Biological activities and chemical composition of methanolic extracts of selected Autochthonous microalgae strains from the Red Sea

Four lipid-rich microalgal species from the Red Sea belonging to three different genera (Nannochloris, Picochlorum and Desmochloris), previously isolated as novel biodiesel feedstocks, were bioprospected for high-value, bioactive molecules. Methanol extracts were thus prepared from freeze-dried biomass and screened for different biological activities. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 and Desmochloris sp. SBL3 had the highest radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, and the best copper and iron chelating activities. All species had potent butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (>50%) and mildly inhibited tyrosinase. Picochlorum sp. SBL2 and Nannochloris sp. SBL4 extracts significantly reduced the viability of tumoral (HepG2 and HeLa) cells with lower toxicity against the non-tumoral murine stromal (S17) cells. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 significantly reduced the viability of Leishmania infantum down to 62% (250 mu g/mL). Picochlorum sp. SBL2 had the highest total phenolic content, the major phenolic compounds identified being salicylic, coumaric and gallic acids. Neoxanthin, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein and -carotene were identified in the extracts of all strains, while canthaxanthin was only identified in Picochlorum sp. SBL2. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the microalgae included in this work could be used as sources of added-value products that could be used to upgrade the final biomass value.National Science, Technology and Innovation Program of King Abdulaziz Medical City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [NPST, 11-ENE 1719-02]; Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal [SFRH/BD/78062/2011]; FCT [IF/00049/2012, SFRH/BPD/86071/2012, Pest-OE/QUI/UI0612/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desafios para a inserção da educação para a sustentabilidade em escolas localizadas em áreas de vulnerabilidade socioambiental

A educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável pode ser entendida como uma proposta para a minimização de muitos problemas aos quais as comunidades escolares também estão submetidas. Nesta pesquisa foram abordadas as concepções de professores acerca dos desafios para a inserção da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em escolas localizadas em Área de vulnerabilidade socioambiental. Um questionário foi aplicado a 54 professores atuantes em três escolas públicas de um município do nordeste brasileiro (Natal, RN) para avaliar as dificuldades em implantar a educação para a sustentabilidade na prática docente. A pesquisa revelou que um dos empecilhos é a escassa ou ausente abordagem desse tema nos materiais didáticos utilizados e na formação dos professores. As respostas dos professores indicaram que são necessárias ações para promover a associação entre o discurso da sustentabilidade e o conhecimento pedagógico, a partir de cursos de formação continuada

Isololiolide, a carotenoid metabolite isolated from the brown alga Cystoseira tamariscifolia, is cytotoxic and able to induce apoptosis in hepatocarcinoma cells through caspase-3 activation, decreased Bcl-2 levels, increased p53 expression and PARP cleavage

Background: Brown macroalgae have attracted attention because they display a wide range of biological activities, including antitumoral properties. In this study we isolated isololiolide from Cystoseira tamariscifolia for the first time.Purpose: To examine the therapeutical potential of isololiolide against tumor cell lines.Methods/Study design: The structure of the compound was established and confirmed by 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRMS spectral analysis. The in vitro cytotoxicity was analyzed by colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol- 2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay in tumoral as well as in non-tumoral cell lines. Cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry. Alteration of expression levels in proteins important in the apoptotic cascade was analyzed by western blotting.Results: Isololiolidewas isolated for the first time from the brown macroalga C. tamariscifolia. Isololiolide exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against three human tumoral cell lines, namely hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells, whereas no cytotoxicity was found in non-malignant MRC-5 and HFF-1 human fibroblasts. Isololiolide completely disrupted the HepG2 normal cell cycle and induced significant apoptosis. Moreover, western blot analysis showed that isololiolide altered the expression of proteins that are important in the apoptotic cascade, increasing PARP cleavage and p53 expression while decreasing procaspase-3 and Bcl-2 levels.Conclusion: Isololiolide isolated from C. tamariscifolia is able to exert a selective cytotoxic activity on hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells as well as induce apoptosis through the modulation of apoptosis-related proteins. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Desafios para a inserção da educação para a sustentabilidade em escolas localizadas em áreas de vulnerabilidade socioambiental

A educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável pode ser entendida como uma proposta para a minimização de muitos problemas aos quais as comunidades escolares também estão submetidas. Nesta pesquisa foram abordadas as concepções de professores acerca dos desafios para a inserção da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em escolas localizadas em Área de vulnerabilidade socioambiental. Um questionário foi aplicado a 54 professores atuantes em três escolas públicas de um município do nordeste brasileiro (Natal, RN) para avaliar as dificuldades em implantar a educação para a sustentabilidade na prática docente. A pesquisa revelou que um dos empecilhos é a escassa ou ausente abordagem desse tema nos materiais didáticos utilizados e na formação dos professores. As respostas dos professores indicaram que são necessárias ações para promover a associação entre o discurso da sustentabilidade e o conhecimento pedagógico, a partir de cursos de formação continuada

Estratégias de pesquisa no estudo da cognição: o caso das falsas lembranças Strategies of research in the study of cognition: the case of false memories

Este artigo pretende apresentar e discutir duas estratégias de pesquisa no âmbito dos estudos da cognição, relacionando-as ao tema da experiência cognitiva. No que se refere à primeira estratégia, denominada Representacional, procuraremos analisar, do ponto de vista epistemológico, como duas tradições diferentes da psicologia, o behaviorismo e o cognitivismo, por se apoiarem ambas nessa estratégia, não incluíram até muito recentemente em seus estudos a dimensão de experiência dos processos cognitivos. A segunda estratégia, designada Enativa, se diferencia da primeira pelo entendimento de que a cognição é um ato de criação de si e de mundo, ou seja, uma emergência coetânea de um mundo próprio e do sujeito que o experimenta. Por fim, objetivamos demonstrar nossa análise através do estudo de caso do fenômeno das falsas lembranças.<br>This article intends to present and to discuss two research strategies in the ambit of the studies of the cognition, relating them to the subject of the cognitive experience. As for the first strategy, denominated Representational, we will try to analyze, from the epistemological point of view, as two different traditions in Psychology, the behaviorism and the cognitivism, by standing both in this strategy, they didn't include until very recently in their studies the dimension of the cognitive processes experience. The second strategy, designated Enactive, differs from the first by the understanding that the cognition is a creation act of itself and of world, in other words, a simultaneous emergency of an own world and of the subject who experiments it. Finally, we objectify to demonstrate our analysis through the case study of the phenomenon of false memories

First report of the <i>in vitro</i> antileishmanial properties of extremophile plants from the Algarve Coast

<p>This work reports for the first time the <i>in vitro</i> anti <i>Leishmania infantum</i> activity of acetone and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts from 25 extremophile plants from Southern Portugal. DCM extracts from <i>Inula chritmoides</i> and <i>Spergularia rubra</i> were active against axenic promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes, had anti-inflammatory properties on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, inhibited acetylcholinesterase and had no haemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. Eleven phenolics were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) in <i>I. crithmoides</i> and one phenolic in <i>S. rubra</i>. Isolation and identification of the active molecules is in progress.</p