Apoptotic and chemotherapeutic properties of iron(III)-salophene in an ovarian cancer animal model

The cytotoxicity of organometallic compounds iron(III)-, cobalt(III)-, manganese(II)-, and copper(II)-salophene (-SP) on platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines was compared. Fe-SP displayed selective cytotoxicity (IC 50 at ∼1 μM) against SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cell lines while Co-SP caused cytotoxic effects only at higher concentrations (IC50 at 60 ?M) and Cu-SP effects were negligible. High cytotoxicity of Mn-SP (30-60 μM) appeared to be nonspecific because the Mn-chloride salt reduced cell viability similarly. The effect of Fe-SP at 1 μM proved to be ovarian cancer cell selective when compared to a panel of cell lines derived from different tumors. The first irreversible step in the induction of cell death by Fe-SP occurred after 3 hrs as indicated by the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) and was mainly linked to apoptotic, not necrotic events. To evaluate the toxicity of Fe-SP in vivo we conducted an acute toxicity study in rats. The LD 50 of Fe-SP is >2000 mg/kg orally and >5.5 mg/kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection. An ovarian cancer animal model showed that the chemotherapeutic relevant dose of Fe-SP in rats is 0.5-1 mg/kg body weight. The present report suggests that Fe-SP is a potential therapeutic drug to treat ovarian cancer. © 2009 Lange et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

Allergenicity of latex rubber products used in South African dental schools

Background. Latex sensitisation is recognised as a health problem among health care workers (HCWs) using latex products. The aim of this study was to quantify specific latex allergens in latex devices used in South African academic dental schools. The current study also compared the total protein content and the levels of specific allergens in these products.Methods. Fourteen latex examination gloves (powdered and non-powdered) and five dental rubber dams, representing 6 brands, from five dental academic institutions were analysed for latex allergens and total protein. Total protein content was determined using the BioRad DC protein assay kit and natural rubber allergen levels using a capture enyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for Hev b 1, Hev b 3, Hev b 5 and Hev b 6.02.Results. Hev b 6.02 was found in higher concentrations thanother natural rubber latex (NRL) allergens in the products analysed. Hev b 5 content ranged from 0 to 9.2 ìg/g and Hev b 6.02 from 0.09 to 61.5 ìg/g of sample. Hev b 1 levels were below the detection limit (DL) for 79% of the samples (15/19). Dental dams showed higher allergen levels (median 80.91 ìg/ g) than latex gloves (median 11.34 ìg/g). Powdered rubber samples also showed higher allergen levels (median 40.54 ìg/g) than non-powdered samples (median 5.31 ìg/g). Astatistically significant correlation was observed between totalprotein and total allergen (r=0.74,

How promising are endophytic fungi as alternative sources of plant secondary metabolites?

In this article the authors discusses the use of endophytic fungi as substitute of plant secondary metabolites. It states that endophytic fungi exist internally in plants and enhance the plants' ability to tolerate abiotic and biotic stresses. Endophytic fungi if cultured outside their host can produce secondary metabolites such as anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-diabetic and immunosuppressant compounds

Systematics of Fission Barriers in Superheavy Elements

We investigate the systematics of fission barriers in superheavy elements in the range Z = 108-120 and N = 166-182. Results from two self-consistent models for nuclear structure, the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model as well as the non-relativistic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach are compared and discussed. We restrict ourselves to axially symmetric shapes, which provides an upper bound on static fission barriers. We benchmark the predictive power of the models examining the barriers and fission isomers of selected heavy actinide nuclei for which data are available. For both actinides and superheavy nuclei, the RMF model systematically predicts lower barriers than most Skyrme interactions. In particular the fission isomers are predicted too low by the RMF, which casts some doubt on recent predictions about superdeformed ground states of some superheavy nuclei. For the superheavy nuclei under investigation, fission barriers drop to small values around Z = 110, N = 180 and increase again for heavier systems. For most of the forces, there is no fission isomer for superheavy nuclei, as superdeformed states are in most cases found to be unstable with respect to octupole distortions.Comment: 17 pages REVTEX, 12 embedded eps figures. corrected abstrac

16S pan-bacterial PCR can accurately identify patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains a challenge to intensive care units, with secure diagnosis relying on microbiological cultures that take up to 72 hours to provide a result. We sought to derive and validate a novel, real-time 16S rRNA gene PCR for rapid exclusion of VAP. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was obtained from two independent cohorts of patients with suspected VAP. Patients were recruited in a 2-centre derivation cohort and a 12-centre confirmation cohort. Confirmed VAP was defined as growth of >10$^4$ colony forming units/ml on semiquantitative culture and compared with a 16S PCR assay. Samples were tested from 67 patients in the derivation cohort, 10 (15%) of whom had confirmed VAP. Using cycles to cross threshold (C$_t$) values as the result of the 16S PCR test, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUROC) was 0.94 (95% CI 0.86 to 1.0, p<0.0001). Samples from 92 patients were available from the confirmation cohort, 26 (28%) of whom had confirmed VAP. The AUROC for C$_t$ in this cohort was 0.89 (95% CI 0.83 to 0.95, p<0.0001). This study has derived and assessed the diagnostic accuracy of a novel application for 16S PCR. This suggests that 16S PCR in BAL could be used as a rapid test in suspected VAP and may allow better stewardship of antibiotics.This study was funded by: the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Research and Development division; the Hospital Infection Society; the Department of Health and Wellcome Trust through the Health Innovation Challenge (HIC) Fund; and the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust

Geographic and research center origins of rice resistance to asian planthoppers and leafhoppers: Implications for rice breeding and gene deployment

