A survey of aflatoxins in sesame in Iran

A study of the occurrence of aflatoxins (AF) in sesame seeds was conducted in the Khorasan province of Iran between September 2009 and August 2010. Samples (n = 182) were analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC), and detection limits for AFB₁, AFB₂, AFG₁ and AFG₂, were 0.45, 0.19, 0.61, and 0.22 ng/g, respectively. AFB₁ was detected in 33 samples (18.1%), at a mean level of 1.62 ± 1.32 ng/g, and a maximum level of 5.54 ng/g. AFB₁ levels exceeded the European Union (EU) maximum tolerated level (MTL, 2 ng/g) in 9 samples, and the Iran MTL (5 ng/g) in 1 sample. Regarding total aflatoxins (AFT), the mean level was 0.92 ± 1.36 ng/g, and the maximum level was 5.54 ng/g. No sesame sample exceeded the Iran MTL (15 ng/g), but two samples exceeded the EU MTL (4 ng/g) for AFT. It is concluded that low levels of AFs occur frequently in sesame from Iran.     

Duodenal-jejunal bypass protects GK rats from {beta}-cell loss and aggravation of hyperglycemia and increases enteroendocrine cells coexpressing GIP and GLP-1

Dramatic improvement of type 2 diabetes is commonly observed after bariatric surgery. However, the mechanisms behind the alterations in glucose homeostasis are still elusive. We examined the effect of duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB), which maintains the gastric volume intact while bypassing the entire duodenum and the proximal jejunum, on glycemic control, β-cell mass, islet morphology, and changes in enteroendocrine cell populations in nonobese diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats and nondiabetic control Wistar rats. We performed DJB or sham surgery in GK and Wistar rats. Blood glucose levels and glucose tolerance were monitored, and the plasma insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) levels were measured. β-Cell area, islet fibrosis, intestinal morphology, and the density of enteroendocrine cells expressing GLP-1 and/or GIP were quantified. Improved postprandial glycemia was observed from 3 mo after DJB in diabetic GK rats, persisting until 12 mo after surgery. Compared with the sham-GK rats, the DJB-GK rats had an increased β-cell area and a decreased islet fibrosis, increased insulin secretion with increased GLP-1 secretion in response to a mixed meal, and an increased population of cells coexpressing GIP and GLP-1 in the jejunum anastomosed to the stomach. In contrast, DJB impaired glucose tolerance in nondiabetic Wistar rats. In conclusion, although DJB worsens glucose homeostasis in normal nondiabetic Wistar rats, it can prevent long-term aggravation of glucose homeostasis in diabetic GK rats in association with changes in intestinal enteroendocrine cell populations, increased GLP-1 production, and reduced β-cell deterioration.     

An ensemble approach to accurately detect somatic mutations using SomaticSeq

SomaticSeq is an accurate somatic mutation detection pipeline implementing a stochastic boosting algorithm to produce highly accurate somatic mutation calls for both single nucleotide variants and small insertions and deletions. The workflow currently incorporates five state-of-the-art somatic mutation callers, and extracts over 70 individual genomic and sequencing features for each candidate site. A training set is provided to an adaptively boosted decision tree learner to create a classifier for predicting mutation statuses. We validate our results with both synthetic and real data. We report that SomaticSeq is able to achieve better overall accuracy than any individual tool incorporated.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0758-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The effect of aflibercept and arsenic trioxide on the proliferation,migration and apoptosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in vitro

Molecular Biology Reports - Aflibercept and arsenic trioxide drugs apply a cytotoxic effect on some human cancer cell lines. However, no more study has followed the effects of both drugs,...     

Biochemical characterization of α- and β-glucosidases in alimentary canal, salivary glands and haemolymph of the rice green caterpillar, Naranga aenescens M. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The biochemical properties of ??- and ??-glucosidase in salivary glands, alimentary canal and haemolymph of Naranga aenescens larvae, one of the most damaging pests of the rice crop in Iran, were investigated. The specific activity of ??-glucosidases were 3.88, 2.74 and 1.58 ??mol/min per mg protein in the alimentary canal, salivary glands and haemolymph of last instar larvae, respectively. The specific activity of ??-glucosidases were 1.27, 0.077 and 0.414 ??mol/min per mg protein in the alimentary canal, salivary glands and haemolymph of last instar larvae, respectively. The optimal pH for ??-glucosidases were 6.0, 6.0?C8.0 and 6.0 and the maximum activity for ??-glucosidases were obtained at pH 6.0, 5.0?C7.0 and 5.0 in alimentary canal, salivary glands and haemolymph, respectively. The optimum temperatures for ??-glucosidases were determined at 55°C in alimentary canal, 35?C45°C in salivary glands and 55°C in haemolymph, whereas the ??-glucosidases reached their optimum at 45°C in all three tissues. Effect of metal ions on the activity of ??- and ??-glucosidases showed that K⁺ (20 mM) and Mg²⁺ (10 and 20 mM) increased N. aenescens ??- and ??-glucosidases activities from salivary glands, while Ca²⁺ increased ??- and ??-glucosidases activities in haemolymph. In the presence of Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Hg⁺ and Zn²⁺ (10, 20 mM) and Hg²⁺ (20 mM), these enzymes from all tissues were completely inactivated. K _m values were estimated for the ??-glucosidases as 3.96, 0.547 and 3.084 mM and for ??-glucosidases as 1.93, 1.014 and 1.93 mM in the alimentary canal, salivary gland and haemolymph, respectively. The zymogram analyses of N. aenescens crude extracts indicated the presence of at least two isoforms for ??-glucosidase and one isoform for ??-glucosidase.     

Synthesis, characterization and thermodynamic study of copper(II) complexes with unsymmetric tetradentate Schiff base ligands and X-ray structure of {methyl-2-[N-[2-(5-chloro-2-phenolate)methylidynenitrilo]ethyl}aminato(-1)-1-cyclopentenedithiocarboxylatecopper(II)

A set of two Cu(II) complexes, [Cu(cdXsalen)] and [Cu(cdXsalMeen)] derived from Schiff base ligands (H₂cdXsalen: methyl-2-{[2-(2-X-phenyl)methylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopentenedithiocarboxylate and H₂cdXsalMeen: methyl-2-{[1-methyl-2-(2-X-phenyl)methylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopenteneithiocarb-oxylate where X = hydroxyl, methoxy, nitro, sodiumsulfite, chloro, bromo and H₂cdMesalen: methyl-2-{[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopentenedithiocarboxylate; H₂cdPhsalen: methyl-2-{[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)phenylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopentenedithiocarboxylate; H₂cdMesalMeen: methyl-2-{[1-methyl-2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopentenedithiocarboxylate; H₂cdPhsalMeen: methyl-2-{[1-methyl-2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)phenylidynenitrilo]ethyl}amino-1-cyclopentenedi-thiocarboxylate) with an unsymmetric NNOS coordination sphere have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis and mass spectrometry. The thermodynamic formation constants of the complexes were measured spectrophotometrically, at constant ionic strength 0.1 M (NaClO₄), at 25 °C in DMF solvent. The trend of the complex formation for copper is as follow:

[Cu(cdMesalen)]>[Cu(cdsalen)]>[Cu(cdPhsalen)][Cu(cdMesalMeen)]>[Cu(cdsalMeen)]>[Cu(cdPhsalMeen)]     

Thallium(III) chloride in organic solvents: Synthesis, solutions and solvates. The crystal structures of trichlorobis(dimethylsulfoxide)thallium(III) and tribromobis(dimethylsulfoxide)thallium(III)

The synthesis of thallium(III) chloride and bromide was performed in solution by chlorination and bromination, respectively, of the suspensions of the corresponding thallium(I) halides in acetonitrile. Crystalline compounds TlX₃(CH₃CN)₂ (X = Cl⁻, Br⁻) were prepared from the acetonitrile solutions. Thallium(III) chloride and bromide in dimethylsulfoxide solution were obtained by dissolving the corresponding solid compounds TlX₃(CH₃CN)₂ (Cl⁻, Br⁻) in DMSO. Both acetonitrile and dimethylsulfoxide solutions of thallium(III) chloride were studied by UV-Vis and ²⁰⁵Tl NMR spectroscopy. The UV-Vis study of the TlCl₃-CH₃CN system showed presence of at least two thallium(III) chloride species. Only one signal arising from the thallium(III) species was, however, detected by the ²⁰⁵Tl NMR in the solution because of the fast chemical exchange. The ²⁰⁵Tl NMR study of thallium(III) chloride in dimethylsulfoxide showed three separate signals assigned to the solvated , TlCl₃ and species. The crystalline compounds of trichlorobis(dimethylsulfoxide)thallium(III) and tribromobis(dimethylsulfoxide)thallium(III) were prepared and their crystal structures were solved by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The thallium atom in the complexes has a trigonal bipyramidal environment built by three halide ions occupying equatorial positions of the polyhedron and two oxygen atoms of the DMSO molecules in the apical positions.     

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 interacts with the glucocorticoid receptor complex and affects glucocorticoid dependent signaling

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) forms part of a multiprotein complex consisting of chaperones and proteins active in glucocorticoid signaling and other pathways. By immunoaffinity purification of GR, followed by Edman sequencing and Western blotting, we identified the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) as a GR-interacting protein in rat liver and hepatoma cells. Flt3 interacts with both non-liganded and liganded GR. The DNA-binding domain of GR is sufficient for Flt3 interaction as shown by GST-pull down experiments. Studies of the effects of Flt3 and its ligand FL in glucocorticoid-driven reporter-gene assays in Cos7 cells, show that co-transfection with Flt3 and FL potentiates glucocorticoid effects. Treatment with FL had no effect on GR location and Dex induced translocation of GR was unaffected by FL. In summary, GR and Flt3 interact, affecting GR signaling. This novel cross-talk between GR and a hematopoietic growth factor might also imply glucocorticoid effects on Flt3-mediated signaling.     

Transposon Tn5281 is the main distributor of the aminoglycoside modifying enzyme gene among isolates of Enterococcus faecalis in Tehran hospitals

Infections with high levels of gentamicin-resistant (HLGR) isolates of Enterococcus faecalis are common in Tehran hospitals. Genes encoding such resistance are transmissible by conjugation at high frequency. The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of Tn5281 and its flanking aminoglycoside modifying enzyme gene aac(6')-aph(2") among 102 HLGR isolates of E. faecalis cultured from patients at three hospitals in Tehran, Iran. These isolates were detected by disks containing 120 microg of gentamicin and made 65% of all E. faecalis during the study period. DNA was extracted from HLGR isolates and subjected to PCR assays targeting aac(6')-aph(2") and conjugative transposon Tn5281. The amplified aac(6')-aph(2") gene was labeled with digoxigenin and probed with Tn5281 amplicons in dot blot hybridization assays. The aac(6')-aph(2") gene was detected in 91%-92% (n = 93) of the HLGR isolates. All isolates containing aac(6')-aph(2") were positive in long-PCR targeting Tn5281 and the probe hybridized with Tn5281 amplicons. The number of HLGR isolates of E. faecalis has increased considerably in Tehran hospitals. Tn5281 is the main cause of transmission of aac(6')-aph(2") to different isolates of E. faecalis in the hospitals studied.