Evaluation of low-intensity laser radiation on stimulating the cholesterol degrading activity: Part I. Microorganisms isolated from cholesterol-rich materials

AbstractA survey was performed to isolate bacteria and fungi from cholesterol-rich sources including chicken liver, turkey giblets, salmon, lamb, egg yolk, beef brain and shrimps. A total of 34 bacterial and 22 fungal isolates were recovered from the tested sources. The highest count of isolates was recovered from the soil (12 isolates/g), followed by turkey giblets and egg yolk (8 isolates/g, for each). Out of 34 bacterial isolates, five induced the highest level in cholesterol degradation. The most potent bacterial isolate was recovered from turkey giblets and was identified as Streptomyces fradiae. In a trial to increase the cholesterol decomposing potentiality of S. fradiae, low intensity Nd-YAG laser irradiation was evaluated. The exposure of the chlorophyllin – photosensitized bacterium to 210mW Nd-YAG laser for 8min induced significant increase in cholesterol degrading activity reaching 73.8% as compared with 54.2% in the case of non-irradiated, non-photosensitized culture. Under the same conditions but using the reaction mixture containing cholesterol as a substrate and extracellular crude enzyme, the percent decomposition reached 53.7% for the irradiated culture as compared to 28.3% in the case of the control. Our data indicate the importance of the photosensitizer in enhancement of laser radiation to stimulate cholesterol decomposition of S. fradiae

Mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation via in-vitro infection of T24 cell line with Klebsiella pneumoniae

أثبتت الدراسات الحديثة أن وجود البكتيريا داخل أنسجة الورم له أثرعلى بيئة الورم وبالتالي يؤثرفى سلوك السرطان وتطوره واستجابة الخلايا  للعلاج. فى هذا البحث تم دراسة التحول التمايزى لخلايا سرطان المثانة الظاهرية الى خلايا ميزنكيمية و خلايا جذعية نتيجة لاحداث العدوى البكتيرية. وذلك من خلال إحداث عدوى لسلالة خلايا سرطان المثانة البولية (T24) ببكتيريا الكلبسيلا الرئوية لمدة يومين وأربعة أيام. تم قياس التعبير الجينى باستخدام جهاز البلمرة المتسلسل.وأظهرت النتائج زيادة في صفات الخلايا الميزنكيمية ؛ فزاد التعبير الجينى لجين الفيمنتين ، ونقص التعبيرالجينى للسيتوكيراتين، وعزز تحليل كيمياء الهيستولوجية المناعية هذه النتيجة. علاوة على ذلك، زاد التعبيرالجينى للجينات الدالة على الخلايا الجذعية. العدوى البكتيرية للخلايا السرطانية قد تسبب التمايز الخلوى، مما قد يؤدى الى تحسن قدرة الخلايا السرطانية على الانتشار والتجدد الذاتي. وبالتالي، قد تساهم البكتيريا في تطور سرطان المثانة وإنتشاره.Klebsiella pneumoniae has been found in the urinary tract of some bladder cancer patients. Bacterial presence within tumor tissue may affect the tumor-microenvironment and consequently influence cancer behavior, development, and treatment response. This study investigated mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation of bladder cancer cell line due to environmental stress of K. pneumoniae. Cultures of urothelial bladder cancer cell line (T24) were infected with K. pneumoniae with different multiplicity of infection (MOI) for two and four days. Transdifferentiation-associated features were morphologically assessed. Moreover, transdifferentiation markers were estimated using Q-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Q-PCR data showed an increase in mesenchymal transdifferentiation traits; vimentin expression was upregulated, and cytokeratin19 expression downregulated significantly (P<0.001) compared with controls, which were emphasized by immunohistochemistry results. Moreover, stemness transdifferentiation markers expression increased significantly (P<0.001). The heterogeneous tumor cell population may be altered by bacterial infection, which improves cancer cells' migration and self-renewal ability. Thus, bacteria may be engaged in cancer progression and metastases.

The Metagenomics and Metadesign of the Subways and Urban Biomes (MetaSUB) International Consortium inaugural meeting report

The Metagenomics and Metadesign of the Subways and Urban Biomes (MetaSUB) International Consortium is a novel, interdisciplinary initiative comprised of experts across many fields, including genomics, data analysis, engineering, public health, and architecture. The ultimate goal of the MetaSUB Consortium is to improve city utilization and planning through the detection, measurement, and design of metagenomics within urban environments. Although continual measures occur for temperature, air pressure, weather, and human activity, including longitudinal, cross-kingdom ecosystem dynamics can alter and improve the design of cities. The MetaSUB Consortium is aiding these efforts by developing and testing metagenomic methods and standards, including optimized methods for sample collection, DNA/RNA isolation, taxa characterization, and data visualization. The data produced by the consortium can aid city planners, public health officials, and architectural designers. In addition, the study will continue to lead to the discovery of new species, global maps of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers, and novel biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Finally, we note that engineered metagenomic ecosystems can help enable more responsive, safer, and quantified cities

