This study aimed to evaluate the effects of electroporation on the cell growth, cholesterol removal, and adherence abilities of L. acidophilus BT 1088 and their subsequent passages. The growth of electroporated parent cells increased (P<0.05) by 4.49-21.25% compared with that of the control. This may be attributed to the alteration ...

Metabolic diseases reach epidemic proportions. A better knowledge of the associated alterations in the metabolic pathways in the liver is necessary. These studies need in vitro human cell models. Several human hepatoma models are used, but the response of many metabolic pathways to physiological stimuli is often lost. Here, we ...

Background and purpose:  Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists have been reported to exert anti-albuminuric effects. However, the nephroprotective effects of these drugs remain to be fully understood. We have investigated whether gemfibrozil, GW0742, and pioglitazone protect human podocytes against the nutrient deprivation (ND)-induced cell death and the role of mitochondrial ...

This study assesses the efficacy of anthocyanin rich Brassica olerecea leaves (ARCE) and flavonoid rich Eugenia jambolana seed (EJSE) extracts as possible cardioprotective agents against hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) induced cytotoxicity in H9C2 cells. Presence of ARCE or EJSE resulted in a superior cell viability and cell integrity as revealed by ...

Plant cells are characterized by the presence of chloroplasts, membrane lipids of which contain up to ∼80% mono- and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG and DGDG). The synthesis of MGDG in the chloroplast envelope is essential for the biogenesis and function of photosynthetic membranes, is coordinated with lipid metabolism in other cell compartments ...

Invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells are a specialised subset of T cells that are restricted to the MHC class I like molecule, CD1 d. The ligands for iNKT cells are lipids, with the canonical superagonist being α-galactosylceramide, a non-mammalian glycosphingolipid. Trafficking of CD1 d through the lysosome is required ...

Despite recent advances in the development of new cancer therapies, the treatment options for glioma remain limited, and the survival rate of patients has changed little over the past three decades. Here, we show that 2-hydroxyoleic acid (2OHOA) induces differentiation and autophagy of human glioma cells. Compared to the current ...

It has been argued that bacteria communicate using small diffusible signal molecules to coordinate, among other things, the production of factors that are secreted outside of the cells in a process known as quorum sensing (QS). The underlying assumption made to explain QS is that the secretion of these extracellular ...

Intramuscular long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) play an important role in energy production and initiation of mitochondrial oxidation of lipids. Herein, we report a natural porcine placenta steroid extract (PPSE) that stimulates transdifferentiation and lipid accumulation in bovine myogenic satellite cells (MSCs). The steroids hormones in PPSE were analyzed using enzyme-linked ...

In order to promote siRNA transfer in tumour cells, we used an original cationic lipid, synthesized in our laboratory, dimethyl-hydroxyethyl-aminopropane-carbamoyl-cholesterol (DMHAPC-Chol). Liposomes were prepared from this lipid and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) in equimolar proportion. Its transfecting capacity was evaluated using ELISA, cell cytometry, and RT-PCR in estimating the silencing effect of ...

Summary:  Human and mouse studies performed over the last decade have established that follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are a CD4(+) helper subset specialized in the provision of help to B cells. Tfh differentiation is driven by expression of the transcriptional repressor B-cell lymphoma-6 (Bcl-6), which turns on a program ...

Human NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) catalyzes the obligatory two-electron reduction of quinones. For this peculiar catalytic mechanism, the enzyme is considered an important cytoprotector. The NQO1 gene is expressed in all human tissues, unless a polymorphism due to C609T point mutation is present. This polymorphism produces a null phenotype ...

Glycation, one of the post-translational modifications, is known to influence protein structure and biological function. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have been shown to cause pathologies of diabetes. Glycation levels in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are higher than in normal people. However, whether the glycation of susceptible proteins is ...

OBJECT: Cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic cellular organelles; their accumulation is associated with several cellular processes, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis and necrosis. (1)H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy detects resonances from lipids present in cytoplasmic (LDs); an understanding of the relationship between LD characteristics and NMR lipid signals ...

Chemical contaminants, such as benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), may modulate transcriptional responses in cells via the activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) or through responses to DNA damage following adduct formation. Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy can be employed in a non-destructive fashion to interrogate the biochemical signature of cells ...

The complement system, an important element of both innate and adaptive immunity, is executing complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) with its C5b-9 protein complex that is assembled on cell surfaces and transmits to the cells death signals. In turn, cells, and in particular cancer cells, protect themselves from CDC in various ways. ...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) cells exhibit an increase in the protein expression of β-arrestin-2 (βarr2) coincident with perinuclear accumulation of free cholesterol. Arrestins are proteins that serve as both broad signaling regulators and contribute to G-protein coupled receptor internalization after agonist stimulation. The hypothesis of this study is that βarr2 is ...

