In Vivo and in vitro antitumor activity of tomatine in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: There is abundant ethnopharmacological evidence the uses of regarding Solanum species as antitumor and anticancer agents. Glycoalkaloids are among the molecules with antiproliferative activity reported in these species. Purpose: To evaluate the anticancer effect of the Solanum glycoalkaloid tomatine in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vitro (HepG2 cells) and in vivo models. Methods: The resazurin reduction assay was performed to detect the effect of tomatine on cell viability in human HepG2 cell lines. Programmed cell death was investigated by means of cellular apoptosis assays using Annexin V. The expression of cancer related proteins was detected by Western blotting (WB). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and calcium were determined by 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and Fluo-4, respectively. Intrahepatic HepG2 xenograft mouse model was used to elucidate the effect of tomatine on tumor growth in vivo. Results and Discussion: Tomatine reduced HepG2 cell viability and induced the early apoptosis phase of cell death, consistently with caspase-3, -7, Bcl-2 family, and P53 proteins activation. Furthermore, tomatine increased intracellular ROS and cytosolic Ca+2 levels. Moreover, the NSG mouse xenograft model showed that treating mice with tomatine inhibited HepG2 tumor growth. Conclusion: Tomatine inhibits in vitro and in vivo HCC tumorigenesis in part via modulation of p53, Ca+2, and ROS signalling. Thus, the results suggest the potential cancer therapeutic use of tomatine in HCC patients

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Relationship between oxidative stability and antioxidant activity of oil extracted from the peel of Mauritia flexuosa fruits

Mauritia flexuosa is a species of palm belonging to the Arecaceae family that grows in extensive area along north-central Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. The by-products of these fruits like the oil are of great economic and social importance in all countries where it grows; the oil extracted from fruits of M. flexuosa is used for cooking and is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and natural antioxidants; and also, recently antiplatelet activity was reported. In order to better understand the thermal behavior and the antioxidant capacity of the oil extracted from the peel of M. flexuosa, the lipid profile, TG/DTG curve (under oxygen atmospheres), total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity were determined. The TG curve of the oil extracted from the peel of M. flexuosa showed a mass loss at a temperature ranging between 200 and 600 °C. The bigger decomposition step occurred in the temperature range of 200–420 °C, showing a similar thermal behavior than the canola and olive oils. Nevertheless, the studied oil showed a higher phenolic content at a degradation onset temperature (T 0) than the other oils, and this is due to the structural characteristics of the polyphenols that have these oils. The antioxidant activity of the different oils by the DPPH radical scavenging method showed that there is a direct correlation between phenol contents and antioxidant activities of the oils. This study shows the importance of the M. flexuosa oil obtained from the peel as a potential source of natural antioxidants

Effect of Sulfamic Acid on 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reaction: Mechanistic Studies and Synthesis of 4-Aryl-NH-1,2,3-triazoles from Nitroolefins

A facile and new metal-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction for the synthesis of 4-aryl-NH-1,2,3-triazoles from nitroolefins and NaN3 employing NH2SO3H has been developed. Sulfamic acid proved to be an efficient additive in this transformation by inhibiting the formation of triaryl benzene. Mechanistic aspects and key intermediates associated with this transformation have also been characterized by online monitoring of the reaction using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method (ESI-MS/MS). The protocol emphasizes broad substrate scope for many functionalities, simple reaction conditions such as stability to open air, less reaction time, easy work-up, eco-friendly and with good to excellent yields

Antioxidant activity of bioactive extracts obtained from rhizomes of Cyperus digitatus Roxb.

Univ Talca, Chem Inst Nat Resources, Talca, Chile.Forero-Doria, O (Forero-Doria, Oscar); Castro, RI (Castro, Ricardo I.); Guzman-Jofre, L (Guzman-Jofre, Luis).Members of the family Cyperaceae such as Cyperus alopecuroides, Cyperus articulatus, Cyperus scariosus and Cyperus rotundus possess significant amount of studies about their antioxidant activities and other properties. Nevertheless, the plant Cyperus digitatus belonging to the genus Cyperus lacks of studied about any kind of intrinsic activity. Different extracts and fractions were obtained from the rhizomes of Cyperus digitatus, and a Phytochemical screening and the content of phenols and flavonoids and the antioxidant properties ( FRAP, DPPH and beta-Carotene bleaching) were quantified in each of theextracts and fractions. Of all the extracts obtained, the BE and AqE extracts showed the best antioxidant potential, meanwhile, none of the fractions obtained from the EAE extract show a relevant activity

Chemical evaluation and thermal behavior of Chilean hazelnut oil (Gevuina avellana Mol) a comparative study with extra virgin olive oil

There is a growing interest in the study of oils from native fruits, especially when the oil has high quality. In this sense it is mandatory to evaluate the oxidative stability and the relationship with the modifications of the fatty acid content, physicochemical parameters, the antioxidant capacity and its protection against the thermal deterioration processes. The fatty acid profiles of Chilean hazelnut oil showed a relevant presence of the omega series (ω-9, ω-5, and ω-9) with good stability across the thermal treatment. The physico–chemical parameters such as polar compounds and absorption coefficients K232 and K270 showed a similar behavior compared with olive oil oxidation in the range of 25–360 °C. The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content in olive oil is significatively higher than Chilean hazelnut oil at 25 °C; however, this antioxidant capacity decreases in the olive oil after 100 °C; until 247 °C the antioxidant capacities for both oils are equalized. Total phenolic content of olive oil diminishes after 100 °C until the final study temperature (360 °C), where its concentration is very similar to Chilean hazelnut oil. The results of the thermogravimetric and differential analysis in the range of 100–700 °C show that the thermal oxidative decomposition processes occurred in both samples mainly in three steps with a total mass loss for olive oil and Chilean hazelnut oil of 99.7% and 99.9%, respectively. It is important to note that hazelnut oil remains thermally stable up to 247 °C just a few degrees lower than olive oil (252 °C).Oscar Forero-Doria Thanks FONDECYT (FONDECYT Postdoctoral Fellowship No. 3170757) and Luis Guzmán thanks FONDECYT (FONDECYT Initiation No. 11150390).Peer Reviewe