Oxidative stress contributes to cancer pathologies and to apoptosis. Marine algae exhibit cytotoxic, antiproliferative and apoptotic effects; their metabolites have been used to treat many types of cancer. We investigated in culture extracts of Petalonia fascia, Jania longifurca and Halimeda tuna to determine their effects on mouse neuroblastoma cell line, NA2B. NA2B cells were treated with algae extracts, and the survival and proliferation of NA2B cells were assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effects of algae extracts on oxidative stress in NA2B cells also were investigated using nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunocytochemistry and apoptosis was assessed using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling. We observed significant neurite inhibition with moderate damage by the neurotoxicity-screening test (NST) at IC50 dilutions of the extracts. MTT demonstrated that J. longifurca extracts were more toxic than P. fascia and H. tuna extracts. We found an increase of endothelial and inducible NOS immunostaining for oxidative stress and TUNEL analysis revealed increased apoptosis after application of extract. Our findings suggest that the algae we tested may have potential use for treatment of cancer. 相似文献
Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) consists of 13 subunits, 3 encoded in the
mitochondrial genome and 10 in the nucleus. Little is known of the role of
the nuclear-encoded subunits, some of which exhibit tissue-specific
isoforms. Subunit VIa is unique in having tissue-specific isoforms in all
mammalian species examined. We examined relative evolutionary rates for the
COX6A heart (H) and liver (L) isoform genes along the length of the
molecule, specifically in relation to the tissue-specific function(s) of
the two isoforms. Nonsynonymous (amino acid replacement) substitutions in
the COX6AH gene occurred more frequently than in the ubiquitously expressed
COX6AL gene. Maximum-parsimony analysis and sequence divergences from
reconstructed ancestral sequences revealed that after the ancestral COX6A
gene duplicated to yield the genes for the H and L isoforms, the sequences
encoding the mitochondrial matrix region of the COX VIa protein experienced
an elevated rate of nonsynonymous substitutions relative to synonymous
substitutions. This is expected for relaxed selective constraints after
gene duplication followed by purifying selection to preserve the
replacements with tissue-specific functions.
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Several analogues of N3-fumaramoyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid were synthesized and evaluated for inhibition of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthetase activity. The syntheses were accomplished by acylation reaction of N2-tert.-butoxycarbonyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (Boc-A2pr) or N2-tert.-butoxycarbonyl-L-2,4-diaminobutanoic acid (Boc-A2-bu) with the N-succinimidoyl esters of several derivatives of alpha, beta-unsaturated acids 2a-d followed by deprotection of the Boc groups. The obtained compounds were tested for inhibition of glucosamine synthetase isolated from Salmonella typhimurium and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results indicated that among the synthesized compounds, N3-4-methoxyfumaroyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (FMDP) was the most powerful inhibitor of glucosamine synthetase. 相似文献
Summary We report evidence from controlled experiments that long straight thorns deter herbivory by browsers. Cut branches of three woody species that had their thorns removed suffered significantly greater herbivory by a tethered goat than did paired intact branches. Branches on living Acacia seyal plants that had their thorns removed suffered significantly greater herbivory by a wild population of free-ranging giraffes than did intact branches on the same plants. These differences in herbivory resulted in long term losses of branch length in clipped as opposed to control branches. In addition, branches within reach of giraffes produced longer thorns and a greater density of thorns than did higher branches. These results imply that increased thorn length is an induced defense.No significance should be attached to order of authorship 相似文献