Assessment of acid phosphatase enzyme and influence of potassium iodide on its production in the yeast form of Sporothrix schenckii

Background: Sporotrichosis is caused by a dimorphic fungal species, Sporothrix schenckii (S. schenckii). The enzyme acid phosphatase is pervasive among yeast and yeast like fungi. It has been studied in various fungi like Aspergillus oryzae, Candida albicans etc. but in S. schenckii little is known about enzyme acid phosphatase. The present study depicts the in-vitro influence of Potassium Iodide (KI) on the enzyme acid phosphatase produced by the S. schenckii (yeast form).Methods: A master culture was prepared by incorporating the standard strain of S. schenckii in YNB (Yeast Nitrogen Base) medium and was incubated at 37ºC. After preparing the increasing concentrations with KI in YNB medium, 1.0 mL suspension of master culture was inoculated into each bottle and incubated at 37ºC for different time period 6th, 12th, 18th day (early, mid, peak of log period) respectively. After centrifuging, a 5% homogenate was prepared, which was used for acid phosphatase enzyme assay.Results: The mean acid phosphatase level of control specimen was 20.9±2.01, 50.0±2.25, 45.0±5.10 μg and test specimens was ranged from 14.9±4.89 to 20.2±3.49, 10.2±4.19 to 40.0±6.39 and 10.0±1.81 to 34.7±6.08 μg on day 6, 12 and 18 respectively. The mean value was lower significantly for all the test concentrations as compared to control (p<0.05).Conclusions: The low activity of the enzyme acid phosphatase indicates that KI has inhibitory effect on the growth of S. schenckii that has led to decrease in the activity of the enzyme

Cholesterol Secosterol Aldehydes Induce Amyloidogenesis and Dysfunction of Wild-Type Tumor Protein p53

SummaryEpidemiologic and clinical evidence points to an increased risk for cancer when coupled with chronic inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms that underpin this interrelationship remain largely unresolved. Herein we show that the inflammation-derived cholesterol 5,6-secosterol aldehydes, atheronal-A (KA) and -B (ALD), but not the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-derived aldehydes 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) and 4-hydroxyhexenal (HHE), induce misfolding of wild-type p53 into an amyloidogenic form that binds thioflavin T and Congo red dyes but cannot bind to a consensus DNA sequence. Treatment of lung carcinoma cells with KA and ALD leads to a loss of function of extracted p53, as determined by the analysis of extracted nuclear protein and in activation of p21. Our results uncover a plausible chemical link between inflammation and cancer and expand the already pivotal role of p53 dysfunction and cancer risk

I4S: Capturing shopper’s in-store interactions

National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under IDM Futures Funding; Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Staphylococcus hominis subsp. novobiosepticus, an emerging multidrug-resistant bacterium, as a causative agent of septicaemia in cancer patients

Staphylococcus hominis subsp. novobiosepticus is a new sub-species of S. hominis, thus dividing S. hominis into subsp. hominis and novobiosepticus. This study was designed to identify subsp. novobiosepticus isolates amongst the S. hominis isolated from blood samples of patients with malignancy and septicaemia and to study their resistance profile. The identification was performed by using three simple tests which differentiated between the two sub-species. It was found that 22.8 per cent of S. hominis isolates belonged to subsp. novobiosepticus

Serum Interleukin 6 As Potential Biomarker For Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Head and neck cancers constitute one- third of the cancer burden in India. Despite advances in cancer management, the morbidity and mortality rates have not significantly improved. Therefore, early detection or prevention of this disease will be most effective