Microscopy, Confocal

Telomere shortening in normal human cells causes replicative senescence, a p53-dependent growth arrest state, which is thought to represent an innate defence against tumour progression. However, although it has been postulated that critical telomere loss generates a 'DNA damage' signal, the signalling pathway(s) that alerts cells to short dysfunctional telomeres remains only partially defined.

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in man species and modulates evolutionary conserved signalling and metabolic pathways. Most of these studies were done in adult animals. Here we investigated fat phenotypes of C. elegans larvae and adults which were exposed to DR during development. This approach was named "developmental-DR" (dDR). Moderate as well as stringent dDR increased the triglyceride to protein ratio in L4 larvae and adult worms. This alteration was accompanied by a marked expansion of intestinal and hypodermal lipid droplets.

In the cerebral prefrontal cortex (PFC), DNA-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), the enzyme that catalyzes the methylation of cytosine at carbon atoms in position 5 in CpG dinucleotides, is expressed selectively in GABAergic neurons and is upregulated in layers I and II of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder patients with psychosis (BDP).

Several lines of schizophrenia (SZ) research suggest that a functional downregulation of the prefrontal cortex GABAergic neuronal system is mediated by a promoter hypermethylation, presumably catalyzed by an increase in DNA-methyltransferase-1 (DNMT-1) expression. This promoter hypermethylation may be mediated not only by DNMT-1 but also by an entire family of de novo DNA-methyltransferases, such as DNA-methyltransferase-3a (DNMT-3a) and -3b (DNMT-3b).

RBX11160 (OZ277) is a fully synthetic peroxidic antimalarial in clinical development. To study the possible mechanisms of action of RBX11160, we have examined its ability to inhibit PfATP6, a sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase and proposed target for semisynthetic peroxidic artemisinin derivatives. RBX11160 inhibits PfATP6 (apparent half-maximal inhibitory constant=7,700 nM) less potently than artemisinin (79 nM). Inhibition of PfATP6 is abrogated by desferrioxamine, an iron-chelating agent.

Plasmodium chabaudi malaria parasite organelles are major elements for ion homeostasis and cellular signaling and also target for antimalarial drugs. By using confocal imaging of intraerythrocytic parasites we demonstrated that the dye acridine orange (AO) is accumulated into P. chabaudi subcellular compartments. The AO could be released from the parasite organelles by collapsing the pH gradient with the K+/H+ ionophore nigericin (20 microM), or by inhibiting the H+-pump with bafilomycin (4 microM).

Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoan parasite responsible for severe malaria infection, undergoes a complex life cycle. Infected red blood cells (iRBC) sequester in host cerebral microvessels, which underlies the pathology of cerebral malaria. Using immunohistochemistry on post mortem brain samples, we demonstrated positive staining for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on iRBC.

BACKGROUND: Malaria, a major public health issue in developing nations, is responsible for more than one million deaths a year. The most lethal species, Plasmodium falciparum, causes up to 90% of fatalities. Drug resistant strains to common therapies have emerged worldwide and recent artemisinin-based combination therapy failures hasten the need for new antimalarial drugs. Discovering novel compounds to be used as antimalarials is expedited by the use of a high-throughput screen (HTS) to detect parasite growth and proliferation.

Endophytic actinobacteria colonize internal tissues of their host plants and are considered as a rich and reliable source of diverse species and functional microorganisms. In this study, endophytic actinobacterial strain YIM 63111 was isolated from surface-sterilized tissue of the medicinal plant Artemisia annua. We identified strain YIM 63111 as a member of the genus Pseudonocardia. A. annua seedlings grown under both sterile and greenhouse conditions were inoculated with strain YIM 63111. The growth of A.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Stem bark gum resin extract of Boswellia serrata is traditionally used in India for its hemostatic, antiinflammatory and cardiovascular health effects and it is named as Śallakī in Ayurvedic medicine. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidative and antithrombotic properties of stem bark gum resin extracts of Boswellia serrata (BS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The inhibitory activity of the BSWE and BSAE on FeCl(3) induced lipid peroxidation (in vitro) in rat liver and heart homogenates was measured spectrophotometrically.