Lignan, phenolic and iridoid glycosides from Stereospermum cylindricum

A lignan glycoside [(+)-cycloolivil 4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside], a phenolic glycoside [3,4-dimethoxyphenyl 1-O-beta-d-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-d-glucopyranoside] and a iridoid glycoside (stereospermoside) were isolated from the leaves and branches of Stereospermum cylindricum, together with (+)-cycloolivil, (+)-cycloolivil 6-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside, (-)-olivil, (-)-olivil 4-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside, (-)-olivil 4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside, vanilloloside, decaffeoyl-verbascoside, isoverbascoside, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl 1-O-beta-d-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-d-glucopyranoside, ajugol, verminoside, and specioside. The structure elucidations were based on spectroscopic evidence.     

Gene Expression in Uninvolved Oral Mucosa of OSCC Patients Facilitates Identification of Markers Predictive of OSCC Outcomes

Oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) are among the most common cancers worldwide, with approximately 60% 5-yr survival rate. To identify potential markers for disease progression, we used Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0 arrays to examine the gene expression profiles of 167 primary tumor samples from OSCC patients, 58 uninvolved oral mucosae from OSCC patients and 45 normal oral mucosae from patients without oral cancer, all enrolled at one of the three University of Washington-affiliated medical centers between 2003 to 2008. We found 2,596 probe sets differentially expressed between 167 tumor samples and 45 normal samples. Among 2,596 probe sets, 71 were significantly and consistently up- or down-regulated in the comparison between normal samples and uninvolved oral samples and between uninvolved oral samples and tumor samples. Cox regression analyses showed that 20 of the 71 probe sets were significantly associated with progression-free survival. The risk score for each patient was calculated from coefficients of a Cox model incorporating these 20 probe sets. The hazard ratio (HR) associated with each unit change in the risk score adjusting for age, gender, tumor stage, and high-risk HPV status was 2.7 (95% CI: 2.0–3.8, p = 8.8E-10). The risk scores in an independent dataset of 74 OSCC patients from the MD Anderson Cancer Center was also significantly associated with progression-free survival independent of age, gender, and tumor stage (HR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.2, p = 0.008). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis showed that the most prominent biological pathway represented by the 71 probe sets was the Integrin cell surface interactions pathway. In conclusion, we identified 71 probe sets in which dysregulation occurred in both uninvolved oral mucosal and cancer samples. Dysregulation of 20 of the 71 probe sets was associated with progression-free survival and was validated in an independent dataset.     

Poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate production by halotolerant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhodobacter sphaeroides</Emphasis> U7

Medium optimization for production of poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides U7 cultivated in glutamate–acetate (GA) medium supplemented with 40 mM valeric acid as co-substrate under aerobic-dark condition was investigated. Studies on effect of nitrogen source and cultivation temperature by conventional and statistical methods illustrated that (NH₄)₂SO₄ (0.2 g/l) had no effect and the optimal temperature was at 30°C. The optimum environmental conditions were found to be anaerobic-light (3000 lux) cultivation with aeration rate of 1.0 vvm and agitation speed of 200 rpm for PHA production (2.5 g/l) with the highest PHA content (65.15%) at 0.5 vvm, and 200 rpm. Under this optimized medium and condition, PHA production from R. sphaeroides U7 increased 3.86-folds (from 0.69 to 2.66 g/l) (PHA content increased 1.5-folds). The biopolymer was purified and characterized by using ¹³C NMR, FTIR, DSC, X-ray diffraction and intrinsic viscosity techniques to be a copolymer poly(β-hydroxybutyrate-co-β-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) consisting of 84.8 mol% β-hydroxybutyric acid (HB) and 15.2 mol% β-hydroxyvaleric acid (HV).     

Genome-Wide Loss of Heterozygosity and DNA Copy Number Aberration in HPV-Negative Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Their Associations with Disease-Specific Survival

Oral squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx (OSCC) is associated with high case-fatality. For reasons that are largely unknown, patients with the same clinical and pathologic staging have heterogeneous response to treatment and different probability of recurrence and survival, with patients with Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal tumors having the most favorable survival. To gain insight into the complexity of OSCC and to identify potential chromosomal changes that may be associated with OSCC mortality, we used Affymtrix 6.0 SNP arrays to examine paired DNA from peripheral blood and tumor cell populations isolated by laser capture microdissection to assess genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and DNA copy number aberration (CNA) and their associations with risk factors, tumor characteristics, and oral cancer-specific mortality among 75 patients with HPV-negative OSCC. We found a highly heterogeneous and complex genomic landscape of HPV-negative tumors, and identified regions in 4q, 8p, 9p and 11q that seem to play an important role in oral cancer biology and survival from this disease. If confirmed, these findings could assist in designing personalized treatment or in the creation of models to predict survival in patients with HPV-negative OSCC.     

Triterpenoidal glycosides from Justicia betonica

dFrom the aerial portion of Justicia betonica L., four triterpenoidal glycosides (justiciosides A-D) were isolated. Their structures were established through chemical and NMR spectroscopic analyses as olean-12-ene-1beta,3beta,11alpha,28-tetraol 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, olean-12-ene-1beta,3beta,11alpha,28-tetraol 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 11alpha-methoxy-olean-12-ene-1beta,3beta,28-triol 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 11alpha-methoxy-olean-12-ene-1beta,3beta,28-triol 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, respectively.