Gaseous ozone: A potent pest management strategy to control Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) infesting green gram

Extending the storage life of legumes by protecting it from the Callosobruchus maculatus infestation is a major concern for the producers, processors and exporters. Legume processing industry requires “greener” alternatives to the conventional fumigants. Gaseous ozone has a great potential as an insect management strategy that is suited for this niche. Nevertheless, the efficacy of ozone against C. maculatus is yet unknown. A laboratory study was conducted to test the insecticidal effect of ozone in controlling the infestation of C. maculatus in green gram. We have determined the concentration of ozone exposure time–mortality relationship for all the stages of C. maculatus that were exposed to 500–1,500 ppmv ozone. The percentages of mortality for different stages of C. maculatus increased with the increase in ozone concentration and exposure time. It was documented that adult stage is least tolerant to ozone (500 ppmv for 274.40 min exposure required to kill 90%), whereas the most tolerant stage is pupa (500 ppmv for 1816.54 min is required to kill 90%). The results indicate that gaseous ozone is the attractive alternative to the synthetic fumigants.     

Role of liquid membrane phenomenon in biological actions of ACE inhibitors, captopril and lisinopril

The liquid membrane phenomenon in angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors namely, captopril and lisinopril has been studied. Hydraulic permeability data have been obtained to demonstrate the existence of the liquid membrane in series with a supporting membrane generated by the ACE inhibitors. Data on the transport of the relevant permeants in presence of the liquid membrane formed by ACE inhibitors indicate that liquid membrane phenomenon is likely to play a significant role in the action of ACE inhibitors.     

Genotoxicity Evaluation of Pectin-Mediated Gold Nanoparticles on Zebrafish Embryos (Danio rerio)

Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology - Pectin is a polymer commonly found in the fruit peels. Pectin-mediated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were fabricated and characterized by spectroscopic and...     

Differences in binding specificity for the homologous gamma- and beta-chain "holes" on fibrinogen: exclusive binding of Ala-His-Arg-Pro-amide by the beta-chain hole

The beta-chain amino-terminal sequences of all known mammalian fibrins begin with the sequence Gly-His-Arg-Pro- (GHRP-), but the homologous sequence in chicken fibrin begins with the sequence Ala-His-Arg-Pro- (AHRP-). Nonetheless, chicken fibrinogen binds the synthetic peptide GHRPam, and a previously reported crystal structure has revealed that the binding is in exact conformance with that observed for the human GHRPam-fragment D complex. We now report that human fibrinogen, which is known not to bind APRP, binds the synthetic peptide AHRPam. Moreover, a crystal structure of AHRPam complexed with fragment D from human fibrinogen shows that AHRPam binds exclusively to the beta-chain hole and, unlike GHRPam, not at all to the homologous gamma-chain hole. The difference can be attributed to the methyl group of the alanine residue clashing with a critical carboxyl group in the gammaC hole but being accommodated in the roomier betaC hole where the equivalent carboxyl is situated more flexibly.     

Antiproliferative potential of gallic acid against diethylnitrosamine-induced rat hepatocellular carcinoma

One of the focuses in current cancer chemoprevention studies is the search for nontoxic chemopreventive agents that inhibit the initiation of malignant transformation. Cancer biomarkers are quantifiable molecules involved in the physiologic or pathologic events occurring between exposure to carcinogens and the development, progression of cancer. Biomarkers may be the consequence of a continuous process, such as increased cell mass, or a discrete event, such as genetic mutation. Analysis of tumor markers can be used as an indicator of tumor response to therapy. Gallic acid is a naturally available polyphenol, possess strong antioxidant activity with a capacity to inhibit the formation of tumors in several cancer models. In the present study, we investigated the antiproliferative effect of gallic acid during diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in male wistar albino rats. DEN treatment resulted in increased levels of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, 5'-nucleotidase, bilirubin, alpha-fetoprotein, carcinoembryonic antigen, argyophillic nucleolar organizing regions, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Gallic acid treatment significantly attenuated these alterations and decreased the levels of AgNORs and PCNA. These finding suggests that gallic acid is a potent antiproliferative agent against DEN-induced HCC.     

Capsaicin alleviates the imbalance in xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes and tumor markers during experimental lung tumorigenesis

