Mangiferin: A Promising Anticancer Bioactive

Of late, several biologically active antioxidants from natural products have been investigated by the researchers in order to combat the root cause of carcinogenesis, i.e., oxidative stress. Mangiferin, a therapeutically active C-glucosylated xanthone, is extracted from pulp, peel, seed, bark and leaf of Mangifera indica. These polyphenols of mangiferin exhibit antioxidant properties and tend to decrease the oxygen-free radicals, thereby reducing the DNA damage. Indeed, its capability to modulate several key inflammatory pathways undoubtedly helps in stalling the progression of carcinogenesis. The current review article emphasizes an updated account on the patents published on the chemopreventive action of Mangiferin, apoptosis induction made on various cancer cells, along with proposed antioxidative activities and patent mapping of other important therapeutic properties. Considering it as promising polyphenol, this paper would also summarize the diverse molecular targets of Mangiferin

Agricultural landscapes as multi-scale public good and the role of the Common Agricultural Policy

During the last 50 years, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has impacted the evolution of European agricultural landscapes by driving changes in land use and farming practices. We propose a typology characterizing the scales relevant for agricultural landscapes management and argue that action is required on three scales: (1) a landscape oriented management at farm level, (2) the coordination of land managers\u27 actions at landscape level, and (3) the conservation of the diversity of agricultural landscapes in the EU. We provide evidence that the CAP has until now mainly focused on the first scale. We also illustrate how agricultural policy could encourage coordinated actions at the landscape- and EU-scales. In particular, we propose policy instruments to coordinate actions of individual land owners (e.g. collective bonus in agro-environmental contracts or support to environmental cooperatives). We also analyse how the recognition and transposition of the European Landscape Convention could promote trans-frontier landscape cooperation in order, not only to conserve high-quality rural landscapes, but also to ensure the conservation of the diversity of EU landscapes (scale 3). This article provides a knowledge base to support an integrated CAP design in the direction of improved landscape management, as an important component of the EU project towards more sustainable agriculture

Egg-laying and locomotory screens with C. elegans yield a nematode-selective small molecule stimulator of neurotransmitter release

Nematode parasites of humans, livestock and crops dramatically impact human health and welfare. Alarmingly, parasitic nematodes of animals have rapidly evolved resistance to anthelmintic drugs, and traditional nematicides that protect crops are facing increasing restrictions because of poor phylogenetic selectivity. Here, we exploit multiple motor outputs of the model nematode C. elegans towards nematicide discovery. This work yielded multiple compounds that selectively kill and/or immobilize diverse nematode parasites. We focus on one compound that induces violent convulsions and paralysis that we call nementin. We find that nementin stimulates neuronal dense core vesicle release, which in turn enhances cholinergic signaling. Consequently, nementin synergistically enhances the potency of widely-used non-selective acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, but in a nematode-selective manner. Nementin therefore has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of toxic AChE inhibitors that are used to control nematode infections and infestations

Non-canonical HIF-1 stabilization contributes to intestinal tumorigenesis

The hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1 is appreciated as a promising target for cancer therapy. However, conditional deletion of HIF-1 and HIF-1 target genes in cells of the tumor microenvironment can result in accelerated tumor growth, calling for a detailed characterization of the cellular context to fully comprehend HIF-1's role in tumorigenesis. We dissected cell type-specific functions of HIF-1 for intestinal tumorigenesis by lineage-restricted deletion of the Hif1a locus. Intestinal epithelial cell-specific Hif1a loss reduced activation of Wnt/β-catenin, tumor-specific metabolism and inflammation, significantly inhibiting tumor growth. Deletion of Hif1a in myeloid cells reduced the expression of fibroblast-activating factors in tumor-associated macrophages resulting in decreased abundance of tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAF) and robustly reduced tumor formation. Interestingly, hypoxia was detectable only sparsely and without spatial association with HIF-1α, arguing for an importance of hypoxia-independent, i.e., non-canonical, HIF-1 stabilization for intestinal tumorigenesis that has not been previously appreciated. This adds a further layer of complexity to the regulation of HIF-1 and suggests that hypoxia and HIF-1α stabilization can be uncoupled in cancer. Collectively, our data show that HIF-1 is a pivotal pro-tumorigenic factor for intestinal tumor formation, controlling key oncogenic programs in both the epithelial tumor compartment and the tumor microenvironment