Evaluation of the cytotoxicity interactions between epirubicin and daunorubicin in HeLa cell cultures

Epirubicin and Daunorubicin, antibiotics which are derivative of anthracyclines, are used on cancer chemotherapy. In this study, Epirubicin and Daunorubicin effects on cell kinetics parameters wereexamined both single and in combination on HeLa cell culture that was taken from human servical carcinoma. The experiments tested by using IC90 doses of Epirubicin and Daunorubicin (0.5 g/ml and0.1 g/ml, respectively) were applied for 24 and 48 h. Cell kinetics parameters such as growth rate (WST-1 colorimetric assay), mitotic and apoptotic index were applied to identify cytotoxicity that wasformed by drugs. In addition, DNA degradation was examined in agarose gel electrophoresis. The cytotoxic effect of drugs appeared significant decline of growth rate and mitotic index, and significantincrease of apoptotic index of HeLa cell line (

Evaluation of the cytotoxicity interactions between epirubicin and daunorubicin in HeLa cell cultures

Epirubicin and Daunorubicin, antibiotics which are derivative of anthracyclines, are used on cancer chemotherapy. In this study, Epirubicin and Daunorubicin effects on cell kinetics parameters wereexamined both single and in combination on HeLa cell culture that was taken from human servical carcinoma. The experiments tested by using IC90 doses of Epirubicin and Daunorubicin (0.5 g/ml and0.1 g/ml, respectively) were applied for 24 and 48 h. Cell kinetics parameters such as growth rate (WST-1 colorimetric assay), mitotic and apoptotic index were applied to identify cytotoxicity that wasformed by drugs. In addition, DNA degradation was examined in agarose gel electrophoresis. The cytotoxic effect of drugs appeared significant decline of growth rate and mitotic index, and significant increase of apoptotic index of HeLa cell line (

Sensory to motor transformation during innate and adaptive behavior in the cockroach

Animal behavior is the result of processing and integrating various internal and external information. It can be highly flexible and vary between individuals. In insects, the mushroom body output region is an essential higher-order brain area in this process. Integration of various sensory and internal information takes place here as well as memory formation. To investigate adaptive behavior, we established classical and operant conditioning paradigms with a focus on inter-individual differences: American cockroaches were trained harnessed as well as freely moving. To gain insight into the transformation from sensory input to motor output behind innate and adaptive behavior, we established an extracellular recording setup including different sensory stimulators: 1) We simultaneously recorded mushroom body output neurons (MBONs) and initial feeding behavior in single animals during odor stimulation and 2) we recorded MBON responses to different sensory modalities. On the behavioral level, cockroaches were successful in memory formation across different paradigms and sensory modalities. Inter-individual differences regarding their cognitive abilities were discovered. Simultaneous neuronal and behavioral recordings revealed a correlation between MBON and feeding responses to food odors, which allowed for prediction of the behavior. Furthermore, neuronal recordings demonstrated that MBONs encode stimulus on- and off-responses, show adaptation during rapid successive stimulation and differ in response latencies to different sensory modalities. Our results strengthen the idea that the mushroom body output region is not only important for memory formation. In addition, it is crucial for the integration as well as categorization of different sensory modalities. Moreover, it is involved in the sensory to motor transformation. Combining the successfully established behavioral and electrophysiological setups builds a solid base to investigate the role of MBONs in memory formation with high temporal resolution and with regard to inter-individual differences

Letter from a Brazilian Supporter to Geraldine Ferraro

Letter from a Brazilian supporter to Geraldine Ferraro.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_correspondence_1984_international/1257/thumbnail.jp

Farnesyltransferase inhibitor treatment restores chromosome territory positions and active chromosome dynamics in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome cells

