Lead biosorption by different morphologies of fungus Mucor indicus

Biosorption characteristics of Pb⁺² ions from aqueous solution were investigated using fungus Mucor indicus biomass treated with NaOH. Biosorption was measured as a function of biomass morphology, pH, biomass concentration, contact time, and metal concentration. The morphology of M. indicus biomass was manipulated towards filamentous or yeast-like forms. The highest and lowest biosorption capacities were observed for purely filamentous and yeast-like forms, respectively. Models of Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Scachard were applied to describe adsorption isotherm and fitted appropriately. Biosorption kinetics was successfully described using Ho’s pseudo-second-order model. Maximum and minimum values of biosorption capacity of Pb²⁺ were 22.1 and 12.1 mg g⁻¹ for purely filamentous and yeast-like morphologies, respectively. Increasing pH resulted in higher biosorption of Pb⁺² ions up to pH 5.5. Biosorption capacity of individual Pb⁺² ions was reduced in the presence of other metal ions in bi- or multi-metal ion experiments. Metal ions adsorption by the biomass could be eluted effectively with HNO₃.     

Effect of chronic morphine exposure on response properties of rat barrel cortex neurons.

Chronic exposure to morphine can impair performance in tasks which need sensory processing. Using single unit recordings we investigate the effect of chronic morphine exposure on the firing properties of neurons in layers IV and V of the whisker-related area of rat primary somatosensory cortex. In urethane-anesthetized animals, neuronal activity was recorded in response to principal and adjacent whisker deflections either stimulated independently or in a conditioning test paradigm. A condition test ratio (CTR) was calculated for assessing the inhibitory receptive field. In layer IV, chronic morphine treatment did not change the spontaneous discharge activity. On responses to principal and adjacent whisker deflections did not show any significant changes following chronic morphine exposure. The magnitude Off responses to adjacent whisker deflection decreased while its response latency increased. In addition, there was a significant increase in the latency of Off responses to principal whisker deflection. CTR did not change significantly following morphine exposure. Layer V neurons, on the other hand, did not show any significant changes in their spontaneous activity or their evoked responses following morphine exposure. Our results suggest that chronic morphine exposure has a subtle modulatory effect on response properties of neurons in barrel cortex.     

Programmed death-1 gene polymorphism (PD-1.5 C/T) is associated with colon cancer

Programmed death-1 (PD-1), expressed by activated T cells, is a negative regulator of T lymphocytes. The associations of the immune response-related genes with cancer have been demonstrated. In this study, the PD-1.5 C/T (+7785) polymorphism was investigated in 200 colorectal cancer patients and 200 healthy individuals as controls by nested polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The genotype and allele frequencies at PD-1.5 position were not significantly different between control individuals and the overall colorectal cancer patients. However, subdivision of the patients by the location (175 colon cancer and 25 rectal cancer) revealed a significant difference between colon cancer patients and healthy individuals (p=0.026), and between colon and rectal cancer patients (p=0.017). The frequency of the CT genotype was significantly higher in colon cancer patients than in control individuals (58.3% vs. 44.8%, Bonferroni corrected p-value=0.024; OR=1.74; 95% CI=1.15-2.62), and in rectal cancer patients (58.3% vs. 28.0%, Bonferroni corrected p-value=0.012; OR=3.59; 95% CI=1.42-9.04). Characteristics of the patients including age, sex, tumor grade and stage were not associated with the PD-1.5 polymorphism. Our results show a significant association between PD-1.5 polymorphism and colon cancer. Larger numbers of patients are required to investigate comprehensively the association of rectal cancer with PD-1.5 polymorphism.     

Correlation Between Vase Life and Biochemical Parameters in Ornamental Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Affected by Spraying Chemical Materials During the Growth Stages

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - The study was conducted to investigate the correlation between vase life and biochemical parameters in sunflower. The experiment was arranged in a randomized...     