Synthesis and biological evaluation of new aza-acyclic nucleosides and their hydrogen complexes from indole

Three novel aza-acyclic nucleosides and two hydrogen complexes were isolated by flash chromatography after being produced in a reaction between indole and dibenzosulfonyl diethylamine (which had previously been prepared) in the presence of sodium and absolute ethanol as a basic catalyst. Structures of new compounds and complexes were determined by 1D-NMR: 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT-135, 2D-NMR: COSY, HMQC, HSQC, HMBC, IR, and MS spectroscopy. The synthesized compounds were evaluated against a wide range of microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungal strains. These compounds showed good biological activity

Synthesis of Novel Acyclic Nucleoside Analogue Starting From 6-Aminouracil as Potent Antimicrobial Agent

6-Aminouracil and 2-bromoethyl amine were prepared, as starting materials to be introduced as an alkylating reagent with sodium carbonate as a catalyst. Acyclic nucleoside was prepared for the first time, the expected structure of the final new compound 3 was determined based on IR, NMR, and mass spectroscopy, with safe and mild reaction conditions. The synthesized acyclic nucleoside has a potent and efficient antimicrobial activity compared to reference drugs particularly as an antibacterial agent, and can be used as an alternative to the commonly used antibiotics after performing the necessary biological research for its validation

Susceptibility of Staphylococcus epidermidis to Argon Cold Plasma Jet by Oxygen Admixture

Cold atmospheric pressure sterilization is one of the nominated and efficient techniques to prevent the spread of diseases. Reactive species such as O and OH and other radicals play a major role in the mechanism of plasma sterilization. Therefore, in this work, oxygen was mixed with different parentage from (0.2 to 1.2%) to argon to enhance the generation of the reactive species and increase the argon atmospheric pressure plasma sterilization efficacy. The emission spectra from the jet increase the radicle line intensities by increasing the percentage admixture of O2 with the argon gas to reach a maximum power at 0.8; then, it gradually decreases with a higher O2 percentage. The OH band intensity decreases with increasing the admixture of O2. The jet with different O2 percentages was tested against Gram-positive S. epidermidis, which is the causal agent of nosocomial infections. The maximum reduction in colony-forming units (CFU) was observed at 0.2% O2. No bacterial growth was observed at the later concentration applied for 8 min and the same case was detected at 0.4% O2 applied to 16 min

Trichoderma harzianum-Mediated ZnO Nanoparticles: A Green Tool for Controlling Soil-Borne Pathogens in Cotton

ZnO-based nanomaterials have high antifungal effects, such as inhibition of growth and reproduction of some pathogenic fungi, such as Fusarium sp., Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. Therefore, we report the extracellular synthesis of ZnONPs using a potential fungal antagonist (Trichoderma harzianum). ZnONPs were then characterized for their size, shape, charge and composition by visual analysis, UV–visible spectrometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The TEM test confirmed that the size of the produced ZnONPs was 8–23 nm. The green synthesized ZnONPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies to reveal the functional group attributed to the formation of ZnONPs. For the first time, trichogenic ZnONPs were shown to have fungicidal action against three soil–cotton pathogenic fungi in the laboratory and greenhouse. An antifungal examination was used to evaluate the bioactivity of the mycogenic ZnONPs in addition to two chemical fungicides (Moncut and Maxim XL) against three soil-borne pathogens, including Fusarium sp., Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. The findings of this study show a novel fungicidal activity in in vitro assay for complete inhibition of fungal growth of tested plant pathogenic fungi, as well as a considerable reduction in cotton seedling disease symptoms under greenhouse conditions. The formulation of a trichogenic ZnONPs form was found to increase its antifungal effect significantly. Finally, the utilization of biocontrol agents, such as T. harzianum, could be a safe strategy for the synthesis of a medium-scale of ZnONPs and employ it for fungal disease control in cotton

Trichogenic Silver-Based Nanoparticles for Suppression of Fungi Involved in Damping-Off of Cotton Seedlings

Mycogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) produced by some biocontrol agents have shown the ability to inhibit the growth of numerous plant pathogenic fungi, which may be a unique method of disease management. This study describes the extracellular production of AgNPs by Trichoderma harzianum. The size, shape, charge, and composition of the AgNPs were subsequently studied by UV-visible spectroscopy, DLS, zeta potential, TEM, SEM, and EDX, among other methods. The AgNPs had sizes ranging from 6 to 15 nm. The antifungal activities of bio-synthesized AgNPs and two commercial fungicides (Moncut and Maxim XL) were tested against three soil-borne diseases (Fusarium fujikuroi, Rhizoctonia solani, and Macrophomina phaseolina). Cotton seedling illnesses were significantly reduced under greenhouse settings after significant in vitro antifungal activity was documented for the control of plant pathogenic fungi. The use of biocontrol agents such as T. harzianum, for example, may be a safe strategy for synthesizing AgNPs and using them to combat fungus in Egyptian cotton