Rubisco activity and gene expression of tropical tree species under light stress

Tropical rain forests contain an ecologically and physiologically diverse range of vegetation and habitats. Sun-acclimated plants can be divided into two groups, shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant, according to the plant’s physiological and genetic responses. Some tropical species have potential capacity for light damage in a shaded environment as well as shade-tolerance to compensate for the impaired light harvesting complex. In particular, ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is regulated by the Calvin cycle, which participated in protein synthesis. Rubisco plays a role in CO2 fixation, which helps supply the energy to regulate Rubisco for ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) reduction. Light intensity is associated with the photosynthetic rate and genetic response to moderate growth environments.Keywords: Gene expression, growth, light intensity, Rubisco activityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2764-276

The Effect of Ca-P Coated Bovine Bone Mineral on Bone Regeneration around Dental Implant in Dogs

There are many obstacles to overcome in implant dentistry. The bony defect around implant can be seen in immediate installation procedures. Following tooth extraction, however, a socket often presents dimensions that may be considerably greater than the dimensions of a conventional implant

Endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis induced by manganese trigger α-synuclein accumulation

Purpose: To explore whether α-synuclein aggregation is linked to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis induced by manganese (Mn) on CATH.a dopaminergic cell lines.Methods: Western blot analysis for the expression of 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (p-eIF-2α), eIF2α, inositol requiring enzyme 1(IRE-1α), cleaved caspase-3, and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) was performed, including overexpression of recombinant adenovirus-mediated α-synuclein on CATH.a dopaminergic cell line.Results: It was observed that cell viability (p < 0.05) was significantly reduced by 250 μM exposed for 3h and 1,000 μM of MnCl2 exposed for 24 h. The expression of p-elF-2α, IRE-1α, and GRP78 was especially induced by 1,000 μM of MnCl2 exposed at 3, 6, and 12 h, respectively (p < 0.05). Twenty four-hour exposure of 250 uM of MnCl2 and the 3 h exposure of 1,000 uM of MnCl2 significantly induced CHOP, active caspase 3 and α-synuclein expression (p < 0.05). α-Synuclein combined with recombinant adenoviral transduction increased GRP78, IRE-1α and eIF2a, CHOP and caspase 3 expression at longer times and at higher concentrations of manganese exposure on CATH.a dopaminergic cells.Conclusion: Based on these findings, Mn is a risk factor for diseases associated with α-synuclein accumulation. Furthermore, α-synuclein accumulation is associated with apoptosis via ER stress induced by Mn.Keywords: Manganese (Mn), α- Synuclein, Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, Apoptosi

Facile Method to Prepare for the Ni2P Nanostructures with Controlled Crystallinity and Morphology as Anode Materials of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Conversion reaction materials (transition metal oxides, sulfides, phosphides, etc.) are attractive in the field of lithium-ion batteries because of their high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, the realization of these materials in lithium-ion batteries is impeded by large voltage hysteresis, high polarization, inferior cycle stability, rate capability, irreversible capacity loss in first cycling, and dramatic volume change during redox reactions. One method to overcome these problems is the introduction of amorphous materials. This work introduces a facile method to synthesize amorphous and crystalline dinickel phosphide (Ni2P) nanoparticle clusters with identical morphology and presents a direct comparison of the two materials as anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. To assess the effect of crystallinity and hierarchical structure of nanomaterials, it is crucial to conserve other factors including size, morphology, and ligand of nanoparticles. Although it is rarely studied about synthetic methods of well-controlled Ni2P nanomaterials to meet the above criteria, we synthesized amorphous, crystalline Ni2P, and self-assembled Ni2P nanoparticle clusters via thermal decomposition of nickel-surfactant complex. Interestingly, simple modulation of the quantity of nickel acetylacetonate produced amorphous, crystalline, and self-assembled Ni2P nanoparticles. A 0.357 M nickel-trioctylphosphine (TOP) solution leads to a reaction temperature limitation (similar to 315 degrees C) by the nickel precursor, and crystalline Ni2P (c-Ni2P) nanoparticles clusters are generated. On the contrary, a lower concentration (0.1 M) does not accompany a temperature limitation and hence high reaction temperature (330 degrees C) can be exploited for the self-assembly of Ni2P (s-Ni2P) nanoparticle clusters. Amorphous Ni2P (a-Ni2P) nanoparticle clusters are generated with a high concentration (0.714 M) of nickel-TOP solution and a temperature limitation (similar to 290 degrees C). The a-Ni2P nanoparticle cluster electrode exhibits higher capacities and Coulombic efficiency than the electrode based on c-Ni2P nanoparticle clusters. In addition, the amorphous structure of Ni2P can reduce irreversible capacity and voltage hysteresis upon cycling. The amorphous morphology of Ni2P also improves the rate capability, resulting in superior performance to those of c-Ni2P nanoparticle clusters in terms of electrode performance

Real-Time Temporal Dynamics of Bicistronic Expression Mediated by Internal Ribosome Entry Site and 2A Cleaving Sequence

