Dunaliella as an attractive candidate for molecular farming

Pharmaceutical recombinant proteins are widely used in human healthcare. At present, several protein expression systems are available to generate therapeutic proteins. These conventional systems have distinct advantages and disadvantages in protein yielding; in terms of ease of manipulation, the time required from gene transformation to protein purification, cost of production and scaling-up capitalization, proper folding and stability of active proteins. Depending on the research goal and priorities, a special system may be selected for protein expression. However, considering the limited variety of organisms currently used and their usage restrictions, there are still much more pharmaceutical proteins waiting to be economically and efficiently produced. Distinguished biological and technical features of microalgae Dunaliella such as inexpensive medium requirement, fast growth rate, the ease of manipulation, easy scaling up procedure, facility of milking in bioreactors and the ability of post-translational modifications make this microorganism an attractive candidate for molecular farming.     

Comparative life history and fecundity of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on different soybean varieties

The effect of different soybean varieties ( Glycine max 356, M4, M7, M9, Clark, Sahar, JK, BP, Williams, L17, Zane, Gorgan3 and DPX) on the life history and fecundity of the gram pod borer Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (synonym Heliothis armigera (Hubner), also known as the American or African bollworm) was determined at 25 ± 1°C, 65 ± 5% r.h. and a light : dark cycle of 16:8 h. The larval period ranged 17.30 to 26.20 days on M7 and L17, respectively. The longest development time was on L17, BP and Sahar (42.71, 40.29 and 39.20 days, respectively) and the shortest was on M7, M9, Williams and Clark (34.21, 36.06, 36.60 and 36.82 days, respectively). The development index of overall immature stages varied from 1.39 to 2.41, with the minimum on L17 and BP and the maximum on M7. The highest daily fecundity and total fecundity (118.92 and 582.70 eggs, respectively) and the lowest (37.88 and 177.10 eggs, respectively) were observed on DPX and 356, respectively. Cluster analysis of the biological parameters of H. armigera on different soybean varieties demonstrated that BP, Sahar and L17 were partially resistant to H. armigera . Knowledge of the extent of susceptibility or resistance of crop varieties and biology of a pest on that crop are fundamental components of integrated pest management (IPM) programs for many crops. Such information can help to detect and monitor pest infestation, variety selection and crop breeding.     

Hl histones from mammalian testes : Hlt is associated with spermatogenesis in humans

Hlt is a testis-specific Hl histone variant associated with meiosis and post-meiotic stages of male germ cell development. We have now made tentative identification of Hlt in humans by a variety of criteria including electrophoretic and extractive properties. While Hlt was readily identified in extracts from normal testes, it was not detectable in extracts from aspermatogenic testes or from placenta. Identification of Hlt in humans confirms the widespread association of this unusual Hl variant with spermatogenesis among mammals ranging from rodents to primates.     

Effect of Lyophilized,Encapsulated Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactulose Feeding on Growth Performance,Heavy Metals,and Trace Element Residues in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Tissues

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - Heavy metals naturally occur in the environment and are causing great concern all around the world. Accumulation of heavy metals in fish tissues can lead to...     

Physiological comparison of cells with high and low alcohol dehydrogenase activities in bacterial populations consuming ethanol

Measuring the physiological heterogeneity of natural and industrial microbial populations is essential to studying, modelling and monitoring of microbial populations. It was discovered that populations of Escherichia coli and Bacillus megaterium growing in medium with ethanol as an external source of energy have two actively respiring but physiologically different subpopulations. Cells of one subpopulation have negligibly low alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity (ADH-L cells) and cells of the other have high ADH activity (ADH-H cells). The subpopulation of ADH-H bacterial cells was measured using 10 min incubations of cells in a 1% solution of allyl alcohol for fast selective killing of cells with high activity of ADH and flow cytometry detection of dead cells after this incubation. The content of ADH-H cells during exponential phase of batch culture varied from 9 % to 90 % and lowered to zero for a few hours during starvation of the population. ADH-L cells are actively respiring cells and not depolarized cells. The simultaneous presence of ADH-L and ADH-H cells growing in the medium with ethanol can be explained by the fact that ADH-H cells oxidize actively external ethanol whereas ADH-L cells oxidize only intracellular storage carbohydrates. The method for enumeration of cells with high ADH activity can be used to monitor the heterogeneity of bacterial populations consuming ethanol as a sole source of carbon and energy.     

Analysis of clinical important of LncRNA-HOTAIR gene variations and ovarian cancer susceptibility

Molecular Biology Reports - LncRNAs are of functional long non-coding RNAs, which have been shown to be involved in critical pathways in cancer development. LncRNA-HOTAIR gene overexpression has...     

Oleanolic acid increases the anticancer potency of doxorubicin in pancreatic cancer cells

Combination therapy is a novel cancer therapy approach that combines two or more chemotherapy drugs. This treatment modality enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy by targeting key pathways in an additive or synergistic manner. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of combination therapy by widely used chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) and oleanolic acid (OA) to induction of apoptosis for pancreatic cancer (PC) therapy. The effects of DOX, OA, and their combination (DOX-OA) were investigated on proliferation and viability of PC cell line (PANC-1) by MTT assay. Moreover, migration and invasion of the cancer cells were evaluated by trans-well migration assay and wound healing assay. Flow cytometry and DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining were employed to investigate apoptosis quantification and qualification of the treated cancer cells. Finally, mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results demonstrated that the proliferation and metastasis potential of PC cells significantly decreased after treatment by DOX, OA, and DOX-OA. Moreover, we observed an increase in apoptosis percentage in the treated cancer cells. The apoptosis-related gene expression was modified to increase the apoptosis rate in all of the treatment groups. However, the anticancer potency of DOX-OA combination was significantly more than that of DOX and OA treatments alone. Our study suggested that DOX-OA combination exerts more profound anticancer effects against PC cell lines than DOX or OA monotherapy. This approach may increase the efficiency of chemotherapy and reduce unintended side effects by lowering the prescribed dose of DOX.