De novo assembly and transcriptome analysis of Plasmodium gallinaceum identifies the Rh5 interacting protein (ripr), and reveals a lack of EBL and RH gene family diversification

BACKGROUND: Malaria parasites that infect birds can have narrow or broad host-tropisms. These differences in host specificity make avian malaria a useful model for studying the evolution and transmission of parasite assemblages across geographic ranges. The molecular mechanisms involved in host-specificity and the biology of avian malaria parasites in general are important aspects of malaria pathogenesis that warrant further examination. Here, the transcriptome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium gallinaceum was characterized to investigate the biology and the conservation of genes across various malaria parasite species. METHODS: The P. gallinaceum transcriptome was annotated and KEGG pathway mapping was performed. The ripr gene and orthologous genes that play critical roles in the purine salvage pathway were identified and characterized using bioinformatics and phylogenetic methods. RESULTS: Analysis of the transcriptome sequence database identified essential genes of the purine salvage pathway in P. gallinaceum that shared high sequence similarity to Plasmodium falciparum when compared to other mammalian Plasmodium spp. However, based on the current sequence data, there was a lack of orthologous genes that belonged to the erythrocyte-binding-like (EBL) and reticulocyte-binding-like homologue (RH) family in P. gallinaceum. In addition, an orthologue of the Rh5 interacting protein (ripr) was identified. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the pathways involved in parasite red blood cell invasion are significantly different in avian Plasmodium parasites, but critical metabolic pathways are conserved throughout divergent Plasmodium taxa

Improved efficiency of tocotrienol extraction from fresh and processed latex

Vitamin E, mainly in the form of tocotrienols, was extracted from Hevea brasiliensis latex with organic solvents. The content of tocotrienols and a small amount of tocopherols recovered from the latex was determined using high performance liquid chromatoghraphy (HPLC). Gas chromatoghraphy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) confirmed the identities of the tocotrienols and tocopherols forms that were present. Gamma-tocotrienol was the most abundant form of vitamin E in Hevea latex. The yield of tocotrienols (339 ug/g of latex) was significantly increased by the use of the detergant Triton X-100 in the extraction procedure. This method improves the extraction efficiency by 83%. Through drying of the organic fraction using anhydrous magnesium sulphate following phase separation was also advantageous in the extraction procedure. On the other hand, the presence of ammonia in latex suspension reduced extraction efficiency. Vitamin E was also found in the waste serum generated from the processing of deproteinised natural rubber (DPNR). Although the yield vitamin from this source was relatively low, there is a potential to modify the processing procedure another value added end product i.e. latex vitamin E in addition to DPNR

Quantitative Analysis of Immunoglobulin E Reactivity Profiles in Patients Allergic or Sensitized to Natural Rubber Latex (Hevea Brasiliensis)

Characterized native and recombinant Hevea brasiliensis (rHev b) natural rubber latex (NRL) allergens are available to assess patient allergen sensitization profiles. OBJECTIVE: Quantification of individual IgE responses to the spectrum of documented NRL allergens and evaluation of cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs) for more definitive diagnosis. METHODS: Sera of 104 healthcare workers (HCW; 51 German, 21 Portuguese, 32 American), 31 spina bifida patients (SB; 11 German, 20 Portuguese) and 10 Portuguese with multiple surgeries (MS) were analysed for allergen-specific IgE antibody (sIgE) to NRL, single Hev b allergens and CCDs with ImmunoCAP technology. RESULTS: In all patient groups rHev b 5-sIgE concentrations were the most pronounced. Hev b 2, 5, 6.01 and 13 were identified as the major allergens in HCW and combined with Hev b 1 and Hev b 3 in SB. In MS Hev b 1 displayed an intermediate relevance. Different sIgE antibody levels to native Hevea brasiliensis (nHev b) 2 and rHev b 6.01 allowed discrimination of SB with clinical relevant latex allergy vs. those with latex sensitization. Sensitization profiles of German, Portuguese and American patients were equivalent. rHev b 5, 6.01 and nHev b 13 combined detected 100% of the latex-allergic HCW and 80.1% of the SB. Only 8.3% of the sera showed sIgE response to CCDs. CONCLUSIONS: Hev b 1, 2, 5, 6.01 and 13 were identified as the major Hev b allergens and they should be present in standardized latex extracts and in vitro allergosorbents. CCDs are only of minor relevance in patients with clinical relevant latex allergy. Component-resolved diagnostic analyses for latex allergy set the stage for an allergen-directed immunotherapy strateg

Correlated evolution of androgen receptor and aromatase revisited

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular Biology and Evolution 27 (2010): 2211-2215, doi:10.1093/molbev/msq129.Conserved interactions among proteins or other molecules can provide strong evidence for coevolution across their evolutionary history. Diverse phylogenetic methods have been applied to identify potential coevolutionary relationships. In most cases, these methods minimally require comparisons of orthologous sequences and appropriate controls to separate effects of selection from the overall evolutionary relationships. In vertebrates, androgen receptor (AR) and cytochrome p450 aromatase (CYP19) share an affinity for androgenic steroids, which serve as receptor ligands and enzyme substrates. In a recent study, Tiwary and Li (2009) reported that AR and CYP19 displayed a signature of ancient and conserved interactions throughout all of the Eumetazoa (i.e., cnidarians, protostomes, and deuterostomes). Because these findings conflicted with a number of previous studies, we reanalyzed the data set used by Tiwary and Li. First, our analyses demonstrate that the invertebrate genes used in the previous analysis are not orthologous sequences, but instead represent a diverse set of nuclear receptors and cytochrome p450 enzymes with no confirmed or hypothesized relationships with androgens. Second, we show that (1) their analytical approach, which measures correlations in evolutionary distances between proteins, potentially led to spurious significant relationships due simply to conserved domains and (2) control comparisons provide positive evidence for a strong influence of evolutionary history. We discuss how corrections to this method and analysis of key taxa (e.g., duplications in the teleost fish and suiform lineages) can inform investigations of the coevolutionary relationships between androgen receptor and aromatase.AMR was supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, and AMT was supported by WHOI Assistant Scientist Endowed Support

