Acute and subacute toxicity studies of Aegle marmelos Corr., an Indian medicinal plant.

This study was designed to elucidate the toxicity of the widely used plant Aegle marmelos in rats. We have taken total alcoholic, total aqueous, whole aqueous and methanolic extracts isolated from the leaves of A. marmelos and studied their toxic effects. Acute, subacute and LD(50) values were determined in experimental rats. The dead animals were obtained from primary screening studies, LD(50) value determination experiments and acute studies subjected to postmortem studies. The external appearance of the dead animals, the appearance of the viscera, heart, lungs, stomach, intestine, liver, kidney, spleen and brain were carefully noted and any apparent and significant features or differences from the norm were recorded. Following the chronic administration of A. marmelos for 14 days, the vital organs such as heart, liver, kidney, testis, spleen and brain were carefully evaluated by histopathological studies and any apparent and significant changes or differences from the norm were studied. From the acute administration of A. marmelos, the LD(50) values were determined using graphical method. The hearts stopped in systolic stand-still in the acute experiments. There were no remarkable changes noticed in the histopathological studies after 50 mg/kg body wt of the extracts of A. marmelos when administered intraperitoneally for 14 days successively. Pathologically, neither gross abnormalities nor histopathological changes were observed. After calculation of LD(50) values using graphical methods, we found a broad therapeutic window and a high therapeutic index value for A. marmelos extracts. Intraperitoneal administration of the extracts of the leaves of A. marmelos at doses of 50, 70, 90 and 100 mg/kg body wt for 14 consecutive days to male and female Wistar rats did not induce any short-term toxicity. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the extracts of the leaves of A. marmelos have a high margin of drug safety.     

IL-6, in synergy with IL-7 or IL-15, stimulates TCR-independent proliferation and functional differentiation of CD8+ T lymphocytes

Recent reports have shown that IL-21, in synergy with IL-15, stimulates proliferation of CD8(+) T lymphocytes in the absence of signaling via the TCR. In this study, we show that IL-6, which induces phosphorylation of STAT3 similarly to IL-21, also can stimulate proliferation of CD8(+) T cells in synergy with IL-7 or IL-15. IL-6 displays a stronger synergy with IL-7 than with IL-15 to stimulate naive CD8(+) T cells. Concomitant stimulation by IL-6 or IL-21 augments phosphorylation and DNA-binding activity of STAT5 induced by IL-7 or IL-15. Like IL-21, IL-6 reduces the TCR signaling threshold required to stimulate CD8(+) T cells. Prior culture of P14 TCR transgenic CD8 T cells with IL-6 or IL-21 in the presence of IL-7 or IL-15 augments their proliferation and cytolytic activity upon subsequent stimulation by Ag. Furthermore, cytokine stimulation induces quantitatively and qualitatively distinct phenotypic changes on CD8(+) T cells compared with those induced by TCR signaling. We propose that the ability of IL-6 to induce TCR-independent activation of CD8(+) T cells in synergy with IL-7 or IL-15 may play an important role in the transition from innate to adaptive immunity.     

Coordination polymers of 1,8-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone and 1,5-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone with Ag(I): Synthesis and X-ray crystallography

The reaction of 2-(methylthioethanol) with 1,8-dichloroanthraquinone and 1,5-dichloroanthraquinone in THF with base produces 1,8-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone (1) and 1,5-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone (2), respectively. Silver(I) complexes of 1 and 2 have been synthesized after combination with [Ag(CH₃CN)₄]BF₄ in 1:1 M ratio to yield, [(1,8-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone)Ag]BF₄, (3) and [(1,5-bis(2-methylthioethoxy)anthraquinone)Ag·CH₃CN]BF₄, (4). X-ray crystal structures of the free ligand (1) and the Ag(I) complexes (3 and 4) are reported. The intraannular carbonyl group forms a coordinate-covalent bond with Ag(I) and, in the solid state, both silver(I) complexes are found as coordination polymers.     

TCR and IL-7 Signaling Are Altered in the Absence of Functional GTPase of the Immune Associated Nucleotide Binding Protein 5 (GIMAP5)

GTPase of the immune associated nucleotide binding protein (GIMAP) family of proteins are expressed essentially in cells of the hematopoietic system. Mutation in the founding member of this gene family, Gimap5, results in the lymphopenic phenotype in Bio-Breeding diabetes prone rats. In mice, deletion of functional Gimap5 gene affects the survival and renewal of hematopoietic stem cells in addition to the defects observed in T cells. Here we show that T cells from OTII TCR-transgenic Gimap5^sph/sph mice do not proliferate in response to its cognate antigen. Furthermore, T cells from Gimap5 mutant rats and mice show decreased phosphorylation of STAT5 following stimulation with IL-7. Our results suggest that functional Gimap5 is required for optimal signaling through TCR and IL-7R in T cells.     

Toxicity of an α-Pore-forming Toxin Depends on the Assembly Mechanism on the Target Membrane as Revealed by Single Molecule Imaging

α-Pore-forming toxins (α-PFTs) are ubiquitous defense tools that kill cells by opening pores in the target cell membrane. Despite their relevance in host/pathogen interactions, very little is known about the pore stoichiometry and assembly pathway leading to membrane permeabilization. Equinatoxin II (EqtII) is a model α-PFT from sea anemone that oligomerizes and forms pores in sphingomyelin-containing membranes. Here, we determined the spatiotemporal organization of EqtII in living cells by single molecule imaging. Surprisingly, we found that on the cell surface EqtII did not organize into a unique oligomeric form. Instead, it existed as a mixture of oligomeric species mostly including monomers, dimers, tetramers, and hexamers. Mathematical modeling based on our data supported a new model in which toxin clustering happened in seconds and proceeded via condensation of EqtII dimer units formed upon monomer association. Furthermore, altering the pathway of EqtII assembly strongly affected its toxic activity, which highlights the relevance of the assembly mechanism on toxicity.     

Regulatory role of E-NTPase/NTPDase in fat/CD36-mediated fatty acid uptake

Fatty acid translocase (FAT)/CD36-mediated long-chain fatty acid uptake in human umbilical vessel endothelial cells is associated with as yet uncharacterized translocase activity. The molecular mechanism of its function is not yet understood. Numerous attempts to purify rat cardiac sarcolemmal E-NTPase (an integral membrane protein also referred to as ecto-Ca(2+)/Mg(2+)ATPase) have revealed a complete amino acid sequence identity for FAT/CD36 protein. The most striking observation is that purified CD36 from human platelets shows significant E-NTPase activity. In view of recent progress in understanding CD36 functional properties, an attempt is made in this article to illustrate the point that association of E-NTPase (possibly extracellular Ca(2+)/Mg(2+)nucleotide triphosphate diphosphohydrolase) activity with CD36 may be of potential functional significance.