In vivo antioxidant activity of Ethanolic extract from root of Smilax zeylanica on Aluminium Chloride Induced oxidative stress in Wistar rats

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the Evaluation of In vivo antioxidant activity of Ethanolic extract of root of Smilax zeylanica(EESZ) on Aluminium Chloride Induced apoptosis suppressing oxidative stress  in Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: The ethanolic extract from the roots of S. china by hot continuous percolation method. The rats were divided into 5 groups and each group consists of 6 animals. Rats were treated with EESC for 150 and 300 mg/ kg of body weight and piracetam, 0.5 mg/ kg of body weight for 14 successive days after inducing oxidative stress  with aluminium chloride (100 mg/ kg of body weight) for 60 days. The lipid peroxidation level (TBARS) and antioxidant activities like Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and reduced Glutathione (GSH) were estimated in rats. Results: AlCl3 induced rats showed increased the TBARS and decreased the antioxidant enzymes like Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and reduced Glutathione (GSH) when compared with the control group. The EESZ at higher dose 300 mg/ kg of body weight animals were significantly (P < 0.001) reduced the TBARS and increased the anti oxidant enzymes Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and reduced Glutathione (GSH) when compared with the AlCl3 treated group Conclusion: Findings of the present study revealed that Ethanolic extract from roots of Smilax zeylanica  may be used as a significant source of natural antioxidant, which might be helpful in preventing the progress of various oxidative stresses.                    Keywords: S. zeylanica, antioxidant, ethanolic extract, TBARS, rats

The Selective Personalized Radio-Immunotherapy for Locally Advanced NSCLC Trial (SPRINT)

Purpose/Objective(s): Standard therapy for unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) is concurrent chemoradiotherapy (chemoRT), which is usually followed by adjuvant durvalumab. We performed a prospective trial testing sequential pembrolizumab and risk-adapted radiotherapy without chemotherapy for biomarker-selected LA-NSCLC patients. Materials/Methods: Patients with AJCC version 8 stage III NSCLC or unresectable stage II NSCLC and ECOG performance status 0-1 were eligible for this trial. Subjects with PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥ 50% received three cycles of induction pembrolizumab (200 mg, every 21 days), underwent restaging FDG-PET/CT, received risk-adapted thoracic radiotherapy (55 Gy delivered to tumors or lymph nodes with metabolic tumor volume exceeding 20 cc and 48 Gy delivered to smaller lesions, all in 20 daily fractions), and then received up to 13 cycles of additional pembrolizumab. Subjects with PD-L1 TPS \u3c 50% received concurrent chemoRT, and adjuvant durvalumab was recommended for patients without disease progression. The primary study endpoint was one-year progression-free survival (PFS) for subjects treated with pembrolizumab and radiotherapy (pembroRT), which we hypothesized would exceed 65%. Other study endpoints included 1-year overall survival (OS) and rates of clinician-scored (CTCAE v. 4.03) and patient-reported (PRO-CTCAE) adverse events observed over one year. Results: Twenty-five subjects with PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50% and 12 subjects with PD-L1 TPS \u3c 50% from three institutions were enrolled between August 2018 and November 2021. Median age was 70. Twenty-four subjects had stage II-IIIA disease, and 13 had stage IIIB-IIIC disease. Except for PD-L1 TPS, subject characteristics did not differ significantly across treatment groups. Ten out of the 12 subjects with ChemoRT received adjuvant durvalumab, and one received adjuvant osimertinib for EGFR mutation. The median follow-up duration is 15 months. Compared to patients treated with chemoRT, treatment with pembroRT has yielded numerically higher 1-year PFS (72% v. 46%, log rank p=0.232) and OS (91% v. 73%, log rank p=0.213) rates. Similar rates of grade 3 physician-scored adverse events have been observed with pembroRT (24%) and chemoRT (25%). Less severe patient-reported adverse events occurred with pembroRT compared to chemoRT (See Table). Conclusion: Treatment with pembrolizumab and risk-adapted radiotherapy without chemotherapy is a promising approach for LA-NSCLC patients with PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50%. In addition to yielding high disease control rates, this strategy appears to reduce patient-reported adverse events compared to standard chemoRT and adjuvant therapy

The inner centromere is a biomolecular condensate scaffolded by the chromosomal passenger complex.

The inner centromere is a region on every mitotic chromosome that enables specific biochemical reactions that underlie properties, such as the maintenance of cohesion, the regulation of kinetochores and the assembly of specialized chromatin, that can resist microtubule pulling forces. The chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) is abundantly localized to the inner centromeres and it is unclear whether it is involved in non-kinase activities that contribute to the generation of these unique chromatin properties. We find that the borealin subunit of the CPC drives phase separation of the CPC in vitro at concentrations that are below those found on the inner centromere. We also provide strong evidence that the CPC exists in a phase-separated state at the inner centromere. CPC phase separation is required for its inner-centromere localization and function during mitosis. We suggest that the CPC combines phase separation, kinase and histone code-reading activities to enable the formation of a chromatin body with unique biochemical activities at the inner centromere

The integrin αvβ6 drives pancreatic cancer through diverse mechanisms and represents an effective target for therapy

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a five‐year survival rate of <4% and desperately needs novel effective therapeutics. Integrin αvβ6 has been linked with poor prognosis in cancer but its potential as a target in PDAC remains unclear. We report that transcriptional expression analysis revealed high levels of β6 mRNA correlated strongly with significantly poorer survival (n=491 cases, p= 3.17x10‐8). In two separate cohorts we showed that over 80% of PDAC expressed αvβ6 protein and that paired metastases retained αvβ6 expression. In vitro, integrin αvβ6 promoted PDAC cell growth, survival, migration and invasion. Treatment of both αvβ6‐positive human PDAC xenografts and transgenic mice bearing αvβ6‐positive PDAC with the αvβ6 blocking antibody 264RAD, combined with gemcitabine, significantly reduced tumour growth (p<0.0001) and increased survival (Log‐rank test, p<0.05). Antibody therapy was associated with suppression of both tumour cell activity (suppression of pErk growth signals, increased apoptosis seen as activated Caspase 3) and suppression of the pro‐tumourigenic microenvironment (suppression of TGFβ signalling, fewer αSMA‐positive myofibroblasts, decreased blood vessel density). These data show that αvβ6 promotes PDAC growth through both tumour cell and tumour microenvironment mechanisms and represents a valuable target for PDAC therapy

Pol II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates

The synthesis of pre-mRNA by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) involves the formation of a transcription initiation complex, and a transition to an elongation complex. The large subunit of Pol II contains an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain that is phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases during the transition from initiation to elongation, thus influencing the interaction of the C-terminal domain with different components of the initiation or the RNA-splicing apparatus. Recent observations suggest that this model provides only a partial picture of the effects of phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain. Both the transcription-initiation machinery and the splicing machinery can form phase-separated condensates that contain large numbers of component molecules: hundreds of molecules of Pol II and mediator are concentrated in condensates at super-enhancers, and large numbers of splicing factors are concentrated in nuclear speckles, some of which occur at highly active transcription sites. Here we investigate whether the phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain regulates the incorporation of Pol II into phase-separated condensates that are associated with transcription initiation and splicing. We find that the hypophosphorylated C-terminal domain of Pol II is incorporated into mediator condensates and that phosphorylation by regulatory cyclin-dependent kinases reduces this incorporation. We also find that the hyperphosphorylated C-terminal domain is preferentially incorporated into condensates that are formed by splicing factors. These results suggest that phosphorylation of the Pol II C-terminal domain drives an exchange from condensates that are involved in transcription initiation to those that are involved in RNA processing, and implicates phosphorylation as a mechanism that regulates condensate preference

