Use of Commercial Sugar, Isabgol and Ordinary Water in Culture Medium for Conservation of Curcuma longa L

Commercial sugar (market sugar or cube sugar) as carbon source, psyllium seed hask commonly known as isabgol (Plantago ovata) as gelling agent, and medium prepared in ordinary water [OW; pH: 7.48; electrical conductivity (EC): 299 μS cm^?1] instead of deionized distilled water (DW; pH: 5.67; EC: 5 μS cm^?1), did not show any significant effect on micropropagation and in vitro conservation of Curcuma longa cv Prathibha as compared to the control medium (CM) that was prepared with sucrose, gelled with agar in DW. The isabgol-gelled media not only supported better survival of cultures than those on agargelled media, but was also very cost-effective. After 12 months of conservation, significantly higher survival of 33–44% cultures was recorded in isabgol-gelled media, whereas only 16% of cultures survived on CM. By substituting inexpensive sources of three major components of the medium — market sugar, isabgol and OW, up to 84% decrease in cost of medium for plant regeneration and in vitro conservation could be achieved.     

Hormetic effect of low doses of rapamycin triggers anti-aging cascades in WRL-68 cells by modulating an mTOR-mitochondria cross-talk

Molecular Biology Reports - Rapamycin is hormetic in nature—it demonstrates contrasting effects at high and low doses. It is toxic at moderate/high doses, while it can restrain aging and...     

Aromatic interactions in tryptophan-containing peptides: crystal structures of model tryptophan peptides and phenylalanine analogs.

The crystal structures of the peptides, Boc-Leu-Trp-Val-OMe (1), Ac-Leu-Trp-Val-OMe (2a and 2b), Boc-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (3), Ac-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (4), and Boc-Ala-Aib-Leu-Trp-Val-OMe (5) have been determined by X-ray diffraction in order to explore the nature of interactions between aromatic rings, specifically the indole side chain of Trp residues. Peptide 1 adopts a type I beta-turn conformation stabilized by an intramolecular 4-->1 hydrogen bond. Molecules of 1 pack into helical columns stabilized by two intermolecular hydrogen bonds, Leu(1)NH...O(2)Trp(2) and IndoleNH...O(1)Leu(1). The superhelical columns further pack into the tetragonal space group P4(3) by means of a continuous network of indole-indole interactions. Peptide 2 crystallizes in two polymorphic forms, P2(1) (2a) and P2(1)2(1)2(1) (2b). In both forms, the peptide backbone is extended, with antiparallel beta-sheet association being observed in crystals. Extended strand conformations and antiparallel beta-sheet formation are also observed in the Phe-containing analogs, Boc-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (3) and Ac-Leu-Phe-Val-OMe (4). Peptide 5 forms a short stretch of 3(10)-helix. Analysis of aromatic-aromatic and aromatic-amide interactions in the structures of peptides, 1, 2a, 2b are reported along with the examples of 14 Trp-containing peptides from the Cambridge Crystallographic Database. The results suggest that there is no dramatic preference for a preferred orientation of two proximal indole rings. In Trp-containing peptides specific orientations of the indole ring, with respect to the preceding and succeeding peptide units, appear to be preferred in beta-turns and extended structures.     

Molecular docking analysis of lupeol with different cancer targets

Lupeol is one of the secondary metabolite (triterpenoid) present in many medicinally effective plants. It has numerous biological and pharmacological actions. Lupeol is found to have effective herbs and has immense biological activity against several diseases including its cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. In recent drug designing, molecular study of analysis is usually used for understanding the target and the ligand interaction. Therefore, it is of interest to document the molecular docking analysis data of lupeol with different cancer targets such as Caspase- 3, BCL-2, Topoisomerase, PTK, mTOR, H-Ras, PI3K, and AKT. These molecular docking studies were carried out by using AutoDock tools 4.2 version software. Molecular docking analyses of lupeol with target protein were found to have good dock score and minimum inhibition constant. BCL-2, Topoisomerase, PTK, mTOR and PI3Kdocking studies showed the best binding energy inhibition constant and ligand efficiency. The in-silico molecular docking analysis showed that the lupeol having relatively good docking energy, affinity and efficiency towards the active macromolecule, thus it may be considered as good inhibitor of proliferating cancer cells. By this knowledge of docking results, the lupeol can be used as promising drug for anticancer activity.     

