<Emphasis Type="Italic">Teucrium polium</Emphasis> Complex with Molybdate Enhance Cultured Islets Secretory Function

Islet transplantation has become a promising treatment in the therapy of type 1 diabetes. Its function improvement, after isolation and before transplantation, is crucial because of their loss both in number and function of islets after isolation procedures. Trace elements sodium orthovanadate (SOV) and sodium molybdate (SM), as well as medicinal plant Teucrium polium L. (TP), showed and possessed high beneficial antioxidative potential and even hypoglycemic properties via their effect on islets. We evaluated the effect of these components in combination on cultured islet function in order to improve pancreatic islet transplantation. Rat pancreatic islets were cultured for 24 h then incubated with different concentrations of TP (0.01 and 0.1 mg/mL) alone and in combination with SOV (1 mM) or SM (1 mM). Insulin concentration in buffer media was measured as islet secretory function. Administration of TP (0.01 mg/mL), SM, and SOV alone or in combination with each other significantly increased insulin secretion at high glucose concentration (16.7 mM); insulin secretion was significantly greater in the group containing both TP and SM than other treated groups (p < 0.05). The combination of the mentioned trace elements especially molybdate with TP could improve islet cells function before transplantation.     

Characterization and comparison of virulent bacteriophages of Streptococcus thermophilus isolated from yogurt

Seven virulent bacteriophages of Streptococcus thermophilus were characterized at the molecular level and classified into 2 subgroups (A and B) by DNA/DNA hybridization experiments and analysis of their structural proteins. Two representatives of subgroups A and B were compared to 3 representatives of Neve's subgroups I, II and III (Neve et al, 1989) by Southern blot experiments. These isometric-headed phages possess a double-stranded DNA genome varying between 30-44 kilobase (kb) pairs. Subgroup A is composed of 3 phages (phi 57 as representative) with similar structural proteins as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-poly-acrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE) electrophoresis (estimated molecular weights of 31,000 and 27,500 for phage phi 57 and 32,000 and 27,000 for the 2 others). A common structural protein of 43,000 was found for phages of subgroup B. Phages phi 57 (subgroup A) and a10/J9 or PO (Neve's subgroups I or II, respectively) belonged to the same subgroup as determined by DNA/DNA hybridization experiments. Partial DNA homology was detected among all the phages tested except for phage phi ST27 of AW Jarvis. Phage-host interactions were also investigated by cross-propagation of the 7 studied phages on different indicator strains. A complete lack of correlation existed between the DNA homology grouping of the phages and their host range. Various restriction-modification systems were detected in some of the Streptococcus thermophilus strains.     

Study of quercetin and fisetin synergistic effect on breast cancer and potentially involved signaling pathways

Naturally-derived drugs have drawn much attention in recent decades. Efficiency, lower toxicity, and economic reasons are some of their advantages that justify this broad range of administration for different diseases, including cancer. If we can find a specific combination that boosts the effects of their single therapy, leading to synergism effect, increased efficiency, and decreased toxicity, they can act even better. Quercetin and fisetin, two well-known flavonoids, have been used to fight against various cancers. In this study, we investigated their possible synergism quercetin and fisetin on MCF7, MDA-MB-231, BT549, T47D, and 4T1 breast cancer cell lines. Then the optimum combined dose was used to study their impacts on wound healing abilities and clonogenic properties. The real-time qPCR was used to study the expression of their validated downstream effectors in predicted pathways. A significant synergism effect (p < .01, combination index: <1) was observed for all cell lines. Combination therapy was significantly more effective in colony formation (p < .0001) and wound healing assays (p < .001) compared to single therapies. The expression level of potential effectors was also showed a greater change. In vivo study confirmed the in vitro results and showed how significantly (p < .001) their synergism promotes their singular function in inhibiting cancer progression. The breast cancer mouse models receiving combined therapy lived longer with higher average body weight and smaller tumor sizes. These results exhibit that quercetin and fisetin inhibit cancer cell proliferation, migration and colony formation synergistically, and matrix metalloproteinase signaling and apoptotic pathways are relatively responsible for inhibitory activities.     

CardioFAN: open source platform for noninvasive assessment of pulse transit time and pulsatile flow in hyperelastic vascular networks

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - A profound analysis of pressure and flow wave propagation in cardiovascular systems is the key in noninvasive assessment of hemodynamic parameters....     

Effect of Drought Stress on Certain Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of a Resistant and a Sensitive Canola Cultivar

Water stress is one of the main abiotic factors that reduces plant growth, mainly due to high evaporative demand and low water availability. In order to evaluate the effects of drought stress on certain morphological and physiological characteristics of two canola cultivars, we conducted a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The findings show that drought stress exacerbations result in the plant's response to stress due to increased canola resistance caused by changes in plant pigments, proline, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde, glucose, galactose, rhamnose and xylose. These in turn ultimately influence the morphological characteristics of canola. Drought stress reduces the concentration of carotenoids, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophylls; however, glucose, galactose, rhamnose, xylose, proline, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde (in leaves and roots) and the chlorophyll a and b ratios were increased. Reduction of plant height, stem height, root length, fresh and dry weight of canola treated with 300 g/l PEG compared to non‐treatment were 0.264, 0.236, 0.394, 0.183 and 0.395, respectively. From the two canola cultivars, the morphological characteristics of the NIMA increased compared to the Ks7 cultivar. Interaction effects of cultivar and drought stress showed that NIMA cultivar without treatment had the highest number of morphological characteristics such as carotenoid concentration, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophylls a and b, whereas the cultivar with 300 g/l PEG (drought stress) had the highest amount of proline, malondialdehyde, soluble sugars and enzymes in leaves and roots. Increasing activity of oxidative enzymes and soluble sugars in canola under drought stress could be a sign of their relative tolerance to drought stress.     

Characterization of Aqueous Dispersions and Gels Made of Sodium Caseinate and Basil Seed Gum: Phase Behavior,Rheology, and Microstructure

The interactions between sodium caseinate (NaCas) and basil seed gum (BSG) in the presence of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) were investigated. The phase behavior of the mixed aqueous dispersions and their gels revealed a homogeneous mixture, obtained at the higher concentrations of both CaCl₂ and BSG. The Herschel-Bulkley model sufficiently fitted the flow behavior of the mixture solution data. Apparent viscosity increased significantly (p < 0.05) by increasing the concentration of BSG, where the addition of CaCl₂ had no significant effect on the viscosity of the samples (p > 0.05). Furthermore, there was an increase in thixotropy due to the higher concentrations of BSG and CaCl₂. Based on the frequency sweep test, at the low frequencies, a more gel-like behavior was observed in the case of the higher concentrations of either BSG or CaCl₂. The rheological and SEM data suggested that the stronger structure of NaCas-BSG gel in the presence of the higher concentrations of CaCl₂ was related to the induction of complex formation between the two biopolymers.

     

Boosted Growth Performance,Mucosal and Serum Immunity,and Disease Resistance Nile Tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) Fingerlings Using Corncob-Derived Xylooligosaccharide and Lactobacillus plantarum CR1T5

The present work, herein, studied the effects of corncob-derived xylooligosaccharides (CDXOS) and Lactobacillus plantarum CR1T5 (LP) integrated into fish d     

Expression of recombinant human IFN-γ protein in soybean (Glycine max L.)

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - Globular androgenic haploid embryos of TV21 and TV19 cultivars of Camellia ssp., obtained on embryo induction medium (EIM), Murashige and Skoog medium...