Effects of lycopene supplementation on antioxidant status,oxidative stress,performance and carcass characteristics in heat-stressed Japanese quail

Lycopene, a carotenoid present predominantly in tomatoes, is one of the most efficient antioxidants. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lycopene supplementation on performance, carcass characteristics, biomarkers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde (MDA) and homocysteine), and concentrations of vitamins C, E, A, cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose in Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) exposed to high-ambient temperature of 34 °C. Two hundred and forty Japanese quails (10 day-old) were randomly assigned to eight treatment groups consisting of 10 replicates of three birds. The birds were kept at a temperature-controlled room at 22 °C (Thermoneutral, TN groups) or 34 °C (for 12 h/day; 09.00 am–05.00 pm; Heat stress, HS groups). Birds were fed either a basal (control) diet (TN and HS) or the basal diet supplemented with 50, 100 or 200 mg of lycopene/kg of diet. Lycopene supplementation linearly increased feed intake (P=0.05$P=0.05$), live weight gain (P=0.01$P=0.01$), feed efficiency (P=0.01$P=0.01$) and cold carcass weight (P=0.01$P=0.01$) and yield (P=0.05$P=0.05$) under heat stress conditions but did not show the same effect at thermoneutral conditions (P>0.05$P>0.05$). The interaction Serum vitamin C, E, and A (P=0.01$P=0.01$) concentrations increased linearly in birds reared at high temperature while non-significant changes occurred at TN groups. Homocysteine level in serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in serum, liver, and heart (P=0.001$P=0.001$) linearly decreased in all birds of both TN and HS groups as dietary lycopene supplementation increased. Heat stress-induced increase in serum cholesterol (P=0.01$P=0.01$), triglycerides (P=0.05$P=0.05$) and glucose (P=0.01$P=0.01$) concentrations were linearly reversed by lycopene supplementation. Supplementation of lycopene increased the HDL concentration whereas, the VLDL and LDL concentrations reduced with lycopene supplementation (P=0.01$P=0.01$, linear), particularly at a dietary concentration of 200 mg/kg. Lycopene could not be detected in control birds while a linear increase was observed in the sera of lycopene supplemented birds The results of the study indicate that lycopene supplementation attenuated the increase in oxidative stress and depletion in antioxidants caused by heat stress in Japanese quails.     

Protective role of erdosteine on vancomycin-induced oxidative stress in rat liver

Drug-induced liver toxicity is a common cause of liver injury. This study was designed to elucidate whether high dose vancomycin (VCM) induces oxidative stress in liver and to investigate the protective effects of erdosteine, an expectorant agent. Twenty-two young Wistar rats were divided into three groups as follows: control group, VCM, and VCM plus erdosteine. VCM was administered intraperitoneally in the dosage of 200 mg/kg twice daily for 7 days. Erdosteine was administered orally administered once a day at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as the concentration of malondialdehyde, as an indicator of lipid peroxidation, were measured to evaluate oxidative stress in homogenates of the liver. VCM administration increased malondialdehyde levels (p < 0.001), superoxide dismutase (p < 0.01) and catalase (p < 0.001) activities. Erdosteine co-administration with VCM injections caused significantly decreased malondialdehyde levels (p < 0.001), superoxide dismutase (p < 0.01) and catalase (p < 0.001) activities in liver tissue when compared with VCM alone. It can be concluded that erdosteine may prevent VCM-induced oxidative changes in liver by reducing reactive oxygen species.     

Association of fragile site-associated (FSA) gene expression with epithelial differentiation and tumor development

A novel gene designated as fragile site-associated (FSA) gene was recently identified by positional cloning from the CHO 1q31 fragile site which plays an important role in regulating amplification of multidrug resistance (mdr1) gene in multidrug-resistant cells. FSA produces a message of approximately 16 kb which encodes an open-reading frame of 5005 amino acids. FSA shares sequence similarity with that in Caenorhabditis elegans lpd-3, a lipid storage gene. Using immunohistochemical staining and RNA in situ hybridization we report here that expression of FSA is associated with developmental programs of spermatogenesis and mammary gland in mice. Real-time RT-PCR results also support the upregulation of FSA expression in mammary gland development. Expression of FSA in many tissues including colon, skin, ovary, prostate, and bladder is mainly in the postmitotic, well-differentiated compartments. Moreover, levels of FSA expression are downregulated in tumors of these tissue origins. These results suggest that FSA also plays important roles in regulating mammalian epithelial growth and differentiation and tumor development.     

A biomonitoring study on the workers from textile dyeing plants

We evaluated the genotoxic risk of workers from textile dyeing plants in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and chromosomal aberrations (CAs) were investigated in peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures of 40 workers and compared to those of 32 age-sex- and habit-matched healthy controls. Groups were selected after a questionnaire administration. Use of Maras powder (a kind of smokeless tobacco) was considered as modulating factor. The SCEs level did not show significant differences between workers and controls. The frequency of CA was significantly higher in workers than in controls. Use of Maras powder was a significant factor to increase the frequencies of SCE and CA in control group. The level of SCE and CA did not correlate with the age whereas there was a significant correlation between years of exposure and CA frequency. The results of this study revealed the genotoxic risk of textile dyers. Protective measures such as masks and gloves are desirable for preventing or minimizing the occupational exposure.     

