scholarly journals Electrochemical Response of Cells Using Bioactive Plant Isolates

Author(s):  
Elvis K. Tiburu ◽  
Richard Asiamah ◽  
Bernard O. Asimeng ◽  
Samuel Kojo Kwofie ◽  
Emmanuel Nyankson ◽  
...  

Traditional herbal medical practices continue to be part of the healthcare needs of the world especially residents of sub-Sahara Africa (sSA). However, the mechanism of action of the plant metabolites to elicit their potency continue to be a mystery due to the lack of standardized methods. The mechanism of plant bioactive compounds to cause cell death is gradually being linked to membrane polarization and depolarization behaviour. The current work seeks to probe the electrochemical response of model cells using bioactive compounds captured in bio-zeolites or membrane mimetics. The voltage and current fluctuations emanating from such studies will establish a correlation between cell death and membrane depolarization. It will be a useful biological interface sensing material with the potential to identify plant metabolites that can selectively detect and destroy diseased cells. Several model membranes have already been developed for biomedical applications and this new paradigm will elevate the usefulness of these model systems. The concept was investigated using extracts from Dioclea reflexa (DR) hook which belongs to the leguminous family. There are certain class of compounds in Dioclea reflexa (DR) that have clinical usefulness in both temperate and tropical regions, however the identity of the bioactive compounds responsible for inducing cell death continue to be a major challenge.

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Disha Varijakzhan ◽  
Jiun-Yan Loh ◽  
Wai-Sum Yap ◽  
Khatijah Yusoff ◽  
Rabiha Seboussi ◽  
...  

Marine sponges are sessile invertebrates that can be found in temperate, polar and tropical regions. They are known to be major contributors of bioactive compounds, which are discovered in and extracted from the marine environment. The compounds extracted from these sponges are known to exhibit various bioactivities, such as antimicrobial, antitumor and general cytotoxicity. For example, various compounds isolated from Theonella swinhoei have showcased various bioactivities, such as those that are antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. In this review, we discuss bioactive compounds that have been identified from marine sponges that showcase the ability to act as antibacterial, antiviral, anti-malarial and antifungal agents against human pathogens and fish pathogens in the aquaculture industry. Moreover, the application of such compounds as antimicrobial agents in other veterinary commodities, such as poultry, cattle farming and domesticated cats, is discussed, along with a brief discussion regarding the mode of action of these compounds on the targeted sites in various pathogens. The bioactivity of the compounds discussed in this review is focused mainly on compounds that have been identified between 2000 and 2020 and includes the novel compounds discovered from 2018 to 2021.


2002 ◽  
Vol 227 (9) ◽  
pp. 724-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corrine Welt ◽  
Yisrael Sidis ◽  
Henry Keutmann ◽  
Alan Schneyer

It has been 70 years since the name inhibin was used to describe a gonadal factor that negatively regulated pituitary hormone secretion. The majority of this period was required to achieve purification and definitive characterization of inhibin, an event closely followed by identification and characterization of activin and follistatin (FS). In contrast, the last 15–20 years saw a virtual explosion of information regarding the biochemistry, physiology, and biosynthesis of these proteins, as well as identification of activin receptors, and a unique mechanism for FS action—the nearly irreversible binding and neutralization of activin. Many of these discoveries have been previously summarized; therefore, this review will cover the period from the mid 1990s to present, with particular emphasis on emerging themes and recent advances. As the field has matured, recent efforts have focused more on human studies, so the endocrinology of inhibin, activin, and FS in the human is summarized first. Another area receiving significant recent attention is local actions of activin and its regulation by both FS and inhibin. Because activin and FS are produced in many tissues, we chose to focus on a few particular examples with the most extensive experimental support, the pituitary and the developing follicle, although nonreproductive actions of activin and FS are also discussed. At the cellular level, it now seems that activin acts largely as an autocrine and/or paracrine growth factor, similar to other members of the transforming growh factor β superfamily. As we discuss in the next section, its actions are regulated extracellularly by both inhibin and FS. In the final section, intracellular mediators and modulators of activin signaling are reviewed in detail. Many of these are shared with other transforming growh factor β superfamily members as well as unrelated molecules, and in a number of cases, their physiological relevance to activin signal propagation remains to be elucidated. Nevertheless, taken together, recent findings suggest that it may be more appropriate to consider a new paradigm for inhibin, activin, and FS in which activin signaling is regulated extracellularly by both inhibin and FS whereas a number of intracellular proteins act to modulate cellular responses to these activin signals. It is therefore the balance between activin and all of its modulators, rather than the actions of any one component, that determines the final biological outcome. As technology and model systems become more sophisticated in the next few years, it should become possible to test this concept directly to more clearly define the role of activin, inhibin, and FS in reproductive physiology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. 202106
Author(s):  
Marcelo Cervo Chelotti ◽  
Rosa Maria Vieira Medeiros

