Anti-phospholipase C antibodies inhibit the lectin-induced proliferation of human lymphocytes

A novel approach was used to assess the role of phosphoinositide hydrolysis in the mitogenic action of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or concanavalin A (ConA). The treatment of human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) with monospecific antibodies against phospholipase C (PLC) produced a dose-dependent inhibition (up to 100%) of PHA (10 g/ml) or ConA (25 g/ml) proliferative effects. Thus, the activation of membrane-bound PLC is asine-qua-non condition for lectin-induced proliferation of T lymphocytes. The key-role of PLC versus protein kinase C (PKC) is stressed by the fact that the inhibition of PKC with Hidaka's compound H-7 (40 M) produced only a partial blockade (about 25%) of lectin mitogenic effect.To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

Characterization of a Marine Bacterium Associated with Crassostrea virginica (the Eastern Oyster)

A gram-negative bacterium found to be closely associated with oysters has been isolated and characterized. The organism, designated LST, has a generation time of 106 min in Marine broth under optimal growth conditions at 25°C. During the decline phase of growth, it exhibits a morphological transition from a motile rod (ca. 1 μm in length) to an elongated, 3- to 40-μm, nonmotile, tightly coiled helix. LST synthesizes and releases a pigment in the stationary and decline phases of growth. Identified as melanin on the basis of chemical properties and UV absorbance maxima, the pigment comprises polymers of heterogeneous molecular weights, ranging from 12,000 to 120,000. The guanosine-plus-cytosine content of the LST DNA is 46%, and results of phenetic analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization indicate that this bacterium represents a new species. LST adheres to a variety of surfaces, including glass, plastics, and oyster shell, and has been shown to promote the settlement of oyster larvae.     

Design and preclinical testing of an anti-CD41 CAR T cell for the treatment of acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia

Acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (AMkL) is a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) representing 5% of all reported cases, and frequently diagnosed in children with Down syndrome. Patients diagnosed with AMkL have low overall survival and have poor outcome to treatment, thus novel therapies such as CAR T cell therapy could represent an alternative in treating AMkL. We investigated the effect of a new CAR T cell which targets CD41, a specific surface antigen for M7-AMkL, against an in vitro model for AMkL, DAMI Luc2 cell line. The performed flow cytometry evaluation highlighted a percentage of 93.8% CAR T cells eGFP-positive and a limited acute effect on lowering the target cell population. However, the interaction between effector and target (E:T) cells, at a low ratio, lowered the cell membrane integrity, and reduced the M7-AMkL cell population after 24 h of co-culture, while the cytotoxic effect was not significant in groups with higher E:T ratio. Our findings suggest that the anti-CD41 CAR T cells are efficient for a limited time spawn and the cytotoxic effect is visible in all experimental groups with low E:T ratio.     

Fluorescence imaging in vivo: recent advances

In vivo fluorescence imaging uses a sensitive camera to detect fluorescence emission from fluorophores in whole-body living small animals. To overcome the photon attenuation in living tissue, fluorophores with long emission at the near-infrared (NIR) region are generally preferred, including widely used small indocarbocyanine dyes. The list of NIR probes continues to grow with the recent addition of fluorescent organic, inorganic and biological nanoparticles. Recent advances in imaging strategies and reporter techniques for in vivo fluorescence imaging include novel approaches to improve the specificity and affinity of the probes and to modulate and amplify the signal at target sites for enhanced sensitivity. Further emerging developments are aiming to achieve high-resolution, multimodality and lifetime-based in vivo fluorescence imaging.     

Antioxidant activity,acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory potential of Pulmonaria officinalis and Centarium umbellatum extracts

In this study several investigations and tests were performed to determine the antioxidant activity and the acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory potential of Pulmonaria officinalis and Centarium umbellatum aqueous extracts (10% mass) and ethanolic extracts (10% mass and 70% ethanol), respectively. Moreover, for each type of the prepared extracts of P. officinalis and of C. umbellatum the content in the biologically active compounds – polyphenols, flavones and proanthocyanidins was determined. The antioxidant activity was assessed using two methods, namely the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and reducing power assay. The analyzed plant extracts showed a high acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase inhibitory activity in the range of 72.24–94.24% (at the highest used dose – 3 mg/mL), 66.96% and 94.03% (at 3 mg/mL), respectively correlated with a high DPPH radical inhibition – 70.29–84.9% (at 3 mg/mL). These medicinal plants could provide a potential natural source of bioactive compounds and could be beneficial to the human health, especially in the neurodegenerative disorders and as sources of natural antioxidants in food industry.     

