Description of Boleodorus Bushehrensis n. Sp. (Rhabditida: Tylenchidae) from Southern Iran,and Observations on a Commonly Known Species

A new species of the genus Boleodorus, recovered from southern Iran, is described and illustrated based upon morphological and molecular data. B. bushehrensis n. sp. is mainly characterized by having a wide and low cephalic region (which is continuous with the adjacent body), the oral aperture in a depression in side view under a light microscope, four lines in the lateral field, weak metacorpus with a vestigial-to-invisible valve, and short (26–38 mm long) hooked tail with rounded tip. The females are 334–464 mm long and have a spherical spermatheca filled with spheroid sperm; males have 11.5- to 12.0-mm-long spicules and weakly developed bursa. The new species has an annulated low cephalic region, four large cephalic papillae, and small crescent-shaped amphidial openings when observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Its morphological and morphometric differences with seven known species are discussed. The phylogenetic relationships of the new species with other relevant genera and species have been studied using partial sequences of small and large subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU and LSU rDNA). In both the SSU and LSU phylogenies, the sequences of B. bushehrensis n. sp. and other Boleodorus spp. formed a clade. A second species, B. thylactus, when studied under SEM, has a raised, smooth cephalic region, four large cephalic papillae, and oblique amphidial slits, with the oral opening in a depression.     

New chromosome counts in some species of Asteraceae from Iran

Seven chromosome counts of six species from the family Asteraceae are reported. All taxa were collected from Hamedan province, Iran. One count is a new report (viz Inula aucheriana ), three are not in accordance with previous counts (viz Senecio glaucus, Tanacetum chiliophyllum and Tanacetum polycephalum ) and the others (viz Tripleurospermum disciforme, Tanacetum polycephalum , T. parthenium ) are confirmations of very limited (one to eight records) previous data. Most of the studied taxa have the basic number x=9, but Senecio glaucus has x = 10, with ploidy levels ranging from 2x to 8x. Both diploidy and triploidy were found in T. chiliophyllum and may be regarded as a sign of ongoing speciation.     

Transplantation of miR-219 overexpressed human endometrial stem cells encapsulated in fibrin hydrogel in spinal cord injury

Oligodendrocyte (OL) loss and demyelination occur after spinal cord injury (SCI). Stimulation of remyelination through transplantation of myelinating cells may be effective in improving function. For the repair strategy to be successful, the selection of a suitable cell and maintaining cell growth when cells are injected directly to the site of injury is important. In addition to selecting the type of cell, fibrin hydrogel was used as a suitable tissue engineering scaffold for this purpose. To test the relationship between myelination and functional improvement, the human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) were differentiated toward oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) using overexpression of miR-219. Adult female Wistar rats were used to induce SCI by using a compression model and were randomly assigned to the following four experimental groups: SCI, Vehicle, hEnSC, and OPC. Ten days after injury, miR-219 overexpressed hEnSC-derived OPCs encapsulated in fibrin hydrogel, as an injectable scaffold, were injected to the injury site. In this study, with a focus on promoting functional recovery after SCI, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan test was performed to evaluate the recovery of motor function every week for 10 weeks and the histological assay was then performed. Results showed that the rate of motor function recovery was significantly higher in OPC group compared to SCI and vehicle groups but no marked differences were found between OPC and hEnSC groups, although, the rate of myelination in the OPC group was significantly higher than the other groups. These results demonstrated that remyelination was not the cause of recovery of motor function.     

TCNE-modified graphene as an adsorbent for N<Subscript>2</Subscript>O molecule: a DFT study

Adsorption behavior of nitrous oxide (N₂O) on pristine graphene (PG) and tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) modified PG surfaces is investigated using density functional theory. A number of initial adsorbate geometries are considered on both surfaces and the most stable ones are chosen upon calculation of the adsorption energies (E_ads). N₂O is found to adsorb in a weakly exoergic process (E_ads?～??3.18 kJ mol^?1) at the equilibrium distance of 3.52 Å on the PG surface. N₂O adsorption can be greatly enhanced with the presence of a TCNE molecule (E_ads?=??87.00 kJ mol^?1). Mulliken charge analysis confirms that adsorption of N₂O is not accompanied by distinct charge transfer from the surfaces to the molecule (? 0.001 │e│ for each case). Moreover, on the basis of calculated changes in the HOMO/LUMO energy gap, it is found that electronic properties of PG and TCNE modified PG are not sensitive toward adsorption of N₂O, indicating that both surfaces are not good enough to introduce as an N₂O detector. However, the considerable amount of E_ads in TCNE modified PG can be a guide to the design of graphene-based adsorbents for N₂O capture.     

Inhibitor of PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway Small Molecule Promotes Motor Neuron Differentiation of Human Endometrial Stem Cells Cultured on Electrospun Biocomposite Polycaprolactone/Collagen Scaffolds

Small molecules as useful chemical tools can affect cell differentiation and even change cell fate. It is demonstrated that LY294002, a small molecule inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signal pathway, can inhibit proliferation and promote neuronal differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the differentiation effect of Ly294002 small molecule on the human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) into motor neuron-like cells on polycaprolactone (PCL)/collagen scaffolds. hEnSCs were cultured in a neurogenic inductive medium containing 1 μM LY294002 on the surface of PCL/collagen electrospun fibrous scaffolds. Cell attachment and viability of cells on scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazoyl-2-yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The expression of neuron-specific markers was assayed by real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry analysis after 15 days post induction. Results showed that attachment and differentiation of hEnSCs into motor neuron-like cells on the scaffolds with Ly294002 small molecule were higher than that of the cells on tissue culture plates as control group. In conclusion, PCL/collagen electrospun scaffolds with Ly294002 have potential for being used in neural tissue engineering because of its bioactive and three-dimensional structure which enhances viability and differentiation of hEnSCs into neurons through inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Thus, manipulation of this pathway by small molecules can enhance neural differentiation.     