CARTOGRAPHS OF VITICULTURE IN MINAS GERAIS: from South genesis to North expansionCARTOGRAFÍAS DE LA VITICULTURA EN MINAS GERAIS: de la génesis en el Sur a la expansión al NorteRESUMOO presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar a reorientação no deslocamento do padrão espacial do cultivo de uvas no estado de Minas Gerais, originalmente localizado no Sul, mas expandiu-se para o norte mineiro nas últimas décadas. Os procedimentos metodológicos centraram-se na revisão de literatura sobre a viticultura no Brasil, e na coleta em dados secundários na Pesquisa Agrícola Municipal/PAM/IBGE, nos Censos Agropecuários do IBGE, além do Banco de Dados de Uva, Vinho e Derivados/VITIBRASIL. Os mapas temáticos demonstraram a dinâmica da viticultura em Minas Gerais, evidenciando uma mudança no padrão espacial, ou seja, historicamente concentrada no sul do estado, mas verificamos no pós-1990 uma expansão geográfica para o norte, principalmente em direção ao Cerrado e vale do Rio São Francisco. O papel desempenhado pela pesquisa, na busca de novas técnicas para a viticultura em regiões tropicais, tem uma grande centralidade nesse processo, uma vez que estamos diante de um novo paradigma para a produção de uvas e vinhos.Palavras-chave: Viticultura; Regionalização; Geografia do Vinho; Minas Gerais.ABSTRACTThis article has the goal to analyze the reorientation in the displacement of the spatial pattern of grape cultivation in the state of Minas Gerais, originally located in the south, but has expanded to the north of Minas Gerais in recent decades. The methodological procedures focused on the literature review on viticulture in Brazil, and the collection of secondary data from the Municipal Agricultural Research/PAM/IBGE, the IBGE Agricultural Census, and the Grape, Wine and Derivatives Database/VITIBRASIL. Thematic maps showed the dynamics of viticulture in Minas Gerais, showing a change in the spatial pattern, that is, historically concentrated in the south of the state. Sao Francisco River. The role played by the research in the search for new techniques for viticulture in tropical regions has a great centrality in this process, since we are facing a new paradigm for the production of grapes and wines.Keywords: Viticulture; Regionalization; Wine Geography; Minas Gerais.RESUMENEl presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la reorientación en el desplazamiento del patrón espacial del cultivo de la uva en el estado de Minas Gerais, originalmente ubicado en el sur, pero se ha expandido al norte de Minas Gerais en las últimas décadas. Los procedimientos metodológicos se centraron en la revisión de la literatura sobre viticultura en Brasil, y en la recopilación de datos secundarios en la Investigación Agrícola Municipal/PAM/IBGE, en los Censos Agrícolas del IBGE, además de la Base de Datos de Uva, Vino y Derivados/VITIBRASIL. Los mapas temáticos demostraron la dinámica de la viticultura en Minas Gerais, mostrando un cambio en el patrón espacial, es decir, históricamente concentrado en el sur del estado, pero en la década de 1990 verificamos una expansión geográfica hacia el norte, principalmente hacia el Cerrado y Vale do Río São Francisco El papel desempeñado por la investigación, en la búsqueda de nuevas técnicas para la viticultura en las regiones tropicales, tiene una gran centralidad en este proceso, ya que nos enfrentamos a un nuevo paradigma para la producción de uvas y vinos.Palabras-clave: Viticultura; Regionalización; Geografía del Vino; Minas Gerais.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S382-S382
Author(s):  
Senu Apewokin ◽  
Suman Pradhan ◽  
Michael Frerick ◽  
Alison Weiss

