Search results for "Biomolecular"
showing 10 items of 507 documents
Health benefits of pistachios consumption
2017
The health benefits of nuts, mainly in relation to the improvement of dysmetabolic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and the related cardiovascular diseases, have been widely demonstrated. Compared to other nuts, pistachios have a lower fat and caloric content, and contain the highest levels of unsaturated fatty acids, potassium, γ-tocopherol, phytosterols and xanthophyll carotenoids, all substances that are well known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. This variety of nutrients contributes to the growing body of evidence that the consumption of pistachios improves health, leading to a greater potential of healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activi…
Development and characterization of an experimental model of diet-induced metabolic syndrome in rabbit
2017
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has become one of the main concerns for public health because of its link to cardiovascular disease. Murine models have been used to study the effect of MetS on the cardiovascular system, but they have limitations for studying cardiac electrophysiology. In contrast, the rabbit cardiac electrophysiology is similar to human, but a detailed characterization of the different components of MetS in this animal is still needed. Our objective was to develop and characterize a diet-induced experimental model of MetS that allows the study of cardiovascular remodeling and arrhythmogenesis. Male NZW rabbits were assigned to control (n = 15) or MetS group (n = 16), fed during 2…
Griffonianone D, an isoflavone with anti-inflammatory activity from the root bark of Millettia griffoniana.
2003
A new isoflavone, griffonianone D (1), and the previously known compounds durmillone and odorantin were isolated from a chloroform extract of the root bark of Millettia griffoniana. The structure of 1 was established as (7E)-(6",7"-dihydroxy-3",7"-dimethyloct-2"-enyl)oxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone on the basis of its spectral data. The chloroform extract of the root bark of M. griffoniana and compound 1 showed anti-inflammatory effects in different experimental models of inflammation.
Tucupentol, a novel mono-tetrahydrofuranic acetogenin from Annona montana, as a potent inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I.
2009
Ten acetogenins, one of them new, were isolated from leaves and twigs of a Bolivian collection of Annona montana. The new compound that we named tucupentol (1) is a mono-tetrahydrofuranpentahydroxy-acetogenin. The inhibitory potency of tucupentol (1) on the mitochondrial complex I was evaluated, and this activity was compared with that of the known acetogenins, annonacin-A, cisannonacin-10-one, aromin, and gigantetronenin, also isolated from this plant material. The mentioned acetogenins acted as selective inhibitors of mitochondrial complex I in the 0.8-5.4-nM range. Fil: Álvarez Colom, Olga. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Química …
Resolving Binding Events on the Multifunctional Human Serum Albumin
2020
Abstract Physiological processes rely on initial recognition events between cellular components and other molecules or modalities. Biomolecules can have multiple sites or mode of interaction with other molecular entities, so that a resolution of the individual binding events in terms of spatial localization as well as association and dissociation kinetics is required for a meaningful description. Here we describe a trichromatic fluorescent binding‐ and displacement assay for simultaneous monitoring of three individual binding sites in the important transporter and binding protein human serum albumin. Independent investigations of binding events by X‐ray crystallography and time‐resolved dyn…
Hand-made paper obtained by green procedure of cladode waste of Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill. from Sicily
2019
Cellulosic fibres have been obtained by green procedures from the cladodes of Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill., constituting a large agro industrial waste in our territory. The materials have been analysed for its relative composition, applying, IR and TG methodologies and it was characterised by the absence of lignin. The fibrous material allowed the manufacture of a handmade paper obtaining an ecological material suitable for packaging purposes. The authors evidenced that the simple protocol based on hot water treatment was able to decrease the amount of hemicellulose in the final material.
Cytotoxicity of oleanolic and ursolic acid derivatives toward hepatocellular carcinoma and evaluation of NF-κB involvement.
2019
Oleanolic and ursolic acids are two ubiquitous isomeric triterpene phytochemicals known for their anticancer activity. A set of derivatives of the two compounds with a modified oxidation state and lipophylicity at C-3 and C-28 positions, were prepared and tested as anticancer agents versus the lines HepG2, Hep3B and HA22T/VGH of hepatocarcinoma, a strongly aggressive tumor that is not responsive toward the standard therapies. New derivatives containing a three carbons side chain on the C-3 position were synthetized in both stereoisomeric forms by the Barbier-Grignard procedure and three of them were found to be active toward all of the three targets. The implication of the transcriptional n…
Computational Evaluation and In Vitro Validation of New Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors
2020
Background:The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane protein that acts as a receptor of extracellular protein ligands of the epidermal growth factor (EGF/ErbB) family. It has been shown that EGFR is overexpressed by many tumours and correlates with poor prognosis. Therefore, EGFR can be considered as a very interesting therapeutic target for the treatment of a large variety of cancers such as lung, ovarian, endometrial, gastric, bladder and breast cancers, cervical adenocarcinoma, malignant melanoma and glioblastoma.Methods:We have followed a structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) procedure with a library composed of several commercial collections of chemicals (615,46…
Cyclic heptapeptides from the soil-derived fungus Clonostachys rosea
2019
Abstract Three new cyclic heptapeptides (1–3) together with three known compounds (4–6) were isolated from a solid rice culture of the soil-derived fungus Clonostachys rosea. Fermentation of the fungus on white beans instead of rice afforded a new γ-lactam (7) and a known γ-lactone (8) that were not detected in the former extracts. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectra as well as by HRESIMS data. Compounds 1 and 4 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the L5178Y mouse lymphoma cell line with IC50 values of 4.1 and 0.1 µM, respectively. Compound 4 also displayed cytotoxicity against the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line with an IC50…
Characteristic ERK1/2 signaling dynamics distinguishes necroptosis from apoptosis
2021
International audience; ERK1/2 involvement in cell death remains unclear, although many studies have demonstrated the importance of ERK1/2 dynamics in determining cellular re- sponses. To untangle how ERK1/2 contributes to two cell death programs, we investigated ERK1/2 signaling dynamics during hFasL-induced apoptosis and TNF-induced necroptosis in L929 cells. We observed that ERK1/2 inhibition sensi- tizes cells to apoptosis while delaying necroptosis. By monitoring ERK1/2 activity by live-cell imaging using an improved ERK1/2 biosensor (EKAR4.0), we reported differential ERK1/2 signaling dynamics between cell survival, apoptosis, and nec- roptosis. We also decrypted a temporally shifted …