Cocarcinogenesis in vitro using Balb/3T3 cells and aromatic hydrocarbon cocarcinogens

The mouse skin cocarcinogens fluoranthene, pyrene, and undecane were used with the indirect-acting carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene (BP), and the direct-acting alkylating carcinogen, ß-propiolactone (BPL), in an in vitro transformation assay. Dose response, cytotoxicity, and transformation studies with these compounds were performed with a subclone (A31-1-1) of the Balb/3T3 cell line. Transformation frequencies were found to increase with increasing concentrations of BP used up to 1.0 µg/ml or when BPL was used up to 4.0 µg/ml. A significant increase (P<0.05) in the transformation frequency over that seen with carcinogen alone was observed when cells were exposed to a combination of fluoranthene (4.0 µg/ml) and BP (0.063 µg/ml) or pyrene (5.0 µg/ml) and BP (0.063 µg/ml). Thus, the transformation frequency obtained with BP + fluoranthene was 3.8 × 10^–4 compared to 1.2 × 10^–4 when BP was tested alone. Similarly, the transformation frequency using BP + pyrene was 2.8 × 10^–4 vs 1.2 × 10^–4 when BP was tested alone. Undecane did not exert any cocarcinogenic effect with BP in the dose range tested. In this in vitro assay, no cocarcinogenic effect was observed when BPL was used with any of the above mouse skin cocarcinogens. All cells isolated from transformed foci showed characteristics of transformed cells including anchorage-independent growth.Abbreviations BP benzo(a)pyrene - BPL ß-propiolactone - CE cloning efficiency - CE₅₀ median CE - RCE relative CE Department of Cell Biology, New York University Medical CenterInstitute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.Contribution No. L217 from the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry and Carcinogenesis.     

Discrete Modeling of Dynamics of Zooplankton Community at the Different Stages of an Antropogeneous Eutrophication

Mathematical modeling is a convenient way for characterization of complex ecosystems. This approach was applied to study the dynamics of zooplankton in Lake Sevan (Armenia) at different stages of anthropogenic eutrophication with the use of a novel method called discrete modeling of dynamical systems with feedback (DMDS). Simulation demonstrated that the application of this method helps in characterization of inter- and intra-component relationships in a natural ecosystem. This method describes all possible pairwise inter-component relationships like “plus–plus,” “minus–minus,” “plus–minus,” “plus–zero,” “minus–zero,” and “zero–zero” that occur in most ecosystems. Based on the results, a working hypothesis was formulated. It was found that the sensitivity to weak external influence in zooplanktons was the greatest during the mid period of eutrophication in Lake Sevan, whereas in the final stages of eutrophication, an outbreak in the biomass production of cyanobacteria was evident. To support this approach, a weak external disturbance in the form of magnetic storm was used to see its effect on species Daphnia longispina sevanica. A statistically significant correlation between the frequency of magnetic storms and the number of this species was revealed and an increase in the number of toxic cyanobacteria species as a consequence of eutrophication. This paper, for the first time, suggests a DMDS method, to diagnose impact of anthropogenic eutrophication on environment.     

Fish Scales as Potential Substrate for Production of Alkaline Protease and Amino Acid Rich Aqua Hydrolyzate by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus altitudinis</Emphasis> GVC11

Fish processing industries generate large quantities of fish scales as processing waste, if not treated leading to environmental pollution. Fish scales are hard to degrade, hence cause difficulty in waste management. In this context present study was made to utilize fish scales as substrate for the production of alkaline protease by Bacillus altitudinis GVC11 and subsequently amino acid rich aqua hydrolyzate. B. altitudinis GVC11 efficiently utilized five types of fish scales as substrates and produced maximum alkaline protease using Labeo rohita (28,150 U/mL) followed by Catla catla (23,320 U/mL) at 48 h and Cyprinus carpio (17,146 U/mL) Mugil cephalus (18,917 U/mL), Cirrhinus mrigala (12,430 U/mL) at 72 h. The HPLC analysis of protein hydrolyzate obtained after fermentation was enriched in essential amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, lysine and non-essential amino acids, tyrosine, arginine and cysteine which can be used as animal feed supplement and organic fertilizer.     

HDAC inhibitors show differential epigenetic regulation and cell survival strategies on p53 mutant colon cancer cells

Besides inactivating tumour suppressor activity in cells, mutations in p53 confer significant oncogenic functions and promote metastasis and resistance to anticancer therapy. A variety of therapies involving genetic and epigenetic signalling events regulate tumorogenesis and progression in such cases. Pharmacological interventions with HDAC inhibitors have shown promise in therapy. This work explores the changes in efficacy of the four HDAC inhibitors SAHA, MS-275, valproic acid and sodium butyrate on a panel of colon cancer cell lines – HCT116 (p53 wt), HCT116 p53-/-, HT29 and SW480 (with mutations in p53). Clonogenic assays, gene profiling and epigenetic expression done on these cells point to p53 dependent differential activity of the 4 HDAC inhibitors which also elevate methylation levels in p53 mutant cell lines. In silico modelling establishes the alterations in interactions that lead to such differential activity of valproic acid, one of the inhibitors considered for the work. Molecular Dynamic simulations carried out on the valproic acid complex ensure stability of the complex. This work establishes a p53 dependent epigenetic signalling mechanism triggered by HDAC inhibition expanding the scope of HDAC inhibitors in adjuvant therapy for p53 mutant tumours.