Exogenous Melatonin Alleviates Heat‐Induced Oxidative Damage in Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv. Ventana) Plant

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Melatonin is a signaling molecule that is involved in inducing plants? abiotic stress tolerance. To determine the possible effects of the melatonin...     

Bioinformatics Predictions,Expression, Purification and Structural Analysis of the PE38KDEL-scfv Immunotoxin Against EPHA2 Receptor

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Various strategies have been proposed for treatment of cancer, including common therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation...     

Genome-scale metabolic model-based engineering of Escherichia coli enhances recombinant single-chain antibody fragment production

Biotechnology Letters - Escherichia coli is an attractive and cost-effective cell factory for producing recombinant proteins such as single-chain variable fragments (scFvs). AntiEpEX-scFv is a...     

Overexpression of recombinant Nep1 in Escherichia coli and its use as a biological agent for control of Sinapis arvensis

Weeds are a significant part of the pests limiting crop production. Currently, chemical herbicides are widely used for weed control. Environment pollution and the rise of resistant strains highlight the need for new herbicides. Nep1 is a natural bio-herbicide protein which is an effective necrosis stimulant in dicotyledonous weeds. In this study, the cDNA encoding nep1 was isolated form Fusarium oxysporum, cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The Nep1 inclusion body was purified and refolded. For biological assay, the recombinant Nep1 was applied on Sinapis arvensis, as a chemical herbicide-resistant weed, and on Nicotiana tabacum, as a model plant. Our results show a significant necrosis on the leaves of S. arvensis and N. tabacum after spraying 50 μg/ml of the recombinant protein.     

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of acute exposure to sulfur mustard: a systematic review

Context: Mustard gas (e.g. sulfur mustard (SM)) has been used as a chemical agent in several battles and is still a potential worldwide menace. Besides local absorption, particularly in the skin, eyes and lungs, systemic spread of the agent also has detrimental effects on gonads, bone marrow and nervous system. Moreover, chronic exposure of SM to respiratory system causes death. Inducing oxidative stress, and disturbing DNA and tissue repair systems, inflammation and cell death signaling pathways have been introduced as molecular mechanisms of the injury.

Methods: In this systematic review, more than 1200 (2000–2014) articles focusing on gross or molecular pathological reports in the acute phase of the respiratory injury after SM exposure were reviewed, followed by two different layers of gross and molecular pathological data (clinic and laboratory) integrated together in a spatio-temporal order. Role of epithelial, neutrophil and macrophage cells and three signaling pathways of inflammation, oxidative stress and cell death are covered in details.

Results and conclusion: Our results propose a critical role of interleukin-17 producing cells in acute and chronic inflammatory responses.     

Enterotoxin B Anchored Exosome Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Mediated Apoptosis in the Breast Cancer Cell Line

Exosomes (EXOs) are nanovesicles secreted by all cell types, which can be used as an acellular strategy for cancer immunotherapy. Application of superantigens (SAgs) as an adjuvant enhances the immune responses created by EXOs. In addition, it is reported that the combination of SAgs with EXOs derived from cancer cells causes the induction of mitochondrial apoptosis. In the current study, we aimed to analysis the effect of EXOs with or without SAg on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) mediated apoptosis. We anchored staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) on EXOs isolated from a triple negative breast cancer cell line (EXO/SEB). Then, to identify the impact of EXO/SEB on the induction of ER apoptosis, MDA MB-231 cell line was treated with 25, 50 and 100 μg/ml EXO/SEB, EXO and SEB for 24 h and the expression ratio of GRP-78, CHOP and IRE-1 was assessed using real-time PCR and the fold change expression was assessed by Rest 2009. Exposing the cells to 100 μg/ml EXOs and 25 μg/ml EXO/SEB remarkably increased GRP-78 expression (p?<?0.001). Furthermore, the ratio of CHOP expression was considerably raised after treatment with 50 and 100 μg/ml EXO/SEB (p?<?0.001). On the other hand, our observation demonstrated a significant increase in the IRE-1 expression ratio at the concentration of 25, 50 and 100 μg/ml of EXO/SEB (21.99, 13.1 and 9.82 fold) (p?<?0.001). We concluded that EXO/SEB is able to induce ER mediated apoptosis via increased expression of CHOP and IRE-1 genes.     

Expressions of some antioxidant genes in SH-SY5Y cells treated with β-lapachone,morphine and electromagnetic field

β-Lapachone (β-Lap), morphine (Mor), and electromagnetic field (EMF) generate reactive oxygen species. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of Mor and EMF, in combination with β-Lap on the cell growth inhibition and expression of several antioxidant genes. The 0.50 mT intensity of 50 Hz EMF and two exposure conditions (“15 min field-on/15 min field-off” and “30 min field-on continuously”) on SH-SY5Y cells were used. The effects of Mor and EMF, in combination with β-Lap on cell growth inhibition and the expression levels of several antioxidant genes (NQO1, NQO2, SOD1, SOD2, CAT, GSTO1, GSTM2, GSTM3, GSTP1, MGST1, MGST3) in SH-SY5Y cells were measured. The relative mRNA levels were calculated according to the \({{\text{2}}^ - }^{{\Delta \Delta {{\text{C}}_{\text{t}}}}}\). Whereas NQO1 mRNA level decreased in the “15 min field-on/15 min field-off” condition, the expression level of NQO2 was increased. Both NQO1 and NQO2 expressions increased in Mor treated cells. IC₅₀ values of β-Lap in combination with Mor, EMF, and “Mor?+?EMF” were higher than cells treated only with β-Lap. The NQO1 expression level in the cells treated with β-Lap was higher than the other treatments, indicating that β-Lap induces the expression of NQO1. Moreover, multiple linear regression analysis indicated that NQO1 mRNA levels were associated positively with β-Lap and negatively with EMF. At least in part, the mRNA levels of NQO1 were associated with IC₅₀ values of β-Lap in designed treatments. There is a negative association between mRNA levels of NQO1 and IC₅₀ values of β-Lap but not NQO2.     

Characterization of Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles Using Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and its In Vitro Assessment Against Colorectal Cancer Cells

Silver nanoparticles are the most desirable nanoparticles broadly used in diverse fields. This study intends to investigate the anticancer properties of synthesized silver/Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG nanoparticles (Ag-LNPs) as a reducing and stabilizing agent in the synthesis process. To prepare silver/Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG nanoparticles, 1 mg/ml cell lysate of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and 1 mM silver nitrate solution were mixed and incubated for 72 h. XRD, FTIR, and TEM methods were used for nanoparticle characterization. MTT assay and annexin/PI staining were employed to analyze the toxicity and apoptotic cells levels of Ag-LNPs, respectively. TEM showed that these nanoparticles are spherical shaped about 233 nm in size. FTIR spectroscopy demonstrated that Ag-LNPs were functionalized with biomolecules. XRD pattern showed high purity and face-centered crystal structure of Ag-LNPs. MTT assay revealed that the percentages of HT-29 live cells significantly reduced in the high concentration of Ag-LNPs. Annexin/PI staining showed that these nanoparticles could lead HT-29 cells to apoptosis. This study showed the new Ag-LNP-synthesizing method using Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as a cost-effective and efficient approach. Also, it showed that these nanoparticles can be considered as a potential active agent for biomedical applications and drug delivery due to their anticancer activities.