Shrinkage of the non-malignant prostate gland volume after receiving incidental radiotherapy for rectal cancer

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to assess the impact of coincidental radiotherapy on the volume of the non-malignant prostate gland in rectal cancer patients treated with neo-adjuvant radiotherapy.Materials and methodsIn this retrospective analysis, thirty male patients with rectal cancer who had neoadjuvant radiotherapy met the inclusion criteria. These patients had pre-treatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and at least one post-treatment MRI of the pelvis and the whole of their prostate volume received the full prescribed radiotherapy dose; 45 Gy in 25 fractions (n = 22), 45 Gy in 20 fractions (n = 4) and 25 Gy in 5 fractions (n = 4).ResultsThe median age of this patient cohort was 66 years (range: 30–87). With a median interval between pre-treatment MRI and first MRI post-treatment of 2 months (range: 1–11), the mean prostate volume reduced from 36.1 cm³ [standard deviation (SD) 14.2] pre-radiotherapy to 31.3 cm³ (SD 13.0) post radiotherapy and this difference was significant (p = 0.0004).ConclusionRadiotherapy may cause shrinkage in volume of normal (non-malignant) prostate. Further research is required in this field, since these results may be of some comfort to men contemplating the consequences of radiotherapy on their quality of life. The authors suggest recording flow-rate and international prostate symptom score (IPSS) during rectal radiotherapy as a next step.     

Plant‐based oral vaccines against zoonotic and non‐zoonotic diseases

The shared diseases between animals and humans are known as zoonotic diseases and spread infectious diseases among humans. Zoonotic diseases are not only a major burden to livestock industry but also threaten humans accounting for >60% cases of human illness. About 75% of emerging infectious diseases in humans have been reported to originate from zoonotic pathogens. Because antibiotics are frequently used to protect livestock from bacterial diseases, the development of antibiotic‐resistant strains of epidemic and zoonotic pathogens is now a major concern. Live attenuated and killed vaccines are the only option to control these infectious diseases and this approach has been used since 1890. However, major problems with this approach include high cost and injectable vaccines is impractical for >20 billion poultry animals or fish in aquaculture. Plants offer an attractive and affordable platform for vaccines against animal diseases because of their low cost, and they are free of attenuated pathogens and cold chain requirement. Therefore, several plant‐based vaccines against human and animals diseases have been developed recently that undergo clinical and regulatory approval. Plant‐based vaccines serve as ideal booster vaccines that could eliminate multiple boosters of attenuated bacteria or viruses, but requirement of injectable priming with adjuvant is a current limitation. So, new approaches like oral vaccines are needed to overcome this challenge. In this review, we discuss the progress made in plant‐based vaccines against zoonotic or other animal diseases and future challenges in advancing this field.     

Plant growth-promoting Bacillus sp. strain SDA-4 confers Cd tolerance by physio-biochemical improvements,better nutrient acquisition and diminished Cd uptake in Spinacia oleracea L.

Cadmium (Cd) is highly toxic metal for plant metabolic processes even in low concentration due to its longer half-life and non-biodegradable nature. The current study was designed to assess the bioremediation potential of a Cd-tolerant phytobeneficial bacterial strain Bacillus sp. SDA-4, isolated, characterized and identified from Chakera wastewater reservoir, Faisalabad, Pakistan, together with spinach (as a test plant) under different Cd regimes. Spinach plants were grown with and without Bacillus sp. SDA-4 inoculation in pots filled with 0, 5 or 10 mg kg⁻¹ CdCl₂-spiked soil. Without Bacillus sp. SDA-4 inoculation, spinach plants exhibited reduction in biomass accumulation, antioxidative enzymes and nutrient retention. However, plants inoculated with Bacillus sp. SDA-4 revealed significantly augmented growth, biomass accumulation and efficiency of antioxidative machinery with concomitant reduction in proline and MDA contents under Cd stress. Furthermore, application of Bacillus sp. SDA-4 assisted the Cd-stressed plants to sustain optimal levels of essential nutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg). It was inferred that the characterized Cd-tolerant PGPR strain, Bacillus sp. SDA-4 has a potential to reduce Cd uptake and lipid peroxidation which in turn maintained the optimum balance of nutrients and augmented the growth of Cd-stressed spinach. Analysis of bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) revealed that Bacillus sp. SDA-4 inoculation with spinach sequestered Cd in rhizospheric zone. Research outcomes are important for understanding morpho-physio-biochemical attributes of spinach-Bacillus sp. SDA-4 synergy which might provide efficient strategies to decrease Cd retention in edible plants and/or bioremediation of Cd polluted soil colloids.     