Comparative Assessment on the Expression Level of Recombinant Human Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) in Serum-Containing Versus Protein-Free Culture Media

Production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins has made a great contribution to modern biotechnology. At present, quick advances in protein expression lead to the enhancement of product quantity and quality as well as reduction in timescale processing. In the current study, we assessed the expression level of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (rhFSH) in adherent and suspension Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines by cultivation in serum-containing and chemically defined, protein-free media. The expression cassette entailing FSH subunits was transfected to CHO/dhfr- and CHO DG44 cell lines, and gene amplification was achieved using dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)/methotrexate (MTX) system. Afterward, the expression level of rhFSH was studied using real-time PCR, Western blotting and ELISA. Our achievements revealed that stepwise increase in MTX [up to 2000 nano-molar (nM)] leads to boost the expression level of rhFSH mRNA in both cell lines, although DG44 have better results, as mRNA expression level reached 124.8- and 168.3-fold in alpha and beta subunits, respectively. DG44 cells have also the best protein production in 2000 nM MTX, which reached 1.7-fold in comparison with that of the mock group. According to the above results and many advantages of protein-free media, DG44 is preferable cell line for future steps.     

6-Bromoquinazoline Derivatives as Potent Anticancer Agents: Synthesis,Cytotoxic Evaluation,and Computational Studies

A series of 6-bromoquinazoline derivatives ( 5a – j ) were synthesized. Cytotoxic effectiveness of compounds was done against two cancerous cell lines (MCF-7 and SW480) by standard MTT method. Fortunately, all of the compounds showed desirable activity in reducing the viability of the studied cancerous cell lines with IC₅₀ value in the range of 0.53–46.6 μM. Compound 5b with a fluoro substitution at meta position of the phenyl moiety showed stronger activity than cisplatin with IC₅₀=0.53–1.95 μM. Studies on the hit compound ( 5b ) through apoptosis assay illustrated that it could induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cell lines in dose dependent manner. Molecular docking study was done to investigate the detailed binding modes and interactions with EGFR as a plausible mechanism. The drug- likeness was predicted. To survey the reactivity of compounds, DFT calculation was performed. Taken together, 6-bromoquinazoline derivatives, especially 5b can be considered as hit compounds to rational drug designing as antiproliferative agents.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Arenaria (Caryophyllaceae: tribe Arenarieae) and its allies inferred from nuclear DNA internal transcribed spacer and plastid DNA rps16 sequences

The systematics and phylogeny of the genus Arenaria and allied genera are unresolved. The use of morphological data has resulted in contradictory taxonomic concepts in the past due to their homoplastic nature. We present a phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and rps16 sequence data of 140 (132 taxa) and 131 (120 taxa) accessions, respectively. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of each marker produced nearly congruent trees. Monophyly of Arenaria s.s. and Eremogone is confirmed here. Our results corroborate earlier results indicating that Arenaria subgenus Odontostemma is monophyletic, but outside the core group of Arenaria. Arenaria subgenus Solitaria is sister to Odontostemma and also not closely related to the latter; both of these subgenera are excluded from Arenaria and treated as distinct genera. The molecular data indicate that the ‘Arenaria s.s. clade’ consists of a few well‐supported subgroups and that the current subgeneric classification of the genus does not reflect evolutionary history. Arenaria subgenus Leiosperma is clearly monophyletic, but we reduce it to sectional level. Our molecular data show that the monotypic Arenaria subgenera Porphyrantha and Arenariastrum are nested in A. subgenus Arenaria, whereas subgenus Eremogoneastrum is included in Eremogone. None of the species‐rich sections in subgenus Arenaria is monophyletic. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 178 , 648–669.     

Adhesion of Pseudomonas putida onto Palygorskite and Sepiolite Clay Minerals

Adhesion of bacteria to clay minerals is of great importance in both natural soil environments and technological applications. In the present study, equilibrium experiments along with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) were used to investigate the adhesion of Pseudomonas putida to the palygorskite and sepiolite clay minerals. The results showed that bacterial adhesion was rapid and reached equilibrium within 30 min. Equilibrium data showed that sepiolite has higher capacity and affinity than palygorskite for P. putida retention. Mixed FT-IR peak features of the clay minerals and P. putida were observed in the clay–bacteria complex spectra, indicating significant adhesion of P. putida to the minerals. However, some differences in the position of the individual bands were observed between infrared spectra obtained for pure bacteria or clay minerals and their corresponding clay–bacteria complexes, which are believed to be related to clay–bacteria interactions via different mechanisms. SEM/EDX analysis demonstrated fine fibrous clay particles adhered to the surface of individual P. putida cells. The results revealed rapid and close interactions of palygorskite and sepiolite with P. putida cells, which is important for better understanding the fate of bacteria in soil systems dominated by fibrous clay minerals and their practical applications in bioengineering and biotechnology.