Design strategies to improve patient motivation during robot-aided rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: Motivation is an important factor in rehabilitation and frequently used as a determinant of rehabilitation outcome. Several factors can influence patient motivation and so improve exercise adherence. This paper presents the design of two robot devices for use in the rehabilitation of upper limb movements, that can motivate patients during the execution of the assigned motor tasks by enhancing the gaming aspects of rehabilitation. In addition, a regular review of the obtained performance can reinforce in patients' minds the importance of exercising and encourage them to continue, so improving their motivation and consequently adherence to the program. In view of this, we also developed an evaluation metric that could characterize the rate of improvement and quantify the changes in the obtained performance. METHODS: Two groups (G1, n = 8 and G2, n = 12) of patients with chronic stroke were enrolled in a 3-week rehabilitation program including standard physical therapy (45 min. daily) plus treatment by means of robot devices (40 min., twice daily) respectively for wrist (G1) and elbow-shoulder movements (G2). Both groups were evaluated by means of standard clinical assessment scales and the new robot measured evaluation metric. Patients' motivation was assessed in 9/12 G2 patients by means of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire. RESULTS: Both groups reduced their motor deficit and showed a significant improvement in clinical scales and the robot measured parameters. The IMI assessed in G2 patients showed high scores for interest, usefulness and importance subscales and low values for tension and pain subscales. CONCLUSION: Thanks to the design features of the two robot devices the therapist could easily adapt training to the individual by selecting different difficulty levels of the motor task tailored to each patient's disability. The gaming aspects incorporated in the two rehabilitation robots helped maintain patients' interest high during execution of the assigned tasks by providing feedback on performance. The evaluation metric gave a precise measure of patients' performance and thus provides a tool to help therapists promote patient motivation and hence adherence to the training program

Range of shoulder motion in patients with adhesive capsulitis; Intra-tester reproducibility is acceptable for group comparisons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Measurements of range of motion play a key role in shoulder research. The purpose of this study is to investigate intra-observer reproducibility of measurements of active and passive range of motion in patients with adhesive capsulitis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out in a population consisting of 32 patients with clinical signs of adhesive capsulitis. A specified measurement protocol was used, and range of motion in affected and non-affected shoulders was measured twice for each patient with a one-week interval.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For most of the investigated individual movements, test-retest differences in range of motion score of more than approximately 15° are not likely to occur as a result of measurement error only. Point-estimates for the intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.61 to 0.93.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Range of motion of patients with adhesive capsulitis can be measured with acceptable reproducibility in settings where groups are compared. Scores for individual patients should be interpreted with caution.</p

Malonylation of GAPDH is an inflammatory signal in macrophages.

Macrophages undergo metabolic changes during activation that are coupled to functional responses. The gram negative bacterial product lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is especially potent at driving metabolic reprogramming, enhancing glycolysis and altering the Krebs cycle. Here we describe a role for the citrate-derived metabolite malonyl-CoA in the effect of LPS in macrophages. Malonylation of a wide variety of proteins occurs in response to LPS. We focused on one of these, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). In resting macrophages, GAPDH binds to and suppresses translation of several inflammatory mRNAs, including that encoding TNFα. Upon LPS stimulation, GAPDH undergoes malonylation on lysine 213, leading to its dissociation from TNFα mRNA, promoting translation. We therefore identify for the first time malonylation as a signal, regulating GAPDH mRNA binding to promote inflammation

Fate of the H-NS–Repressed bgl Operon in Evolution of Escherichia coli

In the enterobacterial species Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica, expression of horizontally acquired genes with a higher than average AT content is repressed by the nucleoid-associated protein H-NS. A classical example of an H-NS–repressed locus is the bgl (aryl-β,D-glucoside) operon of E. coli. This locus is “cryptic,” as no laboratory growth conditions are known to relieve repression of bgl by H-NS in E. coli K12. However, repression can be relieved by spontaneous mutations. Here, we investigated the phylogeny of the bgl operon. Typing of bgl in a representative collection of E. coli demonstrated that it evolved clonally and that it is present in strains of the phylogenetic groups A, B1, and B2, while it is presumably replaced by a cluster of ORFans in the phylogenetic group D. Interestingly, the bgl operon is mutated in 20% of the strains of phylogenetic groups A and B1, suggesting erosion of bgl in these groups. However, bgl is functional in almost all B2 isolates and, in approximately 50% of them, it is weakly expressed at laboratory growth conditions. Homologs of bgl genes exist in Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Erwinia species and also in low GC-content Gram-positive bacteria, while absent in E. albertii and Salmonella sp. This suggests horizontal transfer of bgl genes to an ancestral Enterobacterium. Conservation and weak expression of bgl in isolates of phylogenetic group B2 may indicate a functional role of bgl in extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli