1,721,009 research outputs found
Effects of allyl isothiocyanate, ellagic acid, or thymol on breast cancer cells alone and in combination with doxorubicin
Full text linkIl tumore al seno è una delle forme più comuni di tumori femminili. Lo sviluppo di una multifarmaco
resistenza, gli effetti collaterali relativi alla terapia, la mancanza di trattamento nella
metastasi e la recidiva dopo la terapia sono i principali problemi per l’efficacia terapeutica del
cancro della mammella. Per trovare farmaci sicuri ed efficaci, la ricerca si è concentrata per la
loro sicurezza sui prodotti naturali. È stato recentemente riportato come allil isotiocianato
(AITC), acido ellagico (EA) e timolo potrebbero inibire la crescita di vari tipi di delle cellule
tumorali. Tuttavia, i loro potenziali effetti sul cancro della mammella rimangono poco chiari.
Questo studio è stato mirato allo studio degli effetti di questi composti e per determinare se il
trattamento in combinazione con doxorubicina (DOX) possa portare ad un’inibizione sinergica
della crescita. Abbiamo osservato che l’AITC non inibisce la proliferazione delle cellule
tumorali mammarie MDA-MB-231, anche se presenta un effetto inibitorio sulle cellule MCF-7.
L'analisi citofluorimetrica ha rivelato che l’AITC non induce l’apoptosi e l'arresto del ciclo
cellulare delle MDA-MB-231. L’AITC aumenta significativamente l'espressione dei geni BCL-2
e MTOR e della proteina Beclin-1 nelle cellule MDA-MB-231. Nelle cellule trattate con AITC
non sono stati osservati significativi cambiamenti nell'espressione dei geni PRKAA1 e PER2,
delle proteine Caspase-8, Caspase-9, PARP, p-mTOR, and NF-κB p65. Il timolo non ha inibito
la proliferazione delle cellule MDA-MB-231, al contrario l’acido ellagico la inibisce. L’AITC e
il timolo non sono in grado di sensibilizzare sinergicamente con la DOX le cellule MDA-MB-
231, al contrario dell’EA. Tutti e tre i composti hanno mostrato un effetto citotossico sulle
cellule MCF-10A. Queste osservazioni suggeriscono che l’AITC o il timolo da soli e in
combinazione con la DOX non inibiscono le cellule MDA-MB-231, mentre l’EA da solo e in
combinazione con la DOX può inibirle. Più studi preclinici e clinici sugli effetti benefici e nocivi
di questi composti potrebbero essere necessari in cellule sane e tumorali.Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancers in females. Development of multidrug
resistance, therapy related side-effects, lack of treatment in metastasis, and disease
recurrence after therapy are the major problems for the successful treatment of breast cancer. In
order to find safe and effective drugs, research has focused on natural products because of their
safe nature. It was reported recently that allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), ellagic acid (EA), and
thymol could inhibit various types of cancer cell growth. However, their potential effects on
breast cancer remain unclear. This study was aimed to further investigate the effects of these
compounds and to determine whether combination treatment with doxorubicin (DOX) produced
synergistic growth inhibition. Unexpectedly, we found that AITC did not inhibit the proliferation
of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, although it did have inhibitory effect on MCF-7 breast
cancer cells. Cytofluorimetric analysis revealed that AITC (10 μM) did not induce apoptosis and
cell cycle arrest in MDA-MB-231 cells. AITC significantly (p < 0.05) increased the expression
of BCL-2 and MTOR genes and Beclin-1 protein in MDA-MB-231 cells. No significant changes
in expression of PRKAA1 and PER2 genes, Caspase-8, Caspase-9, PARP, p-mTOR, and NF-κB
p65 proteins were observed in these AITC-treated cells. Thymol also did not inhibit the
proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells. EA inhibited the proliferation of these cells. AITC and
thymol did not synergistically sensitize MDA-MB-231 cells to DOX while EA did. Importantly,
all three compounds displayed cytotoxic effect on MCF-10A human breast epithelial cell line.
These observations suggest that AITC or thymol alone and in combination with DOX may not
have inhibitory activity in MDA-MB-231 cells while EA alone and in combination with DOX
may have. More preclinical and clinical studies on the beneficial and harmful effects of these
compounds may be required in healthy and cancer cells
Neuronal differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from amniotic fluid: a comparative study between two different approaches
No full textNew miRNAs network in human mesenchymal stem cells derived from skin and amniotic fluid.
