Does the use of ozonized water influence the chemical characteristics of organic cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)?

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of different cultivation procedures (conventional and organic), different sanitizers (ozone and chlorine) during the post-harvest storage of cabbages hybrid Fuyutoyo (Brassica oleracea var. capitata ). The cabbage plants were purchased directly from producers. At the end of the cropping cycle, which occurred 120 days after sowing, crop harvesting was carried out and the plants were immediately sanitized with water, chlorine and ozone. After cleansing, the cabbage plants were stored in a cooling chamber at 5 \ub0C between 12 and 20 days. To predict the effect of commercialization, the cabbage head were removed between 12 and 20 days from the cooling chamber, one part was analyzed and the rest maintained in a local temperature (22\ub12 \ub0C) for 4 days. The biochemical analysis of the following were determined: total phenols, total flavonoids, vitamin C, total chlorophyll, nitrate, polyamines and antioxidant activity after 0, 12 and 20 days storage and 4 days at room temperature (12+4 and 20+4 days of storage), for market analysis. The biochemical analyses showed no statistical differences between conventional and organic cabbages. Thus, the consumption of organic or conventional cabbage provide the same content of antioxidant compounds analyzed and the sanitizing procedure (ozonated water ) did not modify the antioxidant capacity of the plant

Antitumor effect of miR-197 targeting in p53 wild-type lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of tumor-related death. The lack of effective treatments urges the development of new therapeutic approaches able to selectively kill cancer cells. The connection between aberrant microRNA (miRNA-miR) expression and tumor progression suggests a new strategy to fight cancer by interfering with miRNA function. In this regard, LNAs (locked nucleic acids) have proven to be very promising candidates for miRNA neutralization. Here, we employed an LNA-based anti-miR library in a functional screening to identify putative oncogenic miRNAs in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). By screening NIH-H460 and A549 cells, miR-197 was identified as a new functional oncomiR, whose downregulation induces p53-dependent lung cancer cell apoptosis and impairs the capacity to establish tumor xenografts in immunodeficient mice. We further identified the two BH3-only proteins NOXA and BMF as new miR-197 targets responsible for induction of apoptosis in p53 wild-type cells, delineating miR-197 as a key survival factor in NSCLC. Thus, we propose the inhibition of miR-197 as a novel therapeutic approach against lung cancer. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved