Alkaloids of the leaves of Voacanga grandifolia

Besides vobtusine and vobtusine-lactone, deoxyvobtusine was isolated from the leaves of Voacanga grandifolia (Miq. Rolfe. Spectral and chemical evi     

Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity trait of a bioactive peptide purified from Lactococcus garvieae subsp. bovis BSN307T

A bioactive peptide of 8595 Da was purified from the cell free supernatant of Lactococcus garvieae subsp. bovis BSN307^T. MALDI MS/MS peptide mapping and the data base search displayed no significant similarity to any reported antimicrobial peptide of LAB. This peptide at a dose concentration of 200 µg ml⁻¹ inhibited the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 58–89% and a dose of 500 µg ml⁻¹ scavenged 50% of DPPH-free radicals generated. Interestingly, cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that 17 µg ml⁻¹ of peptide selectively inhibited 50% proliferation of mammalian cancer cell lines HeLa and MCF-7 whereas normal H9c2 cells remained unaffected. Fluorescent microscopic analysis after DAPI nuclear staining of HeLa cells showed characteristics of apoptosis and activation of caspase-3 was ascertained by caspase-3 fluorescence assay.     

Mesothelioma Tumor Cells Modulate Dendritic Cell Lipid Content,Phenotype and Function

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in the generation of anti-cancer immune responses, however there is evidence that DCs in cancer patients are dysfunctional. Lipid accumulation driven by tumor-derived factors has recently been shown to contribute to DC dysfunction in several human cancers, but has not yet been examined in mesothelioma. This study investigated if mesothelioma tumor cells and/or their secreted factors promote increases in DC lipid content and modulate DC function. Human monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) were exposed to human mesothelioma tumor cells and tumor-derived factors in the presence or absence of lipoproteins. The data showed that immature MoDCs exposed to mesothelioma cells or factors contained increased lipid levels relative to control DCs. Lipid accumulation was associated with reduced antigen processing ability (measured using a DQ OVA assay), upregulation of the co-stimulatory molecule, CD86, and production of the tolerogenic cytokine, IL-10. Increases in DC lipid content were further enhanced by co-exposure to mesothelioma-derived factors and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, but not low-density lipoproteins. In vivo studies using a murine mesothelioma model showed that the lipid content of tumor-infiltrating CD4⁺CD8α^- DCs, CD4^-CD8α^- DCs DCs and plasmacytoid DCs increased with tumor progression. Moreover, increasing tumor burden was associated with reduced proliferation of tumor-antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells in tumor-draining lymph nodes. This study shows that mesothelioma promotes DC lipid acquisition, which is associated with altered activation status and reduced capacity to process and present antigens, which may impair the ability of DCs to generate effective anti mesothelioma T cell responses.     

Determinants of fruit and seed set in Pavonia dasypetala (Malvaceae)

Summary Measurements of foliage quality, physiological, and phenological condition of sample trees were used as independent variables in multiple correlation analyses to determine their effect on female and male spruce budworm larval dry weights. Female budworm from trees high in foliar concentrations of beta-pinene, myrcene and total nitrogen weighed less than those from trees lacking these characteristics. Male budworm from trees high in foliar concentrations of alpha-pinene, myrcene, terpinolene, citronellyl acetate, and bornyl acetate weighted less than those from trees lacking these characteristics. Additionally, relatively vigorous and productive trees tended to be less susceptible (as evidenced by reduced larval weight) to budworm of either sex.     

Effect of long term feeding of rice bran oil upon lipids and lipoproteins in rats

The effects of feeding two levels of rice bran oil (RBO) on the growth, lipid parameters, and fatty acid composition of the plasma and liver of rats (Wistar strain) were compared with those produced on animals which had been fed the same levels of peanut oil (PNO). The control animals were fed synthetic diets containing 5 and 20% peanut oil (PNO) and the experimental groups were fed similar diets, containing the same level of rice bran oil (RBO). There was no significant difference with respect to the organ weights between the control and the experimental groups. In general, groups fed 20% oil gained more weight than groups fed 5% oil. The animals which received rice bran oil in their diet had, in general, comparatively lower levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids. On the other hand, animals receiving 20% rice bran oil in their diet, showed an increase of 20% in high density lipoproteins (HDL-C), within 18 weeks (p<0.05), when compared to the animals fed with peanut oil. Similarly, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were lower in RBO-fed groups, than in the PNO-fed groups. There was, however, no significant differences in the cholesterol/phospholipid (C/P) ratio of the two groups. Analysis of plasma and of liver fatty acids indicated, in a general way, the type of fat consumed. There were no significant difference in the P/S ratio, nor any in the oleic/linoleic, oleic/stearic, palmitoleic/palmitic, oleic/palmitic, and oleic/palmitoleic ratios. Furthermore, levels of saturated (SAFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids were identical in both the groups. Thus, our results suggest that feeding a high level of rice bran oil (RBO) has no deleterious effect on the growth and blood lipid profile of rats.Abbreviations PNO peanut oil - RBO rice bran oil - HDL-C high density lipoprotein cholesterol - LDL-C low density lipoprotein cholesterol - VLDL-C very low density lipoprotein cholesterol - SAFA saturated fatty acids - MUFA mono-unsaturated fatty acids     

Occurrence of a Lysogenic Streptomyces sp. on the Nodule Surface of Black Gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)

A lysogenic Streptomyces sp., strain NS.A4, which was isolated from the nodule surface of black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper), was found to inhibit rhizobia of fast-and slow-growing strains of cowpeas and soybeans. It exhibited plaques when there was a change in cultural conditions. Repeated culturing of the organism in nutrient agar and broth confirmed the infection of Streptomyces sp. strain NS.A4 by an actinophage. Addition of the culture filtrate of Streptomyces sp. strain NS.A4 to shaken broth cultures of three other Streptomyces spp. resulted in phage infection.     

Reactive oxygen species play a role in P2X7 receptor-mediated IL-6 production in spinal astrocytes

Purinergic Signalling - Astrocytes mediate a remarkable variety of cellular functions, including gliotransmitter release. Under pathological conditions, high concentrations of the purinergic...     

Connecting species’ geographical distributions to environmental variables: range maps versus observed points of occurrence

Connecting the geographical occurrence of a species with underlying environmental variables is fundamental for many analyses of life history evolution and for modeling species distributions for both basic and practical ends. However, raw distributional information comes principally in two forms: points of occurrence (specific geographical coordinates where a species has been observed), and expert-prepared range maps. Each form has potential short-comings: range maps tend to overestimate the true occurrence of a species, whereas occurrence points (because of their frequent non-random spatial distribution) tend to underestimate it. Whereas previous comparisons of the two forms have focused on how they may differ when estimating species richness, less attention has been paid to the extent to which the two forms actually differ in their representation of a species’ environmental associations. We assess such differences using the globally distributed avian order Galliformes (294 species). For each species we overlaid range maps obtained from IUCN and point-of-occurrence data obtained from GBIF on global maps of four climate variables and elevation. Over all species, the median difference in distribution centroids was 234 km, and median values of all five environmental variables were highly correlated, although there were a few species outliers for each variable. We also acquired species’ elevational distribution mid-points (mid-point between minimum and maximum elevational extent) from the literature; median elevations from point occurrences and ranges were consistently lower (median −420 m) than mid-points. We concluded that in most cases occurrence points were likely to produce better estimates of underlying environmental variables than range maps, although differences were often slight. We also concluded that elevational range mid-points were biased high, and that elevation distributions based on either points or range maps provided better estimates.