S6K1 regulates GSK3 under conditions of mTOR-dependent feedback inhibition of Akt

Feedback inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) has emerged as an important signaling event in tumor syndromes, cancer, and insulin resistance. Cells lacking the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) gene products are a model for this feedback regulation. We find that, despite Akt attenuation, the Akt substrate GSK3 is constitutively phosphorylated in cells and tumors lacking TSC1 or TSC2. In these settings, GSK3 phosphorylation is sensitive to mTORC1 inhibition by rapamycin or amino acid withdrawal, and GSK3 becomes a direct target of S6K1. This aberrant phosphorylation leads to decreased GSK3 activity and phosphorylation of downstream substrates and contributes to the growth-factor-independent proliferation of TSC-deficient cells. We find that GSK3 can also be regulated downstream of mTORC1 in a HepG2 model of cellular insulin resistance. Therefore, we define conditions in which S6K1, rather than Akt, is the predominant GSK3 regulatory kinase.     

Isolation and characterization of a new type of aerobic,oxalic acid utilizing bacteria,and proposal of Oxalicibacterium flavum gen. nov., sp. nov

A mesophilic, aerobic oxalic acid utilizing yellow-pigmented bacterium has been isolated from litter of oxalate producing plants in the region of Izmir (Turkey). It is motile by means of 1-3 polar flagella. Optimal growth occurred between 25-30 degrees C at pH 6.9. The G+C content of DNA is 62-64 mol % (Tm). Based on its morphological and biochemical features the organism belongs to the genus Pseudomonas, but differs from all the previously described species. The taxonomic relationships among strains described as or previously tentatively assigned to the genus Pseudomonas were investigated using numerical classification, DNA base composition and DNA-DNA hybridization. 16S rDNA sequences were determined for the strain TA17. On the basis of 16S rDNA sequence comparisons, physiological and biochemical characteristics, it is proposed to classify TA17T in a new genus and species for which the name Oxalicibacterium flavum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TA17T (= NEU98T, = LMG 21571T).     

Construction of a metagenomic library for the marine sponge Halichondria okadai

Symbionts of the marine sponge Halichondria okadai are promising as a source of natural products. Metagenomic technology is a powerful tool for accessing the genetic and biochemical potential of bacteria. Hence, we established a method of recovering bacterial-enriched metagenomic DNA by stepwise centrifugation. The metagenomic DNA was analyzed by ultrafast 454-pyrosequencing technology, and the results suggested that more than three types of bacterial DNA, Alphaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Cyanobacteria, had been recovered, and that eukaryotic genes comprised only 0.02% of the metagenomic DNA. These results indicate that stepwise centrifugation and real-time quantitative PCR were effective for separating sponge cells and symbiotic bacteria, and that we constructed a bacteria-enriched metagenomic library from a marine sponge, H. okadai, selectively for the first time.     

Synthesis and carbonic anhydrase inhibitory properties of novel bromophenols including natural products

(2-Bromo-3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) (3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)methanone (10) and its derivatives with Br, one dibromide and isomeric three tribromides, were synthesized. Demethylation of these compounds afforded a series of new bromophenols. Inhibition of human cytosolic carbonic anhydrase II (hCA II) isozyme by these new bromophenols and naturally occurring 3,4,6-tribromo-5-(2,5-dibromo-3,4-dihydroxybenzyl)benzene-1,2-diol (3), and 5,5'-methylenebis(3,4,6-tribromo-benzene-1,2-diol) (4) was investigated. The synthesized compounds showed carbonic anhydrase inhibitory capacities with IC(50) values in the range of 0.7-372 μM against hCA II. Some bromophenols investigated here showed effective hCA II inhibitory activity and might be used as leads for generating novel carbonic anhydrase inhibitors which are valuable drug candidates for the treatment of glaucoma, epilepsy, gastric and duodenal ulcers, neurological disorders, or osteoporosis.     

Confidence-based Somatic Mutation Evaluation and Prioritization

Next generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled high throughput discovery of somatic mutations. Detection depends on experimental design, lab platforms, parameters and analysis algorithms. However, NGS-based somatic mutation detection is prone to erroneous calls, with reported validation rates near 54% and congruence between algorithms less than 50%. Here, we developed an algorithm to assign a single statistic, a false discovery rate (FDR), to each somatic mutation identified by NGS. This FDR confidence value accurately discriminates true mutations from erroneous calls. Using sequencing data generated from triplicate exome profiling of C57BL/6 mice and B16-F10 melanoma cells, we used the existing algorithms GATK, SAMtools and SomaticSNiPer to identify somatic mutations. For each identified mutation, our algorithm assigned an FDR. We selected 139 mutations for validation, including 50 somatic mutations assigned a low FDR (high confidence) and 44 mutations assigned a high FDR (low confidence). All of the high confidence somatic mutations validated (50 of 50), none of the 44 low confidence somatic mutations validated, and 15 of 45 mutations with an intermediate FDR validated. Furthermore, the assignment of a single FDR to individual mutations enables statistical comparisons of lab and computation methodologies, including ROC curves and AUC metrics. Using the HiSeq 2000, single end 50 nt reads from replicates generate the highest confidence somatic mutation call set.