Search results for "SID"

Hepatoprotective Effect of Steroidal Glycosides From Dioscorea villosa on Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Hepatotoxicity in HepG2 Cells

2018

Dioscorea villosa, commonly known as “Wild Yam” and native to North America, is well documented for its pharmacological properties due to the presence of steroidal glycosides. However, the hepatoprotective potential of these compounds has not been studied so far. The present investigation was aimed to study the hepatoprotective effect of the steroidal glycosides from D. villosa against H2O2, a known hepatotoxin, in human liver cell line (HepG2). Cytotoxicity assessment was carried out in cells exposed to various concentrations (10–50 μM) of compounds for 24 h using MTT assay and morphological changes. All tested compounds were known and among them, spirostans (zingiberensis saponin I, diosc…

Rab33B Controls Hepatitis B Virus Assembly by Regulating Core Membrane Association and Nucleocapsid Processing

2017

Many viruses take advantage of cellular trafficking machineries to assemble and release new infectious particles. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we demonstrate that the Golgi/autophagosome-associated Rab33B is required for hepatitis B virus (HBV) propagation in hepatoma cell lines. While Rab33B is dispensable for the secretion of HBV subviral envelope particles, its knockdown reduced the virus yield to 20% and inhibited nucleocapsid (NC) formation and/or NC trafficking. The overexpression of a GDP-restricted Rab33B mutant phenocopied the effect of deficit Rab33B, indicating that Rab33B-specific effector proteins may be involved. Moreover, we found that HBV replication enhanced Rab33B expres…

Disconnecting bones within the jaw-otic network modules underlies mammalian middle ear evolution

2019

The origin of the mammalian middle ear ossicles from the craniomandibular articulation of their synapsid ancestors is a key event in the evolution of vertebrates. The richness of the fossil record and the multitude of developmental studies have provided a stepwise reconstruction of this evolutionary innovation, highlighting the homology between the quadrate, articular, pre-articular and angular bones of early synapsids with the incus, malleus, gonial and ectotympanic bones of derived mammals, respectively. There are several aspects involved in this functional exaptation: (i) an increase of the masticatory musculature; (ii) the separation of the quadrate bone from the cranium; and (iii) the …

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Pseudoviridae

2021

Pseudoviridae is a family of reverse-transcribing viruses with long terminal repeats (LTRs) belonging to the order Ortervirales. Pseudoviruses are commonly found integrated in the genomes of diverse plants, fungi and animals and are broadly known as Ty1/Copia LTR retrotransposons. Inside the cell, they form icosahedral virus particles, but unlike most other viruses, do not have an extracellular phase. This is a summary of the ICTV Report on the family Pseudoviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/pseudoviridae.

Development of enzymatically-active bacterial cellulose membranes through stable immobilization of an engineered beta-galactosidase

2018

Enzymatically-active bacterial cellulose (BC) was prepared by non-covalent immobilization of a hybrid enzyme composed by a β-galactosidase from Thermotoga maritima (TmLac) and a carbohydrate binding module (CBM2) from Pyrococcus furiosus. TmLac-CBM2 protein was bound to BC, with higher affinity at pH 6.5 than at pH 8.5 and with high specificity compared to the non-engineered enzyme. Both hydrated (HBC) and freeze-dried (DBC) bacterial cellulose showed equivalent enzyme binding efficiencies. Initial reaction rate of HBC-bound enzyme was higher than DBC-bound and both of them were lower than the free enzyme. However, enzyme performance was similar in all three cases for the hydrolysis of 5% l…

2021

To efficiently lower virus infectivity and combat virus epidemics or pandemics, it is important to discover broadly acting antivirals. Here, we investigated two naturally occurring polyphenols, Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and Resveratrol (RES), and polyphenol-functionalized nanoparticles for their antiviral efficacy. Concentrations in the low micromolar range permanently inhibited the infectivity of high doses of enteroviruses (107 PFU/mL). Sucrose gradient separation of radiolabeled viruses, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopic imaging and an in-house developed real-time fluorescence assay revealed that polyphenols prevented infection mainly through clustering of…

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">Inocybe castaneicolor (Agaricales, Basidiomycota), a n…

2017

Inocybe castaneicolor sp. nov., collected in Sicily (Italy), is introduced with full description, line drawings, and color photographs. Its novelty is supported by both its morphology and molecular phylogenetic analysis. It is characterized by its castaneous brown pileus with an evident umbo and sloped margin, subfusiform cystidia and smooth subamygdaliformis to subnavicular spores. Comparison of I. castaneicolor with similar species is also provided.

Transgenerational effects of insecticides - implications for rapid pest evolution in agroecosystems

2018

Although pesticides are a major selective force in driving the evolution of insect pests, the evolutionary processes that give rise to insecticide resistance remain poorly understood. Insecticide resistance has been widely observed to increase with frequent and intense insecticide exposure, but can be lost following the relaxation of insecticide use. One possible but rarely explored explanation is that insecticide resistance may be associated with epigenetic modifications, which influence the patterning of gene expression without changing underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small RNAs have been observed to be heritable in art…

The Cytoskeletal Adaptor Obscurin-Like 1 Interacts with the Human Papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) Capsid Protein L2 and Is Required for HPV16 Endocytosis.

2016

ABSTRACT The human papillomavirus (HPV) capsid protein L2 is essential for viral entry. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of L2, we searched for novel cellular L2-interacting proteins. A yeast two-hybrid analysis uncovered the actin-depolymerizing factor gelsolin, the membrane glycoprotein dysadherin, the centrosomal protein 68 (Cep68), and the cytoskeletal adaptor protein obscurin-like 1 protein (OBSL1) as putative L2 binding molecules. Pseudovirus (PsV) infection assays identified OBSL1 as a host factor required for gene transduction by three oncogenic human papillomavirus types, HPV16, HPV18, and HPV31. In addition, we detected OBSL1 expression in cervical tissue sections and no…

Cytotoxicity of South-African medicinal plants towards sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells

2016

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Traditional medicine plays a major role for primary health care worldwide. Cancer belongs to the leading disease burden in industrialized and developing countries. Successful cancer therapy is hampered by the development of resistance towards established anticancer drugs. Aim In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of 29 extracts from 26 medicinal plants of South-Africa against leukemia cell lines, most of which are used traditionally to treat cancer and related symptoms. Material and methods We have investigated the plant extracts for their cytotoxic activity towards drug-sensitive parental CCRF-CEM leukemia cells and their multidrug-r…