Inhibition effects of pesticides on glutathione‐S‐transferase enzyme activity of Van Lake fish liver

Glutathione‐S‐transferases (GSTs) have a function in xenobiotic metabolism. They are a significant multifunctional family with a wide variety of catalytic activities. In the current study, we determined in vitro inhibition effects of 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid dimethylamine salt (2,4‐D DMA), haloxyfop‐P‐methyl, glyphosate isopropylamine, dichlorvos, and λ‐cyhalothrin on purified GST. For this purpose, GST were purified from Van Lake fish (Chalcalburnus tarichii Pallas) liver with 29.25 EU mg^?1 specific activity and 10.76% yield using GSH–agarose affinity chromatographic method. The pesticides were tested at various concentrations on in vitro GST activity. K_i constants were calculated as 0.17 ± 0.01, 0.25 ± 0.05, 3.72 ± 0.32, 0.42 ± 0.06, and 0.025 ± 0.004 mM, for 2,4‐D DMA, haloxyfop‐P‐methyl, glyphosate isopropylamine, dichlorvos, and λ‐cyhalothrin, respectively. λ‐Cyhalothrin showed a better inhibitory effect compared to the other pesticides. The inhibition mechanisms of λ‐cyhalothrin were competitive, while the other pesticides were noncompetitive.     

Loss of SNAP-25 and rabphilin 3a in sensory-motor cortex in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG-expansion in the gene encoding the protein huntingtin. The disease is characterized by progressive motor disturbances, cognitive defects, dementia, and weight loss. Using western blotting and immunohistochemistry we have assessed the expression levels and patterns of a number of proteins involved in neurotransmitter release in post-mortem frontal cortex samples from 10 HD cases with different disease grades. We report a loss of the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) protein, synaptosome-associated protein 25 (SNAP 25) in HD brains of grades I-IV. Moreover, in brains of grade III and IV we found a reduction in rabphilin 3a, a protein involved in vesicle docking and recycling. These losses appear to be specific and not due to a general loss of synapses in the HD cortex. Thus, levels of synaptobrevin II, syntaxin 1, rab3a or synaptophysin are unaltered in the same patient samples. SNAP 25 and rabphilin 3a are crucial for neurotransmitter release. Therefore, we suggest that a deficient pre-synaptic transmitter release may underlie some of the symptoms of HD.     

The role of miRNAs as a predictor of multicentricity in breast cancer

Expression profiles of miRNAs are shown to be different in various cancers to regulate expression of mRNA or to have a role in inhibition of translation, thus it shows the possible effect in progression, invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells. The effect of breast conserving treatment in local recurrence and survival rates for the patients who have multicentric breast cancer is still controversial. In our study, we intended to evaluate the foresight of 84 miRNAs which are identified in breast cancer for having differentiated expressions. Thirty-one patients with unifocal and 26 patients with multicentric breast cancer were included in this study. These tissue samples of both malignant and normal breast tissues were kept in RNA later solution at ??80 °C. Eighty-four miRNAs were studied with miScript miRNA PCR Array Human Breast Cancer kit. Fold change, cut off value was accepted as four. In unifocal group, there were 13 upregulated and five downregulated miRNAs and in multicentric group, there were three upregulated and seven downregulated miRNAs. To reach better results for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, it is important to enlighten tumor biology, and pay attention to target and individual therapy. Thus, miRNAs have potential role in identifying tumor characteristics in supporting diagnosis and resulting with better evaluated disease for better treatment results with individual strategies.

     

The effects of zingerone against vancomycin‐induced lung,liver, kidney and testis toxicity in rats: The behavior of some metabolic enzymes

In this study, it was demonstrated the ameliorative effect of zingerone (ZO) (25 and 50 mg/kg body weight) against vancomycin (VCM) (200 mg/kg body weight) administered to rats on some metabolic enzymes’ activities in the lung, liver, kidney, and testis tissues of rats. Forty‐two rats were divided into six groups as follows: control, ZO‐25, ZO‐50, VCM, VCM + ZO‐25, and VCM + ZO‐50. α‐Glycosidase, butyrylcholinesterase, aldose reductase, acetylcholinesterase, paraoxonase‐1, and carbonic anhydrase enzyme activities were significantly (P < .05) decreased in VCM group when compared with the control group. ZO, supplied with VCM, significantly activated some of these enzyme in all tissues. The results of this study showed that ZO regulates abnormal increases and decreases in VCM‐induced metabolic enzyme activities in all tissues.     