(1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) resonances from lipids in tumours are associated with tumour grade and treatment response. The origin of these NMR signals is mainly considered to be cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs). Techniques exist for isolating LDs but little is known about their composition and its relationship to ...

Cholesterol accumulation in Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) causes increased levels of the amyloid-precursor-protein C-terminal fragments (APP-CTFs) and intracellular amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), the two central molecules in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. We previously reported that cholesterol accumulation in NPC-cells leads to cholesterol-dependent increased APP processing by β-secretase (BACE1) and decreased ...

Glucose-regulated protein 94 (grp94) is a major component of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen of eukaryotic cells. We showed that grp94 is released from baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells into a serum-free medium. The exit of grp94 into the medium was not related to the protein discharge due to cell ...

Lactobacillus equigenerosi strain Le1, a natural inhabitant of the equine gastro-intestinal tract, survived pH 3.0 and incubation in the presence of 1.5% (w/v) bile salts for at least 2 h. Strain Le1 showed 8% cell surface hydrophobicity, 60% auto-aggregation and 47% co-aggregation with Clostridium difficile C6. Only 1% of the ...

In this study, we compared the cytotoxic effects of natural conjugated linolenic acids (CLnAs) on human adenocarcinoma cells (DLD-1) in vitro, with the goal of finding CLnA isomers with strong cytotoxic effects. The antitumor effect of the CLnA with the strongest cytotoxic effect was then examined in mice. The results ...

PURPOSE: This study investigates the effect of cell seeding density on cartilage repair in matrix-assisted chondrocyte implantation in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: In vitro: Four different cell seeding densities of human chondrocytes were seeded onto a porous methoxy-polyethylene glycol-polylactic-co-glycolic acid scaffold (MPEG-PLGA) polymer scaffold ASEED™ (1.2 × 10(6), 4.0 × 10(6), 1.2 × 10(7) and ...

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide with about 600,000 new cases diagnosed in the last year. Our laboratory showed that miR-107 expression is reduced and functions as a tumor suppressor gene in HNSCC suggesting the potential application of miR-107 as a novel ...

The immediate and long-term impacts of potassium permanganate (KMnO(4)) as pre-oxidant on Microcystis aeruginosa and microcystin-LR (MC-LR) release risk were investigated. The cell density and the integrity of M. aeruginosa were determined by a flow cytometry, and typical photosynthetic parameters were measured by a pulse amplitude modulated fluorometer. The photosynthetic ...

OBJECTIVES: Dental pulp tissue contains stem cells that can differentiate into multiple lineages under specific culture conditions; the origin of these dental pulp stem cells, however, is still unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here we have utilized an α-SMA-GFP transgenic mouse model to characterize expression of a-smooth muscle actin (SMA)-GFP in ...

We have developed a perfusion-based high cell density (HD) cell banking and inoculum expansion procedure for a cholesterol-dependent NS0 myeloma cell line using linear low-density polyethylene-based disposable bioreactors. Challenges associated with cholesterol-polymer interactions, which suppress cholesterol-dependent NS0 myeloma cell growth, were overcome using a novel cholesterol feeding protocol that included ...

Freshly isolated human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are small and round cells which upon cultivation adopt a polarized morphology and redistribute certain cell surface antigens. To functionally dissect this polarization process, we addressed impacts of protein synthesis, HSPC trafficking, cytoskeleton organization or lipid raft integrity on the establishment ...

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are widely used both in pharmaceutical applications to improve drug bioavailability and in cell biology as cholesterol-depleting and -delivering agents. Recently, it was shown that β-CD covalently coupled to fluorescent dextran polymers accumulates in cholesterol-enriched lysosomal storage organelles of human fibroblasts (Rosenbaum et al., 2010). By employing a ...

Many types of histiocytoses have been described. We present a case of a 56-year-old woman who presented with multiple nodules on the hands. On histological examination of an excision biopsy, a mainly dermal lesion was seen, with scattered mononuclear inflammatory cells and occasional multinucleated cells in the background. The tumour ...

Extracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) are uniquely stable in plasma, and the levels of specific circulating miRNAs can differ with disease. Extracellular miRNAs are associated with lipid-based carriers and lipid-free proteins. miRNAs can be transferred from cell-to-cell by lipid-based carriers and affect gene expression. This review summarizes recent studies that demonstrate the ...

Using high-frequency ultrasound, two approaches were used to quantify eukaryotic cell properties. One approach (10-100 MHz) is model-based wherein live cells of known number and volume density are placed in a mixture of bovine plasma and thrombin to form a clot. Backscatter coefficient estimates are modeled against a concentric sphere ...

Biofilms are dense microbial communities. Although widely distributed and medically important, how biofilm cells interact with one another is poorly understood. Recently, we described a novel process whereby myxobacterial biofilm cells exchange their outer membrane (OM) lipoproteins. For the first time we report here the identification of two host proteins, ...

