70 research outputs found

    Pharmacological and Antioxidant Activities of <i>Rhus coriaria</i> L. (Sumac)

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    Rhus coriaria L. (Anacardiaceae), commonly known as sumac, is a commonly used spice, condiment, and flavoring agent, especially in the Mediterranean region. Owing to its bountiful beneficial values, sumac has been used in traditional medicine for the management and treatment of many ailments including hemorrhoids, wound healing, diarrhea, ulcer, and eye inflammation. This plant is rich in various classes of phytochemicals including flavonoids, tannins, polyphenolic compounds, organic acids, and many others. By virtue of its bioactive, Rhus coriaria possesses powerful antioxidant capacities that have ameliorative and therapeutic benefits for many common diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. This review describes the phytochemical properties of R. coriaria and then focuses on the potent antioxidant capacities of sumac. We then dissect the cellular and molecular mechanisms of sumac’s action in modulating many pathophysiological instigators. We show how accumulating evidence supports the antibacterial, antinociceptive, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and anticancer effects of this plant, especially that toxicity studies show that sumac is very safe to consume by humans and has little toxicity. Taken together, the findings we summarize here support the utilization of this plant as an attractive target for drug discovery

    Sustainability Awareness Week 2021: esa New York presents Halima Garrett of Threads of Habit

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    In this workshop, master-thrifter and designer, Halima Garrett, will describe the importance and craft of upcycling. She will give advice for identifying materials that can be upcycled and take the audience through a short upcycling tutorial to show how it is done in a way that minimizes waste and maximizes utility and style. Ms. Garrett is the founder of Threads of Habit, a New Jersey-based outlet offering bold, eccentric, and unique vintage pieces.Sustainability is a key component of FIT’s mission and is embedded in the college’s curriculum and operations. During virtual Sustainability Awareness Week, we invite our community to learn about recent innovations from leaders in the industry, FIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni; experience FIT’s efforts to make a positive impact on the earth; and discover new ways to live with a smaller footprint

    The traumatic experience and sexual violence in Halima Bashir’s tears of the desert

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    El objetivo principal de este trabajo se centra en el análisis de la experiencia traumática de la escritora sudanesa Halima Bashir en su obra autobiográfica Las lágrimas del desierto. A la hora de analizar la obra hemos tenido en cuenta los postulados del trauma para entender la función de la memoria como herramienta a partir de la cual la memoria individual de Halima se convierte en memoria colectiva para los sudaneses oprimidos en Darfur. La obra de Halima, aunque se centra en la experiencia de violación de un individuo, implica un mensaje político y un testimonio histórico de las atrocidades en Darfur.This paper applies trauma theory to Tears of the Desert, an autobiography written by the Sudanese author Halima Bashir. It examines the traumatic experience of the protagonist Halima Bashir who has been raped during Darfur conflict. In applying the aforementioned theory, this paper shows how the traumatic memory of Halima stands as a collective memory for the oppressed Sudanese in Darfur. Halima’s work, although focusing on the rape experience of an individual, implies a political message that many Sudanese were subjected to physical and psychological traumas as they were bearing witness to the conflict in Darfur

    Carnosol, a natural polyphenol, inhibits migration, metastasis, and tumor growth of breast cancer via a ROS-dependent proteasome degradation of STAT3

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    We have previously demonstrated that carnosol, a naturally occurring diterpene, inhibited in vitro cell viability and colony growth, as well as induced cell cycle arrest, autophagy and apoptosis in human triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. In the present study, we evaluated the ability of carnosol to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. We found that non-cytotoxic concentrations of carnosol inhibited the migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells in wound healing and matrigel invasion assays. Furthermore, gelatin zymography, ELISA, and RT-PCR assays revealed that carnosol inhibited the activity and downregulation the expression of MMP-9. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that carnosol suppressed the activation of STAT3 signaling pathway through a ROS-dependent targeting of STAT3 to proteasome-degradation in breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231, Hs578T, MCF-7, and T47D). We show that blockade of proteasome activity, by MG-132 and bortezomib, or ROS accumulation, by N-acetylcysteine (NAC), restored the level of STAT3 protein. In addition, using chick embryo tumor growth assay, we showed that carnosol significantly and markedly suppressed tumor growth and metastasis of breast cancer xenografts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report which shows that carnosol specifically targets signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) for proteasome degradation in breast cancer. Our study further provide evidence that carnosol may represent a promising therapeutic candidate that canmodulate breast cancer growth and metastasis. © 2019 Alsamri, El Hasasna, Al Dhaheri, Eid, Attoub and Iratni

    MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF ACTION OF THE NATURAL POLYPHENOLIC COMPOUND AND THE P300 INHIBITOR “CARNOSOL” AGAINST THE TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCE

