Six strains of Sparassis crispa such as S. crispa DUM-01, DUM-02, DUM-03, DUM-04, DUM-05, and DUM-06 were tested for their mycelial growth on 6 different kinds of sawdust media and primordial ...formation on 10 different compositions of larch sawdust media. The highest mycelial growth was recorded on the larch sawdust. Of the 6 strains of S. crispa, S. crispa DUM-04 recored the favorable formation of primordia. The primordial formation of S. crispa DUM-4 was more favorable on L-3 medium than 9 kinds of larch sawdust media.
The isolation of a causal pathogen from pear fruits showing lesions of blue mold was carried out, which were preserved in the packinghouse of Anseong for the export to the United States. When the ...lesion of pears(Pyrus pyrifolia Niitaka) was checked in packinghouse, their fruit epidermis over decayed parts varied from light tan to dark brown. Also, the decayed flesh was soft and watery, and separated easily from the healthy tissue. Based on the cultural and morphological characteristics, the fungus(IL-12 isolate) was identified as Penicillium aurantiogriseum. This is the first report associated with blue mold of pear caused by P. aurantiogriseum in Korea.
Cigarette smoke (CS) has harmful effects on human fertility, reproduction, and development as well as on patients suffering from metabolic diseases such as diabetes than on healthy individuals. This ...study was conducted to investigate the relationship between CS exposure and histological alterations of reproductive organs in female diabetic rats. We evaluated the histology of uteruses and ovaries obtained from female rats exposed to smoke from standard cigarettes for 4 weeks (28 hours a week). After CS exposure, tissue slides were made from uterine and ovarian samples and examined after hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunohistochemistry was used for detection of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), C‐X‐C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), and estrogen receptor (ER)α in the uterus and ovary. MMP9 is an inflammatory biomarker that increases during progression to endometriosis. As a chemokine receptor, CXCR4 is involved in development of the inner wall of the uterus and cell adhesion. In the uterus, the occurrence of MMP9, CXCR4, and ERα and the number of endometrial glands were increased by CS exposure, while in the ovary, occurrence of MMP9, CXCR4, ERα, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and the number of corpus lutea or cyst follicles were increased by CS exposure. Collectively, this study indicates that CS induced abnormal development of the uterus and ovary under induced diabetes, leading to adverse effects on normal function of reproductive organs in female rats.
Highlights
Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure adversely affected reproductive organs of diabetic female rats.
In the uterus, expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), C‐X‐C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), estrogen receptor (ER)α, and the number of endometrial glands were increased by CS exposure,
In the ovary, the expression of MMP9, CXCR4, ERα, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen and the number of corpus lutea or cyst follicles were increased by CS exposure.
Exposure to CS via the respiratory system exerted a harmful impact on the uterus and ovary in female rats with diabetes.
Cigarette smoke (CS) causes about 480,000 deaths each year worldwide and is well-known to have harmful effects on the human body, leading to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and cardiovascular ...problems. In the present study, the effects of acrylonitrile (AN), benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P), formaldehyde (FOR), isoprene (ISO), nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK), which are the main components of CS, on the proliferation, invasion, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of human Ishikawa endometrial adenocarcinoma cells were investigated. Treating Ishikawa cells with CS components resulted in increased cell growth and altered expression of cell cycle-related genes: the protein expression of cyclin D & E increased, while the levels of p21 & p27 were reduced following treatment of these five CS components. In addition, CS components increased the invasion capacity of Ishikawa cells. The expression of the epithelial markers, E-cadherin and occludin, were significantly decreased, while the expression of the mesenchymal marker, N-cadherin, was significantly increased by CS components. In dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA) assay, ROS production increased by treatment of CS components. The CS components activated the ROS-p38 MAPK-EMT pathway by increasing the level of phosphorylated p38 MAPK and p44/42 (ERK1/2), and by up-regulating Snail and Slug, the transcription factors for EMT. Taken together, these results indicate that CS components can promote progression of endometrial adenocarcinoma via increasing cell proliferation and the ROS-mediated EMT process.
•CS exposure induced the endometrial cancer cell proliferation by altering cell cycle-related genes.•CS exposure promoted the invasion capacity of Ishikawa cells by altering EMT markers.•CS exposure increased ROS production and activated p38 MAPK-EMT pathway.
The 26S proteasome is the primary machinery that degrades ubiquitin (Ub)-conjugated proteins, including many proteotoxic proteins implicated in neurodegeneraton. It has been suggested that the ...elevation of proteasomal activity is tolerable to cells and may be beneficial to prevent the accumulation of protein aggregates. Here we show that purified proteasomes can be directly transported into cells through mesoporous silica nanoparticle-mediated endocytosis. Proteasomes that are loaded onto nanoparticles through non-covalent interactions between polyhistidine tags and nickel ions fully retain their proteolytic activity. Cells treated with exogenous proteasomes are more efficient in degrading overexpressed human tau than endogenous proteasomal substrates, resulting in decreased levels of tau aggregates. Moreover, exogenous proteasome delivery significantly promotes cell survival against proteotoxic stress caused by tau and reactive oxygen species. These data demonstrate that increasing cellular proteasome activity through the direct delivery of purified proteasomes may be an effective strategy for reducing cellular levels of proteotoxic proteins.
•BPA up-regulated mRNA and protein levels of ERα and IGF-1R.•Resveratrol down-regulated ERα, IGF-1R, p-IRS-1, and p-Akt1/2/3, and cyclin D1.•Resveratrol is a novel candidate for prevention of tumor ...progression caused by BPA.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and estrogens appear to promote development of estrogen-dependent cancers, including breast and ovarian carcinomas. In this study, we evaluated the cell viability effect of BPA on BG-1 human ovarian cancer cells, along with the growth inhibitory effect of resveratrol (trans-3,4,5-trihydroxystilbene; RES), a naturally occurring phytoestrogen. In addition, we investigated the underlying mechanism(s) of BPA and RES in regulating the interaction between estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signals, a non- genomic pathway induced by 17β-estradiol (E2). BPA induced a significant increase in BG-1 cell growth and up-regulated mRNA levels of ERα and IGF-1R. In parallel with its mRNA level, the protein expression of ERα was induced, and phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate-1 (p-IRS-1), phosphorylated Akt1/2/3, and cyclin D1 were increased by BPA or E2. However, RES effectively reversed the BG-1 cell proliferation induced by E2 or BPA by inversely down-regulating the expressions of ERα, IGF-1R, p-IRS-1, and p-Akt1/2/3, and cyclin D1 at both transcriptional and translational levels. Taken together, these results suggest that RES is a novel candidate for prevention of tumor progression caused by EDCs, including BPA via effective inhibition of the cross-talk of ERα and IGF-1R signaling pathways.
Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells are fabricated using a water‐soluble, self‐doped conducting polyaniline graft copolymer based on poly(4‐styrenesulfonate)‐g‐polyaniline (PSS‐g‐PANI) as ...an efficient hole‐extraction layer (HEL) because of its advantages, including low‐temperature solution processability, high transmittance, and a low energy barrier with perovskite photoactive layers. Compared with conventional poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) dispersed in water solution, PSS‐g‐PANI molecules are dissolved in water because of the polymeric dopant covalently bonded with PANI, and can steadily remain as an initial solution during long‐term storage and over a wide pH range to fabricate a HEL with fewer surface defects. The built‐in potential and device characteristics are substantially improved because of the surface energy state of PSS‐g‐PANI below Fermi‐energy level. Moreover, the PSS‐g‐PANI mixed with electron‐withdrawing perfluorinated ionomer (PFI) exhibits a higher work function (5.49 eV) and deeper surface energy state below the Fermi level; thus, an ohmic contact at the HEL/methylammonium lead iodide perovskite interface is obtained. Finally, the power conversion efficiency was increased from 7.8% in the perovskite solar cells with PEDOT:PSS to 12.4% in those with the PSS‐g‐PANI:PFI.
A water‐soluble self‐doped poly(styrene sulfonate) grafted polyaniline copolymer (PSS‐g‐PANI) was used to achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in solution‐processed planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The PCE was increased from 7.8% in the methylammonium lead iodide perovskite solar cell with poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) to 12.4% in that with PSS‐g‐PANI:perfluorinated ionomer due to good energy level alignment at the hole extraction interface and high transmittance.
Ionic liquids have gained increasing attention in the chemical industry as potential green substitutes for traditional solvents. However, little is known about toxicity of ionic liquids on the skin, ...a major exposure portal to toxic substances. Here, we evaluated dermal toxicity of ionic liquids using human keratinocyte and fibroblast cell line, 3D reconstructed human epidermis, and full-thickness model to investigate underlying mechanisms. Cytotoxicity of ionic liquids was evaluated for representative anions, TFSI, PF6, BF4, and DCA, as well as for cations, EMIM, BMPY, TBA and Zn, in human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT, and human dermal fibroblasts. In our results, significant cytotoxicity was induced by ionic liquids with TFSI in both cell lines. Notably, cytotoxicity of TFSI containing ionic liquids was comparable to xylene, a toxic conventional organic solvent. Fluorescent and flow cytometric analysis revealed that TFSI-exposed cells underwent necrotic cell death. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was increased while the amount of glutathione was decreased by TFSI in dose-dependent manner, which was reversed by antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine. In 3D reconstructed human epidermis and full-thickness model, a single application of TFSI induced toxicity although it was minimal and largely limited to epidermal layer. Collectively, these results demonstrated potential dermal toxicity of ionic liquids.
•Here, we demonstrate the dermal toxicity of ionic liquids against skin cells and 3D skin model.•Of tested ionic liquids, those containing TFSI anion exhibited strongest toxicity.•TFSI induced ROS generation and GSH depletion which led to necrotic cell deaths.
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