Luteolin confers renoprotection against ischemia–reperfusion injury via involving Nrf2 pathway and regulating miR320

Molecular Biology Reports - This work aims to evaluate the renoprotective effect of luteolin on expression of Nrf2 and miR320 in ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. Thirty rats were...     

Demonstrating the Potential for Dynamic Auditory Stimulation to Contribute to Motion Sickness

Auditory cues can create the illusion of self-motion (vection) in the absence of visual or physical stimulation. The present study aimed to determine whether auditory cues alone can also elicit motion sickness and how auditory cues contribute to motion sickness when added to visual motion stimuli. Twenty participants were seated in front of a curved projection display and were exposed to a virtual scene that constantly rotated around the participant''s vertical axis. The virtual scene contained either visual-only, auditory-only, or a combination of corresponding visual and auditory cues. All participants performed all three conditions in a counterbalanced order. Participants tilted their heads alternately towards the right or left shoulder in all conditions during stimulus exposure in order to create pseudo-Coriolis effects and to maximize the likelihood for motion sickness. Measurements of motion sickness (onset, severity), vection (latency, strength, duration), and postural steadiness (center of pressure) were recorded. Results showed that adding auditory cues to the visual stimuli did not, on average, affect motion sickness and postural steadiness, but it did reduce vection onset times and increased vection strength compared to pure visual or pure auditory stimulation. Eighteen of the 20 participants reported at least slight motion sickness in the two conditions including visual stimuli. More interestingly, six participants also reported slight motion sickness during pure auditory stimulation and two of the six participants stopped the pure auditory test session due to motion sickness. The present study is the first to demonstrate that motion sickness may be caused by pure auditory stimulation, which we refer to as “auditorily induced motion sickness”.     

Immobilization of Penicillium chrysogenum: spore growth on Celite

Summary Penicillium chrysogenum spores have been immobilized by adsorption on two grades of wet or dry diatomaceous earth particles, Chromosorb-W and Celite R-633. Almost 90% of the spores were adsorbed within 2 h and those remaining in suspension were removed by washing to minimise the growth of free mycelia. After germination the immobilized biomass was almost independent of the spore loading on the particles and whether or not the spore suspension was added to wet or dry particles. The free biomass obtained was less than 5% of the immobilized biomass.     

Persistence of infection in mice inoculated intranasally with Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans was instilled intranasally into mice which were periodically sacrificed to determine the course of infection. Cryptococci persisted within the nasal passages throughout the 90 day study. Extranasal dissemination began 14–28 days after instillation and was still demonstrable 90 days post-exposure. Ten percent mortality was observed in mice receiving 10⁶ cryptococci, while no mortality was observed in mice exposed to 10³ or 10⁴ cryptococci. Our research suggests that nasal colonization with C. neoformans can precede pulmonary and systemic cryptococcosis by weeks or months.     

A reliable method for detecting the intracellular accumulation of fermentation products: Application to intracellular ethanol analysis

Summary Intracellular ethanol concentrations inSaccharomyces cerevisiae were measured using a high cell density fermentation technique which permits samples to be fixed for analysis in less than two seconds. No accumulation of intracellular ethanol was detected, regardless of the stage of fermentation. The technique eliminates artifacts associated with concentrating the cell sample and provides a reliable means for detecting whether other fermentation products accumulate intracellularly.     

Effects of anions, acetazolamide, thiocyanate and amiloride on fluid secretion by the Malpighian tubules of Locusta migratoria L.

The effect of Cl⁻, HCO₃⁻, Br⁻, acetazolamide, thiocyanate and amiloride on urine formation in Locusta migratoria Malpighian tubules have been determined. The rate of fluid secretion depends markedly on the concentration of Cl⁻ in the bathing solution with concentrations less than 90 mM resulting in reduced fluid secretion. Substitution of Br⁻ for Cl⁻ had no significant effect on the rate of the fluid secretion. Replacement of NaHCO₃ with NaCl in Hepes buffered Ringer solution reduced the rate of urine production by 23%. Fluid secretions were reduced in the presence of 10⁻⁴–10⁻² M acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. The combined effect of acetazolamide in the absence of HCO₃⁻ appears to be additive. A 1 mM concentration of thiocyanate, an ionic inhibitor, reduced fluid secretion by 35%. Amiloride interferes with the electrogenic entry of Na⁺ into the cell and a 1 mM solution reduced fluid secretion by 94% with secretion completely inhibited in 80% of the tubules tested.     

Transmission of poly(dT60) single-stranded DNA through polycarbonate track-etched ultrafiltration membranes

The objective of this study was to examine membrane filtration of a single stranded DNA (ssDNA) with 60 thymine nucleotides, and to elucidate the variables controlling its transmission across track-etched porous membranes. Dead end filtration measurements were performed using different pore size membranes (10, 15, and 30 nm) at different transmembrane pressures in solutions with ionic strength ranging from 0 to 1000 mM NaCl. The diffusivity of the ssDNA was determined using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, yielding hydrodynamic radii ranging from 1.6 to 2.8 nm, with values decreasing with increasing solution ionic strength. Despite the small ssDNA/membrane pore size, nearly 100% rejection was observed for measurements performed with the 10 and 15 nm pore size membranes under low-ionic strength conditions. These high rejections can be attributed to strong repulsive electrostatic ssDNA-membrane interactions. With increasing ionic strength, electrostatic interactions as well as the effective size of the ssDNA decreases and the flexibility of the ssDNA increases, leading to a reduction in ssDNA rejection. A design of experiments approach was used to plan filtration experiments that adequately covered the variable space with a manageable number of experiments. The results yielded an empirical expression relating ssDNA rejection to pore size, solution ionic strength and transmembrane pressure. There was evidence of flow induced elongation at high-transmembrane pressures in the 30 nm pore size membranes, but not in the smaller pore size membranes. These results are consistent with critical flux estimates developed using a free draining model for the ssDNA.     

Association between the flap endonuclease 1 gene polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility: An updated meta-analysis

Flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) has emerged as an important enzyme in the maintenance of genomic instability and preventing carcinogenesis. The relationship between FEN1 −69G>A (rs174538)+4150G>T (rs4246215) polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility has been reported; however, results were inconclusive. In the present study, a meta-analysis of data from eligible reports was carried out to summarize the possible relationship between FEN1 polymorphisms and cancer risk. A total of 11 articles, including 20 studies with 7366 cases and 9028 controls and 18 studies with 6649 cases and 8325 controls for FEN1 rs174538 and FEN1 rs4246215 polymorphisms, respectively, were recruited for meta-analysis. Overall, meta-analyses showed that FEN1 rs174538 and rs4246215 polymorphisms are significantly associated with the decreased risk of cancer. The stratified analysis proposed that both variants were associated with protection against gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, hepatocellular cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer. In conclusion, this meta-analysis revealed an association between FEN1 polymorphisms and cancer risk. Additional studies in a larger study population that include subjects from a variety of ethnicities are warranted to further verify our findings.     

Contribution of Lithologic and Anthropogenic Factors to Surface Soil Heavy Metals in Western Iran Using Multivariate Geostatistical Analyses

Heavy metals’ origin, accumulation, and distribution in soil have been the focus of much attention by many researchers. The objective of this study was to recognize the sources of heavy metals in surface soils in Hamadan Province in western Iran using multivariate geostatistical techniques. A total of 263 surface (0–10 cm) soil samples and 18 rock samples from major parent materials were collected. Cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) contents of the samples were determined. Selected soil physical and chemical characteristics were also measured. A multivariate geostatistical analysis was performed to identify the common source of heavy metals. The quantities of Co, Cr, and Ni were found to be associated with parent rocks, corresponding to the first factor termed the “lithologic component.” The second factor was mainly attributed to Cu, which also comprised the first and third factors, indicating a mixed source both from lithologic and anthropogenic inputs. Zn and Pb contents were related to the anthropogenic activities and comprised the third factor. A significant correlation was found between metals from the lithogenic sources and selected soil properties such as soil organic matter, clay, CEC, and carbonate, indicating an interaction among them. Generally, Zn and Pb showed a less significant correlation with soil properties.