Neuroprotective effects of allopurinol on spinal cord injury in rats: a biochemical and immunohistochemical study

Background: Lesion in spinal cord causes a cascade of events such as the apoptosis of neurons and eventually, neurological dysfunction. Neurologic damage developing after acute spinal cord injury is also related with necrosis and free radical formation. Allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, was shown to have protective effects in several studies. B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins regulate apoptosis. Apoptosis causes the death of neuronal cells, particularly neurons and oligodendrocytes in the spinal cord after lesion. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) takes part in astrocyte and neuronal interconnection and synaptic transmission. Materials and methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats (n = 30) were divided as control, trauma, and trauma + allopurinol (i.p., 50 mg/kg of body weight) groups. Animals were applied a surgical procedure causing spinal cord injury and treated for 7 days then sacrificed under anaesthesia. The spinal cords were dissected, measurements of myeloperoxidase, malondialdehyde and glutathione were performed, remaining parts were fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution for histological and immunohistochemical evaluations. Results: Biochemical results exhibited an increase in myeloperoxidase levels in trauma group but a decrease in the allopurinol treatment group similar to malondialdehyde levels. Degenerative changes in multipolar and bipolar neurons together with apoptotic changes in some glial cells were observed in the trauma group whereas, mild degenerative changes were observed after allopurinol treatment. In the trauma group, negative GFAP expression in multipolar versus bipolar neuronal processes with a reduction in glial processes around blood vessels and positive GFAP expression were observed but, a regular and parallel positive GFAP expression of glial processes around blood vessels in the allopurinol treated group was apparent. Trauma group depicted a positive Bcl-2 expression in glial cells and in motor and bipolar neurons. On the contrary, negative Bcl-2 expression was noticed in the trauma + allopurinol group. Conclusions: This study is of importance to understand the effects of allopurinol in preventing degenerative changes in nerve and glial cells related to spinal cord injuries

Biochemical and immunohistochemical investigations on bone formation and remodelling in ovariectomised rats with tamoxifen citrate administration

Background: Osteoporosis results with the imbalance between osteoblastic formation and osteoclastic resorption, resulting in susceptibility to bone fractures. Ovariectomy leads to osteoporosis by triggering alterations in bone formation and structure. Tamoxifen as an anti-oestrogen is used for adjuvant therapy especially in metastatic diseases and known to have a bone mass protective effect after ovariectomy. Materials and methods: An animal model of ovariectomy induced osteoporosis after tamoxifen citrate administration was studied via biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Female Wistar albino rats (n = 45), selected according to their oestrous cycle, were divided into three groups; I — control, II — ovariectomy, III — ovariectomy + tamoxifen. Following ovariectomy, tamoxifen citrate (10 mg/kg) was given intraperitoneally daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the period, animals were sacrificed under anaesthesia, blood samples were taken to measure oestrogen, calcium, and alkaline phosphate. Tibia bone samples were fixed in formalin solution and decalcified with 5% ethylene-diamine tetra acetic acid. After the routine histological follow up, samples were embedded in paraffin and cut with a microtome for semi-thin sections. Primary antibodies osteonectin and osteopontin were applied to sections and examined under light microscope. Results: As a consequence, when oestrogen and calcium data were compared there was a decrease in ovariectomy group with an increase in alkaline phosphatase. In ovariectomy + tamoxifen group, these values were close to the control group. Osteonectin was observed to promote bone formation by influencing collagen fibre formation, extracellular matrix development, osteoblast differentiation and the capacity to affect osteoclast activity. Conclusions: It has been suggested that osteopontin, the cytokine and cell binding protein, stimulates cellular signalling pathways, induces bone remodelling and acts in osteoporosis

Neuroprotective effects of Potentilla fulgens on spinal cord injury in rats: an immunohistochemical analysis

Background: This examination was performed to research the advantage of the antioxidant impact of Potentilla fulgens on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats.  Materials and methods: In the SCI model of this examination, the tolerably serious lesion was performed at the L1–L2 spinal segmental level. SCI animals were given P. fulgens 400 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally. At 7 days post-lesion, exploratory rats were executed after intraperitoneal administration 7 ketamine HCL (0.15 mL/100 g body weight). Spinal cord specimens were taken for histological examination or assurance of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels and myelope- roxidase (MPO) action. SCI caused a remarkable decline in spinal cord GSH content, trailed by noteworthy increments in MDA levels and MPO action.  Results: Degenerative changes in some multipolar and bipolar nerve cells and pyknotic changes in the nuclei of glial cells were likewise noticed. Remarkable development was seen in cells and vascular structures of P. fulgens treated groups when contrasted with untreated groups.  Conclusions: Potentilla fulgens application may influence angiogenetic impro- vement in vein endothelial cells, reduce inflammatory cell aggregation by influ- encing cytokine system and may make apoptotic nerve cells and neuroprotective component in glial cells