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    Carnosol, a naturally occurring Phyto polyphenol found in sage, oregano, and rosemary, has been extensively studied by our laboratory for its anticancer effects in various types of cancer. In human Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), carnosol was shown to inhibit cellular viability, colony growth, induced cell cycle arrest, autophagy, and apoptosis. Nonetheless, very little is known about the molecular mechanism of action. In the current study, the ability of carnosol to inhibit metastasis and tumour growth was examined. Wound healing and invasion assays revealed that carnosol inhibited migration and invasion at non-cytotoxic concentrations of MDA-MB-231 cells. Also, carnosol was found to inhibit the activity and downregulated the expression of MMP-9. Activation of STAT3, a transcription factor that regulates MMP-9 expression, was also inhibited via carnosol-mediated ROS-dependent proteasome degradation. In vivo study using chick embryo tumour growth assay has shown that carnosol significantly and markedly suppressed tumour growth and metastasis of breast cancer xenografts. Additionally, we found that carnosol induces ROS-dependent, p38-dependent ER stress and activates UPR via upregulating the ER stress sensors (ATF4/CHOP, ATF6⍺, and IRE1⍺/XBP1). Also, upstream triggers of Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathway, β-catenin and ER stress chaperones were upregulated. On the other hand, the cell survival Akt/mTOR signalling pathway was downregulated in a ROS-dependent manner. We also found that carnosol targeted p300 and PCAF Histone Acetyltransferases (HATs) to proteasome degradation through a ROS-dependent mechanism. Interestingly, using a cell-free system, we show for the first time that carnosol efficiently and selectively inhibited histone acetyltransferase activity of p300 while having no effect on the other HATs such as PCAF and GCN5. This work provides further confirmation that carnosol represents a promising anti-breast cancer therapeutic compound and identifies it as a novel natural p300 inhibitor that could be added to the existing panel

    Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by the Phytopolyphenol Carnosol: ROS-Dependent Mechanisms

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    Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which lacks the expression of the three hormone receptors (i.e., estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor), is characterized by a high proliferative index, high invasiveness, poor prognosis, early relapse, and a tendency to be present in advanced stages. These characteristics rank TNBC among the most aggressive and lethal forms of breast cancer. The lack of the three receptors renders conventional hormonal therapy ineffective against TNBC. Moreover, there are no clinically approved therapies that specifically target TNBC, and the currently used chemotherapeutic agents, such as cisplatin, taxanes, and other platinum compounds, have a limited clinical effect and develop chemoresistance over time. Phytochemicals have shown efficacy against several types of cancer, including TNBC, by targeting several pathways involved in cancer development and progression. In this review, we focus on one phytochemical carnosol, a natural polyphenolic terpenoid with strong anti-TNBC effects and its ROS-dependent molecular mechanisms of action. We discuss how carnosol targets key pathways and proteins regulating the cell cycle, growth, epigenetic regulators, invasion, and metastasis of TNBC. This review identifies carnosol as a potential novel targeting protein degradation molecule

    Origanum majorana ethanolic extract promotes colorectal cancer cell death by triggering abortive autophagy and activation of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway

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    Colorectal cancer is considered as the third leading cause of cancer death. In the present study, we investigated the potential anticancer effect and the molecular mechanism of Origanum majorana ethanolic extract (OME) against human colorectal cancer cells. We showed that OME exhibited strong anti-proliferative activity in a concentration-and time-dependent manner against two human colorectal cancer cell lines (HT-29 and Caco-2). OME inhibited cell viability, colony growth and induced mitotic arrest of HT-29 cells. Also, OME induced DNA damage, triggered abortive autophagy and activated a caspase 3 and 7-dependent extrinsic apoptotic pathway, most likely through activation of the TNFα pathway. Time-course analysis revealed that DNA damage occurred concomitantly with abortive autophagy after 4 h post-OME treatment while apoptosis was activated only 24 h later. Blockade of autophagy initiation, by 3-methyladenine, partially rescued OME-induced cell death. Cell viability arose from 37% in control group to 67% in group pre-treated with 3-MA before addition of OME. Inhibition of apoptosis, however, had a minimal effect on cell viability; it rose from 37% in control group to 43% in group pre-treated with Z-VAD-FMK. We also found that OME downregulated survivin in HT-29 cells. Our findings provide a strong evidence that O. majorana extract possesses strong anti-colon cancer potential, at least, through induction of autophagy and apoptosis. These finding provide the basis for therapeutic potential of O. majorana in the treatment of colon cancer. © 2019 Benhalilou, Alsamri, Alneyadi, Athamneh, Alrashedi, Altamimi, Al Dhaheri, Eid and Iratni

    Letter to the Editor: Management of PFO: More evidence, same recommendation

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    The author offers more evidence to support Zhang\u27s assertion in CRP 3(2) that closure of patent foramen ovale or medical therapy alone are both appropriate choices for preventing recurrent cryptogenic strokes (https://doi.org/10.22237/crp/1518739380)
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