Significant enhancement of lignan accumulation in hairy root cultures of Linum album using biotic elicitors

Linum album has been shown to accumulate some lignans with antiviral and anticancer properties such as podophyllotoxin (PTOX) and 6-methoxy podophyllotoxin (MPTOX). In this research, we examined the effects of fungal elicitors on the production of lignans in L. album hairy root cultures. The biosynthesis of lignans was differentially affected by fungal elicitors. Fusarium graminearum extract induced the highest increase of PTOX, 190 μg g^?1 dry weight (DW), and lariciresinol, 260 μg g^?1 DW, which was two-fold and three-fold greater than the untreated control, respectively, while Trichoderma viride extract enhanced the accumulation of MPTOX, instead of PTOX, up to 160 µg g^?1 DW, which was 2.4-fold greater than the control. The enhancing effects of fungal elicitors on lignans production was correlated with the increased expression of some key genes involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamoyl-CoA reductase, cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase and pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase.     

Anti Human Fibronectin–Gold Nanoparticle Complex,a Potential Nanobiosensor Tool for Detection of Fibronectin in ECM of Cultured Cells

Specific protein detection by means of antibody-nanoparticle conjugates is a new field in medical nanobiotechnology. Among many nanoparticles used, gold nanoparticles show strong light-absorption properties which have been exploited in designing nanobiosensors. Fibronectin (FN) plays an important role in extracellular matrix (ECM) structure and function of normal cells; however, in conditions like lung carcinoma, its expression increases, especially in non small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In this study, we conjugated gold nanoparticles to human fibronectin antibody (anti-hFN) to design a colorimetric nanobiosensor for detection of FN present in ECM of cultured cells. Three different cell lines, namely A549 (target cells), AGO-1522 (control cells), and Nalm-6 (negative control cells), were used to compare changes in color resulting from aggregation of gold nanoparticles due to higher amount of FN. Our construct was able to detect increased level of FN which was distinguishable visually by change in color and could be confirmed by spectrophotometer as well.     

Design,Synthesis and Enzymatic Inhibition of Novel Unusual Amino Acids as a Transition State Analogue of Amyloid Precursor Protein Peptide

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - β-secretase 1 (BACE1) plays a pivotal role in the pathology of Alzheimer?s disease via accumulation beta amyloid in the...     

The effect of coagulation factors polymorphisms on abortion

Objective

Recent studies showed coagulation factors play important role in controlling pregnancy duration in addition to controlling homeostasis. Recent studies showed several polymorphisms of coagulation factors genes increase the clot formation and lead to abortion. In this study, we evaluated the polymorphisms of coagulation factors and their effects on the development of the fetus.

Material and Methods

Relevant literature was identified by a PubMed search (1988-2017) of English language papers using the terms Abortion, pregnancy woman, coagulation factor and polymorphism.

Result

Several polymorphisms of coagulation factors disturb the exchange of food and other materials between the fetus and the mother, and impairs the formation of the placenta during embryonic stages.

Discussion

Evaluation of functional polymorphisms in coagulation factors gene during fetal development can be used as a prognostic factor in the prevention of the abortion.

     

Synthesis,characterization, and binding assessment with human serum albumin of three bipyridine lanthanide(III) complexes

In this work, the terbium(III), dysprosium(III), and ytterbium(III) complexes containing 2, 2′-bipyridine (bpy) ligand have been synthesized and characterized using CHN elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV–Vis and ¹H-NMR techniques and their binding behavior with human serum albumin (HSA) was studied by UV–Vis, fluorescence and molecular docking examinations. The experimental data indicated that all three lanthanide complexes have high binding affinity to HSA with effective quenching of HSA fluorescence via static mechanism. The binding parameters, the type of interaction, the value of resonance energy transfer, and the binding distance between complexes and HSA were estimated from the analysis of fluorescence measurements and Förster theory. The thermodynamic parameters suggested that van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds play an important role in the binding mechanism. While, the energy transfer from HSA molecules to all these complexes occurs with high probability, the order of binding constants (BpyTb > BpyDy > BpyYb) represents the importance of radius of Ln³⁺ ion in the complex-HSA interaction. The results of molecular docking calculation and competitive experiments assessed site 3 of HSA, located in subdomain IB, as the most probable binding site for these ligands and also indicated the microenvironment residues around the bound mentioned complexes. The computational results kept in good agreement with experimental data.     

Phylogeography of the Vipera ursinii complex (Viperidae): mitochondrial markers reveal an east–west disjunction in the Palaearctic region

Aim The aim of this study was to elucidate the phylogeographical pattern of taxa composing the Vipera ursinii complex, for which the taxonomic status and the dating of splitting events have been the subject of much debate. The objectives were to delimit potential refugia and to date splitting events in order to suggest a scenario that explains the diversification of this species complex. Location Western Europe to Central Asia. Methods Sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) genes were analysed for 125 individuals from 46 locations throughout the distribution range of the complex. The phylogeographical structure was investigated using Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods. Molecular dating was performed using three calibration points to estimate the timing of diversification. Results Eighty‐nine haplotypes were observed from the concatenation of the two genes. Phylogenetic inferences supported two main groups, referred to in this study as the ‘ursinii clade’ and the ‘renardi clade’, within which several subclades were identified. Samples from Greece (Vipera ursinii graeca) represented the first split within the V. ursinii complex. In addition, three main periods of diversification were revealed, mainly during the Pleistocene (2.4–2.0 Ma, 1.4 Ma and 1.0–0.6 Ma). Main conclusions The present distribution of the V. ursinii complex seems to have been shaped by Quaternary climatic fluctuations, and the Balkan, Caucasus and Carpathian regions are identified in this study as probable refugia. Our results support a south–north pattern of colonization, in contrast to the north–south colonization previously proposed for this complex. The biogeographical history of the V. ursinii complex corroborates other biogeographical studies that have revealed an east–west disjunction (situated near the Black Sea) within a species complex distributed throughout the Palaearctic region.     

Investigation of Atrial Natriuretic Peptide as A Competitive Inhibitory Candidate Against Wnt/β-Catenin Signalling: A Molecular Dynamics Approach

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Wnt/β-catenin signaling, a highly evolutionary conserved pathway, is abnormally regulated in many human cancers. This pathway is...     

QDR: a QoS-aware data replication algorithm for Data Grids considering security factors

Data Grid integrates geographically distributed resources for solving data sensitive scientific applications. Dynamic data replication algorithms are becoming increasingly valuable in solving large-scale, realistic, difficult problems, and selecting replica with multiple selection criteria—availability, security and time- is one of these problems. The current algorithms do not offer balanced QoS levels and the mechanism of rating QoS parameters. In this paper, we propose a new replica selection strategy, which based on response time and security. However, replication should be used wisely because the storage size of each Data Grid site is limited. Thus, the site must keep only the important replicas. We also present a new replica replacement strategy based on the availability of the file, the last time the replica was requested, number of access, and size of replica. We evaluate our algorithm using the OptorSim simulator and find that it offers better performance in comparison with other algorithms in terms of mean job execution time, effective network usage, SE usage, replication frequency, and hit ratio.