Stratonikeia Tiyatrosu’na Ait Antik Dönem Harçlarının Yapılan Analizler Işığında Değerlendirilmesi

Antik dönemde İç Karia Bölgesi’nin önemli kentlerinden biri olan Stratonikeia, günümüzde Muğla İli, Yatağan İlçesi, Eskihisar Mahallesi sınırları içinde bulunmaktadır. MÖ 5. yy’ın başlarında bölgenin isminin Idrias olarak geçtiği anlaşılmaktadır. Stratonikeia territoriumu MÖ 268 yılından sonra I. Antiokhos’un son dönemlerinde Seleukosların kontrolüne girmiş ve bölge MÖ 260’lı yıllarda Stratonikeia ismini almıştır. Çalışmamız Hellenistik kentin en önemli yapılarından birisi olan tiyatroda gerçekleştirilmiştir. Tiyatronun cavea kısmı kuzeye bakar şekilde Yunan tiyatrolarında olduğu gibi tamamen doğal yamaca yerleştirilmiştir. Hellenistik Dönemde (MÖ 2. yüzyıl) tek katlı inşa edilmiş olan tiyatronun sahne binası Augustus Döneminde iki kat eklenerek üç katlı yapılmıştır. Stratonikeia Antik Kenti’nde Tiyatro yapısının üç ayrı bölümünden alınan özgün harç numunelerinin spot testler ve iletkenlik ölçümleri, kalsinasyon (kızdırma kaybı), asit kaybı ve elek analizi yapılmış, nokta yükleme dayanımları belirlenmiştir. Yapılan analiz sonuçlarının değerlendirilmesinde, Stratonikeia Tiyatrosu’na ait harçların bağlayıcı/agrega karışım oranları kabaca 1/3 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Mevcut analiz sonuçları doğrultusunda buradaki harç karışım oranlarının Vitruvius’un tavsiye ettiği antik dönem harç ölçüleri ile uyumlu olduğu görülmüştür. Ayrıca suda çözünebilen tuzların varlığı ile iletkenlik ölçümleri ve kızdırma kaybı sonuçlarına bağlı olarak puzolanik harç durumları araştırılmış, nokta yükleme testi sonucu tek eksenli basınç dayanımları belirlenmiştir

Assessing of growth, antioxidant enzymes, and phytohormone regulation in Cucurbita pepo under cadmium stress

One of the major problems worldwide is soil pollution by trace metal elements, which limits plant productivity and threatens human health. In this work, we have studied the effect of different concentrations of cadmium on Cucurbita pepo plants, evaluating different physiological and biochemical parameters: hormone signaling, metabolite concentration (malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide) and, in addition, the antioxidant enzyme activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were evaluated. The production of biomass decreased under the Cd‐stress. The results showed that C. pepo accumulates higher amounts of Cd2+ in roots than in shoots and fruits. Cd2+ differently affected the content of endogenous phytohormones. Furthermore, data suggest an essential involvement of roots in the regulation of tolerance to trace elements. As a result, indole acetic acid content increased in roots of treated plants, indicating that this phytohormone can stimulate root promotion and growth under Cd‐stress. Similarly, salicylic acid content in roots and shoots increased in response to Cd2+, as well as abscisic acid levels in roots and fruits. In roots, the rambling accumulation pattern observed for jasmonic acid and salicylic acid suggests the lack of a specific regulation role against trace element toxicity. The activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase decreased, disrupted by the metal stress. However, the proline, malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide content significantly increased in Cd2+in all the analyzed tissues of the stressed plants. All these data suggest that C. pepo plants are equipped with an effective antioxidant mechanism against oxidative stress induced by cadmium up to a concentration of 500 μM

Self-regulated learning strategies in relation with statistics anxiety

Dealing with students' attitudinal problems related to statistics is an important aspect of statistics instruction. Employing the appropriate learning strategies may have a relationship with anxiety during the process of statistics learning. Thus, the present study investigated multivariate relationships between self-regulated learning strategies and statistical anxiety using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Three hundred twenty Turkish college students responded to the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale. Of the group, 189 (59.1%) were women and 131 (40.9%) were men. Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 33 years with a mean of 21.28 years (SD = 1.53). Bivariate correlation coefficients showed significant relationships between the dimensions of learning strategies and statistical anxiety. CCA showed that students who used more rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive regulation. time and study environment management, and effort regulation strategies experienced lower computational anxiety and had more positive attitudes toward statistics. Additionally, a combination of effort regulation and help seeking strategies is associated with test/class anxiety

