Consequence of ramet defoliation on plant clonal propagation and biomass allocation: Example of five rhizomatous grassland species

We investigated the effects of ramet defoliation frequency on clonal propagation and the patterns of biomass production and allocation on five rhizomatous species (Carex divisa Hude., Eleocharis palustris L., Juncus articulatus L., Juncus gerardii Lois. and Elytrigia repens L.). Plants were grown during an 18-week experiment in greenhouse conditions. The above ground parts of ramets were clipped following three treatments: frequent (every 2 weeks), moderate (every 4 weeks) and unclipped (control). The growth of C. divisa, J. articulatus and E. repens was strongly affected by defoliation whereas E. palustris and J. gerardii maintained a similar performance when defoliated. The latter were able to compensate for the biomass loss even after six consecutive clippings. Defoliation frequency had a significant effect on total biomass production for C. divisa, J. articulatus and E. repens while J. gerardii and E. palustris maintained total biomass production. Most of the studied species showed a decrease in clonal traits when defoliated. Clipped plants displayed fewer and shorter rhizomes. Defoliation had a strong influence in biomass production with a decrease in rhizome mass in all clipped species. A greater allocation to aerial parts and a lower to rhizomes were also detected. Moderate defoliation entailed intermediate response in 1/3 of detected significant effects of defoliation on plant traits. Finally, in the experimental conditions, E. palustris and J. gerardii were the most tolerant species to defoliation, while J. articulatus was intermediate and C. divisa and E. repens had the lowest tolerance.     

Electrospun triple-layered PLLA/gelatin. PRGF/PLLA scaffold induces fibroblast migration

The function of fibroblast cells in wounded areas results in reconstruction of the extra cellular matrix and consequently resolution of granulation tissue. It is suggested that the use of platelet-rich plasma can accelerate the healing process in nonhealing or slow-healing wounds. In this study, a simple and novel method has been used to fabricate an electrospun three-layered scaffold containing plasma rich in growth factor with the aim of increasing the proliferation and migration of fibroblast cells in vitro. First, plasma rich in growth factor was derived from platelet rich plasma, and then a three-layered scaffold was fabricated using PLLA nanofibers as the outer layers and plasma rich in growth factor-containing gelatin fibers as the internal layer. The growth morphology of cells seeded on this scaffold was compared to those seeded on one layered PLLA scaffold. The study of the cell growth rate on different substrates and the migration of cells in response to the drug release of multilayered scaffold was investigated by the cell quantification assay and a modified under agarose assay. Scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence images showed that cells seeded on multilayered scaffold were completely oriented 72 hours after seeding compared to those seeded on PLLA scaffold. The cell quantification assay also indicated significant increase in proliferation rate of cells seeded on three-layered scaffold compared to those seeded on PLLA scaffold and finally, monitoring cell migration proved that cells migrate significantly toward the three-layered scaffold up to 48 to 72 hours and afterwards start to show a diminished migration rate toward this scaffold.     

Overexpression of reactive oxygen species modulator 1 is associated with advanced grades of bladder cancer

Molecular Biology Reports - Reactive Oxygen Species Modulator 1 (ROMO1) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of mitochondrial structure integrity, and the production of reactive oxygen species...     

Oleanolic acid increases the anticancer potency of doxorubicin in pancreatic cancer cells

Combination therapy is a novel cancer therapy approach that combines two or more chemotherapy drugs. This treatment modality enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy by targeting key pathways in an additive or synergistic manner. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of combination therapy by widely used chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) and oleanolic acid (OA) to induction of apoptosis for pancreatic cancer (PC) therapy. The effects of DOX, OA, and their combination (DOX-OA) were investigated on proliferation and viability of PC cell line (PANC-1) by MTT assay. Moreover, migration and invasion of the cancer cells were evaluated by trans-well migration assay and wound healing assay. Flow cytometry and DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining were employed to investigate apoptosis quantification and qualification of the treated cancer cells. Finally, mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results demonstrated that the proliferation and metastasis potential of PC cells significantly decreased after treatment by DOX, OA, and DOX-OA. Moreover, we observed an increase in apoptosis percentage in the treated cancer cells. The apoptosis-related gene expression was modified to increase the apoptosis rate in all of the treatment groups. However, the anticancer potency of DOX-OA combination was significantly more than that of DOX and OA treatments alone. Our study suggested that DOX-OA combination exerts more profound anticancer effects against PC cell lines than DOX or OA monotherapy. This approach may increase the efficiency of chemotherapy and reduce unintended side effects by lowering the prescribed dose of DOX.     

Hidden taxonomic characters in otoliths of blenniid fishes (Teleostei: Blenniidae) from the Iranian coasts of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea ecoregions: A scanning electron microscopy approach

In the present work, the morphological characteristics of sagitta were described and analysed for 10 species of combtooth blennies (Blenniidae) inhabiting the intertidal region of the Persian Gulf and Makran zone of Oman Sea to see the taxonomic usefulness of otoliths, especially their hidden characters for species identification. Based on the obtained results, sagitta morphology could be considered as diagnostic characters distinguishing the genera Alticus, Antennablennius, Istiblennius, Omobranchus and Parablennius showing differences related to general shape, that is, elliptic/oval to triangular; shape of antirostrum and its degree of development; the degrees of convexity of ventral and dorsal margins, and shape of ostium. The common/general otolith characters shared in the all studied combtooth blennies, is the heterosulcoid condition, which is a shared character with Perciformes and Gobiiformes. The type of sulcus is ostial, and it can be considered as a plesiomorph character shared with a basal group of actinopterygian fishes. The obtained results could be useful in taxonomical, paleontological, ecological and food and feeding habits studies.     

