The mechanism of hypoglycemic action of the semi-purified fractions of Averrhoa bilimbi in streptozotocin-diabetic rats

10.1016/S0024-3205(01)01423-0Life Sciences705535-547LIFS

Dissecting the role of the S1P/S1PR axis in health and disease

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a pleiotropic sphingophospholipid generated from the phosphorylation of sphingosine by sphingosine kinases (SPHKs). S1P has been experimentally demonstrated to modulate an array of cellular processes such as cell proliferation, cell survival, cell invasion, vascular maturation, and angiogenesis by binding with any of the five known G-protein-coupled sphingosine 1 phosphate receptors (S1P(1-5)) on the cell surface in an autocrine as well as a paracrine manner. Recent studies have shown that the S1P receptors (S1PRs) and SPHKs are the key targets for modulating the pathophysiological consequences of various debilitating diseases, such as cancer, sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and other related illnesses. In this article, we recapitulate these novel discoveries relative to the S1P/S1PR axis, necessary for the proper maintenance of health, as well as the induction of tumorigenic, angiogenic, and inflammatory stimuli that are vital for the development of various diseases, and the novel therapeutic tools to modulate these responses in oral biology and medicine

Protein i: Interference at protein level by intrabodies

10.2741/2152Frontiers in Bioscience1241344-135

Refining siRNA in vivo transfection: silencing SPHK1reveals its key role in C5a-induced inflammation in vivo

The transfection of siRNA in vivo is essential for the study of gene functions, target validation, and for gene therapy. However, the successful delivery of siRNA in whole organisms is still very difficult to achieve. A high-pressure delivery technique, called the “hydrodynamics” method, has been used for siRNA transfection in mice. However, it is a method based on a high-speed and high-volume of i.v. injection, which makes it very difficult to implement in vivo, due to vascular breakage. Here, we systematically investigated ways to optimize the siRNA delivery, in order to avoid strong side effects, while achieving a high-efficiency siRNA-gene knockdown. We show here that the amount of siRNA delivered is crucial, as using too little or too much siRNA minimizes the knockdown effect. We demonstrate that by carefully identifying an optimal-minimal volume, and an optimal amount of siRNA, we achieve a high knockdown effect, with a 100% survival rate. We have previously shown that SphK1 plays a key role in anaphylatoxin (C5a) signaling in neutrophils and macrophages. Our approach, optimizing the dosage of siRNA, allowed us to successfully silence our target gene-product (SphK1) in vivo, and enabled us to validate SphK1 as a key player in our in vivo model of C5a-induced acute peritonitis and systemic inflammation including multi-organ damage, demonstrating that this improved siRNA-silencing method not only allowed us to identify SphK1 as a key therapeutic target, but brings us a step closer to the usage of siRNA for therapeutic intervention

siRNA, miRNA, and shRNA: In vivo applications

Journal of Dental Research8711992-100

Anti-diabetic effects of Cichorium intybus in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

10.1016/j.jep.2006.11.028Journal of Ethnopharmacology1112430-43

Investigating the antibacterial potential of agarose nanoparticles synthesized by nanoprecipitation technology

Herein, an effort was made to investigate the antibacterial potential of agarose nanoparticles (ANPs) and poly(quaternary ammonium) modifi ed ANPs (mANPs) against Escherichia coli (gram-negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive bacterium) in liquid systems as well as on agar plates. ANPs were synthesized by nanoprecipitation technology and characterized by XRD, TEM, TGA, DTA and DLS. The particle size estimated was 30 nm while atomic force microscopy was used to observe the interaction of ligand on ANPs. Antimicrobial characterization was monitored by colony forming units (CFU) as a function of ANPs concentration on agar plates. It was observed that ANPs showed 15 x 109/ml CFU after 24 hours of incubation at 20 mM ANPs concentration while the modified ANPs exhibited 21 x 109/ml CFU under similar incubation conditions. Moreover, zone of inhibition (ZOI) was 2.9 and 3.8 cm, respectively for E. coli by ANPs at 0.2 and 0.4 mM, respectively while it was 3.2 and 3.8 cm respectively by modified ANPs under similar conditions. Similarly, ZOI for S. aureus by ANPs at 0.2 and 0.4 mM was observed at 3.1 and 4.0 cm, respectively, while these values were 3.5 and 4.1 cm, respectively for modified ANPs under similar incubation conditions