Allantoin mediated regulation of miRNAs for short term salinity stress tolerance in Oryza sativa L. cv. IR-29

Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Salinity affects plant in a variety of ways, including ion toxicity, osmotic stress and oxidative damage. Allantoin is a nitrogenous compound...     

Quantitative assessment of distant recurrence risk in early stage breast cancer using a nonlinear combination of pathological,clinical and imaging variables

Use of genomic assays to determine distant recurrence risk in patients with early stage breast cancer has expanded and is now included in the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual. Algorithmic alternatives using standard clinical and pathology information may provide equivalent benefit in settings where genomic tests, such as OncotypeDx, are unavailable. We developed an artificial neural network (ANN) model to nonlinearly estimate risk of distant cancer recurrence. In addition to clinical and pathological variables, we enhanced our model using intraoperatively determined global mammographic breast density (MBD) and local breast density (LBD). LBD was measured with optical spectral imaging capable of sensing regional concentrations of tissue constituents. A cohort of 56 ER+ patients with an OncotypeDx score was evaluated. We demonstrated that combining MBD/LBD measurements with clinical and pathological variables improves distant recurrence risk prediction accuracy, with high correlation ( r = 0.98) to the OncotypeDx recurrence score.     

Breakdown of chitin by Cytophaga johnsonii

Summary Decomposition of chitin by Cytophaga johnsonii was investigated. Unlike other chitinolytic bacteria, some strains of C. johnsonii did not liberate chitinase extracellularly; instead the cells of such strains had need for close contact with the chitin particles in order to hydrolyze them. The cell-free extract of one of these strains, viz., C. johnsonii C35 did show presence of chitinase. The remaining strains liberated an extracellular chitinase and a chitobiase. The partially purified chitinase from the culture filtrates of C. johnsonii C31 was most active at pH 6.3–6.5 and at 40°C.Metabolism of N-acetylglucosamine, a product of chitin hydrolysis, by C. johnsonii C35 and C31 was investigated. The nature of some of the products formed and the steps involved in their transformations by the resting cells and the cell-free extracts suggested that N-acetylglucosamine first gets deacetylated to glucosamine before it is further oxidized to glucosaminic acid by these strains. Both strains were also able to dehydrogenate gluconate to 2-ketogluconate, the former being in all probability the product of deamination of glucosaminic acid.     

Hormonal regulation of gluconeogenic gene transcription in the liver

Glucose homeostasis in mammals is achieved by the actions of counterregulatory hormones, namely insulin, glucagon and glucocorticoids. Glucose levels in the circulation are regulated by the liver, the metabolic centre which produces glucose when it is scarce in the blood. This process is catalysed by two rate-limiting enzymes, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) whose gene expression is regulated by hormones. Hormone response units (HRUs) present in the two genes integrate signals from various signalling pathways triggered by hormones. How such domains are arranged in the regulatory region of these two genes, how this complex regulation is accomplished and the latest advancements in the field are discussed in this review.     

Assessment of immunological parameters during tumour development in a murine model

Natural Killer activity assessed by 51Cr release assay from K-562 cells showed detectable activity from 5th day after tumour transplantation, reaching a peak on 12th day and thereafter showing a gradual decline in the activity. Antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity estimated by 51Cr labelled sheep red blood cells anti SRBC system demonstrated a peak activity on 5th day. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity detected by 51Cr release of Dalton's lymphoma ascites target cells showed a peak on 10th day. Antibody complement mediated cytotoxicity revealed a similar pattern as natural killer cell activity.     

Cell-Type-Specific Immune Dysregulation in Severely Ill COVID-19 Patients

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