Copyright @ 2011 Mehta et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.BACKGROUND: Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a premature ageing syndrome that affects children leading to premature death, usually from heart infarction or strokes, making this syndrome similar to normative ageing. HGPS is commonly caused by a mutation in the A-type lamin gene, LMNA (G608G). This leads to the expression of an aberrant truncated lamin A protein, progerin. Progerin cannot be processed as wild-type pre-lamin A and remains farnesylated, leading to its aberrant behavior during interphase and mitosis. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors prevent the accumulation of farnesylated progerin, producing a less toxic protein. RESULTS: We have found that in proliferating fibroblasts derived from HGPS patients the nuclear location of interphase chromosomes differs from control proliferating cells and mimics that of control quiescent fibroblasts, with smaller chromosomes toward the nuclear interior and larger chromosomes toward the nuclear periphery. For this study we have treated HGPS fibroblasts with farnesyltransferase inhibitors and analyzed the nuclear location of individual chromosome territories. We have found that after exposure to farnesyltransferase inhibitors mis-localized chromosome territories were restored to a nuclear position akin to chromosomes in proliferating control cells. Furthermore, not only has this treatment afforded chromosomes to be repositioned but has also restored the machinery that controls their rapid movement upon serum removal. This machinery contains nuclear myosin 1β, whose distribution is also restored after farnesyltransferase inhibitor treatment of HGPS cells. CONCLUSIONS: This study not only progresses the understanding of genome behavior in HGPS cells but demonstrates that interphase chromosome movement requires processed lamin A.This work was funded by an ORSAS award and the Brunel Progeria Research Fund

Parasitic influences on the host genome using the molluscan model organism biomphalaria glabrata

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata is an intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni parasites, causing one of the most prevalent parasitic infections in mammals, known as schistosomiasis (Bilharzia). Due to its importance in the spread of the disease B. glabrata has been selected for whole genome sequencing and is now a molluscan model organism. In order to aid the sequencing project and to understand the structure and organisation of B. glabrata’s genome at the chromosomal level, a G-banded karyotype has been established. Unlike in any other previous reports, two heteromorphic chromosomes have been identified in the genome of B. glabrata and for the first time snail ideograms have been produced. In addition to characterising the snail chromosomes, a methodology for mapping single copy B. glabrata genes onto these chromosomes has also been established, and 4 genes have successfully been mapped using fluorescence in situ hybridisation. In the relationship between a parasite and a host organism, it is of fundamental importance to understand the basic biology and interfere with the life cycle to reveal how the parasite controls and elicits host gene expression for its own benefit. This study is also directly addressing this aspect of host – parasite interactions by investigating the effects of schistosome infection on the genome and cell nuclei of the host snail B. glabrata. Upon infection with S. mansoni miracidia, genes known to be involved in the host response to the parasite are dramatically relocated within the interphase snail nuclei. These events are in conjunction with the up-regulation of gene expression, indicating a parasite induced nuclear event. Moreover, a differential response between the schistosome-resistant and schistosome-susceptible snails is also reported. This is the first time this has been described in a host – pathogen relationship. The precise organisation of the genome is critical for its correct functioning. The genome is non-randomly organised and this level of organisation is very much influenced by the nuclear architecture. Being a molluscan model organism with the availability of a unique cell line, B. glabrata is a remarkable organism for the studies of nuclear and genome biology. For this reason, in this thesis the snail nuclear architecture was also investigated. For the first time PML bodies, transcription factories, and nuclear myosin 1 beta have been visualised in the snail nuclei. A heat shock system was also developed to study the role of these structures in the snail. Upon heat stimuli gene loci were found to reposition and co-localise with transcription factories, which was in parallel with the up-regulation of gene expression. The mechanism of this genome reorganisation was explored by investigating nuclear motor structures in the snail. By using a motor inhibitor on snail cells, gene repositioning and subsequent expression after heat shock was blocked. This is the first time this has been shown in any organism. Thus, due to the ease of use of the snails with respect to maintenance, handling, and treatments, B. glabrata is making a very useful new model organism to study spatial genomic events

Induction of apoptosis and cell proliferation inhibition by paclitaxel in FM3A cell cultures