The antidiabetic and anticholinergic effects of chrysin on cyclophosphamide‐induced multiple organ toxicity in rats: Pharmacological evaluation of some metabolic enzyme activities

Chrysin (CH) or 5,7‐dihydroxyflavone is a flavonoid present in various plants, bee propolis, and honey. Cyclophosphamide (CYP) is a chemotherapeutic drug, which is extensively used in the treatment of multiple human malignancies. In our study, we aimed to investigate the effects of CYP and CH on some metabolic enzymes including carbonic anhydrase, aldose reductase, paraoxonase‐1, α‐glycosidase, acetylcholinesterase, and butyrylcholinesterase enzyme activities in the brain, heart, testis, liver, and kidney tissues of rats. Thirty‐five adult male Wistar rats were used. The animals were pretreated with CH (25 and 50 mg/kg b.w.) for seven days before administering a single dose of CYP (200 mg/kg b.w.) on the seventh day. In all the tissues, the treatment of CH significantly regulated these enzyme activities in CYP‐induced rats. These results showed that CH exhibited an ameliorative effect against CYP‐induced brain, heart, liver, testis, and kidney toxicity.     

Follicular growth in vitro: detection of growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) during in vitro culture of ovine cortical slices

Primordial follicles from different mammal species can survive and enter the growth phase in vitro but do not develop beyond the primary stage. The hypothesis was that, in sheep, in vitro follicular growth is arrested because of a lack of secretion of GDF9 and/or BMP15. Cortical slices of 0.3-0.5 mm thickness issued from 5- to 6-month-old lambs were cultured for 15 days. The pieces were fixed on days 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 15 of culture. Follicle morphology, RT-PCR exploration of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNA, immunohistochemical location of their proteins and their receptor BMPRIB and BMPRII were assessed at different time of culture. The mean percentage of primordial follicles decreased from 58.6% (day 0) to 13.4% (day 15) (P<0.01), whereas that of primary follicles increased from 3.2% (day 0) to 31.5% on day 4 (P<0.01), then remained stable until day 15 (35.6%). The percentage of atretic follicles increased from 14.7% (day 0) to 27.1% (day 15) (P<0.05). A few secondary follicles were observed on days 4 and 10, representing 1.0%, and 2.1% of the total number of follicles. GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs were detected from harvesting (day 0) up to day 15 following culture. At the same time, positive immunoreactions for GDF9, BMP15 and for BMPRIB and BMPRII were also found in oocyte cytoplasm. In conclusion, expression of GDF9, BMP15 and their receptors BMPRIB and BMPRII are detected during in vitro culture of ovine cortical slices.     

Effects of medium components in a glycerol-based medium on vitamin K (menaquinone-7) production by Bacillus subtilis natto in biofilm reactors

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) as the most important form of Vitamin K has been reported to have miraculous benefits such as preventing cardiovascular diseases and...     

Investigating the effect of Zn doping and temperature on the photoluminescence behaviour of CuLaSe2 quantum dots

In this study, CuLaSe₂ and ZnCuLaSe₂ quantum dots (QDs) with a mean size of ~4 nm were synthesized and characterized, and their temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) properties were studied in the temperature range from 90 to 300 K for the first time. The results show that the obtained QDs were spherical and revealed excitonic band gaps. The PL intensity for both types of materials decreased when increasing the temperature to 300 K, which was attributed to the nonradiative relaxation and thermal escape mechanisms. As the temperature was increased, the PL linewidths broadened, and PL peak energies were red shifted for both types of QDs due to the exciton–phonon coupling and lattice deformation potential mechanisms. In addition, we found that as the temperature was decreased, the PL spectrum of ZnCuLaSe₂ QDs contained two extra components, which could be attributed to the shallow defect sites (low energy peak) and the crystal phase transition process (high energy peak). The spectrum of CuLaSe₂ QDs contained one extra component, which could be attributed to the crystal phase transition process.     

Online recovery of nisin during fermentation and its effect on nisin production in biofilm reactor

An online removal of nisin by silicic acid coupled with a micro-filter module was proposed as an alternative to reduce detrimental effects caused by adsorption of nisin onto producer, enzymatic degradation by protease, and product inhibition during fermentation. In this study, silicic acid was successfully used to recover nisin from the fermentation broth of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis NIZO 22186. The effect of pH (at 6.8 and 3.0) during adsorption process and several eluents (deionized water, 20% ethanol, 1 M NaCl, and 1 M NaCl + 20% ethanol) for desorption were evaluated in a small batch scale. Higher nisin adsorption onto silicic acid was achieved when the adsorption was carried out at pH 6.8 (67% adsorption) than at pH 3.0 (54% adsorption). The maximum recovery was achieved (47% of nisin was harvested) when the adsorption was carried out at pH 6.8 and 1 M NaCl + 20% ethanol was used as an eluent for desorption. Most importantly, nisin production was significantly enhanced (7,445 IU/ml) when compared with the batch fermentation without the online recovery (1,897 IU/ml). This may possibly be attributed to preventing the loss of nisin due the detrimental effects and a higher biomass density achieved during online recovery process, which stimulated production of nisin during fermentation.