Starting to unravel the toxoglossan knot: molecular phylogeny of the "turrids" (Neogastropoda: Conoidea)

The superfamily Conoidea is one of the most speciose groups of marine mollusks, with estimates of about 340 recent valid genera and subgenera, and 4000 named living species. Previous classifications were based on shell and anatomical characters, and clades and phylogenetic relationships are far from well assessed. Based on a dataset of ca. 100 terminal taxa belonging to 57 genera, information provided by fragments of one mitochondrial (COI) and three nuclear (28S, 18S and H3) genes is used to infer the first molecular phylogeny of this group. Analyses are performed on each gene independently as well as for a data matrix where all genes are concatenated, using Maximum Likelihood, Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian approaches. Several well-supported clades are defined and are only partly identifiable to currently recognized families and subfamilies. The nested sampling used in our study allows a discussion of the classification at various taxonomical levels, and several genera, subfamilies and families are found polyphyletic.     

Impairment of the cytotoxic and oxidative activities of 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol by esterification with oleate

Atherosclerosis involves inflammatory processes, as well as cytotoxic and oxidative reactions. In atherosclerotic plaques, these phenomena are revealed by the presence of dead cells, oxidized lipids, and oxidative DNA damage, but the molecules triggering these events are still unknown. As 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol, which are present at elevated concentrations in atherosclerotic lesions, are strongly cytotoxic and pro-oxidative, their effects were determined on cell death, superoxide anion and nitric oxide production, lipid peroxidation, and oxidative DNA damage. 7-Ketocholesterol- and 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol-induced cell death leads to a loss of mitochondrial potential, to increased permeability to propidium iodide, and to morphological nuclear changes (swelling, fragmentation, and/or condensation of nuclei). These effects are preceded by the formation of cytoplasmic monodansylcadaverine-positive structures and are associated with a rapid enhancement of cells overproducing superoxide anions, a decrease in cells producing nitric oxide, lipid peroxidation (formation of malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal adducts, low ratio of [unsaturated fatty acids]/[saturated fatty acids]) as well as oxidative DNA damage (8-oxoguanine formation). Noteworthy, none of the cytotoxic features previously observed with 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol were noted with cholesterol, 7 beta-hydroxycholesteryl-3-oleate and 7-ketocholesteryl-3-oleate, with the exception of a slight increase in superoxide anion production with 7 beta-hydroxycholesteryl-3-oleate. This finding supports the theory that 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol could induce cytotoxic and oxidative processes observed in atherosclerotic lesions and that esterification of these compounds may contribute to reducing atherosclerosis progression.     

Phage display-derived antibody fragments against conserved regions of VacA toxin of Helicobacter pylori

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Infection with Helicobacter pylori may result in the emergence of gastric adenocarcinoma. Among various toxins assisting pathogenesis of H. pylori,...     

Molecular phylogeny in mytilids supports the wooden steps to deep-sea vents hypothesis

Molecular data were used to study the diversity of mytilids associated with sunken-woods sampled in the Solomon Islands and discuss the 'wooden steps to deep-sea vent' hypothesis proposed by Distel et al. First, COI data used in a barcoding approach confirm the presence of four distinct species. Analyses of the 18S rDNA and COI dataset then confirmed that these sunken-wood mytilids belonged to a monophyletic group including all species from deep-sea reducing environments. Finally, we analyzed the relationships within this monophyletic group that include the Bathymodiolinae using a COI dataset and a combined analysis of mitochondrial COI and ND4 genes and nuclear rDNA 18S and 28S. Our study supported the 'wooden steps to deep-sea vent' hypothesis: one of the sunken-wood species had a basal position within the Bathymodiolionae, and all described vent and seep mussels included in our analyses were derived taxa within Bathymodiolinae.     

Promising immunotherapy: Highlighting cytokine-induced killer cells

For many years, cancer therapy has appeared to be a challenging issue for researchers and physicians. By the introduction of novel methods in immunotherapy, the prospect of cancer therapy even more explained than before. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell-based immunotherapy demonstrated to have potentiality in improving clinical outcomes and relieving major side effects of standard treatment options. In addition, given the distinctive features such as high safety, low toxicity effects on healthy cells, numerous clinical trials conducted on CIK cells. Due to the shortcomings that observed in CIK cell immunotherapy alone, arising a tendency to make modifications (combined modality therapy or combination therapy) including the addition of various types of cytokines, genetic engineering, combination with immune checkpoints, and so on. In this review, we have tried to bring forth the latest immunotherapy methods and their overview. We have discussed the combination therapies with CIK cells and the conducted clinical trials. This helps the future studies to use integrated therapies with CIK cells as a promising treatment of many types of cancers.     

Gentamicin-loaded chitosan/folic acid-based carbon quantum dots nanocomposite hydrogel films as potential antimicrobial wound dressing

The potential to directly harness photosynthesis to make actuators, biosensors and bioprocessors has been previously demonstrated in the literature. Herein, this capability has been expanded to more advanced systems — Marimo Actuated Rover Systems (MARS) — which are capable of autonomous, solar powered, movement. We demonstrate this ability is both a practical and viable alternative to conventional mobile platforms for exploration and dynamic environmental monitoring. Prototypes have been successfully tested to measure their speed of travel and ability to automatically bypass obstacles. Further, MARS is electromagnetically silent, thus avoiding the background noise generated by conventional electro/mechanical platforms which reduces instrument sensitivity. The cost of MARS is significantly lower than platforms based on conventional technology. An autonomous, low-cost, lightweight, compact size, photosynthetically powered rover is reported. The potential for further system enhancements are identified and under development.     

Synthesis, antibacterial activity, and quantitative structure-activity relationships of new (Z)-2-(nitroimidazolylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranone derivatives

A new series of (Z)-2-(1-methyl-5-nitroimidazole-2-ylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranones (11a-p) and (Z)-2-(1-methyl-4-nitroimidazole-5-ylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranones (12a-m) were synthesized and assayed for their antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Most of the 5-nitroimidazole analogues (11a-p) showed a remarkable inhibition of a wide spectrum of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus epidermidis, MRSA, and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative Klebsiella pneumoniae, whereas 4-nitroimidazole analogues (12a-m) were not effective against selected bacteria. The quantitative structure-activity relationship investigations were applied to find out the correlation between the experimentally evaluated activities with various parameters of the compounds studied. The QSAR models built in this work had reasonable predictive power and could be explained by the observed trends in activities.