Mini Review: Biologically synthesized nanoparticles as antifungal agents

Fungal infections are affecting millions of people in the world every year. Severity of infections range from superficial mycoses to more chronic systemic mycoses. As more fungi species evolve, emergence of drug resistant strains is becoming a serious concern to the public health. There is now less number of effective antifungal drugs available in the market for treatment of invasive fungal infections. In an effort to combat this escalating issue, the use of nanoparticles as antifungal agent has been proposed and explored. Versatility of nanoparticles and its unique physico-chemical properties are proven beneficial for developing new therapeutic methods in treatment of fungal infections. Nanoparticles produced from biological synthesis have attracted keen interests from researchers, as they are more environmentally friendly, sustainable, cost-effective, and biocompatible. This mini review will provide an insight on the current antifungal studies and discuss the theory behind mechanism of actions of nanoparticles

Green fabrication of biologically active magnetic core-shell Fe3O4/Au nanoparticles and their potential anticancer effect

Core-shell Fe3O4/Au nanostructures were constructed using an advanced method of two-step synthesis from Juglans regia (walnut) green husk extract. Several complementary methods were applied to investigate structural and magnetic properties of the samples. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), electron diffraction, optical, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used for nanoparticle characterizations. As shown by HR-TEM, the mean diameter of core-shell Fe3O4/Au nanoparticles synthesized using co-precipitation method was 6.08 ± 1.06 nm. This study shows that the physical and structural properties of core-shell Fe3O4/Au nanoparticles possess intrinsic properties of gold and magnetite. VSM revealed that the core-shell Fe3O4/Au have high saturation magnetization and low coercivity due to the magnetic properties. The core-shell nanoparticles show the inhibitory concentration (IC)50 of 235 μg/ml against a colorectal cancer cell line, HT-29. When tested against non-cancer cells, IC50 was not achieved even up to 500 μg/ml. This study highlights the magnetic properties and anticancer action of core-shell Fe3O4/Au nanoparticles. This compound can be ideal candidate for cancer treatment and other biomedical applications

Potential use of plasma focus radiation sources in superficial cancer therapy

The new multidisciplinary field of plasma medicine combines plasma physics, electrical engineering, life sciences and clinical medicine. Here we explore potential uses in medicine, most particularly cancer therapy, the plasma source being brought out of the field of industrial applications into the life sciences, the focus being on superficial cancer radiotherapy strategies. Existing radiotherapy practices for such cancers rely on the use of rather large facilities, most popularly the electron linear accelerator and X-ray tube-based devices. Conversely, a compact plasma radiation source can be housed in a relatively small space, there being considerable promise for such devices to produce the fluence requirements of radiotherapy for treatment of skin cancers. The present study of feasibility investigates the plasma focus device, with the emission produced by a single discharge shown to generate an X-ray dose of few tens of mGy. The X-ray dose is the integration of emission in the discharge durations of less than a μs, it is therefore possible using these devices to build up fractional irradiation dose through repetitive operation of the discharge system

Short Review: Phytofabrication of zinc oxide nanoparticles for anticancer applications

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are one of the most well-known materials in the field of nanotechnology. Adopting a more environmentally friendly synthesis methods of ZnO NPs have been the focus in the last few decades. Of all green synthesis methods of ZnO NPs, fabrication with the help of plant extracts has been the most popular due to its many benefits. The use of phytofabricated ZnO NPs in anticancer studies has been conducted increasingly over the last decade because of its high inhibition activity against various types of cancerous cells. This short review article will present the current update on the phytofabrication of ZnO NPs in recent years and discuss on their cytotoxicity mechanism against cancer cells

Development of polymer-assisted nanoparticles and nanogels for cancer therapy: An update

With cancer remaining as one of the main causes of deaths worldwide, many studies are undergoing the effort to look for a novel and potent anticancer drug. Nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the rising fields in research for anticancer drug development. One of the key advantages of using NPs for cancer therapy is its high flexibility for modification, hence additional properties can be added to the NPs in order to improve its anticancer action. Polymer has attracted considerable attention to be used as a material to enhance the bioactivity of the NPs. Nanogels, which are NPs cross-linked with hydrophilic polymer network have also exhibited benefits in anticancer application. The characteristics of these nanomaterials include non-toxic, environment-friendly, and variable physiochemical properties. Some other unique properties of polymers are also attributed by diverse methods of polymer synthesis. This then contributes to the unique properties of the nanodrugs. This review article provides an in-depth update on the development of polymer-assisted NPs and nanogels for cancer therapy. Topics such as the synthesis, usage, and properties of the nanomaterials are discussed along with their mechanisms and functions in anticancer application. The advantages and limitations are also discussed in this article