Abstract Background Patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy are ten times more likely to develop Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) than the general patient population. Efforts to outline pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying this disproportionate incidence have been limited by the lack of disease-representative experimental models. We hypothesized that iHIOs could serve as toxicity models to evaluate chemotherapy-associated CDI Methods Intact iHIOs were exposed to cytotoxic chemotherapy (melphalan) in gut media at therapeutic doses (9 μg/mL; which is the equivalent of 140 mg/m2 human dose). Cellular death was assessed by accumulation of the membrane permeant dye, Sytox-orange added at 5-days post treatment. iHIOs were also exposed to CD toxin A and B (TcdA and TcdB respectively) and epithelial barrier damage assessed by actin mislocalization and loss of E-cadherin. For controls iHIOs were exposed / microinjected with saline/PBS. Morphological and histological changes were then captured using light and confocal microscopy Results Morphologic and histologic assessments demonstrated cell death and epithelial barrier damage Conclusion iHIOs demonstrate cell death on exposure to CD toxins and melphalan chemotherapy. These properties could be harnessed in establishing toxicity models for evaluation of chemotherapy-associated CDI Disclosures S. Apewokin, T2 biosystems: Investigator, Research support Astellas: Scientific Advisor, Consulting fee


Metabolites ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hammad Ismail ◽  
Anna L. Gillespie ◽  
Danielle Calderwood ◽  
Haroon Iqbal ◽  
Colene Gallagher ◽  
...  

Plant secondary metabolites are protective dietary constituents and rol genes evidently increase the synthesis of these versatile phytochemicals. This study subjected a globally important vegetable, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) to a combination of untargeted metabolomics (LC-QTof-MS) and in vitro bioactivity assays. Specifically, we examined the differences between untransformed cultured lettuce (UnT), lettuce transformed with either rolABC (RA) or rolC (RC) and commercially grown (COM) lettuce. Of the 5333 metabolite features aligned, deconvoluted and quantified 3637, 1792 and 3737 significantly differed in RA, RC and COM, respectively, compared with UnT. In all cases the number of downregulated metabolites exceeded the number increased. In vitro bioactivity assays showed that RA and RC (but not COM) significantly improved the ability of L. sativa to inhibit α-glucosidase, inhibit dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and stimulate GLP-1 secretion. We putatively identified 76 lettuce metabolites (sesquiterpene lactones, non-phenolic and phenolic compounds) some of which were altered by several thousand percent in RA and RC. Ferulic acid levels increased 3033–9777%, aminooxononanoic acid increased 1141–1803% and 2,3,5,4′tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-d-glucoside increased 40,272–48,008%. Compound activities were confirmed using commercially obtained standards. In conclusion, rol gene transformation significantly alters the metabolome of L.sativa and enhances its antidiabetic properties. There is considerable potential to exploit rol genes to modulate secondary metabolite production for the development of novel functional foods. This investigation serves as a new paradigm whereby genetic manipulation, metabolomic analysis and bioactivity techniques can be combined to enable the discovery of novel natural bioactives and determine the functional significance of plant metabolites.


2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richelle A. Hemendinger ◽  
Edward J. Armstrong ◽  
Rafal Persinski ◽  
Julianne Todd ◽  
Jean-Luc Mougeot ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2068-2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIRGÍNIA F. ALVES ◽  
ELAINE C. P. DE MARTINIS ◽  
MARIA TERESA DESTRO ◽  
BIRTE FONNESBECH VOGEL ◽  
LONE GRAM

Data on the prevalence and growth of Listeria monocytogenes in lightly preserved fish products from subtropical and tropical regions are very scarce. Our research describes L. monocytogenes that was detected in 5% of the packages of cold-smoked surubim, a native Brazilian freshwater fish that we analyzed, and shows that the strains isolated were of the same random amplified polymorphic DNA subtype as the strains that were isolated from the same factory 4 years earlier. A bacteriocinogenic strain of Carnobacterium piscicola (strain C2), isolated from vacuum-packed cold-smoked surubim, and two C. piscicola strains, isolated from vacuum-packed, cold-smoked salmon, were capable of limiting or completely inhibiting the growth of an L. monocytogenes (strain V2) isolated from surubim in fish peptone model systems incubated at 10°C. Mono-cultures of L. monocytogenes reached 108 CFU/ml (g), whereas the growth of L. monocytogenes was completely inhibited by C. piscicola C2. The bacteriocinogenic C. piscicola A9b+ and its nonbacteriocinogenic mutant A9b− reduced maximum Listeria levels by 2 to 3 log units. Both bacteriocinogenic C. piscicola strains prevented listerial growth in cold-smoked fish juices (surubim and salmon). Although the carnobacteria grew poorly on cold-smoked surubim at 10°C, the strains were able to reduce maximum Listeria counts by 1 to 3 log units in an artificially inoculated product (surubim). We conclude that Brazilian smoked fish products harbor L. monocytogenes and should be stabilized against the growth of the organism. C. piscicola C2 has the potential for use as a bioprotective culture in surubim and other lightly preserved fish, but further studies are required to optimize its effect.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blassan P. George ◽  
Heidi Abrahamse