A synergy of activity,stability, and inhibitor‐interaction of HIV‐1 protease mutants evolved under drug‐pressure

A clinically‐relevant, drug‐resistant mutant of HIV‐1 protease (PR), termed Flap+_(I54V) and containing L10I, G48V, I54V and V82A mutations, is known to produce significant changes in the entropy and enthalpy balance of drug‐PR interactions, compared to wild‐type PR. A similar mutant, Flap+_(I54A), which evolves from Flap+_(I54V) and contains the single change at residue 54 relative to Flap+_(I54V), does not. Yet, how Flap+_(I54A) behaves in solution is not known. To understand the molecular basis of V54A evolution, we compared nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, and enzymatic assay data from four PR proteins: PR (pWT), Flap+_(I54V), Flap+_(I54A), and Flap+_(I54), a control mutant that contains only L10I, G48V and V82A mutations. Our data consistently show that selection to the smaller side chain at residue 54, not only decreases inhibitor affinity, but also restores the catalytic activity.     

Structure-based prediction of protein–protein interactions between GhWlim5 Domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins: a practical evidence with improved fibre strength

Cotton fibre quality is a multigenic trait. Genetic modification of different genes to achieve high quality fibre is difficult without knowing the mechanism lying behind genes interaction. Based on background knowledge an attempt to explore the potential structural interactions between Gossypium hirsutum Wlim5 domain1 and Gossypium hirsutum ACTIN-1 proteins was done in current study. Sequence features of the LIM domain1 of GhWlim5 protein were identified through multiple sequence alignment analysis, and a phylogenetic tree was built to identify evolutionary relationships between sequences. Conservation indicated the evolutionary importance of side chain residues and the presence of several aliphatic and/or bulky residues, which stabilize the protein core and facilitate packing of zinc fingers. The structures of GhWlim5 domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins were modelled and validated through computational methods. Validation of GhACTIN-1 and GhWlim5 domain1 structures indicated good structural quality with 99.7% and 100% of the favoured number of residues in allowed regions and Z-score, within the ranges of − 9.87 and − 4.17, respectively. Docking analysis indicated various possible modes of interaction between these two proteins with favourable binding affinities. Based on our strong binding interaction results between GhWlim5 domain1 and GhACTIN-1 proteins, we further investigated the role of over-expression of GhWlim5 by transformation in cotton plants under fibre specific promoter and transgenic plants displayed significant increases in fibre strength.

     

Synthesis,In Vitro,and In Silico Studies of N-(Substituted-Phenyl)-3-(4-Phenyl-1-Piperazinyl)propanamides as Potent Alkaline Phosphatase Inhibitors

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - In the present research work, a new series of N-(substituted-phenyl)-3-(4-phenyl-1-piperazinyl)propanamides were synthesized. The synthesis was initiated...     

A study on risk assessment of effect of hematoxylin dye on cytotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in freshwater fish: Food and water security prospective research

The cytotoxicity in freshwater fishes due to different industrial dyes in industrial effluents is a major worldwide issue. Hematoxylin dye has a wide range of uses in textile industries and laboratories. This study was aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of hematoxylin's sublethal effect in vitro in Cirrhinus mrigala. The fish was exposed to different grading concentrations of dye in the aquarium. Fish were sacrificed and dissected to remove the kidney after exposure to hematoxylin dye for specific time intervals. Nephrotoxicity and cytotoxicity induced by this dye were detected through histopathology by using the paraffin wax method. Immediate mortality of fish was noticed against the exposure to 0.08 g/L (LC₅₀) concentration of dye, but at 0.008 mg/L and 0.018 mg/L, it showed tremendous tissue damage in the kidneys, significant reduction in fish growth. This dye induced many alterations in the kidney such as tubular degeneration, vacuolation, shrinkage of a glomerulus, reduced lumen, congestion in the kidney, glomerulonephritis, absence of Bowmen space, necrosis of the hematopoietic interstitial tissues, clogging of tubules, necrosis in the glomerulus and increased space between glomerulus and bowmen's capsule. Although this dye has a wide range of biological and industrial applications, a minute amount of hematoxylin released in effluents is quite toxic to aquatic fauna.