Geographical differentiation of Aphanius dispar (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae) from Southern Iran

The Arabian cyprinodontid Aphanius dispar (Rüppell, 1829) is known to show considerable morphological variation. It has remained unknown, however, whether this variation is a result of environmental differences or allopatric divergence owing to geographical isolation. In this study, 11 populations of A. dispar from three geographically separated basins were analysed, that is, the Makran Basin (I, one river system), the Hormuzgan Basin (II, five rivers and three hot springs) and the Helleh Basin (III, two hot springs) in southern Iran. Statistical analyses do not indicate significant differences between the fishes from river and hot spring habitats (T‐test, p < 0.05), which is also supported by the Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA). Nevertheless, morphometric and meristic characters of the fishes, as well as otolith morphology and morphometry, demonstrate that six phenotypic characters discriminate the A. dispar populations of the three basins, that is, (1) predorsal distance (Prdd.SL), (2) head length (HL.SL), (3) pelvic fin length (Lplf.SL), (4) number of pelvic fin rays, as well as relative length of both the (5) medial part and (6) rostrum of the otolith. In addition, these characters display a consistent pattern of variation, thus providing support for the assumption that the phenotypically different A. dispar populations are a result of geographical isolation and not related to environmental differences. It is likely that the geological history of the drainage systems caused isolation event(s) that may date back to the Pleistocene (1.8 million years before present). The high phenotypic differences might suggest that the A. dispar populations from the three studied basins represent separate subspecies or even species.     

Molecularly imprinted poly beta-cyclodextrin polymer: application in protein refolding

Regarding our previous report on refolding of alkaline phosphatase [Yazdanparast and Khodagholi, 2005 Arch. Biochem. Biophys] it was found that in spite of the anti-aggregatory effect of 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS), a zwitteronic detergent, the recovered activity was almost the same as the recovered activity obtained through the unassisted approach. The low recovery yield is probably due to the bulky groups of the detergent that interfere with its entrance into the small cavity of the stripping agent, cyclodextrin, implying that the stripping of detergent molecules from the detergent-protein complexes plays a major role in successful refolding processes. To improve the efficiency of CHAPS stripping, we evaluated, for the first time, the stripping potential of a molecular imprinting polymer designed to replace beta-CD. In this approach, CHAPS was used as the template and the refolding of GuHCl denatured alkaline phosphatase was studied. Our results indicated that under the optimally developed refolding environment and similar to stripping by soluble beta-CD, a refolding yield of 79% was obtained for denatured alkaline phosphatase using 20 mg/ml of the molecularly imprinted poly (beta-CD) polymer. The major advantage of the new stripping agent, besides of its recycling option and ease of separation from the finished product, is its high potential of preventing aggregate formation. Based on these results, it seems that the new stripping strategy can constitute an ideal approach for refolding of proteins at much lower industrial costs compared to stripping with soluble beta-cyclodextrin.     

A new and unique species of the genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827 (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae) from Southern Iran: A case of regressive evolution

A primarily vicariance-based speciation has been suggested for the killifish genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827, but ecological factors are likely to have promoted the speciation processes in addition. Here, we report on the discovery of a unique Aphanius species from Southern Iran and show that also regressive evolution has shaped the present-day diversity of Aphanius. The species is characterized by complete absence of scales and reduction in the biomineralization of hard structures, particularly of the caudal skeleton and jaw teeth. Based on mt-DNA sequences, morphometric and meristic data, osteology, jaw teeth and otoliths, it is described as Aphanius furcatus sp. n. The new species is sympatric with A. dispar (Rüppell, 1829) in salty rivers and hot sulphuric springs in the Hormuzgan Basin (Southern Iran), and is sister taxon to this species plus A. ginaonis Holly, 1929. Based on geological data we estimate that the divergence between the lineages of A. furcatus and A. dispar is about 12–14 million years old. We conclude that the reductive phenomena observed in A. furcatus have evolved as an evolutionary response to the extreme habitat conditions in order to save energy (because storage of Ca²⁺ is not necessary), and to transport oxygen efficiently. The results confirm that regressive evolution is an important factor in speciation and occurs independently in separate lineages.     

Study of the tumor microenvironment during breast cancer progression

Background

Different cells and mediators in the tumor microenvironment play important roles in the progression of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the composition of the microenvironment during tumor progression in order to discover new related biomarkers and potentials for targeted therapy.

Methods

In this study, breast cancer biopsies from four different stages, and control breast biopsies were collected. Then, the mRNA expression of several markers related to different CD4⁺ T cell subsets including regulatory T cells (Treg), T helper (Th) type 1, 2 and 17 were determined. In addition, we investigated the expression of two inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) and inflammatory mediators including FASL, IDO, SOCS1, VEGF, and CCR7.

Results

The results showed that the expression of Th1 and Th17 genes was decreased in tumor tissues compared to control tissues. In addition, we found that the gene expression related to these two cell subsets decreased during cancer progression. Moreover, the expression level of TNF-α increased with tumor progression.

Conclusion

We conclude that the expression of genes related to immune response and inflammation is different between tumor tissues and control tissues. In addition, this difference was perpetuated through the different stages of cancer.