Incidence and genetic diversity of raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) in Rubus spp. in Turkey

Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV), recently renamed to Idaeovirus rubi, is one of the most common viruses infecting Rubus species worldwide but there is still a limited number of genome sequences available in the GenBank database and the majority of the sequences include partial sequences of RNA-1 and RNA-2. The distribution and incidence of RBDV in main raspberry and blackberry growing provinces in Turkey were monitored during 2015–2019 and 537 Rubus spp. samples were tested by both DAS-ELISA and RT-PCR. Among the tested samples, 36 samples tested positive for RBDV by DAS-ELISA and 67 samples by RT-PCR. There was relatively low nucleotide diversity among the Turkish isolates. Turkish isolates shared 93%–97.7%, 84.3%–98.9%, and 85%–99.2% nucleotide sequence identities with available sequences in the GenBank, in partial RNA-1, movement protein (MP) and coat protein (CP) genes, respectively. In the phylogenetic tree constructed for RNA-1, MP, and CP sequences, all Turkish raspberry isolates were clustered in a distinct clade. However, the blackberry isolates showed considerable variation in nucleotide sequences and were placed in three distinct groups. The divergent blackberry isolates showed high variability in MP (84.5%–89.3%) and CP (85.5%–89.7%) regions and were placed in a distinct group. The rest of blackberry isolates clustered together with sweet cherry RBDV isolates adjacent to the grapevine clade or together with raspberry isolates. The comparative analysis conducted on three RNA segments of RBDV highlighted the high sequence diversity of Turkish RBDV isolates. This study also emphasizes the importance of regular monitoring of RBDV infections in Turkey, with special regard to those Rubus spp. and grapevine accessions employed in conservation and selection programmes. In particular, the presence of new RBDV genetic variants and infection of Rubus species must be taken into account to choose a correct detection protocol and management strategy.     

Enhanced Thermal Stability and Biocompatibility of Gold Nanorods by Graphene Oxide

In the present study, the effect of nanosized graphene oxide layer on thermal stability and biocompatibility of gold nanorods has been examined. The graphene oxide-wrapped gold nanorods were prepared by electrostatic interaction between negatively charged graphene oxide and positively charged nanorods. The resulting nanohybrids were then heated at different time intervals to 95 °C in a water bath to assess the effect of heat on the rods morphology. The structural changes in gold nanorods were monitored via UV-Vis spectroscopy measurements and transmission electron microscopy images. In similar experiments, the graphene oxide used to wrap gold nanorods was reduced by ascorbic acid in a 95 °C water bath. Our results indicate that while bare gold nanorods are highly vulnerable to elevated temperatures, graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide-coated gold nanorods remain thermally stable with no structural changes. We also confirmed that the enhanced thermal stability is highly dependent on the concentration of deposited graphene oxide available on the surface of the gold nanorods. In addition, we performed an MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) assay to make a comparison between the cytotoxicity of the nanohybrids and their primary building blocks on human dermal fibroblast cells as a normal cell line. We found evidence that graphene oxide can enhance the biocompatibility of the rods through covering toxic chemicals on the surface of them.

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New covalent capture probes for imaging and therapy, based on a combination of binding affinity and disulfide bond formation

We describe the synthesis and development of new reactive DOTA-metal complexes for covalently targeting engineered receptors in vivo, which have superior tumor uptake and clearance properties for biomedical applications. These probes are found to clear efficiently through the kidneys and minimally through other routes, but bind persistently in the tumor target. We also explore the new technique of Cerenkov luminescence imaging to optically monitor radiolabeled probe distribution and kinetics in vivo. Cerenkov luminescence imaging uniquely enables sensitive noninvasive in vivo imaging of a β(-) emitter such as (90)Y with an optical imager.     

Isoenzyme variation patterns and species concept in Astragalus gossypinus and Astragalus persicus complexes (Fabaceae) in Iran

Isoenzyme electrophoresis was employed to examine the relationships of 21 individuals representing four populations of Astragalus gossypinus complex as well as 20 individuals representing five populations of Astragalus persicus complex. A total of 27 bands from three enzyme systems (superoxide dismutase, esterase, and peroxidase) were obtained. UPGMA clustering method resulted in two distinct clusters for different populations corresponding to the two species complexes analysed. In both species, populations distributed on Alborz mountain range in northern Iran form separated clusters from those distributed on Zagros mountain range in the West. The results also show that both species complexes exhibit a high diversity based on Shannon–Weaver diversity index (H′) compared with other species of Astragalus reported previously. The mean number of bands per each presumed isoenzyme ranges from 2.14 to 3.57. The value of Euclidean distance ranges from 1.251 to 3.152. Our data suggest that both species should be circumscribed wider than that treated by most taxonomists, and several taxonomic names should be reduced under synonymy of the corresponding species.     

Gene expression analysis of intestinal IL-8, IL-17 A and IL-10 in patients with celiac and inflammatory bowel diseases

Molecular Biology Reports - Celiac disease (CeD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are accompanied by impaired immune responses. To study the immune regulation of these diseases, we evaluated...