Amaryllidaceae plants: a potential natural resource for the treatment of Chagas disease

Background Chagas disease is a neglected zoonosis caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It affects over six million people, mostly in Latin America. Drugs available to treat T. cruzi infection have associated toxicity and questionable efficacy at the chronic stage. Hence, the discovery of more effective and safer drugs is an unmet medical need. For this, natural products represent a pool of unique chemical diversity that can serve as excellent templates for the synthesis of active molecules. Methods A collection of 79 extracts of Amaryllidaceae plants were screened against T. cruzi. Active extracts against the parasite were progressed through two cell toxicity assays based on Vero and HepG2 cells to determine their selectivity profile and discard those toxic to host cells. Anti-T. cruzi-specific extracts were further qualified by an anti-amastigote stage assay. Results Two extracts, respectively from Crinum erubescens and Rhodophiala andicola, were identified as highly active and specific against T. cruzi and its mammalian replicative form. Conclusions The results retrieved in this study encourage further exploration of the chemical content of these extracts in search of new anti-T. cruzi drug development starting points

SNAI1 and SNAI2 Are Asymmetrically Expressed at the 2-Cell Stage and Become Segregated to the TE in the Mouse Blastocyst

SNAI1 and SNAI2 are transcription factors that initiate Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal cell transitions throughout development and in cancer metastasis. Here we show novel expression of SNAI1 and SNAI2 throughout mouse preimplantation development revealing asymmetrical localization of both SNAI1 and SNAI2 in individual blastomeres beginning at the 2-cell stage through to the 8-cell stage where SNAI1 and SNAI2 are then only detected in outer cells and not inner cells of the blastocyst. This study implicates SNAI1 and SNAI2 in the lineage segregation of the trophectoderm and inner cell mass, and provides new insight into these oncogenes

Interneurons of the neocortical inhibitory system

Mammals adapt to a rapidly changing world because of the sophisticated cognitive functions that are supported by the neocortex. The neocortex, which forms almost 80% of the human brain, seems to have arisen from repeated duplication of a stereotypical microcircuit template with subtle specializations for different brain regions and species. The quest to unravel the blueprint of this template started more than a century ago and has revealed an immensely intricate design. The largest obstacle is the daunting variety of inhibitory interneurons that are found in the circuit. This review focuses on the organizing principles that govern the diversity of inhibitory interneurons and their circuits

Neurological Adverse Effects Attributable to β-Lactam Antibiotics: A Literature Review

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