The roles and actions of the tumor suppressor protein p53 have been extensively studied with regard to nuclear events, including transcription and DNA damage repair. However, the direct roles of p53 in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and function are less well understood. Studies herein used a mitochondrial-targeted p53 (MTS-p53) to ...

This paper describes the isolation and partial biomass characterization of high triacylglycerol (TAG) mutants of Chlorella sorokiniana and Scenedesmus obliquus, two algal species considered as potential source of biodiesel. Following UV mutagenesis, 2000 Chlorella and 2800 Scenedesmus colonies were screened with a method based on Nile Red fluorescence. Several mutants ...

The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of glucose on bovine lactoferrin's (LF) conformation, thermodynamic stability and osteoblastic cell proliferation. The conformation and thermodynamic stability of LF was detected by spectroscopic and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The osteoblastic cell proliferation of LF at physiological concentrations (100 μg/ml) was ...

A microfluidic device for performing single copy, emulsion Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) within agarose droplets is presented. A two-aqueous-inlet emulsion droplet generator was designed and fabricated to produce highly uniform monodisperse picoliter agarose emulsion droplets with RT-PCR reagents in carrier oil. Template RNA or cells were delivered from ...

Recent advances in cell reprogramming have permitted the development of different stem cell lines and specific differentiated cell types using distinct technologies. Cell reprogramming is largely mediated by DNA and RNA. In this review, we explore the RNA-mediated cell reprogramming to induce specific target cell generation including stem cells, brain ...

The mycotoxin enniatin B (EnnB) is predominantly produced by species of the Fusarium genera, and often found in grain. The cytotoxic effect of EnnB has been suggested to be related to its ability to form ionophores in cell membranes. The present study examines the effects of EnnB on cell death, ...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy found in the liver. Autophagy is the intracellular bulk degradation process for long-lived proteins and dysfunctional organelles. In this study, we report that autophagy plays a role in HCC cell proliferation in response to ischemia-hypoxia (I/H) and reperfusion and discuss its ...

Microalgae have differing sensitivities to copper toxicity. Some species within the genus Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid (DA), a phycotoxin that has been hypothesised to chelate Cu and ameliorate Cu toxicity to the cells. To better characterise the effect of Cu on Pseudo-nitzschia, a toxic strain of P. multiseries and a ...

The aim of this work was to develop a systematic analysis of the cellular internalisation mechanism and pathway of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) internalisation. To evaluate if SLN show cell uptake and to understand the mechanism of internalisation, four human glioma cell lines (A172, U251, U373 and U87) and a ...

The discovery of siRNA has been an important step in gene therapy, but the problem of delivering siRNA to a target organ limits its use as a therapeutic drug. Liposomes can be used as a nonviral vector to deliver siRNA to target cells. In this study we developed a novel ...

Raman microspectroscopy (rms) was used to identify, image, and quantify potential molecular markers for label-free monitoring the differentiation status of live neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro. Label-free noninvasive techniques for characterization of NCSs in vitro are needed as they can be developed for real-time monitoring of live cells. Principal ...

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Acquisition of mesenchymal characteristics confers to breast cancer (BC) cells the capability of invading tissues different from primary tumor site, allowing cell migration and metastasis. Regulators of the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) may represent targets for anticancer agents. Accruing evidence supports functional implications of choline phospholipid metabolism in oncogene-activated ...

HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is a major determinant of viral pathogenicity. The evaluation of the biological properties of patient-derived envelopes by comparing two effector cell lines (293T and HeLa) is reported. A standard cell-to-cell fusion assay was used to evaluate fusogenicity, whereas a coculture with CD4(+) cells was used to ...

Novel purine ribonucleoside analogs (9-13) containing a 4-substituted piperazine in the substituent at N6 were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity on Huh7, HepG2, FOCUS, Mahlavu liver, MCF7 breast and HCT116 colon carcinoma cell lines. The purine nucleoside analogs were analyzed initially by an anticancer drug-screening method based on a ...

Communication between irradiated and un-irradiated (bystander) cells can cause damage in cells that are not directly targeted by ionizing radiation, a process known as the bystander effect. Bystander effects can also lead to chromosomal/genomic instability within the progeny of bystander cells, similar to the progeny of directly irradiated cells. The ...

Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) regulates lipid, cholesterol and glucose metabolism in specialized metabolic tissues, such as muscle, liver and adipose tissue. Agents that activate AMPK, such as metformin and AICAR, have beneficial effects on liver glucose and lipid metabolism. Additionally, AMPK activation in proliferating hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) induces ...

Biomarkers of early response to treatment have the potential to improve cancer therapy by allowing treatment to be tailored to the individual. Alterations in lipids detected by in vivo MRS have been suggested as noninvasive biomarkers of cell stress and early indicators of cell death. An improved understanding of the ...