2017 by the authors. This study examines aspects of virulence to resistant rice varieties among planthoppers and leafhoppers. Using a series of resistant varieties, brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, virulence was assessed in seedlings and early-tillering plants at seven research centers in South and East Asia. Virulence of the whitebacked planthopper, Sogatella furcifera, in Taiwan and the Philippines was also assessed. Phylogenetic analysis of the varieties using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) indicated a clade of highly resistant varieties from South Asia with two further South Asian clades of moderate resistance. Greenhouse bioassays indicated that planthoppers can develop virulence against multiple resistance genes including genes introgressed from wild rice species. Nilaparvata lugens populations from Punjab (India) and the Mekong Delta (Vietnam) were highly virulent to a range of key resistance donors irrespective of variety origin. Sogatella furcifera populations were less virulent to donors than N. lugens; however, several genes for resistance to S. furcifera are now ineffective in East Asia. A clade of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)-bred varieties and breeding lines, without identified leafhopper-resistance genes, were highly resistant to the green leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens. Routine phenotyping during breeding programs likely maintains high levels of quantitative resistance to leafhoppers. We discuss these results in the light of breeding and deploying resistant rice in Asia

Surplus Photosynthetic Antennae Complexes Underlie Diagnostics of Iron Limitation in a Cyanobacterium

Chlorophyll fluorescence from phytoplankton provides a tool to assess iron limitation in the oceans, but the physiological mechanism underlying the fluorescence response is not understood. We examined fluorescence properties of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 and a ΔisiA knock-out mutant of the same species grown under three culture conditions which simulate nutrient conditions found in the open ocean: (1) nitrate and iron replete, (2) limiting-iron and high-nitrate, representative of natural high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll regions, and (3) iron and nitrogen co-limiting. We show that low variable fluorescence, a key diagnostic of iron limitation, results from synthesis of antennae complexes far in excess of what can be accommodated by the iron-restricted pool of photosynthetic reaction centers. Under iron and nitrogen co-limiting conditions, there are no excess antennae complexes and variable fluorescence is high. These results help to explain the well-established fluorescence characteristics of phytoplankton in high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll ocean regions, while also accounting for the lack of these properties in low-iron, low-nitrogen regions. Importantly, our results complete the link between unique molecular consequences of iron stress in phytoplankton and global detection of iron stress in natural populations from space

Identification of disease-causing genes using microarray data mining and gene ontology

Background: One of the best and most accurate methods for identifying disease-causing genes is monitoring gene expression values in different samples using microarray technology. One of the shortcomings of microarray data is that they provide a small quantity of samples with respect to the number of genes. This problem reduces the classification accuracy of the methods, so gene selection is essential to improve the predictive accuracy and to identify potential marker genes for a disease. Among numerous existing methods for gene selection, support vector machine-based recursive feature elimination (SVMRFE) has become one of the leading methods, but its performance can be reduced because of the small sample size, noisy data and the fact that the method does not remove redundant genes. Methods: We propose a novel framework for gene selection which uses the advantageous features of conventional methods and addresses their weaknesses. In fact, we have combined the Fisher method and SVMRFE to utilize the advantages of a filtering method as well as an embedded method. Furthermore, we have added a redundancy reduction stage to address the weakness of the Fisher method and SVMRFE. In addition to gene expression values, the proposed method uses Gene Ontology which is a reliable source of information on genes. The use of Gene Ontology can compensate, in part, for the limitations of microarrays, such as having a small number of samples and erroneous measurement results. Results: The proposed method has been applied to colon, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and prostate cancer datasets. The empirical results show that our method has improved classification performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the study of the molecular function of selected genes strengthened the hypothesis that these genes are involved in the process of cancer growth. Conclusions: The proposed method addresses the weakness of conventional methods by adding a redundancy reduction stage and utilizing Gene Ontology information. It predicts marker genes for colon, DLBCL and prostate cancer with a high accuracy. The predictions made in this study can serve as a list of candidates for subsequent wet-lab verification and might help in the search for a cure for cancers

Minimally invasive surgery for diabetic plantar foot ulcerations

Complications of diabetes mellitus constitute the most common indications for hospitalization and non-traumatic amputations in the USA. The most important risk factors for the development of diabetic foot ulcerations include the presence of peripheral neuropathy, vasculopathy, limited joint mobility, and pre-existing foot deformities. In our study, 500 diabetic patients treated for plantar forefoot ulcerations were enrolled in a prospective study from 2000 to 2008 at the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. Fifty-two patients in the study met the criteria and underwent surgical treatment consisting of percutaneous Achilles tendon lengthening to treat plantar forefoot ulcerations. The postoperative follow-up demonstrated prevention of recurrent foot ulcerations in 92% of these diabetic patients that maintained an improved foot function. In conclusion, our study supports that identification and treatment of ankle equinus in the diabetic population may potentially lead to decreased patient morbidity, including reduced risk for both reulceration, and potential lower extremity amputation

Presynaptic partner selection during retinal circuit reassembly varies with timing of neuronal regeneration in vivo

Whether neurons can restore their original connectivity patterns during circuit repair is unclear. Taking advantage of the regenerative capacity of zebrafish retina, we show here the remarkable specificity by which surviving neurons reassemble their connectivity upon regeneration of their major input. H3 horizontal cells (HCs) normally avoid red and green cones, and prefer ultraviolet over blue cones. Upon ablation of the major (ultraviolet) input, H3 HCs do not immediately increase connectivity with other cone types. Instead, H3 dendrites retract and re-extend to contact new ultraviolet cones. But, if regeneration is delayed or absent, blue-cone synaptogenesis increases and ectopic synapses are made with red and green cones. Thus, cues directing synapse specificity can be maintained following input loss, but only within a limited time period. Further, we postulate that signals from the major input that shape the H3 HC's wiring pattern during development persist to restrict miswiring after damage