Search results for "Egan"
showing 10 items of 215 documents
In vitro versus in vivo compositional landscapes of histone sequence preferences in eucaryotic genomes
2018
Abstract Motivation Although the nucleosome occupancy along a genome can be in part predicted by in vitro experiments, it has been recently observed that the chromatin organization presents important differences in vitro with respect to in vivo. Such differences mainly regard the hierarchical and regular structures of the nucleosome fiber, whose existence has long been assumed, and in part also observed in vitro, but that does not apparently occur in vivo. It is also well known that the DNA sequence has a role in determining the nucleosome occupancy. Therefore, an important issue is to understand if, and to what extent, the structural differences in the chromatin organization between in vit…
Novel Modulators of Proteostasis: RNAi Screen of Chromosome I in a Heat Stress Paradigm in C. elegans
2018
Proteostasis is of vital importance for cellular function and it is challenged upon exposure to acute or chronic insults during neurodegeneration and aging. The proteostasis network is relevant for the maintenance of proteome integrity and mainly comprises molecular chaperones and two degradation pathways, namely, autophagy and the ubiquitin proteasome system. This network is characterized by an impressive functional interrelation and complexity, and occasionally novel factors are discovered that modulate proteostasis. Here, we present an RNAi screen in C. elegans, which aimed to identify modulators of proteostasis in a heat stress paradigm. The screen comprised genes that are located on ch…
Evaluation of Carotenoids Protection Against Oxidative Stress in the Animal Model Caenorhabditis elegans
2019
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a versatile and powerful model organism for animal experimental research and, despite being an invertebrate, displays remarkably similar molecular bases and conserved cellular pathways to those of humans. Oxidative stress is an etiological factor that influences numerous diseases, degenerative processes and aging. C. elegans has revealed as an opportune and feasible organism to investigate the antioxidant effects of different bioactives or complex food matrices, and a number of protocols have been developed by using different oxidative stressors. Carotenoids are recognized as quenchers and scavengers of reactive oxygen species, and many of their relate…
Heat-Treated Bifidobacterium longum CECT-7347: A Whole-Cell Postbiotic with Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Gut-Barrier Protection Properties
2021
Non-viable preparations of probiotics, as whole-cell postbiotics, attract increasing interest because of their intrinsic technological stability, and their functional properties, such as immune system modulation, gut barrier maintenance, and protection against pathogens. However, reports on Bifidobacteria-derived postbiotics remain scarce. This study aims to demonstrate the functional properties of a heat-treated (HT), non-viable, Bifidobacterium longum strain, CECT-7347, a strain previously selected for its anti-inflammatory phenotype and ability to improve biomarkers of intestinal integrity in clinical trials. The study used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and HT-29 cell cultures as e…
Effect of plant sterol and galactooligosaccharides enriched beverages on oxidative stress and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans
2020
Abstract This study evaluates the impact of two plant sterol (PS) enriched fruit beverages (0.6 g /100 ml), without (MfB) or with GOS (MfB-G) (1.2 g/100 ml) on the resistance against oxidative stress induced by non-conventional (cholesterol oxidation products (COPs)) and conventional (H2O2) oxidant compounds, as well as their impact on C. elegans longevity. Nematodes fed with both beverages (0.005–0.25%, v/v) showed similar improved oxidative stress resistance against COPs and H2O2. This effect was dependent on daf-16 transcription factor, although GOS showed an additional beneficial effect independent to daf-16. In addition, both beverages extended nematode lifespan, independently of the p…
Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo model to assess fucoidan bioactivity preventing Helicobacter pylori infection
2020
Currently, Helicobacter pylori is the unique biological carcinogenic agent. The search for antimicrobial alternatives to antibiotics against this pathogen has been categorized as a priority due to the drastic failure associated with current applied antibiotic therapy. The present study assessed the bioactive antimicrobial capability of fucoidan (“Generally Recognized as Safe” approval – European Commission December 2017) from different species of Phaeophyceae algae (Fucus vesiculosus, Undaria pinnatifida, Macrocystis pyrifera) against H. pylori. All the studied fucoidans showed bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects at the studied concentrations [5–100] μg ml−1 and exposure times [0–7 days…
A Novel Micronutrient Blend Mimics Calorie Restriction Transcriptomics in Multiple Tissues of Mice and Increases Lifespan and Mobility in C. elegans
2020
Background: We previously described a novel micronutrient blend that behaves like a putative calorie restriction mimetic. The aim of this paper was to analyze the beneficial effects of our micronutrient blend in mice and C. elegans, and compare them with calorie restriction. Methods: Whole transcriptomic analysis was performed in the brain cortex, skeletal muscle and heart in three groups of mice: old controls (30 months), old + calorie restriction and old + novel micronutrient blend. Longevity and vitality were tested in C. elegans. Results: The micronutrient blend elicited transcriptomic changes in a manner similar to those in the calorie-restricted group and different from those in the c…
Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
2021
Although plant-based diets provide well-established physical and environmental health benefits, omitting meat or meat products has also been associated with a risk of being deficient in specific nutrients, such as iron. As data on the iron status among Norwegian vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians are lacking, the present study aimed to assess iron status in these groups of healthy adults. Blood markers for iron status were measured in 191 participants (18–60 years old) comprising 106 vegans, 54 vegetarians and 31 pescatarians: serum-ferritin (S-Fe), serum-iron (S-Iron) and serum-total iron binding capacity (S-TIBC). Serum-transferrin-saturation (S-TSAT) was estimated (S-Iron/S-TIBC × 100)…
Tryptophan-Containing Dual Neuroprotective Peptides: Prolyl Endopeptidase Inhibition and Caenorhabditis elegans Protection from β-Amyloid Peptide Tox…
2018
Neuroprotective peptides represent an attractive pharmacological strategy for the prevention or treatment of age-related diseases, for which there are currently few effective therapies. Lactoferrin (LF)-derived peptides (PKHs) and a set of six rationally-designed tryptophan (W)-containing heptapeptides (PACEIs) were characterized as prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) inhibitors, and their effect on β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was evaluated. Two LF-derived sequences, PKH8 and PKH11, sharing a W at the C-terminal end, and the six PACEI heptapeptides (PACEI48L to PACEI53L) exhibited significant in vitro PEP inhibition. The inhibitory pe…
Network motif-based analysis of regulatory patterns in paralogous gene pairs
2020
Current high-throughput experimental techniques make it feasible to infer gene regulatory interactions at the whole-genome level with reasonably good accuracy. Such experimentally inferred regulatory networks have become available for a number of simpler model organisms such as S. cerevisiae, and others. The availability of such networks provides an opportunity to compare gene regulatory processes at the whole genome level, and in particular, to assess similarity of regulatory interactions for homologous gene pairs either from the same or from different species. We present here a new technique for analyzing the regulatory interaction neighborhoods of paralogous gene pairs. Our central focu…