Fruit morphological characteristics of cultivated Aquilaria lam. (Thymelaeaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia

The agarwood-producing tree, Aquilaria spp. was recently domesticated and largely cultivated for the purpose of sustainably producing agarwood in Malaysia. In this study, fruit morphological characteristics of five Aquilaria species commonly cultivated in Peninsular Malaysia are reported. Each species has significant fruit or capsule characteristics that could be used in speciesidentification: Aquilaria crassna - huge and wrinkled, Aquilaria hirta - velvety and obtuse calyx lobes, Aquilaria malaccensis - paper-like texture and triangular calyx lobes, Aquilaria sinensis - diamond-shaped and oblong calyx lobes, and Aquilaria subintegra - fine hairs and rounded calyx lobes. These features are significant taxonomic characteristics for differentiating the five species

Radiation-induced Assembly of Rad51 and Rad52 Recombination Complex Requires ATM and c-Abl

Cells from individuals with the recessive cancer-prone disorder ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation (I-R). ATM (mutated in A-T) is a protein kinase whose activity is stimulated by I-R. c-Abl, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, interacts with ATM and is activated by ATM following I-R. Rad51 is a homologue of bacterial RecA protein required for DNA recombination and repair. Here we demonstrate that there is an I-R-induced Rad51 tyrosine phosphorylation, and this induction is dependent on both ATM and c-Abl. ATM, c-Abl, and Rad51 can be co-immunoprecipitated from cell extracts. Consistent with the physical interaction, c-Abl phosphorylates Rad51 in vitro and in vivo. In assays using purified components, phosphorylation of Rad51 by c-Abl enhances complex formation between Rad51 and Rad52, which cooperates with Rad51 in recombination and repair. After I-R, an increase in association between Rad51 and Rad52 occurs in wild-type cells but not in cells with mutations that compromise ATM or c-Abl. Our data suggest signaling mediated through ATM, and c-Abl is required for the correct post-translational modification of Rad51, which is critical for the assembly of Rad51 repair protein complex following I-R

Microscopy and Chemical Composition of Healthy and Resinous Wood from the Agarwood-Producing Species, Aqualaria Beccariana

Aquilaria beccariana is a vulnerable Malaysian agarwood-producing species due to illegal harvesting and indiscriminate deforestation. Despite its current conservation status, the chemical profiling of this valuable species is seemingly non-existent. The current study aimed to evaluate the morphological characteristics of A. beccariana wood and identify the volatile chemical compounds of its wood and essential oil. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used to study the wood morphology, while gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used. The FESEM analysis revealed that vessel pits were distinct in the healthy wood samples but hardly visible in the resinous wood sample. The monoterpene, sesquiterpenes, and sesquiterpenoid were detected, whereby 35 constituents were from the resinous wood sample, which consisted of 15.29% sesquiterpenes and 50.68% sesquiterpenoid. The major compounds were kessane, α-longipinene, α-curcumene, eudesmol, and epi-α-bisabolol. Approximately 32 compounds were identified in the essential oil sample, comprising 36.69% of sesquiterpenes and 49.58% of sesquiterpenoids. The principal compounds were 7-epi-γ-eudesmol, γcadinene, allo-aromadendrene, kessane, and nor-ketoagarofuran. This study provides valuable information on the volatile chemical compound profiles of A. beccariana; thus, it would further contribute to the search for potential chemical markers for species detection and agarwood classification efforts

Stroma Regulates Increased Epithelial Lateral Cell Adhesion in 3D Culture: A Role for Actin/Cadherin Dynamics

Cell shape and tissue architecture are controlled by changes to junctional proteins and the cytoskeleton. How tissues control the dynamics of adhesion and cytoskeletal tension is unclear. We have studied epithelial tissue architecture using 3D culture models and found that adult primary prostate epithelial cells grow into hollow acinus-like spheroids. Importantly, when co-cultured with stroma the epithelia show increased lateral cell adhesions. To investigate this mechanism further we aimed to: identify a cell line model to allow repeatable and robust experiments; determine whether or not epithelial adhesion molecules were affected by stromal culture; and determine which stromal signalling molecules may influence cell adhesion in 3D epithelial cell cultures.The prostate cell line, BPH-1, showed increased lateral cell adhesion in response to stroma, when grown as 3D spheroids. Electron microscopy showed that 9.4% of lateral membranes were within 20 nm of each other and that this increased to 54% in the presence of stroma, after 7 days in culture. Stromal signalling did not influence E-cadherin or desmosome RNA or protein expression, but increased E-cadherin/actin co-localisation on the basolateral membranes, and decreased paracellular permeability. Microarray analysis identified several growth factors and pathways that were differentially expressed in stroma in response to 3D epithelial culture. The upregulated growth factors TGFβ2, CXCL12 and FGF10 were selected for further analysis because of previous associations with morphology. Small molecule inhibition of TGFβ2 signalling but not of CXCL12 and FGF10 signalling led to a decrease in actin and E-cadherin co-localisation and increased paracellular permeability.In 3D culture models, paracrine stromal signals increase epithelial cell adhesion via adhesion/cytoskeleton interactions and TGFβ2-dependent mechanisms may play a key role. These findings indicate a role for stroma in maintaining adult epithelial tissue morphology and integrity

Anticancer drugs for the modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress

Prior research has demonstrated how the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) functions as a multifunctional organelle and as a well-orchestrated protein-folding unit. It consists of sensors which detect stress-induced unfolded/misfolded proteins and it is the place where protein folding is catalyzed with chaperones. During this folding process, an immaculate disulfide bond formation requires an oxidized environment provided by the ER. Protein folding and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a protein oxidative byproduct in ER are crosslinked. An ER stress-induced response also mediates the expression of the apoptosis-associated gene C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and death receptor 5 (DR5). ER stress induces the upregulation of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor and opening new horizons for therapeutic research. These findings can be used to maximize TRAIL-induced apoptosis in xenografted mice. This review summarizes the current understanding of the interplay between ER stress and ROS. We also discuss how damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) function as modulators of immunogenic cell death and how natural products and drugs have shown potential in regulating ER stress and ROS in different cancer cell lines. Drugs as inducers and inhibitors of ROS modulation may respectively exert inducible and inhibitory effects on ER stress and unfolded protein response (UPR). Reconceptualization of the molecular crosstalk among ROS modulating effectors, ER stress, and DAMPs will lead to advances in anticancer therapy