Topical Reappraisal of Molecular Pharmacological Approaches to Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetes Mellitus Angiopathy

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a frequent medical problem, affecting more than 4% of the population in most countries. In the context of diabetes, the vascular endothelium can play a crucial pathophysiological role. If a healthy endothelium—which is a dynamic endocrine organ with autocrine and paracrine activity—regulates vascular tone and permeability and assures a proper balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis, and vasodilation and vasoconstriction, then, in contrast, a dysfunctional endothelium has received increasing attention as a potential contributor to the pathogenesis of vascular disease in diabetes. Hyperglycemia is indicated to be the major causative factor in the development of endothelial dysfunction. Furthermore, many shreds of evidence suggest that the progression of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes is parallel to the advancement of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis. To present the state-of-the-art data regarding endothelial dysfunction in diabetic micro- and macroangiopathy, we constructed this literature review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We interrogated five medical databases: Elsevier, PubMed, PMC, PEDro, and ISI Web of Science.     

Li+ Pre‐Insertion Leads to Formation of Solid Electrolyte Interface on TiO2 Nanotubes That Enables High‐Performance Anodes for Sodium Ion Batteries

Recently, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been widely investigated as one of the most promising candidates for replacing lithium ion batteries (LIBs). For SIBs or LIBs, designing a stable and uniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) at the electrode–electrolyte interface is the key factor to provide high capacity, long‐term cycling, and high‐rate performance. In this paper, it is described how a remarkably enhanced SEI layer can be obtained on TiO₂ nanotube (TiO₂ NTs) arrays that allows for a strongly improved performance of sodium battery systems. Key is that a Li⁺ pre‐insertion in TiO₂ NTs can condition the SEI for Na⁺ replacement. SIBs constructed with Li‐pre‐inserted NTs deliver an exceptional Na⁺ cycling stability (e.g., 99.9 ± 0.1% capacity retention during 250 cycles at a current rate of 50 mA g^?1) and an excellent rate capability (e.g., 132 mA h g^?1 at a current rate of 1 A g^?1). The key factor in this outstanding performance is that Li‐pre‐insertion into TiO₂ NTs leads not only to an enhanced electronic conductivity in the tubes, but also expands the anatase lattice for facilitated subsequent Na⁺ cycling.     

Production of bioethanol from four species of duckweeds (Landoltia punctata,Lemna aequinoctialis,Spirodela polyrrhiza,and Wolffia arrhiza) through optimization of saccharification process and fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Duckweeds are promising potential sources for bioethanol production due to their high starch content and fast growth rate. We assessed the potential for four species, Landoltia punctata, Lemna aequinoctialis, Spirodela polyrrhiza, and Wolffia arrhiza, for bioethanol production. We also optimized a possible production procedure, which must include saccharification to convert starch to soluble sugars that can serve as a substrate for fermentation. Duckweeds were cultivated on 10% Hoagland solution for 12 days, harvested, dried, homogenized, and dissolved in solutions that were tested as substrates for bioethanol production by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. First, we optimized the saccharification process, including the ideal ratio of the enzyme used to convert starch into simple sugars. The greatest starch-to-sugar conversion was obtained when the α-amylase and amyloglucosidase was 2:1 (v/v) and with a 24 h incubation period at 50 °C. After saccharification, the solutions were incubated with the yeast, S. cerevisiae. The fermentation process was carried out for 48 h with 10% (v/v) yeast inoculum. The ethanol content was maximal approximately 24 h after the start of incubation, and the sugars and protein were minimal, with little change over the next 24 h. The final ethanol concentration obtained were 0.19, 0.17, 0.19, and 0.16 g ethanol/g dry biomass for L. punctata, L. aequinoctialis, S. polyrrhiza, and W. arrhiza respectively. We suggest that these four species of duckweed have the potential to serve sources of bioethanol and hope that the procedure we have optimized proves useful in the endeavour.