Search results for "PROTECTION"

Total Synthesis of a Partial Structure from Arabinogalactan and Its Application for Allergy Prevention

2020

Abstract Arabinogalactan, a microheterogeneous polysaccharide occurring in plants, is known for its allergy‐protective activity, which could potentially be used for preventive allergy treatment. New treatment options are highly desirable, especially in a preventive manner, due to the constant rise of atopic diseases worldwide. The structural origin of the allergy‐protective activity of arabinogalactan is, however, still unclear and isolation of the polysaccharide is not feasible for pharmaceutical applications due to a variation of the activity of the natural product and contaminations with endotoxins. Therefore, a pentasaccharide partial structure was selected for total synthesis and subse…

Anti-/Pro-Oxidant Behavior of Naturally Occurring Molecules in Polymers and Biopolymers: A Brief Review

2019

Polymers and biopolymers are continuously subjected to the action of different stress factors, such as oxygen, heat, UV light, mechanical stress, humidity, etc., during their processing and service life, undergoing overall oxidative degradation, that causes performance and property deterioration. To improve the resistance at high temperatures and long-term weatherability of the polymers and biopolymers, usually, during their manufacturing, synthetic antioxidants and UV-light stabilizers are added. In the past decade, several concerns related to the impact of the synthetic stabilizers have emerged, and to reduce their negative effect on human health and the environment, their replacement wit…

Multiple Short Term Effects of UV-B Radiation on the Diatom Phaeodactylum Tricornutum

1998

Increases in UV-B irradiance lead to many specific damaging effects upon the plants including damage of the thylakoid membrane, partial inhibition of PS II, decrease of chloroplast ATPase activity, loss of enzyme activities in the calvin cycle and alterations in pigment synthesis (1). Under natural conditions enhanced UV-B light is always accompanied by high intensities of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). Damaging effects due to photoinhibitory PAR and UV-B light which lead to several oxygen radical species (2) could be reduced by photoprotection mechanisms. One of these protection mechanisms is the xanthophyll cycle. In higher plants and green algae violaxanthin is converted to zeaxa…

Neuroprotective and Mitoprotective Effects of Lemon IntegroPectin on SH-SY5Y Cells

2021

AbstractLemon IntegroPectin obtained via hydrodynamic cavitation of organic lemon processing waste in water shows significant neuroprotective activity in vitro, as first reported in this study investigating the effects of both lemon IntegroPectin and commercial citrus pectin on cell viability, cell morphology, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondria perturbation induced by treatment of neuronal SH-SY5Y human cells with H2O2. Mediated by ROS including H2O2 and its derivatives, oxidative stress alters numerous cellular processes, including mitochondrial regulation and cell signaling, propagating cellular injury that leads to incurable neurodegenerative diseases. These result…

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial failure in the pathogenesis of glaucoma neurodegeneration

2015

This review focuses on oxidative stress and mitochondrial failure for understanding mechanisms of optic nerve damage in primary open-angle glaucoma. The chapter shows scientific evidence for the role of mitochondrial disbalance and reactive oxygen species in glaucoma neurodegeneration. Mitochondria regulate important cellular functions including reactive oxygen species generation and apoptosis. Mitochondrial alterations result from a wide variety of damaging sources. Reactive oxygen species formed by the mitochondria can act as signaling molecules, inducing lipid peroxidation and/or excitotoxicity with the result of cell lesion and death. Antioxidants may help to counteract oxidative stress…

2019

Water-soluble chlorophyll proteins (WSCP) from Brassicaceae form homotetrameric chlorophyll (Chl)–protein complexes binding one Chl per apoprotein and no carotenoids. Despite the lack of photoprotecting pigments, the complex-bound Chls displays a remarkable stability toward photodynamic damage. On the basis of a mutational study, we show that not only the presence of the phytyls is necessary for photoprotection in WSCPs, as we previously demonstrated, but also is their correct conformation and localization. The extreme heat stability of WSCP also depends on the presence of the phytyl chains, confirming their relevance for the unusual stability of WSCP.

The Influence of Biomass Ash on the Migration of Heavy Metals in the Flooded Soil Profile - Model Experiment

2014

Soils that have been exposed to fl ood waters can be heavily polluted by inorganic and organic compounds. They are mainly compounds which appear in dissolved or suspended form fl owing together with heavily laden fl oodwater, as well as compounds created as a result of reactions in the soil profi le, mostly due to anaerobic transformation of organic matter. Heavy metals brought with fl ood waters are absorbed by the soil and also washed out from fl ood sediments by precipitation when the fl ood recedes. This paper presents the results of research on the effects of fertilization with ash from incineration or pyrolysis of biomass on the migration process of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, C…

Hydrophilic and hydrophobic copolymers of a polyasparthylhydrazide bearing positive charges as vector for gene therapy

2008

BACKGROUND: The design of polymeric vectors for gene delivery provided with specific properties is one of the most critical aspects for a successful gene therapy. These polymers should be biocompatible as well as able to carry efficiently DNA to target tissues and to transfect it into cells. RESULTS: The formation of complexes of poly[(α,β-asparthylhydrazide)–poly(ethylene glycol)] and poly[(α,β-asparthylhydrazide)–hexadecylamine] copolymers functionalised with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (PAHy–PEG-GTA and PAHy–C16-GTA, respectively) with DNA was studied. The effects of the introduction of hydrophilic (PEG) or hydrophobic (C16) moieties on the chains of PAHy–GTA copolymers, such as t…

Neuroprotective, antioxidant and antiproliferative activity of grapefruit IntegroPectin on SH-SY5Y cells

2021

AbstractTested in vitro on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, grapefruit IntegroPectin is a powerful neuroprotective, antioxidant and antiproliferative agent. The strong antioxidant properties of grapefruit IntegroPectin, and its ability to preserve mitochondrial membrane potential and morphology, severely impaired in neurodegenerative disorders, make this new biopolymer highly soluble in water an attractive therapeutic agent for oxidative stress-associated brain disorders. Similarly, the ability of this new citrus pectin rich in naringin, linalool, linalool oxide and limonene adsorbed at the outer surface to inhibit cell proliferation or even kill, at high doses, neoplastic cells, coupled to its…

Cathodic behaviour of dicationic imidazolium bromides: the role of the spacer

2019

The cathodic reduction of dicationic imidazolium bromides, whose spacer is either an aliphatic chain or a xylyl group, leads to the formation of the corresponding N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), which were isolated as the corresponding thiones, after reaction with elemental sulfur. The behaviour of the dications was compared with the corresponding monocations. The behaviour of dicarbenes depends on the nature of the spacer. This study evidenced that dicarbenes deriving from xylyl dications are less stable than the corresponding aliphatic ones (giving lower yields in thiones), due to a debenzylation reaction. On the other hand, the yields in thiones starting from aliphatic dications are high…