Bioactive compounds from plants represent good candidate drugs for the prevention and treatment of various forms of cancer. Berries are rich sources of bioactive compounds, and there has been an increasing interest in the study of therapeutic action of wild berries. Oxidants are generated continuously in biological system as a result of physiological process. When there is an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants, it leads to a condition called oxidative stress. Natural compounds as inducers of oxidative stress are able to modulate the physiological functions of cancer cells leading to cell death or survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the induction of apoptosis by isolated bioactive compounds (1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-4-methylpentan-1-one (C1) and 2-[(3-methylbutoxy) carbonyl] benzoic acid (C2)) from Rubus fairholmianus against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The exposure of C1 and C2 reduced viability (IC50 of C1: 4.69; C2: 8.36 μg/mL) and proliferation. Cytochrome c release from mitochondria and changes in mitochondrial membrane potential of treated cells supported the intrinsic apoptotic cell death. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production after treatment with C1 and C2 was found to be higher and induced nuclear damage. Expression of apoptotic proteins after the treatments was significantly upregulated as indicated using immunofluorescence (caspase 9, p53, and Bax), western blotting (p53, cleaved PARP, cytochrome c, and Bax), and ELISA (caspase 9) analysis. Overall, C1 was more cytotoxic, increased the ROS production in dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate assay, and induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells. These results illustrate that berry bioactive compounds have strong chemopreventive potential. In this article, we provide information on prooxidant and anticancer activities of Rubus bioactive compounds. Natural products have always demonstrated a significant contribution to the development of several cancer chemotherapeutic drugs. Most of these compounds are known to affect the redox state of the cell; and studies on these compounds have focused on their antioxidant property instead of prooxidant properties.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1835
Author(s):  
Lisa Kraft ◽  
Martina Sauter ◽  
Guiscard Seebohm ◽  
Karin Klingel

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) belongs to the enteroviruses, which are a well-known cause of acute and chronic myocarditis, primarily infecting cardiac myocytes. As primary human cardiomyocytes are difficult to obtain, viral myocarditis is quite frequently studied in vitro in different non-cardiac and cardiac-like cell lines. Recently, cardiomyocytes that have been differentiated from human-induced pluripotent stem cells have been described as a new model system to study CVB3 infection. Here, we compared iCell® Cardiomyocytes with other cell lines that are commonly used to study CVB3 infection regarding their susceptibility and patterns of infection and the mode of cell death. iCell® Cardiomyocytes, HeLa cells, HL-1 cells and H9c2 cells were infected with CVB3 (Nancy strain). The viral load, CVB3 RNA genome localization, VP1 expression (including the intracellular localization), cellular morphology and the expression of cell death markers were compared. The various cell lines clearly differed in their permissiveness to CVB3 infection, patterns of infection, viral load, and mode of cell death. When studying the mode of cell death of CVB3-infected iCell® Cardiomyocytes in more detail, especially regarding the necroptosis key players RIPK1 and RIPK3, we found that RIPK1 is cleaved during CVB3 infection. iCell® Cardiomyocytes represent well the natural host of CVB3 in the heart and are thus the most appropriate model system to study molecular mechanisms of CVB3-induced myocarditis in vitro. Doubts are raised about the suitability of commonly used cell lines such as HeLa cells, HL-1 cells and H9c2 cells to evaluate molecular pathways and processes occurring in vivo in enteroviral myocarditis.


Author(s):  
Yixin Tan ◽  
Quanzhu Chen ◽  
Xiaoling Li ◽  
Zhaoyang Zeng ◽  
Wei Xiong ◽  
...  
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