Synergistic effect of coronatine and sorbitol on artemisinin production in cell suspension culture of Artemisia annua L. cv. Anamed

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Artemisinin is an efficient anti-malarial drug and it possesses biological activity against a wide range of cancers. The combined application of two...     

Radioprotective effect of olanzapine as an anti-psychotic drug against genotoxicity and apoptosis induced by ionizing radiation on human lymphocytes

Molecular Biology Reports - Olanzapine (OLA), is prescribed as an anti-psychotic medicine in schizophrenia patients. In this study, the protective effect of OLA against genotoxicity and...     

Resolving the pathogenicity factors of a novel opportunistic fungus Schizophyllum commune at molecular level

Molecular Biology Reports - Schizophyllum commune is a well-known mushroom forming fungi which is an edible one due to its nutritive value. It exhibits a special wood degrading mechanism to grow in...     

Insecticidal effect of plant extracts on common pistachio psylla,Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt and Lauterer (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae)

The common pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) is one of the most detrimental pests to pistachio trees. Nowadays various pesticides are used to control the common pistachio psylla, but extensive pesticide spraying against this pest over a period of several years has overpowered its natural enemies. The plant’s byproducts come as an alternative ecologically more compatible in substitution to the synthetic insecticides. This work aims to evaluate the insecticidal potential of herbal extracts of fruit peels of Citrus sinensis and Citrus reticulata, seeds of C. sinensis and Rubia tinctorum, and leaves of Lawsonia inermis against common pistachio psylla. Five concentration 40, 47, 56, 67 and 80 µl/ml, of these plant extracts were sprayed on the fifth instar nymphs of common pistachio psylla by Potter Spray Tower under laboratory conditions (26?±?2?°C, 60–70% RH and a photoperiod of 16L: 8D h). Results showed significant differences among the treatments of the plant extracts and between the concentrations. The LC₅₀ values of C. sinensis peels, C. reticulata peels, C. sinensis seeds, R. tinctorum seeds and L. inermis leaves were 62.04, 38.84, 43.60, 59.01 and 33.99 µl/ml, respectively. Also, all extracts showed the greatest mortality effect in 80 µl/ml concentration. According to these results, these plant extracts may use as herbal pesticides chemical control programme of common pistachio psylla.     

Dysregulated expression of STAT1, miR-150, and miR-223 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of coronary artery disease patients with significant or insignificant stenosis

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a multicellular disease characterized by chronic inflammation. Peripheral blood-mononuclear cells (PBMCs), as a critical component of immune system, actively cross-talk with pathophysiological conditions induced by endothelial cell injury, reflecting in perturbed PBMC expression. STAT1 is believed to be relevant to CAD pathogenesis through regulating key inflammatory processes and modulating STAT1 expression play key roles in fine-tuning CAD-related inflammatory processes. This study evaluated PBMC expressions of STAT1, and its regulators (miR-150 and miR-223) in a cohort including 72 patients with CAD with significant ( ≥ 50%) stenosis, 30 patients with insignificant ( < 50%) coronary stenosis (ICAD), and 74 healthy controls, and assessed potential of PBMC expressions to discriminate between patients and controls. We designed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays and identified stable reference genes for normalizing PBMC quantities of miR-150, miR-223, and STAT1 applying geNorm algorithm to six small RNAs and five mRNAs. There was no significant difference between CAD and ICAD patients regarding STAT1 expression. However, both groups of patients had higher levels of STAT1 than healthy controls. miR-150 and miR-223 were differently expressed across three groups of subjects and were downregulated in patients compared with healthy controls, with the lowest expression levels being observed in patients with ICAD. ROC curves suggested that PBMC expressions may separate between different groups of study subjects. PBMC expressions also discriminated different clinical manifestations of CAD from ICADs or healthy controls. In conclusion, the present study reported PBMC dysregulations of STAT1, miR-150, and miR-223, in patients with significant or insignificant coronary stenosis and suggested that these changes may have diagnostic implications.     

Roles for osteocalcin in proliferation and differentiation of spermatogonial cells cocultured with somatic cells

Spermatogonial cells (SCs) are key cells for spermatogenesis. These cells are affected by paracrine signals originated from nearby somatic cells, among them Leydig cells have receptors for osteocalcin, a hormone known for exerting positive roles in the promotion of spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate roles for osteocalcin on SCs proliferative and differentiation features after coculture with Leydig cells. SCs and Leydig cells were isolated from neonate NMRI offspring mice and adult NMRI mice, respectively. SCs population were then enriched in a differential attachment technique and assessed for morphological features and identity. Then, SCs were cocultured with Leydig cells and incubated with osteocalcin for 4 weeks. Evaluation of proliferation and differentiation-related factors were surveyed using immunocytochemistry (ICC), Western blot, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, the rate of testosterone release to the culture media was measured at the end of 4th week. Morphological and flow cytometry results showed that the SCs were the population of cells able to form colonies and to express ID4, α6-, and β1-integrin markers, respectively. Leydig cells were also able to express Gprc6α as a specific marker for the cells. Incubation of SCs/Leydig coculture with osteocalcin has resulted in an increase in the rate of expressions for differentiation-related markers. Levels of testosterone in the culture media of SCs/Leydig was positively influenced by osteocalcin. It could be concluded that osteocalcin acts as a positive inducer of SCs in coculture with Leydig cells probably through stimulation of testosterone release from Leydig cells and associated signaling.     

Role of thrombin in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is an arterial disease associated with inflammation. Thrombin is a procoagulant and proinflammatory serine protease that contributes to the pathology of atherosclerosis by enhancing the expression of cell adhesion molecules, inducing the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, activating inflammatory responses in atherosclerotic plaques, stimulating proliferation of aortic smooth muscle cells, and exacerbating vascular lesions at sites of injury. Hence, thrombin appears to be an important target for treatment of atherosclerosis and thrombin pharmacological inhibitors have significant therapeutic potency for suppressing inflammatory responses in cardiovascular diseases. This review summarizes the proinflammatory signaling functions of thrombin as well as the therapeutic potency of thrombin inhibitors in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and hence their potential therapeutic value in this condition.     

Investigation of deleterious effects of nsSNPs in the POT1 gene: a structural genomics-based approach to understand the mechanism of cancer development

Protection of telomere 1 (POT1) is one of the key components of shelterin complex, implicated in maintaining the telomere homeostasis, and thus stability of the eukaryotic genome. A large number of non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in the POT1 gene have been reported to cause varieties of human diseases, including cancer. In recent years, a number of mutations in POT1 has been markedly increased, and interpreting the effect of these large numbers of mutations to understand the mechanism of associated diseases seems impossible using experimental approaches. Herein, we employ varieties of computational methods such as PROVEAN, PolyPhen-2, SIFT, PoPMuSiC, SDM2, STRUM, and MAESTRO to identify the effects of 387 nsSNPs on the structure and function of POT1 protein. We have identified about 183 nsSNPs as deleterious and termed them as “high-confidence nsSNPs.” Distribution of these high-confidence nsSNPs demonstrates that the mutation in oligonucleotide binding domain 1 is highly deleterious (one in every three nsSNPs), and high-confidence nsSNPs show a strong correlation with residue conservation. The structure analysis provides a detailed insights into the structural changes occurred in consequence of conserved mutations which lead to the cancer progression. This study, for the first time, offers a newer prospective on the role of POT1 mutations on the structure, function, and their relation to associated diseases.     

Atorvastatin and losartan may upregulate renalase activity in hypertension but not coronary artery diseases: The role of gene polymorphism

The aim is to explore the treatment effect of coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension on plasma levels of renalase activity and also the possible association of renalase rs10887800 gene polymorphism with CAD and hypertension. A total of 286 patients who received coronary angiography were included in the study. Subjects were divided into four groups including (1) hypertensive with no CAD (H-Tens, n = 60); (2) CAD with hypertension (CAD + H-Tens, n = 71); (3) CAD with no hypertension (CAD, n = 61); and (4) nonhypertensive with no CAD as a control group (Con, n = 69). The plasma renalase activity was measured using the Amplex Red Monoamine Oxidase Assay Kit. Renalase rs10887800 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Atorvastatin (P = 0.005), losartan (P < 0.001), and captopril (P = 0.001) were administered significantly more in case groups compared with the Con group. Significant higher and lower levels of renalase activity were observed in H-Tens and CAD patients compared with control subjects (P < 0.001 for both comparisons). Furthermore, no significant differences were obtained in the risk or protective effects of renalase rs10887800 SNP against hypertension and/or CAD in both recessive and dominant genetic models (P > 0.05). According to the findings of the present study, atorvastatin and losartan therapy assumes considerable significance in alleviating hypertension, but not CAD, by increasing the renalase activity. Furthermore, it was found that renalase rs10887800 is less likely a predisposing factor for susceptibility to hypertension and/or CAD in an Iranian southeast population.