Search results for "Spectroscopy"

A Metagenomic-Based Approach for the Characterization of Bacterial Diversity Associated with Spontaneous Malolactic Fermentations in Wine

2019

This study reports the first application of a next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. The analysis was designed to monitor the effect of the management of microbial resources associated with alcoholic fermentation on spontaneous malolactic consortium. Together with the analysis of 16S rRNA genes from the metagenome, we monitored the principal parameters linked to MLF (e.g., malic and lactic acid concentration, pH). We encompass seven dissimilar concrete practices to manage microorganisms associated with alcoholic fermentation: Un-inoculated must (UM), pied-de-cuve (PdC), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), S. cerevisiae and Torulaspora delbrueckii co-inoculated and sequentially inoculated, as…

Enhancement in Phospholipase D Activity as a New Proposed Molecular Mechanism of Haloperidol-Induced Neurotoxicity

2020

Membrane phospholipase D (PLD) is associated with numerous neuronal functions, such as axonal growth, synaptogenesis, formation of secretory vesicles, neurodegeneration, and apoptosis. PLD acts mainly on phosphatidylcholine, from which phosphatidic acid (PA) and choline are formed. In turn, PA is a key element of the PLD-dependent secondary messenger system. Changes in PLD activity are associated with the mechanism of action of olanzapine, an atypical antipsychotic. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of short-term administration of the first-generation antipsychotic drugs haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and fluphenazine on membrane PLD activity in the rat brain. Animals were…

The Amino-Terminal Domain of GRK5 Inhibits Cardiac Hypertrophy through the Regulation of Calcium-Calmodulin Dependent Transcription Factors.

2018

We have recently demonstrated that the amino-terminal domain of G protein coupled receptor kinase (GRK) type 5, (GRK5-NT) inhibits NFκB activity in cardiac cells leading to a significant amelioration of LVH. Since GRK5-NT is known to bind calmodulin, this study aimed to evaluate the functional role of GRK5-NT in the regulation of calcium-calmodulin-dependent transcription factors. We found that the overexpression of GRK5-NT in cardiomyoblasts significantly reduced the activation and the nuclear translocation of NFAT and its cofactor GATA-4 in response to phenylephrine (PE). These results were confirmed in vivo in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), in which intramyocardial adenovirus-med…

2019

The effects of ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid receptor (GABA-A, GABAA) activation depends critically on the Cl−-gradient across neuronal membranes. Previous studies demonstrated that the intracellular Cl−-concentration ([Cl−]i) is not stable but shows a considerable amount of activity-dependent plasticity. To characterize how membrane properties and different molecules that are directly or indirectly involved in GABAergic synaptic transmission affect GABA-induced [Cl−]i changes, we performed compartmental modeling in the NEURON environment. These simulations demonstrate that GABA-induced [Cl−]i changes decrease at higher membrane resistance, revealing a sigmoidal dependency between both par…

Bioelectrochemical monitoring of soluble guanylate cyclase inhibition by the natural β-carboline canthin-6-one

2017

Abstract The inhibition of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) by canthin-6-one alkaloid ( L1 ) is presented and the mechanism of deactivation is studied using solution phase and voltammetry of microparticles methodologies. Possible inhibition pathways: oxidation of Fe 2+ to Fe 3+ coupled to reduction of the naphthyridone motif present by the canthin-6-one and coordinating or reacting of L1 with cysteine units of sGC, are balanced.

The Multifaced Role of STAT3 in Cancer and Its Implication for Anticancer Therapy

2021

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 is one of the most complex regulators of transcription. Constitutive activation of STAT3 has been reported in many types of tumors and depends on mechanisms such as hyperactivation of receptors for pro-oncogenic cytokines and growth factors, loss of negative regulation, and excessive cytokine stimulation. In contrast, somatic STAT3 mutations are less frequent in cancer. Several oncogenic targets of STAT3 have been recently identified such as c-myc, c-Jun, PLK-1, Pim1/2, Bcl-2, VEGF, bFGF, and Cten, and inhibitors of STAT3 have been developed for cancer prevention and treatment. However, despite the oncogenic role of STAT3 having been…

Serum metabolomic profiling facilitates the non-invasive identification of metabolic biomarkers associated with the onset and progression of non-smal…

2016

Lung cancer (LC) is responsible for most cancer deaths. One of the main factors contributing to the lethality of this disease is the fact that a large proportion of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages when a clinical intervention is unlikely to succeed. In this study, we evaluated the potential of metabolomics by H-1-NMR to facilitate the identification of accurate and reliable biomarkers to support the early diagnosis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We found that the metabolic profile of NSCLC patients, compared with healthy individuals, is characterized by statistically significant changes in the concentration of 18 metabolites representing different amino acids…

Human milk and mucosal lacto- and galacto-N-biose synthesis by transgalactosylation and their prebiotic potential in Lactobacillus species.

2017

Lacto-N-biose (LNB) and galacto-N-biose (GNB) are major building blocks of free oligosaccharides and glycan moieties of glyco-complexes present in human milk and gastrointestinal mucosa. We have previously characterized the phospho-β-galactosidase GnbG from Lactobacillus casei BL23 that is involved in the metabolism of LNB and GNB. GnbG has been used here in transglycosylation reactions, and it showed the production of LNB and GNB with N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine as acceptors, respectively. The reaction kinetics demonstrated that GnbG can convert 69 ± 4 and 71 ± 1 % of o-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside into LNB and GNB, respectively. Those reactions were performed in a s…

Protein-bound tyrosine oxidation, nitration and chlorination by-products assessed by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass sp…

2015

Abstract Background Free radicals cause alterations in cellular protein structure and function. Oxidized, nitrated, and chlorinated modifications of aromatic amino acids including phenylalanine and tyrosine are reliable biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in clinical conditions. Objective To develop, validate and apply a rapid method for the quantification of known hallmarks of tyrosine oxidation, nitration and chlorination in plasma and tissue proteins providing a snapshot of the oxidative stress and inflammatory status of the organism and of target organs respectively. Material and Methods The extraction and clean up procedure entailed protein precipitation, followed by protei…

In silico identification of small molecules as new cdc25 inhibitors through the correlation between chemosensitivity and protein expression pattern

2021

The cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) protein family plays a crucial role in controlling cell proliferation, making it an excellent target for cancer therapy. In this work, a set of small molecules were identified as Cdc25 modulators by applying a mixed ligand-structure-based approach and taking advantage of the correlation between the chemosensitivity of selected structures and the protein expression pattern of the proposed target. In the first step of the in silico protocol, a set of molecules acting as Cdc25 inhibitors were identified through a new ligand-based protocol and the evaluation of a large database of molecular structures. Subsequently, induced-fit docking (IFD) studies allowed us…