In this study, anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of paclitaxel, which is itself an antichemotherapeutic agent, to FM3A cell line originated from Mouse mammary carcinoma at 7 different doses were examined. Seven different doses of paclitaxel (P1 = 3 nM, P2 = 7.5 nM, P3 = 15 nM, P4 = 30 nM, P5 = 60 nM, P6 = 120 nM, P7 = 240 nM) were administered to cells for 24 and 48 h. Growth rate measurements showed that living cell number decreased and number of dead cells increased (

Investigating Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Definitions, Formulas, and Graphs of Directly and Inversely Proportional Relationships

This study investigates 48 preservice middle school teachers’ formal textbook definitions, formulas, and graphs of the directly and inversely proportional relationships. The connections among these three types of representations and how preservice teachers’ representations differ according to the two relationships are also examined. The data of the study included the preservice teachers’ responses to a paper-and-pencil test with two items. An explanatory research design model was followed when developing this study. The study findings indicated the preservice teachers’ over-attention to the simultaneous increases and/or decreases when representing the directly and inversely proportional relationships. Only four preservice teachers stated in their definitions that the ratio was constant in the directly proportional relationship. Whereas none of them stated constant product in their inversely proportional definition. Although the preservice teachers were slightly better at writing the direct proportion formula than the inverse proportion formula, this difference was much greater in terms of drawing the direct and inverse proportion graphs. Sixty percent of the preservice teachers drew their inverse proportion graphs as linear with negative slopes. Moreover, the analysis showed that the preservice teachers’ definitions were not well-linked with their graphs and formulas. On the other hand, the preservice teachers who were better at providing correct formulas were also better at drawing the correct graphs. Implications for teaching and future study suggestions are discussed

Schistosomes and snails: A molecular encounter

Copyright © 2014 Knight, Arican-Goktas, Ittiprasert, Odoemelam, Miller and Bridger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Copyright © 2014 Knight, Arican-Goktas, Ittiprasert, Odoemelam, Miller and Bridger. Biomphalaria glabrata snails play an integral role in the transmission of Schistosoma mansoni, the causative agent for human schistosomiasis in the Western hemisphere. For the past two decades, tremendous advances have been made in research aimed at elucidating the molecular basis of the snail/parasite interaction. The growing concern that there is no vaccine to prevent schistosomiasis and only one effective drug in existence provides the impetus to develop new control strategies based on eliminating schistosomes at the snail-stage of the life cycle. To elucidate why a given snail is not always compatible to each and every schistosome it encounters, B. glabrata that are either resistant or susceptible to a given strain of S. mansoni have been employed to track molecular mechanisms governing the snail/schistosome relationship. With such snails, genetic markers for resistance and susceptibility were identified. Additionally, differential gene expression studies have led to the identification of genes that underlie these phenotypes. Lately, the role of schistosomes in mediating non-random relocation of gene loci has been identified for the first time, making B. glabrata a model organism where chromatin regulation by changes in nuclear architecture, known as spatial epigenetics, orchestrated by a major human parasite can now be investigated. This review will highlight the progress that has been made in using molecular approaches to describe snail/schistosome compatibility issues. Uncovering the signaling networks triggered by schistosomes that provide the impulse to turn genes on and off in the snail host, thereby controlling the outcome of infection, could also yield new insights into anti-parasite mechanism(s) that operate in the human host as well.NIH-NIAID and the Malacological Society of London

Texture-Based Eyebrow Recognition

Recent studies show that eyebrows can be used as a biometric or soft biometric for recognition. In some scenarios such as partially occluded or covered faces, they can be used for recognition. In this paper, we study eyebrow recognition using texture-based features. We apply features which have not been used before for eyebrow recognition such as 3-patch local binary pattern and WLD (Weber local descriptor) features. Also, we use more conventional features such as uniform LBP (Local binary pattern) and HOG (Histograms of oriented gradients). Methods are tested on both small- and large-sized datasets of images taken from FRGC database. Our experiments show that using some of these texture-based features together increases the performance significantly. We achieved more than 95% recognition accuracy for left and right eyebrows.</p