Multicistronic elements, such as the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and 2A-like cleavage sequence, serve crucial roles in the eukaryotic ectopic expression of exogenous genes. For utilization of multicistronic elements, the cleavage efficiency and order of elements in multicistronic vectors have been investigated; however, the dynamics of multicistronic element-mediated expression remains unclear. Here, we investigated the dynamics of encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) IRES- and porcine teschovirus-1 2A (p2A)-mediated expression. By utilizing real-time fluorescent imaging at a minute-level resolution, we monitored the expression of fluorescent reporters bridged by either EMCV IRES or p2A in two independent cultured cell lines, HEK293 and Neuro2a. We observed significant correlations for the two fluorescent reporters in both multicistronic elements, with a higher correlation coefficient for p2A in HEK293 but similar coefficients for IRES-mediated expression and p2A-mediated expression in Neuro2a. We further analyzed the causal relationship of multicistronic elements by convergent cross mapping (CCM). CCM revealed that in all four conditions examined, the expression of the preceding gene causally affected the dynamics of the subsequent gene. As with the cross correlation, the predictive skill of p2A was higher than that of IRES in HEK293, while the predictive skills of the two multicistronic elements were indistinguishable in Neuro2a. To summarize, we report a significant temporal correlation in both EMCV IRES- and p2A-mediated expression based on the simple bicistronic vector and real-time fluorescent monitoring. The current system also provides a valuable platform to examine the dynamic aspects of expression mediated by diverse multicistronic elements under various physiological conditions.National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) of the Ministry of Science and ICT [NRF-2017R1C1B2008775, NRF-2017R1A4A1015534, NRF-2018M3C7A1022310]; KBRI basic research program through Korea Brain Research Institute - Ministry of Science and ICT [17-BR-04]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Experimental Study on the Acellular Demal Matrix Graft for the Root Coverage in Dog

Mucogingival surgery is a plastic surgical procedure designed to correct defects in the morphology, position, and dimensions of the gingiva surrounding the teeth. Many surgical techniques have been reported in mucogingival surgery. Since these procedures also include the soft tissue esthetic approach, the term periodontal plastic surgery has been proposed to be more appropriate.1 Root coverage is a procedure that falls with this definition, and it has attracted more interest than others

Two-Year Changes in Diabetic Kidney Disease Phenotype and the Risk of Heart Failure: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Korea

Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a risk factor for hospitalization for heart failure (HHF). DKD could be classified into four phenotypes by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, normal vs. low) and proteinuria (PU, negative vs. positive). Also, the phenotype often changes dynamically. This study examined HHF risk according to the DKD phenotype changes across 2-year assessments. Methods The study included 1,343,116 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database after excluding a very high-risk phenotype (eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2) at baseline, who underwent two cycles of medical checkups between 2009 and 2014. From the baseline and 2-year eGFR and PU results, participants were divided into 10 DKD phenotypic change categories. Results During an average of 6.5 years of follow-up, 7,874 subjects developed HHF. The cumulative incidence of HHF from index date was highest in the eGFRlowPU– phenotype, followed by eGFRnorPU+ and eGFRnorPU–. Changes in DKD phenotype differently affect HHF risk. When the persistent eGFRnorPU– category was the reference, hazard ratios for HHF were 3.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.73 to 3.52) in persistent eGFRnorPU+ and 1.86 (95% CI, 1.73 to 1.99) in persistent eGFRlowPU–. Among altered phenotypes, the category converted to eGFRlowPU+ showed the highest risk. In the normal eGFR category at the second examination, those who converted from PU– to PU+ showed a higher risk of HHF than those who converted from PU+ to PU–. Conclusion Changes in DKD phenotype, particularly with the presence of PU, are more likely to reflect the risk of HHF, compared with DKD phenotype based on a single time point in patients with T2DM

Development of a Novel Orthotopic Gastric Cancer Mouse Model.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer metastasis is a highly fatal disease with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%. One major obstacle in studying gastric cancer metastasis is the lack of faithful models available. The cancer xenograft mouse models are widely used to elucidate the mechanisms of cancer development and progression. Current procedures for creating cancer xenografts include both heterotopic (i.e., subcutaneous) and orthotopic transplantation methods. Compared to the heterotopic model, the orthotopic model has been shown to be the more clinically relevant design as it enables the development of cancer metastasis. Although there are several methods in use to develop the orthotopic gastric cancer model, there is not a model which uses various types of tumor materials, such as soft tissues, semi-liquid tissues, or culture derivatives, due to the technical challenges. Thus, developing the applicable orthotopic model which can utilize various tumor materials is essential. RESULTS: To overcome the known limitations of the current orthotopic gastric cancer models, such as exposure of tumor fragments to the neighboring organs or only using firm tissues for the orthotopic implantation, we have developed a new method allowing for the complete insertion of soft tissue fragments or homogeneously minced tissues into the stomach submucosa layer of the immunodeficient NOD.Cg-Prkdc CONCLUSION: Here we describe a new protocol, step by step, for the establishment of orthotopic xenograft of gastric cancer. This novel technique will be able to increase the use of orthotopic models in broader applications for not only gastric cancer research but also any research related to the stomach microenvironment

Recurrent odontogenic ghost cell carcinoma (OGCC) at a reconstructed fibular flap : a case report with immunohistochemical findings

Odontogenic ghost cell carcinoma (OGCC), a malignant counterpart of the odontogenic ghost cell tumor (OGCT), with aggressive growth characteristics, is exceedingly rare. A painful swelling in the jaw with local paresthesia is the most common symptom. We described a case of 47-year Korean woman who had a rare central epithelial odontogenic ghost cell carcinoma which recurred at reconstructed fibular flap. Immunohistochemical differences between OGCT and OGCC analyzed using primary and recurred surgical specimen. On the basis of this case, the tumor started as an OGCT and transformed into OGCC with highly aggressive, rapidly growing, infiltrative tumors. Our findings suggest that some of the cytokines produced by ghost cells may play important roles in causing extensive bone resorption in the odontogenic ghost cell carcinoma. Wide local excision with histologically clean margins is the treatment mode of selection. Also, we recommend close long-term surveillance of OGCT because of high recurrence and potential for malignancy transformation. © Medicina Oral