No full textMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), isolated from different adult sources, have great appeal for therapeutic applications due to their simple isolation, extensive expansion potential, and high differentiative potential.In our previous studies we isolated MSCs form amniotic fluid (AF-MSCs) and skin (S-MSCs) and characterized them according to their phenotype, pluripotency, and mRNA/microRNAs (miRNAs) profiling using Card A from Life Technologies.Here, we enlarge the profiling of AF-MCSs and S-MSCs to the more recently discovered miRNAs (Card B by Life Technologies) to identify the miRNAs putative target genes and the relative signaling pathways. Card B, in fact, contains miRNAs whose role and target are not yet elucidated.The expression of the analyzed miRNAs is changing between S-MSCs and AF-MSCs, indicating that these two types of MSCs show differences potentially related to their source. Interestingly, the pathways targeted by the miRNAS deriving from Card B are the same found during the analysis of miRNAs from Card A.This result confirms the key role played by WNT and TGF-β pathways in stem cell fate, underlining as other miRNAs partially ignored up to now deserve to be reconsidered. In addition, this analysis allows including Adherens junction pathways among the mechanisms finely regulated in stem cell behavior
Perovskite solar cells based on nanocrystalline SnO2 material with extremely small particle sizes
No full textIn this work, we report the synthesis of SnO2 nanocrystalline material and its application in perovskite solar cells. The material has been characterised comprehensively by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction, and N2 adsorption analysis. The results have revealed that the average particle size of the SnO2 material was less than 3 nm, resulting in a large specific surface area of 173.9 m2 g–1. The investigation of the material in perovskite solar cells as electron-transport layer showed that pure SnO2 material did not favour the photovoltaic performance of the device. The best solar cell obtained with one layer of SnO2 film (22 nm) showed an energy conversion efficiency of 2.19 % under an illumination intensity of 100 mW cm–2. Beyond this thickness, the performance of the solar cells decreased significantly with increasing thickness of the SnO2 film due to a dramatic decrease in the photocurrent density. Nevertheless, it has been found that SnO2 material containing a small amount of metal tin (1.3 %) significantly improved the performance of the solar cell to 8.7 %. The possible reason for this phenomenon has been discussed based on the consideration of the energy band alignment of materials in the perovskite solar cells
Use of potential dietary phytochemicals to target miRNA: Promising option for breast cancer prevention and treatment?
No full textRegulation of microRNA using promising dietary phytochemicals: Possible preventive and treatment option of malignant mesothelioma
No full textMalignant mesothelioma (MM) is a very aggressive, lethal cancer, and its incidence is increasing worldwide. Development of multi-drug resistance, therapy related side-effects, and disease recurrence after therapy are the major problems for the successful treatment of MM. Emerging evidence indicates that dietary phytochemicals can exert anti-cancer activities by regulating microRNA expression. Until now, only one dietary phytochemical (ursolic acid) has been reported to have MM microRNA regulatory ability. A large number of dietary phytochemicals still remain to be tested. In this paper, we have introduced some dietary phytochemicals (curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, quercetin, genistein, pterostilbene, resveratrol, capsaicin, ellagic acid, benzyl isothiocyanate, phenethyl isothiocyanate, sulforaphane, indole-3-carbinol, 3,3'-diindolylmethane, diallyl disulphide, betulinic acid, and oleanolic acid) which have shown microRNA regulatory activities in various cancers and could regulate MM microRNAs. In addition to microRNA regulatory activities, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, quercetin, genistein, resveratrol, phenethyl isothiocyanate, and sulforaphane have anti-mesothelioma potentials, and pterostilbene, capsaicin, ellagic acid, benzyl isothiocyanate, indole-3-carbinol, 3,3'-diindolylmethane, diallyl disulphide, betulinic acid, and oleanolic acid have potentials to inhibit cancer by regulating the expression of various genes which are also known to be aberrant in MM
Prognostic implication of CEACAM1 expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx: Pilot study
No full textElectrocatalytic water oxidation at amorphous trimetallic oxides based on FeCoNiOx
No full textRecently there has been a noticeable shift towards developing amorphous bimetallic or trimetallic oxides for electrochemical water splitting. However, the fabrication of a homogeneous mixed metal oxide electrocatalyst suitable for water electrolysis is not a facile process. Here we introduce an electrochemical synthesis method that is rapid, simple and performed under ambient conditions. Using this approach it is possible to create a catalytically active FeCoNiO<sub><font size="small">x</font></sub>H<sub><font size="small">y</font></sub> amorphous material whose activity is dependent on the nature of the underlying support. The trimetallic oxide is significantly more active than any single or bimetallic oxide combination for the OER. This amorphous catalyst demonstrates not only excellent activity but also stability over extended time periods
Direct electrochemical formation of nanostructured amorphous Co(OH)2 on gold electrodes with enhanced activity for the oxygen evolution reaction.
No full textThe oxides of cobalt have recently been shown to be highly effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under alkaline conditions. In general species such as Co3O4 and CoOOH have been investigated that often require an elevated temperature step during their synthesis to create crystalline materials. In this work we investigate the rapid and direct electrochemical formation of amorphous nanostructured Co(OH)2 on gold electrodes under room temperture conditions which is a highly active precursor for the OER. During the OER some conversion to crystalline Co3O4 occurs at the surface, but the bulk of the material remains amorphous. It is found that the underlying gold electrode is crucial to the materials enhanced performance and provides higher current density than can be achieved using carbon, palladium or copper support electrodes. This catalyst exhibits excellent activity with a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at an overpotential of 360 mV with a high turnover frequency of 2.1 s-1 in 1 M NaOH. A Tafel slope of 56 mV dec-1 at low overpotentials and a slope of 122 mV dec-1 at high overpotentials is consistent with the dual barrier model for the electrocatalytic evolution of oxygen. Significantly, the catalyst maintains excellent activity for up to 24 hr of continuous operation and this approach offers a facile way to create a highly effective and stable material
Design of ballasted railway track foundations using numerical modelling with special reference to high speed trains
Full text linkA new design method for ballasted railway track foundations was developed based on improved empirical models and sophisticated three-dimensional finite element numerical analyses. The method was developed in the form of simple design charts for use by practitioners. The results obtained from the method were found to be in an excellent agreement with the field observations, and the method is expected to provide a significant contribution to the current railway tack design code of practice
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