Aquatic ecosystems are contaminated with heavy metals by natural and anthropogenic sources. Whilst some heavy metals are necessary for plants as micronutrients, others can be toxic to plants and ...humans even in trace concentrations. Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) cause significant damage to aquatic ecosystems and can invariably affect human health. Rice, a staple diet of many nations, and other aquatic plants used as vegetables in many countries, can bioaccumulate heavy metals when they grow in contaminated aquatic environments. These metals can enter the human body through food chains, and the presence of heavy metals in food can lead to numerous human health consequences. Heavy metals in aquatic plants can affect plant physicochemical functions, growth, and crop yield. Various mitigation strategies are being continuously explored to avoid heavy metals entering aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the levels of heavy metals in rice and aquatic plants grown for food in contaminated aquatic environments is important. Further, it is imperative to adopt sustainable management approaches and mitigation mechanisms. Although narrowly focused reviews exist, this article provides novel information for improving our understanding about heavy metal accumulation in rice and aquatic plants, addressing the gaps in literature.
Blood vessels in tumors express higher level of aminopeptidase N (APN) than normal tissues. Evidence suggests that the CNGRC motif is an APN ligand which targets tumor vasculature. Increased ...expression of APN in tumor vascular endothelium, therefore, offers an opportunity for targeted delivery of NGR peptide-linked drugs to tumors.
To determine whether an additional cyclic CNGRC sequence could improve endothelial cell homing and antitumor effect, human plasminogen kringle 5 (hPK5) was modified genetically to introduce a CNGRC motif (NGR-hPK5) and was subsequently expressed in yeast. The biological activity of NGR-hPK5 was assessed and compared with that of wild-type hPK5, in vitro and in vivo. NGR-hPK5 showed more potent antiangiogenic activity than wild-type hPK5: the former had a stronger inhibitory effect on proliferation, migration and cord formation of vascular endothelial cells, and produced a stronger antiangiogenic response in the CAM assay. To evaluate the tumor-targeting ability, both wild-type hPK5 and NGR-hPK5 were (99 m)Tc-labeled, for tracking biodistribution in the in vivo tumor model. By planar imaging and biodistribution analyses of major organs, NGR-hPK5 was found localized to tumor tissues at a higher level than wild-type hPK5 (approximately 3-fold). Finally, the effects of wild-type hPK5 and NGR-modified hPK5 on tumor growth were investigated in two tumor model systems. NGR modification improved tumor localization and, as a consequence, effectively inhibited the growth of mouse Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and human colorectal adenocarcinoma (Colo 205) cells in tumor-bearing mice.
These studies indicated that the addition of an APN targeting peptide NGR sequence could improve the ability of hPK5 to inhibit angiogenesis and tumor growth.
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a common cause of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, which can be triggered by oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the renoprotective effect ...of the ethyl acetate extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza (EASM) on DN and examined the underlying molecular mechanism. We observed that EASM treatment attenuated metabolic abnormalities associated with hyperglycemic conditions in the experimental DN model. In streptozotocin (STZ)-induced mice, EASM treatment reduced albuminuria, improved renal function and alleviated the pathological alterations within the glomerulus. To mimic the hyperglycemic conditions in DN patients, we used high glucose (25Formula: see textmmol/L) media to stimulate mouse mesangial cells (MMCs), and EASM inhibited high glucose-induced reactive oxygen species. We also observed that EASM enhanced the expression of nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which mediated the anti-oxidant response, and its downstream gene heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) with concomitant decrease of expression of kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (keap1) both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these results suggest that EASM alleviates the progression of DN and this might be associated with activation of Nrf2.
This research examines parental involvement and academic achievement of children in the Sri Lankan Muslims ethnic minority living in the UK compared with the Sri Lankan Muslims living in Sri Lanka. ...Academic achievement of children was measured by selecting children who completed two-year end examination in 2020. Data were collected from 20 parents of children in each population and analysed with SPSS software. The perception of the community in the UK that the "academic achievement of their children is poor" has been proved wrong with a statistically highly significant performance record. The local Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka have been addressed, and there are no significant differences in the academic achievement between both populations.
Eight microsatellite loci were used to define genetic diversity among five native water buffalo breeds in Pakistan.
Blood samples (10 mL) from 25 buffaloes of each of the Nili, Ravi, Nili-Ravi, ...Kundhi, and Azi-Kheli breeds were collected aseptically from the jugular vein into 50 ml Falcon tubes containing 200 μl of 0.5 M EDTA. The phenol-chloroform method was used to extract DNA and the regions were amplified for microsatellite analysis. The eight microsatellite markers ETH10, INRA005, ILSTS029, ILSTS033, ILSTS049, ILSTS052, ETH225, and CSSM66 were analysed.
The effective number of alleles across all loci was as usual lower than the observed values with a mean value of 2.52 alleles per locus. The overall allele frequency varied from 0.0041 for alleles B, I, and J over respective loci ILSTS052, INRA005, and ILSTS029 to 0.80 for allele H over locus ILSTS029. The average observed and expected heterozygosity values across all polymorphic loci in all studied buffalo breeds were 0.43 and 0.53, respectively. The overall value for polymorphic information content of considered microsatellite markers was 0.53, suggesting their appropriateness for genetic diversity analysis in buffalo. The mean Fis value was 0.13 and all loci except ILSTS049 were found significantly deviated from HWE, most likely due to non-random breeding. The five buffalo populations were genetically less diverse as indicated by a small mean Fst value (0.07). The average gene flow (Nm) indicative for population migration was calculated as 3.31. Nei’s original measures of genetic distance (Ds) revealed ancient divergence of the Nili and Azi-Kheli breeds (Ds = 0.1747) and recent divergence of the Nili and Ravi breeds (Ds = 0.0374).
