Cucurbita plants: From farm to industry

The Cucurbita genus, a member of Cucurbitaceae family, also known as cucurbits, is native to the Americas. Genus members, like Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima, have been used for centuries in folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites. These pharmacological effects are mainly attributed to their phytochemical composition. Indeed, Cucurbita species are a natural source of carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, functional carbohydrates, and polysaccharides, that beyond exerting remarkable biological effects, have also been increasingly exploited for biotechnological applications. In this article, we specifically cover the habitat, cultivation, phytochemical composition, and food preservative abilities of Cucurbita plants.This work was supported by CONICYT PIA/APOYO CCTE AFB170007. N. Martins would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Portugal) for the Strategic project ref. UID/BIM/04293/2013 and “NORTE2020-Northern Regional Operational Program” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012)

Cucurbits plants: A key emphasis to its pharmacological potential

PubMed ID: 31091784Cucurbita genus has received a renowned interest in the last years. This plant species, native to the Americas, has served worldwide folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites, among other clinical conditions. These pharmacological effects have been increasingly correlated with their nutritional and phytochemical composition. Among those chemical constituents, carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, and functional carbohydrates and polysaccharides are those occurring in higher abundance. However, more recently, a huge interest in a class of triterpenoids, cucurbitacins, has been stated, given its renowned biological attributes. In this sense, the present review aims to provide a detailed overview to the folk medicinal uses of Cucurbita plants, and even an in-depth insight on the latest advances with regards to its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer effects. A special emphasis was also given to its clinical effectiveness in humans, specifically in blood glucose levels control in diabetic patients and pharmacotherapeutic effects in low urinary tract diseases. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licenseUniversidade do Porto Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Entomology and Nematology Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences University of Calcutta Universidad de Concepción Zabol University of Medical Sciences Politechnika LódzkaStudent Research Committee, School of Medicine, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam 44340847, Iran; [email protected] Faculty of Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering, Food Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, 34469 Maslak, Turkey; [email protected] (E.C.); [email protected] (G.C.) Laboratoire de Biotechnologie Végétale et d’Ethnobotanique, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de Bejaia, Bejaia 06000, Algérie; [email protected] Department of Plant Sciences, LCWU, Lahore 54000, Pakistan; [email protected] (S.S.); [email protected] (M.J.) G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India; [email protected] (L.G.); [email protected] (R.S.) G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development Garhwal Regional Centre, Srinagar 246174, India; [email protected] Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania; [email protected] Department of Toxicology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania; [email protected] Mevsim Gida Sanayi ve Soguk Depo Ticaret A.S. (MVSM Foods), Turankoy, Kestel, 16540 Bursa, Turkey; [email protected] 10 Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland; [email protected] (D.K.); [email protected] (H.A.); [email protected] (E.P.) 11 Molecular and Applied Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, India; [email protected] (S.S.); [email protected] (K.A.) 12 Department of Botany, Fakir Chand College, Diamond Harbour, West Bengal 743331, India 13 Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nigde Ömer Halisdemir University, Campus, 51240 Nigde, Turkey; [email protected] 14 Zabol Medicinal Plants Research Center, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol 61615-585, Iran 15 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Concepcion, Concepcion 4070386, Chile 16 LEPABE, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; [email protected] 17 Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Avicenna Tajik State Medical University, Rudaki 139, Dushanbe 734003, Tajikistan; [email protected] 18 Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal 19 Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal 20 Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Ital

HRas signal transduction promotes hepatitis C virus cell entry by triggering assembly of the host tetraspanin receptor complex

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry is dependent on coreceptor complex formation between the tetraspanin superfamily member CD81 and the tight junction protein claudin-1 (CLDN1) on the host cell membrane. The receptor tyrosine kinase EGFR acts as a cofactor for HCV entry by promoting CD81-CLDN1 complex formation via unknown mechanisms. We identify the GTPase HRas, activated downstream of EGFR signaling, as a key host signal transducer for EGFR-mediated HCV entry. Proteomic analysis revealed that HRas associates with tetraspanin CD81, CLDN1, and the previously unrecognized HCV entry cofactors integrin beta1 and Ras-related protein Rap2B in hepatocyte membranes. HRas signaling is required for lateral membrane diffusion of CD81, which enables tetraspanin receptor complex assembly. HRas was also found to be relevant for entry of other viruses, including influenza. Our data demonstrate that viruses exploit HRas signaling for cellular entry by compartmentalization of entry factors and receptor trafficking

HRas signal transduction promotes hepatitis C virus cell entry by triggering assembly of the host tetraspanin receptor complex

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry is dependent on coreceptor complex formation between the tetraspanin superfamily member CD81 and the tight junction protein claudin-1 (CLDN1) on the host cell membrane. The receptor tyrosine kinase EGFR acts as a cofactor for HCV entry by promoting CD81-CLDN1 complex formation via unknown mechanisms. We identify the GTPase HRas, activated downstream of EGFR signaling, as a key host signal transducer for EGFR-mediated HCV entry. Proteomic analysis revealed that HRas associates with tetraspanin CD81, CLDN1, and the previously unrecognized HCV entry cofactors integrin beta1 and Ras-related protein Rap2B in hepatocyte membranes. HRas signaling is required for lateral membrane diffusion of CD81, which enables tetraspanin receptor complex assembly. HRas was also found to be relevant for entry of other viruses, including influenza. Our data demonstrate that viruses exploit HRas signaling for cellular entry by compartmentalization of entry factors and receptor trafficking

Seedless table grape residues as a source of polyphenols: comparison and optimization of non-conventional extraction techniques

Grape skins are one of the most important leftovers of grape juice production, and are also a good source of bioactive compounds, especially phenolic antioxidants and fiber, because they are not stressed as the winemaking process occurs. Their extracts may be used as functional components of enriched foods and beverage, both to color the products and to supplement with bio-functional metabolites. Therefore, in this work, ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE) were optimized and compared using response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function (D) statistical tools, at selected temperature and solvent type (close to 50 °C and water/ethanol/phosphoric acid 70:30:1) but varying contact time (t) and sample-to-solvent ratio (S/L), to find the best conditions for the extraction of the main polyphenols present in table grape skin (Apulia Rose cv.) residues from juice processing. The mathematical models built in this investigation showed that the highest significant factor (P < 0.001) was t, influencing the extraction of all compounds irrespective of the technique used, with the optimal results obtained at intermediate levels (10.5 and 21 min for MAE and UAE, respectively). On the contrary, the only S/L factor was not always significant, even though higher amount of polyphenols were generally recovered at low solid/liquid ratio (0.05 and 0.07 g/mL for MAE and UAE, respectively). Finally, UAE extracts exhibited higher content of anthocyanins, procyanidins, flavonols, and stilbenes than MAE, with values ranging from 1.5 to 69.6 mg/100 g of fresh weight