Prostate specific antigen: a new means as diagnostic and prognostic factor for breast cancer

ABSTRACT Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease expressed at high levels in prostate epithelium and elevated PSA in serum is a well established marker, and also helps in management of prostate cancer. In recent times it has become widely accepted that PSA is also present in many non prostatic sources, creating doubts about the specificity of its tissue expression. Numerous studies have suggested that the molecular forms of PSA imply to signify a potential tool for the risk assessment of breast cancer. Studies have suggested new biological role of PSA in breast physiopathology. Additional studies are essential to enrol PSA indisputably as an additional means as diagnostic and prognostic tool for breast cancer. Here is the summary of how PSA has a potential to become a new diagnostic and prognostic tool

Metabolite Profiling for Six 'B' Vitamins Using LC-MS in Tomato Genotypes at Different Stages of Fruit Maturity

Vitamins are essential nutrients in food crucial for maintaining good health. Tomato, being a widely consumed vegetable, provides a good quantity of vitamins. Metabolite profiling of vitamins at different stages of fruit maturity in a crop helps identify the right stage for better quality. Based on preliminary screening for quality parameters, tomato lines rich in TSS, antioxidants, lycopene and beta-carotene were selected for the present study. Eight genotypes and a wild species were profiled for 'B' vitamins at three different stages of fruit maturity, viz., green, breaker and ripe stage. A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of six 'B' vitamins was developed and validated by us. Among the genotypes studied, IIHR-249-1 recorded higher niacin, pantothenic acid and biotin content. Pyridoxine content was higher in the hybrid, Arka Rakshak. The wild species, LA-1777(Solanum habrochaites) was found to be rich in pantothenic acid, riboflavin and thiamine. Content of most of the vitamins increased with ripening of the fruit. IIHR-249-1 and LA-1777 were found to be rich in 'B' vitamins, earlier reported to be also rich in antioxidants and lycopene. These genotypes can be used for improving the nutritive value of tomato under crop improvement programmes, through conventional breeding or biotechnological approaches

Cerebral malaria: insights from host-parasite protein-protein interactions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cerebral malaria is a form of human malaria wherein <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>-infected red blood cells adhere to the blood capillaries in the brain, potentially leading to coma and death. Interactions between parasite and host proteins are important in understanding the pathogenesis of this deadly form of malaria. It is, therefore, necessary to study available protein-protein interactions to identify lesser known interactions that could throw light on key events of cerebral malaria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sequestration, haemostasis dysfunction, systemic inflammation and neuronal damage are key processes of cerebral malaria. Key events were identified from literature as being crucial to these processes. An integrated interactome was created using available experimental and predicted datasets as well as from literature. Interactions from this interactome were filtered based on Gene Ontology and tissue-specific annotations, and further analysed for relevance to the key events.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PfEMP1 presentation, platelet activation and astrocyte dysfunction were identified as the key events influencing the disease. 48896 host-parasite along with other host-parasite, host-host and parasite-parasite protein-protein interactions obtained from a disease-specific corpus were combined to form an integrated interactome. Filtering of the interactome resulted in five host-parasite PPI, six parasite-parasite and two host-host PPI. The analysis of these interactions revealed the potential significance of apolipoproteins and temperature/Hsp expression on efficient PfEMP1 presentation; role of MSP-1 in platelet activation; effect of parasite proteins in TGF-β regulation and the role of albumin in astrocyte dysfunction.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This work links key host-parasite, parasite-parasite and host-host protein-protein interactions to key processes of cerebral malaria and generates hypotheses for disease pathogenesis based on a filtered interaction dataset. These hypotheses provide novel and significant insights to cerebral malaria.</p

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Not AvailableThe present investigation was carried out to understand the temperature induced dynamics of berry anthocyanin development and berry quality in wine grape (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Temperature variations during fruit maturation period were achieved by altering the pruning dates. Vines were pruned at weekly intervals starting from third or fourth week of October to the end of November. The changes in berry quality parameters such as total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, total anthocyanins, total phenols and total flavonoids were recorded at weekly intervals starting from veraison to harvest. All the quality parameters were significantly higher in early pruned vines of both the cultivars indicating that the best time for pruning to get good quality wine grapes is during the third or fourth week of October. The major quality parameter affected by the temperature during the berry maturation stage was total anthocyanin content. Maximum and minimum temperature (weekly average) during different week from veraison to harvest were recorded. Early pruned vines exposed to a mean day/night temperatures of 30.7°C/14.9°C and 29.6°C/14.1°C in cv. Shiraz and late pruned vines exposed to a mean day/night temperatures of 32.0°C/16.2°C and 32.1°C/16.0°C in cv. Cabernet Sauvignon during 2010 and 2011 respectively. The pattern of anthocyanin development during the berry maturation period (veraison to harvest) indicated that the maximum anthocyanin accumulation was in the second and third week of March; the concentration decreased thereafter irrespective of dates of pruning in both the cultivars during the two years of the study. Correlation coefficients between the skin anthocyanin content and mean maximum and minimum temperatures showed a negative relationship in both the cultivars indicating that the increase in both maximum and minimum temperatures caused a reduction in anthocyanin content at harvest in late pruned vines.ICAR Network Project on Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability of Indian Agriculture to Climate Chang

Antioxidant enzymes activity and physiological response of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum M.) genotypes under mild temperature stress

Not AvailableTomato being sensitive to high temperature experiences mild to high temperature stresses under climate change conditions. To understand the response of tomato genotypes to mild temperature stress, a study was conducted in temperature gradient tunnel facility. The results revealed that across the genotypes studied, specific activity of antioxidant enzymes viz., superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX) and glutathione reductase (GR) increased significantly. Among the genotypes, increase in SOD activity was highest in cv. Arka Vikas, followed by IIHR 2195 and least in Abhinava. The GR activity was highest in Abhinava, followed by IIHR 2195 and least in cv. Arka Vikas. The mild temperature stress caused reduction in catalase (CAT) activity. The decrease in CAT activity and concomitant increase in POX activity was observed in cv. Arka Vikas. Low leaf water potential (Wleaf) and higher electrolyte leakage indicated that the membrane integrity was affected across the tomato genotypes even under mild temperature stress. Among the genotypes studied, cv. Arka Vikas showed greater activity of SOD and POX, higher membrane stability and least reduction in water potential under mild temperature stress.ICAR under NICRA projec