These estimates of genetic diversity were seen to coincide with phenotypic differentiation among the studied buffalo breeds. The present study reports the first microsatellite marker-based genetic diversity analysis in Pakistani buffalo breeds, and might facilitate similar studies in other livestock breeds of Pakistan.
The rapid increase in the incidence rate of colorectal cancer has led to the search and identification of biomarkers that can predict risk for and future behavior of this malignancy and management. ...To study the biological role of the phosphorylated Fas associated death domain (pFADD) gene in colorectal cancer, we performed a GAL4-based yeast two-hybrid screening of a human heart cDNA library.
A series of two yeast hybrid method was used to identification of protein-protein interaction. It was confirmed by glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull down assay and co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP). Three channeled fluorescence microscopy further confirmed the interaction in cellular level. Xenograft in vivo model was developed and knockdown relevant genes by RNAi techniques and confirmed the relationship which leads to colorectal cancer.
Using the FADD cDNA as bait, we identified six putative clones as associated proteins. The interaction of pFADD and metallothionein 2A (MT2A) was confirmed by GST pull-down assays in vitro and co-IP experiments in vivo. FADD co-localized with MT2A mostly to nuclei and slightly to cytoplasm, as shown by three channel fluorescence microscopy. Co-transfection of pFADD with MT2A gene inhibited cell apoptosis and induced cell proliferation in colorectal cancer cells compared with control groups. When we used antisense MT2A and pFADD which is serine 194 in the C terminal of FADD gene that has been reported to be phosphorylated to interdict the effect of respective genes the inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis were significantly enhanced in animal model.
Further in this study we identify non-canonical nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling up regulated and it was directly linked with the tumor necrosis with MT2A and pFADD genes. pFADD with MT2A can inhibit the apoptosis and promote proliferation, of colorectal cancer cells, and antisense sequence of MT2A and pFADD approaches which might swell the combination of deregulated proliferation and suppressed apoptosis.
Za pakistanskog domaćeg jaka (Bos grunniens) iz obitelji šupljorožaca (Bovidae), sekvenciran je cjelokupni citokromni b gen i djelomice kontrolna regija mtDNK. Genoti¬pizirano je tri stotine uzoraka ...uporabom 27 goveđih mikrosatelitskih markera pasmine Gilgit-Baltistan i Skardu iz Pakistana. Identifi¬cirali smo ukupno 35 mutacija i 9 haplotipova na temelju sekvencija D-petlje uz haplotipsku i nukleotidnu raznolikost od 0,9640±0,051, od¬nosno 0,02172±0,00224. Za citokromni b gen, ukupno 23 varijabilne lokacije i šest različi¬tih haplotipova zamijećeno je s 0,885±0,067 haplotipskom i 0,00989±0,003 nukleotidnom raznolikošću. Filogenetska analiza D-petlje i citokromnog b gena ukazala je da se sekven¬ce domaćih jakova grupiraju u dvije vrlo di¬vergentne loze po majci (loza I i II), dok su identificirane tri haplogrupe A, C i D od ranije poznatih šest haplogrupa. Haplogrupe A i C bile su dominantne i široko rasprostranjene među svim istraženim uzorcima jakova. Svi mikrosateliti bili su polimorfni te je zamijeće¬no ukupno 138 alela, s prosječnim sadržajem polimorfne informacije (PIC) od 0,56 ukazu¬jući na njihovu učinkovitost. Zamijećena je prosječna heterozigotnost od 0,6071 s alelnom raznolikošću 5,1111 i genetskom raznolikošću 0,4830. Implikacije ovih nalaza mogu se rabiti za očuvanje populacije jakova.
Vultures are among nature’s most successful scavengers, providing tractable models for ecological, economic, and cultural studies. Asian vultures have undergone dramatic declines of 90–99% in the ...subcontinent due to consequences of poisoning drugs, thereby being at a high risk of extinction. In Pakistan, surveys conducted previously focused mostly the cause of decline and breeding strategies only. Genetic profiling of vultures was still unmapped that could play a particular role in conservation endeavors and let researchers to genetically label individuals of threatened or endangered species. In this study, we examined genetic diversity and molecular phylogeny of Oriental White-backed Vultures by analyzing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Genetic polymorphism was detected among individuals, and, on that basis, phylogenetic analysis was conducted through Bayesian analysis of DNA sequences using MCMC. Using multiple sequence alignment, two mutations, transversion T>G and transition G>A, were observed at nucleotide positions 1 and 2, respectively. Similarly, T/C heterozygosity at two positions, 53 and 110, and one heterozygous T/G locus at 130 position were also observed. The reference sequence, along with other samples of V1, V6, V7 and V9, was placed into a clade, while V2, V5, V11, V3, V4 and V10 samples were grouped into a two clade.
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