toxicity of RB5 solutions before and after fungal treatment was assayed using Sinorhizobium meliloti as a sensitive soil microorganism. P. chrysosporium transformed the toxic dye RB5 into a non-toxic product.     

NQO1-dependent redox cycling of idebenone: effects on cellular redox potential and energy levels

Short-chain quinones are described as potent antioxidants and in the case of idebenone have already been under clinical investigation for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders. Due to their analogy to coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a long-chain quinone, they are widely regarded as a substitute for CoQ10. However, apart from their antioxidant function, this provides no clear rationale for their use in disorders with normal CoQ10 levels. Using recombinant NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO) enzymes, we observed that contrary to CoQ10 short-chain quinones such as idebenone are good substrates for both NQO1 and NQO2. Furthermore, the reduction of short-chain quinones by NQOs enabled an antimycin A-sensitive transfer of electrons from cytosolic NAD(P)H to the mitochondrial respiratory chain in both human hepatoma cells (HepG2) and freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes. Consistent with the substrate selectivity of NQOs, both idebenone and CoQ1, but not CoQ10, partially restored cellular ATP levels under conditions of impaired complex I function. The observed cytosolic-mitochondrial shuttling of idebenone and CoQ1 was also associated with reduced lactate production by cybrid cells from mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) patients. Thus, the observed activities separate the effectiveness of short-chain quinones from the related long-chain CoQ10 and provide the rationale for the use of short-chain quinones such as idebenone for the treatment of mitochondrial disorders.