Transcriptome profiling of wheat under heat and cold stress treatments

Microarray analysis was performed to indicate effects of cold and heat stress treatments on global gene expression profiles of wheat. Two groups were generated for comparison of microarray data analysis. Cold and heat conditions were separately compared to control condition. The Affymetrix GeneChip® Wheat Genome Array contains 61,127 probe sets designed to target 55,052 wheat transcripts. Out of these more than 60,000 probes, 12,895 (21.5%) were found to be differentially expressed at least p value lower than 0.05 and fold change (FC) higher than 2. Alternation in expression level of about 2550 probe sets was common after the cold and heat stress treatments. Approximately 3600 and 5500 probe sets were differentially expressed after the heat and cold stresses, respectively. Differentially regulated genes show that temperature changes directly affected a large and complex transcriptional network associated with defense, metabolism and development. Genes involved in cold stress-responsive and different cold acclimation proteins were extremely up-regulated upon exposure to cold stress. Both expression levels of small and large sub-unit heat shock proteins significantly increased following heat stress period

Genome-wide characterization and expression analysis of common bean bHLH transcription factors in response to excess salt concentration

PubMedID: 26193947Members of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene family found in all eukaryotes play crucial roles in response to stress. Though, most eukaryotes carry the proteins of this family, biological functions of the most bHLH family members are not deeply evaluated in plants. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of bHLH transcription factors in salt tolerant common bean. We identified 155 bHLH protein-encoding genes (PvbHLH) by using in silico comparative genomics tools. Based on the phylogenetic tree, PvbHLH genes were classified into 8 main groups with 21 subfamilies. Exon–intron analysis indicated that proteins belonging to same main groups exhibited a closely related gene structure. While, the PvbHLH gene family has been mainly expanded through segmental duplications, a total of 11 tandem duplication were detected. Genome-wide expression analysis of bHLH genes showed that 63 PvbHLH genes were differentially expressed in at least one tissue. Three of them displayed higher expression values in both leaf and root tissues. The in silico micro-RNA target transcript analyses revealed that totally 100 PvHLH genes targeted by 86 plant miRNAs. The most abundant transcripts, which were targeted by all 18 plant miRNA, were belonging to PvHLH-22 and PvHLH-44 genes. The expression of 16 PvbHLH genes in the root and leaf tissues of salt-stressed common bean was evaluated using qRT-PCR. Among them, two of PvbHLHs, PvbHLH-54, PvbHLH-148, were found to be up-regulated in both tissues in correlation with RNA-seq measurements. The results of this study could help improve understanding of biological functions of common bean bHLH family under salt stress. Additionally, it may provide basic resources for analyzing bHLH protein function for improving economic, agronomic and ecological benefit in common bean and other species. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Particle bombardment transformation of some Turkish wheat cultivars with TaNAC69-1 and TtNAMB2 genes

Wheat is one of the most important crop plants in the world.The production of wheat is seriously affected by biotic (pests,bacterial and fungal diseases) and abiotic (drought, salinity andfreezing) stresses. NAC family proteins (NAM/ATAF1-2/CUC2) areplant specific transcription factors and related with development,defense and abiotic stress responses.TaNAC69-1andTtNAMB2genes are the transcription factors from this protein family. Theaim of this study was to transform of some Turkish wheat culti-vars withTaNAC69-1andTtNAMB2using particle bombardment.After isolation ofTaNAC69-1fromTriticum aestivumandTtNAMB2fromTriticum turgidum, these genes were cloned intopAHC25,anoverexpression vector for monocots.pAHC25includesbargeneas a plant selectable marker gene. Plasmids includingTaNAC69-1andTtNAMB2were introduced into immature inflorescencesbased calli of Yure ̆gir-89 (T. aestivum) and Kızıltan-91 (T. turgidum)cultivars and mature embryo based calli of Mirzabey-2000 (T.turgidum) cultivar via particle bombardment. The bombarded calliwere regenerated previously optimized tissue culture and regener-ation conditions. After transformation of immature inflorescencebased callus, the regeneration rate was about 16.2% for Yure ̆gir-89 and Kızıltan-91. The rooting rate for these two cultivars was3.1%. The regeneration rate was 15.6% for Mirzabey-2000, witha 2.7% rooting rate. Putative transgenic plants were transferred tothe greenhouse for maturation. The studies on the molecular char-acterization of putative transgenic plants have been continued