The maintenance of a differentiated chondrocyte phenotype is influenced by several factors of which signal transduction of extracellular stimuli through the cell membrane is of major interest. One important group of membrane-bound proteins which are involved in transmembrane signal transduction are ion channels. Human articular chondrocytes were obtained from osteoarthritic femoral condyles. Cells were released from the surrounding matrix and cultivated under standard conditions. We investigated gene expression of 12 members of the TRP ion channel family of freshly prepared (passage 0; P0) and in vitro propagated human articular chondrocytes (passage 2; P2) using conventional and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). In addition, the protein appearance of four TRP channels was demonstrated by immunofluorescence and western blotting. Chondrocyte differentiation was monitored by quantification of collagen type-II, type-I, and aggrecan gene expression. By conventional PCR, 8 channels could be detected, of which some displayed a heterogeneous PCR pattern. RT-PCR quantification revealed that TRPC1 was expressed on the same level in P0 and P2 chondrocytes while gene expression of TRPC3 and TRPC6 was elevated in passage 2 cells. TRPM5, TRPM7, and TRPV1 displayed an enhanced gene expression in freshly isolated chondrocytes. Immunofluorescence signal intensity of all four investigated TRP proteins was consistent with the corresponding gene expression data. In the present study, a correlation between the appearance of some members of the TRP ion channel family and the state of de-differentiation of osteoarthritic articular chondrocytes was shown. A possible direct involvement in the process of chondrocyte de-differentiation has to be investigated in further studies.     

In silico analysis of expression pattern of a Wnt/β-catenin responsive gene ANLN in gastric cancer

Actin-binding protein anillin (ANLN) is primarily involved in the cytokinesis and known to be dysregulated in many cancers including gastric cancer (GC). However, the regulation and clinical significance of ANLN in GC are far less clear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance and possible regulators of ANLN in GC. We have identified the Wnt/β-catenin associated regulation of ANLN by analyzing the in vitro perturbed β-catenin mRNA expression profiles. Investigating the gastric tumors from publicly available genome-wide mRNA expression profiles, we have identified the over expression of ANLN in gastric tumors. Association between ANLN expression and clinical characteristics of GC showed elevated expression in intestinal type GC. Performing a single sample prediction method across GC mRNA expression profiles, we have identified the over expression of ANLN in proliferative type gastric tumors compared to the invasive and metabolic type gastric tumors. In silico pathway prediction analysis revealed the association between Wnt/β-catenin signaling and ANLN expression in gastric tumors. Our results highlight that expression of a Wnt/β-catenin responsive gene ANLN in GC is a molecular predictor of intestinal and proliferative type gastric tumors.     

Phylogenetic reconstruction of endophytic fungal isolates using internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region

Endophytic fungi are inhabitants of plants, living most part of their lifecycle asymptomatically which mainly confer protection and ecological advantages to the host plant. In this present study, 48 endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves of three medicinal plants and characterized based on ITS2 sequence – secondary structure analysis. ITS2 secondary structures were elucidated with minimum free energy method (MFOLD version 3.1) and consensus structure of each genus was generated by 4SALE. ProfDistS was used to generate ITS2 sequence structure based phylogenetic tree respectively. Our elucidated isolates were belonging to Ascomycetes family, representing 5 orders and 6 genera. Colletotrichum/Glomerella spp., Diaporthae/Phomopsis spp., and Alternaria spp., were predominantly observed while Cochliobolus sp., Cladosporium sp., and Emericella sp., were represented by singletons. The constructed phylogenetic tree has well resolved monophyletic groups with >50% bootstrap value support. Secondary structures based fungal systematics improves not only the stability; it also increases the precision of phylogenetic inference. Above ITS2 based phylogenetic analysis was performed for our 48 isolates along with sequences of known ex-types taken from GenBank which confirms the efficiency of the proposed method. Further, we propose it as superlative marker for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships at different taxonomic levels due to their lesser length.     

Genetics of fertility restoration in hybrid rice

Summary The cross combination involving 14 male-sterile lines in rice, when crossed with different maintainers, showed fertility restoration in certain combinations. When F₂ segregating populations were classified based on spikelet fertility, fertility restoration was shown to be governed by 31, 9331, and 1231, due to allelic differences. This indicated that the cytosterility of the same group showed monogenic fertility restoration, whereas crossing plants belonging to different cystosterile groups showed a digenic pattern of segregation.     

Basis for MAP4 dephosphorylation-related microtubule network densification in pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy

Increased activity of Ser/Thr protein phosphatases types 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A) during maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy contributes to cardiac dysfunction and eventual failure, partly through effects on calcium metabolism. A second maladaptive feature of pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy that instead leads to heart failure by interfering with cardiac contraction and intracellular transport is a dense microtubule network stabilized by decoration with microtubule-associated protein 4 (MAP4). In an earlier study we showed that the major determinant of MAP4-microtubule affinity, and thus microtubule network density and stability, is site-specific MAP4 dephosphorylation at Ser-924 and to a lesser extent at Ser-1056; this was found to be prominent in hypertrophied myocardium. Therefore, in seeking the etiology of this MAP4 dephosphorylation, we looked here at PP2A and PP1, as well as the upstream p21-activated kinase 1, in maladaptive pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy. The activity of each was increased persistently during maladaptive hypertrophy, and overexpression of PP2A or PP1 in normal hearts reproduced both the microtubule network phenotype and the dephosphorylation of MAP4 Ser-924 and Ser-1056 seen in hypertrophy. Given the major microtubule-based abnormalities of contractile and transport function in maladaptive hypertrophy, these findings constitute a second important mechanism for phosphatase-dependent pathology in the hypertrophied and failing heart.