Role of Bioactive Peptides in Reducing the Severity of Hypertension with the Inhibition of ACE

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Bovine milk protein, fermented with LC (Lactobacillus casei) was used to evaluate its ACE inhibitory activity in-vitro. After evaluating...     

Trehalose: A Key Organic Osmolyte Effectively Involved in Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Trehalose is a natural non-reducing sugar that is found in the vast majority of organisms such as bacteria, yeasts, invertebrates and even in plants. Regarding its features, it is considered as a unique compound. It plays a key role as a carbon source in lower organisms and as an osmoprotectant or a stabilizing molecule in higher animals and plants. Although in plants it is present in a minor quantity, its levels rise upon exposure to abiotic stresses. Trehalose is believed to play a protective role against different abiotic stressful cues such as temperature extremes, salinity, desiccation. Moreover, it regulates water use efficiency and stomatal movement in most plants. Detectable endogenous trehalose levels are vital for sustaining growth under stressful cues. Exogenously applied trehalose in low amounts mitigates physiological and biochemical disorders induced by various abiotic stresses, delays leaf abscission and stimulates flowering in crops. External application of trehalose also up-regulates the stress responsive genes in plants exposed to environmental cues. The genetically modified plants with trehalose biosynthesis genes exhibit improved tolerance against stressful conditions. An increased level of trehalose has been observed in transgenic plants over-expressing genes of microbial trehalose biosynthesis. However, these transgenic plants display enhanced tolerance to heat, cold, salinity, and drought tolerance. Due to multiple bio-functions of this sugar, it has gained considerable ground in various fields. However, exogenous use of this bio-safe sugar would only be possible under field conditions upon adopting strategies of low-cost production of trehalose. In short, trehalose is a unique chemical that preserves vitality of plant life under harsh ecological conditions. Certainly, the new findings of this disaccharide will revolutionize a wide array of new avenues.

     

Assessment of Hazardous and Essential Elements in a Food Crop Irrigated with Municipal Sewage Water: Risk Appraisal for Public Health

To assess the impact of sewage water on metal accretion in selected diverse varieties of wheat (i.e., Lasani-2008, ARRI-10, Faisalabad-83, Punjab-85, Aas-2010, and Sehar-2006), their seeds were sown in pots containing soil. The results showed that the concentration of heavy metals in grains from the wheat plants supplied with sewage water was considerably higher than the plants supplied with canal irrigation water (control). In canal water irrigated wheat grains the metal concentrations (mg/kg) ranged from 2.20–3.5 for Cu, 12.50–32.4 for Zn, 22.45–35.22 for Mn, 0.05–0.15 for Pb, 0.012–0.029 for Cd, 2.5–5.3 for Ni, 18.16–29.63 for Fe, and 0.90–3.64 for Cr in different wheat varieties, whereas the wheat grains raised from sewage water, had metal concentrations (mg/kg): 3.8–5.30 for Cu, 29.60–40.50 for Zn, 32.9–50.40 for Mn, 1.14–7.50 for Pb, 0.26–0.42 for Cd, 3.90–7.55 for Ni, 32.21–40.35 for Fe, and 2.88–7.84 for Cr. Since these metals bioaccumulate in wheat grains with unremitting use of metal-enriched wastewater, care has to be taken for irrigating wheat plants with household wastewater for a longer time, particularly in those soils where this crop is grown regularly.     

Phytotoxicity of pesticides mancozeb and chlorpyrifos: correlation with the antioxidative defence system in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Allium cepa</Emphasis>

Pesticides are a group of chemical substances which are widely used to improve agricultural production. However, these substances could be persistent in soil and water, accumulative in sediment or bio-accumulative in biota depending on their solubility, leading to different types of environmental pollution. The present study was done to assess the impact of pesticides-mancozeb and chlorpyrifos, via morphological and physiological parameters using Allium cepa test system. Phytotoxic effects of pesticides were examined via germination percentage, survival percentage, root and shoot length, root shoot length ratio, seedling vigor index, percentage of phytotoxicity and tolerance index. Oxidative stress on Allium seedlings caused by pesticides was also assessed by investigating the activity of antioxidative enzymes viz. catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Correlation was worked out between morphological parameters and antioxidative enzymes to bring out the alliance between them. Mancozeb and chlorpyrifos concentrations were significantly and positively correlated with the activity of antioxidative enzymes and negatively correlated with morphological parameters. Significant positive correlation between various morphological parameters showed their interdependency. However, negative correlation was obtained between activity of antioxidative enzymes and morphological parameters. The enzymes however, showed positive correlation with each other. Based on our result we can conclude that all morphological parameters were adversely affected by the two pesticides as reflected by phytotoxicity in Allium. Their negative correlation with activity of antioxidative enzymes indicates that upregulation of antioxidative enzymes is not sufficient to overcome the toxic effect, thereby signifying the threat being caused by the regular use of these pesticides.     

Rapid and profound potentiation of Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis in thoracic cancer cells by the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A: the essential role of the mitochondria-mediated caspase activation cascade

Apo2L/TRAIL is actively investigated as a novel targeted agent to directly induce apoptosis of susceptible cancer cells. Apo2L/TRAIL-refractory cells can be sensitized to the cytotoxic effect of this ligand by cytotoxic chemotherapeutics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro tumoricidal activity of the Apo2L/TRAIL + Trichostatin A in cultured thoracic cancer cells and to elucidate the molecular basis of the synergistic cytotoxicity of this combination. Concurrent exposure of cultured cancer cells to sublethal concentrations of Apo2L/TRAIL and Trichostatin A resulted in profound enhancement of Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated cytotoxicity in all cell lines regardless of their intrinsic susceptibility to this ligand. This combination was not toxic to primary normal cells. While Apo2L/TRAIL alone or Trichostatin A alone mediated < 20% cell death, 60 to 90% of cancer cells were apoptotic following treatment with TSA + Apo2L/TRAIL combinations. Complete translocation of Bax from the cytosol to the mitochondria compartment was mainly observed in combination-treated cells and this was correlated with robust elevation of caspase 9 proteolytic activity indicative of activation of the mitochondria apoptogenic effect. Profound TSA + Apo2L/TRAIL–mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis were completely abrogated by either Bcl2 over-expression or by the selective caspase 9 inhibitor, highlighting the essential role of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis signaling cascade in this process. Moreover, increased caspase 8 activity observed in cells treated with the TSA + Apo2L/TRAIL combination was completely suppressed by Bcl-2 over-expression or by the selective caspase 9 inhibitor indicating that the elevated caspase 8 activity in combination-treated cells was secondary to a mitochondria-mediated amplification feedback loop of caspase activation. These finding form the basis for further development of HDAC inhibitors + Apo2L/TRAIL combination as novel targeted therapy for thoracic malignancies. R.M. Reddy and W.-S. Yeow contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, NIH.