The effect of ultrasound pretreatment on some selected physicochemical properties of black cumin (Nigella Sativa)

Background In the present study, the effects of ultrasound pretreatment parameters including irradiation time and power on the quantity of the extracted phenolic compounds quantity as well as on some selected physicochemical properties of the extracted oils including oil extraction efficiency, acidity and peroxide values, color, and refractive index of the extracted oil of black cumin seeds with the use of cold press have been studied. Methods For each parameter, three different levels (30, 60, and 90 W) for the ultrasound power and (30, 45, and 60 min) and for the ultrasound irradiation time were studied. Each experiment was performed in three replications. Results The achieved results revealed that, with enhancements in the applied ultrasound power, the oil extraction efficiency, acidity value, total phenolic content, peroxide value, and color parameters increased significantly (P 0.05). Conclusions In summary, it could be mentioned that the application of ultrasound pretreatment in the oil extraction might improve the oil extraction efficiency, the extracted oil’s quality, and the extracted phenolic compounds content.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MSH3 polymorphisms and protein levels affect CAG repeat instability in huntington's disease mice

Expansions of trinucleotide CAG/CTG repeats in somatic tissues are thought to contribute to ongoing disease progression through an affected individual's life with Huntington's disease or myotonic dystrophy. Broad ranges of repeat instability arise between individuals with expanded repeats, suggesting the existence of modifiers of repeat instability. Mice with expanded CAG/CTG repeats show variable levels of instability depending upon mouse strain. However, to date the genetic modifiers underlying these differences have not been identified. We show that in liver and striatum the R6/1 Huntington's disease (HD) (CAG)~100 transgene, when present in a congenic C57BL/6J (B6) background, incurred expansion-biased repeat mutations, whereas the repeat was stable in a congenic BALB/cByJ (CBy) background. Reciprocal congenic mice revealed the Msh3 gene as the determinant for the differences in repeat instability. Expansion bias was observed in congenic mice homozygous for the B6 Msh3 gene on a CBy background, while the CAG tract was stabilized in congenics homozygous for the CBy Msh3 gene on a B6 background. The CAG stabilization was as dramatic as genetic deficiency of Msh2. The B6 and CBy Msh3 genes had identical promoters but differed in coding regions and showed strikingly different protein levels. B6 MSH3 variant protein is highly expressed and associated with CAG expansions, while the CBy MSH3 variant protein is expressed at barely detectable levels, associating with CAG stability. The DHFR protein, which is divergently transcribed from a promoter shared by the Msh3 gene, did not show varied levels between mouse strains. Thus, naturally occurring MSH3 protein polymorphisms are modifiers of CAG repeat instability, likely through variable MSH3 protein stability. Since evidence supports that somatic CAG instability is a modifier and predictor of disease, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that variable levels of CAG instability associated with polymorphisms of DNA repair genes may have prognostic implications for various repeat-associated diseases

Characterization of the behavior of carotenoids from pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) during microemulsion production and in a dynamic gastrointestinal system

Uncommon tropical fruits are emerging as raw-material for new food products with health benefits. This work aimed at formulating and processing microemulsions from pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) fruits, since they are very rich in carotenoids (particularly lycopene and -carotene), in order to encapsulate and increase carotenoids bioaccessibility. Pitanga and buriti microemulsions were produced by applying a direct processing (high-speed homogenization at 15,000 rpm and ultrasound with 20 kHz probe at 40% amplitude) of the whole pulp together with surfactant (Tween 80 or Whey Protein Isolate at 2%) and corn oil (5%). All treatments (HSHUS for 04, 40, 44, 48 minmin) applied were able to increase the amount of carotenoid released. However, the processing also decreased the total amount of carotenoids in the whole pulp of studied fruits. The impact of processing during microemulsion production was not severe. The overall data suggest that the presence of surfactant and oil during processing may protect the carotenoids in fruits and microemulsions. Final recovery of total carotenoids, after passing the samples through a dynamic gastrointestinal system that simulates the human digestion, was higher for microemulsions than for whole pulps. High losses of total carotenoids in buriti and -carotene and lycopene in pitanga occurred during jejunum and ileum phases. The present work confirms that it is possible to increase -carotene and lycopene bioaccessibility from fruits by directly processing microemulsions (p<0.01).This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP through research funding [Grant #2015/15507-9] and Ph.D. scholarship for Paulo Berni [Grant #2014/15119-6] and a Research Internships Abroad (BEPE) support [Grant #2016/13355-0]. The author Ana C. Pinheiro is recipient of a fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [Grant SFRH/BPD/101181/2014]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Stoichiometry of Base Excision Repair Proteins Correlates with Increased Somatic CAG Instability in Striatum over Cerebellum in Huntington's Disease Transgenic Mice

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of an unstable CAG repeat in the coding sequence of the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. Instability affects both germline and somatic cells. Somatic instability increases with age and is tissue-specific. In particular, the CAG repeat sequence in the striatum, the brain region that preferentially degenerates in HD, is highly unstable, whereas it is rather stable in the disease-spared cerebellum. The mechanisms underlying the age-dependence and tissue-specificity of somatic CAG instability remain obscure. Recent studies have suggested that DNA oxidation and OGG1, a glycosylase involved in the repair of 8-oxoguanine lesions, contribute to this process. We show that in HD mice oxidative DNA damage abnormally accumulates at CAG repeats in a length-dependent, but age- and tissue-independent manner, indicating that oxidative DNA damage alone is not sufficient to trigger somatic instability. Protein levels and activities of major base excision repair (BER) enzymes were compared between striatum and cerebellum of HD mice. Strikingly, 5′-flap endonuclease activity was much lower in the striatum than in the cerebellum of HD mice. Accordingly, Flap Endonuclease-1 (FEN1), the main enzyme responsible for 5′-flap endonuclease activity, and the BER cofactor HMGB1, both of which participate in long-patch BER (LP–BER), were also significantly lower in the striatum compared to the cerebellum. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that POLβ was specifically enriched at CAG expansions in the striatum, but not in the cerebellum of HD mice. These in vivo data fit a model in which POLβ strand displacement activity during LP–BER promotes the formation of stable 5′-flap structures at CAG repeats representing pre-expanded intermediate structures, which are not efficiently removed when FEN1 activity is constitutively low. We propose that the stoichiometry of BER enzymes is one critical factor underlying the tissue selectivity of somatic CAG expansion