Genistein-induced mir-23b expression inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells

Aim of the study: Genistein, an isoflavonoid, plays roles in the inhibition of protein tyrosine kinase phosphorylation, induction of apoptosis, and cell differentiation in breast cancer. This study aims to induce cellular stress by exposing genistein to determine alterations of miRNA expression profiles in MCF-7 cells. Material and methods: XTT assay and trypan blue dye exclusion assays were performed to examine the cytotoxic effects of genistein treatment. Expressions of miRNAs were quantified using Real-Time Online RT-PCR. Results: The IC50 dose of genistein was 175 μM in MCF-7 cell, line and the cytotoxic effect of genistein was detected after 48 hours. miR-23b was found to be up-regulated 56.69 fold following the treatment of genistein. It was found that miR-23b was up-regulated for MCF-7 breast cancer cells after genistein treatment. Conclusions: Up-regulated ex-expression of miR-23b might be a putative biomarker for use in the therapy of breast cancer patients. miR-23b up-regulation might be important in terms of response to genistein. © 2015, Termedia Publishing House Ltd. All rights reserved

A Modular, Real-Time Fieldbus Architecture for Mobile Robotic Platforms

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The design and construction of complex and reconfigurable embedded systems such as small autonomous mobile robots is a challenging task that involves the selection, interfacing, and programming of a large number of sensors and actuators. Facilitating this tedious process requires modularity and extensibility both in hardware and software components. In this paper, we introduce the universal robot bus (URB), a real-time fieldbus architecture that facilitates rapid integration of heterogeneous sensor and actuator nodes to a central processing unit (CPU) while providing a software abstraction that eliminates complications arising from the lack of hardware homogeneity. Motivated by our primary application area of mobile robotics, URB is designed to be very lightweight and efficient, with real-time support for Recommended Standard (RS) 232 or universal serial bus connections to a central computer and inter-integrated circuit (I(2)C), controller area network, or RS485 bus connections to embedded nodes. It supports automatic synchronization of data acquisition across multiple nodes, provides high data bandwidth at low deterministic latencies, and includes flexible libraries for modular software development both for local nodes and the CPU. This paper describes the design of the URB architecture, provides a careful experimental characterization of its performance, and demonstrates its utility in the context of its deployment in a legged robot platform

Phase relations in K_xFe_{2-y}Se_2 and the structure of superconducting K_xFe_2Se_2 via high-resolution synchrotron diffraction

Superconductivity in iron selenides has experienced a rapid growth, but not without major inconsistencies in the reported properties. For alkali-intercalated iron selenides, even the structure of the superconducting phase is a subject of debate, in part because the onset of superconductivity is affected much more delicately by stoichiometry and preparation than in cuprate or pnictide superconductors. If high-quality, pure, superconducting intercalated iron selenides are ever to be made, the intertwined physics and chemistry must be explained by systematic studies of how these materials form and by and identifying the many coexisting phases. To that end, we prepared pure K_2Fe_4Se_5 powder and superconductors in the K_xFe_{2-y}Se_2 system, and examined differences in their structures by high-resolution synchrotron and single-crystal x-ray diffraction. We found four distinct phases: semiconducting K_2Fe_4Se_5, a metallic superconducting phase K_xFe_2Se_2 with x ranging from 0.38 to 0.58, an insulator KFe_{1.6}Se_2 with no vacancy ordering, and an oxidized phase K_{0.51(5)}Fe_{0.70(2)}Se that forms the PbClF structure upon exposure to moisture. We find that the vacancy-ordered phase K_2Fe_4Se_5 does not become superconducting by doping, but the distinct iron-rich minority phase K_xFe_2Se_2 precipitates from single crystals upon cooling from above the vacancy ordering temperature. This coexistence of metallic and semiconducting phases explains a broad maximum in resistivity around 100 K. Further studies to understand the solubility of excess Fe in the K_xFe_{2-y}Se_2 structure will shed light on the maximum fraction of superconducting K_xFe_2Se_2 that can be obtained by solid state synthesis.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures, supplemental materia

Ischemia modified albumin and thiol/disulfide balance in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

Hashimoto thyroiditis is a common cause of goiter and acquired hypothyroidism in individuals residing in areas of no iodine deficiency. The fact that the structure of serum albumin exhibits changes in ischemic conditions has paved the way for the discovery of a new serum cardiac ischemia marker, Ischemia Modified Albumin. The other one, thiol/disulphide homeostasis, plays an important part in antioxidative protection, detoxification, cell growth, and apoptosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate both the relationship between Thiol/Disulphide homeostasis and Ischemia Modified Albumin in patients diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. A total of 70 Hashimoto’’s thyroiditis patients and 50 healthy ones were included in this study. Age, gender, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO), anti-thyroglobulin (TG) levels were recorded. Ischemia Modified Albumin and thiol-disulphid homeostasis parameters were measured through automated spectrophotometric methods. The ages of individuals included in the study ranged from 35 to 58 years. The native thiol/total thiol were found to be significantly lower in Hashimoto patients when compared to those enrolled in the control group (P < 0.05), whereas the Ischemia Modified Albumin, disulphide, native thiol, total thiol, disulphide/native thiol, and disulphide/total thiol were found to be significantly higher in Hashimoto patients when compared to those in the control (P < 0.05). Increased Ischemia Modified Albumin, native and total thiol, and disulphide levels are related to increased oxidative stress. Although Ischemia Modified Albumin and Thiol-disulphide defense are important oxidative indicators in Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, many determinants are known to be involved in this process

Zoledronic acid induces apoptosis via stimulating the expressions of ERN1, TLR2, and IRF5 genes in glioma cells

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive brain tumor that affects older people. Although the current therapeutic approaches for GBM include surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide, the median survival of patients is 14.6 months because of its aggressiveness. Zoledronic acid (ZA) is a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate that exhibited anticancer activity in different cancers. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential effect of ZA in distinct signal transduction pathways in U87-MG cells. In this study, experiments performed on U87-MG cell line (Human glioblastoma-astrocytoma, epithelial-like cell line) which is an in vitro model of human glioblastoma cells to examine the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of ZA. IC50 dose of ZA, 25 μM, applied on U87-MG cells during 72 h. ApoDIRECT In Situ DNA Fragmentation Assay was used to investigate apoptosis of U87MG cells. The quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) (LightCycler480 System) was carried out for 48 gene expression like NF-κB, Toll-like receptors, cytokines, and inteferons. Our results indicated that ZA (IC50 dose) increased apoptosis 1.27-fold in U87MG cells according to control cells. According to qRT-PCR data, expression levels of the endoplasmic reticulum-nuclei-1 (ERN1), Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), and human IFN regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) tumor suppressor genes elevated 2.05-, 2.08-, and 2.3-fold by ZA, respectively, in U87MG cells. Our recent results indicated that ZA have a key role in GBM progression and might be considered as a potential agent in glioma treatment. © 2015, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

Database for CO2 separation performances of MOFs based on computational materials screening

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are potential adsorbents for CO2 capture. Because thousands of MOFs exist, computational studies become very useful in identifying the top performing materials for target applications in a time-effective manner. In this study, molecular simulations were performed to screen the MOF database to identify the best materials for CO2 separation from flue gas (CO2/N-2) and landfill gas (CO2/CH4) under realistic operating conditions. We validated the accuracy of our computational approach by comparing the simulation results for the CO2 uptakes, CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4 selectivities of various types of MOFs with the available experimental data. Binary CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4 mixture adsorption data were then calculated for the entire MOF database. These data were then used to predict selectivity, working capacity, regenerability, and separation potential of MOFs. The top performing MOF adsorbents that can separate CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4 with high performance were identified. Molecular simulations for the adsorption of a ternary CO2/N-2/CH4 mixture were performed for these top materials to provide a more realistic performance assessment of MOF adsorbents. The structure-performance analysis showed that MOFs with Delta Q(st)(0) > 30 kJ/mol, 3.8 angstrom 1 g/cm(3) are the best candidates for selective separation of CO2 from flue gas and landfill gas. This information will be very useful to design novel MOFs exhibiting high CO2 separation potentials. Finally, an online, freely accessible database https://cosmoserc.ku.edu.tr was established, for the first time in the literature, which reports all of the computed adsorbent metrics of 3816 MOFs for CO2/N-2, CO2/CH4, and CO2/N-2/CH4 separations in addition to various structural properties of MOFs.European Research Counci

Moving from a Product-Based Economy to a Service-Based Economy for a More Sustainable Future

Traditionally, economic growth and prosperity have been linked with the availability, production and distribution of tangible goods as well as the ability of consumers to acquire such goods. Early evidence regarding this connection dates back to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which any activity not resulting in the production of a tangible good is characterized as unproductive of any value." Since then, this coupling of economic value and material production has been prevalent in both developed and developing economies throughout the world. One unintended consequence of this coupling has been the exponential increase in the amount of solid waste being generated. The reason is that any production and consumption of material goods eventually generates the equivalent amount of (or even more) waste. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, with today's manufacturing and supply chain management technologies, it has become cheaper to dispose and replace most products rather than to repair and reuse them. This has given rise to what some call a disposable society." To put things in perspective: In 2012 households in the U.K. generated approximately 22 thousand tons of waste, which amounted to 411 kg of waste generated per person (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2015). During the same time period, households in the U.S. generated 251 million tons of waste, which is equivalent to a person generating approximately 2 kg of waste every day (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Out of these 251 million tons of total waste generated, approximately 20% of the discarded items were categorized as durable goods. The disposal of durable goods is particularly worrisome because they are typically produced using material from non- renewable resources such as iron, minerals, and petroleum-based raw materials

Selection of aptamers against triple negative breast cancer cells using high throughput sequencing

Triple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer with a poor prognosis and no approved targeted therapy. Hence, the identification of new and specific ligands is essential to develop novel targeted therapies. In this study, we aimed to identify new aptamers that bind to highly metastatic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells using the cell-SELEX technology aided by high throughput sequencing. After 8 cycles of selection, the aptamer pool was sequenced and the 25 most frequent sequences were aligned for homology within their variable core region, plotted according to their free energy and the key nucleotides possibly involved in the target binding site were analyzed. Two aptamer candidates, Apt1 and Apt2, binding specifically to the target cells with Kd values of 44.3 ± 13.3 nM and 17.7 ± 2.7 nM, respectively, were further validated. The binding analysis clearly showed their specificity to MDA-MB-231 cells and suggested the targeting of cell surface receptors. Additionally, Apt2 revealed no toxicity in vitro and showed potential translational application due to its affinity to breast cancer tissue sections. Overall, the results suggest that Apt2 is a promising candidate to be used in triple-negative breast cancer treatment and/or diagnosis. © 2021, The Author(s).Tis study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Débora Ferreira (DF) is the recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-15) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Joaquim Barbosa (JB) and Diana A. Sousa (DAS) acknowledge FCT for the Grants SFRH/BD/51109/2010 and PD/BD/139083/2018, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio