DODAB:MO versus novel liposomes for protein delivery: comparing toxicity and encapsulation efficiency

UID/BIA/04050/2019, funded by national funds through the FCT IP, and project FUN2CYT: Harnessing the potential for biomedical applications of pleiotropic cytokines LIF and oncostatin M (PTDC/BTM-MAT/30568/2017, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030568) supported by POCI through FEDER and FCT IPinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glycophenotypic Alterations Induced by Pteridium aquilinum in Mice Gastric Mucosa: Synergistic Effect with Helicobacter pylori Infection

The bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum is a plant known to be carcinogenic to animals. Epidemiological studies have shown an association between bracken fern exposure and gastric cancer development in humans. The biological effects of exposure to this plant within the gastric carcinogenesis process are not fully understood. In the present work, effects in the gastric mucosa of mice treated with Pteridium aquilinum were evaluated, as well as molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic role with Helicobacter pylori infection. Our results showed that exposure to Pteridium aquilinum induces histomorphological modifications including increased expression of acidic glycoconjugates in the gastric mucosa. The transcriptome analysis of gastric mucosa showed that upon exposure to Pteridium aquilinum several glycosyltransferase genes were differently expressed, including Galntl4, C1galt1 and St3gal2, that are mainly involved in the biosynthesis of simple mucin-type carbohydrate antigens. Concomitant treatment with Pteridium aquilinum and infection with Helicobacter pylori also resulted in differently expressed glycosyltransferase genes underlying the biosynthesis of terminal sialylated Lewis antigens, including Sialyl-Lewisx. These results disclose the molecular basis for the altered pattern of glycan structures observed in the mice gastric mucosa. The gene transcription alterations and the induced glycophenotypic changes observed in the gastric mucosa contribute for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of Pteridium aquilinum in the gastric carcinogenesis process

Multistage treatment for olive mill wastewater: Assessing legal compliance and operational costs

A treatment train for the remediation of a raw olive mill wastewater (OMW) was investigated, aiming to comply with the emission limit values (ELVs) for direct discharge into water bodies. The following stages were proposed: (i) pre-treatment (filtration and sedimentation), (ii) coagulation, (iii) biological oxidation, and (iv) advanced oxidation process (AOP). Under the best-operating conditions for coagulation (0.8 g L- 1 of Al2(SO4)3, pH = 4.5), high removal of total suspended solids (TSS) (97%), turbidity (98%), and phenols (57%) was achieved, along with a decrease in the inhibition of the biological activity. A subsequent biological oxidation stage provided a high removal of organic matter (chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 73%). For the third stage, three AOPs were applied and compared – photo-Fenton with UVA radiation (PF-UVA), anodic oxidation (AO), and ozonation (O3). After 3 h of treatment, the PF-UVA process (pH = 2.8, [H2O2] = 400–500 mg L- 1, [Total dissolved iron]0 = 100 mg L- 1) allowed to meet the ELV for COD, but the other parameters exceeded the threshold, while O3 process (inlet concentration = 100 mg O3 Ndm- 3, gas flow = 0.2 Ndm3 min- 1) allowed to comply with phenols, TSS, and sulfate limits. The AO process (current density up to 200 mA cm- 2) was the least efficient AOP for all studied parameters. The operational costs for the coagulation and biological oxidation stages were estimated at 1.20 € m- 3. Regarding the most effective AOPs, ozonation presented an estimated cost 2.3-fold higher than PF-UVA (11.9 € m- 3 vs. 5.2 € m- 3).This work was financially supported by (i) LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE), UIDB/50020/2020 and UIDP/50020/2020 (LSRE-LCM), funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), and (ii) Project NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-072124, Bagaço+Valor - Tecnologia Limpa para a Valorização dos Subprodutos do Bagaço na Indústria Extratora de Azeite, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Srikanth Vuppala acknowledges the Joint Research Projects for the International Mobility of the XXXI and XXXII cycle PhD students for the project: CHEMBIOCAT, La Sapienza University of Rome. Larissa O. Paulista and Daniela F.S. Morais acknowledge their Ph.D. scholarships supported by FCT (SFRH/BD/137639/2018 and SFRH/BD/146476/2019, respectively). Francisca C. Moreira and Vítor J.P. Vilar acknowledge the FCT Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus 2017 (CEECIND/02196/2017 and CEECIND/01317/2017, respectively).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variation on the abundance of the significant eukaryotic genus and prokaryotic family (p<0.05) as affected by chemical treatment (a) and grapevine vegetative cycle (b).

<p>The variation on population during the grapevine vegetative cycle could be interpreted through the variation of the square's color where the red square indicates a higher number of reads and a blue square denotes a reduce number of reads of a specific microorganism. Only the significant population is shown (p<0.05).</p