Imaging Ca<sup>2+</sup> Dynamics in Cone Photoreceptor Axon Terminals of the Mouse Retina

Retinal cone photoreceptors (cones) serve daylight vision and are the basis of color discrimination. They are subject to degeneration, often leading to ...

University of Tübingen

Hospital Acquired Urinary Tract Infection (HAUTI) is the commonest among the nosocomial infections, and hospital specific data concerning its magnitude and attributes is essential to its effective control.

Epidemiology of hospital acquired urinary tract infections in a medical college hospital in Goa.

Eucomis species (Hyacinthaceae) are widely used in South Africa as traditional medicine. The bulbs are used to alleviate a variety of symptoms including pain and inflammation. High levels of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 (COX-1 and COX-2) inhibitory activity have been associated with certain Eucomis species. The aim of this study was to quantify cadmium(Cd) accumulation and examine its effect on COX-1 and COX-2 anti-inflammatory activity in Eucomis autumnalis and Eucomis humilis. Cadmium application at 2 mg L(-1) over a 6 week period revealed a substantial difference in total Cd accumulation in E. autumnalis and E. humilis (40.2 and 15.3 mg Cd kg-1, respectively). When supplied with Cd at 2 mg L(-1), E. humilis bulbous extracts showed lower inhibitory activity than the control for both COX-1 and COX-2. E. autumnalis bulbous extracts had greater COX-1 activity compared to the control. While COX-2 activity was suppressed. Researchers should be aware of the effect of environmental contaminants when reporting on biological activity of crude plant extracts.

Effect of cadmium accumulation on anti-inflammatory activity in two Eucomis species.

Merwilla plumbea is an important African medicinal plant. As the plants grow in soils contaminated with metals from mining activities, the danger of human intoxication exists. An experiment with plants exposed to cadmium (Cd) was performed to investigate the response of M. plumbea to this heavy metal, its uptake and translocation to plant organs and reaction of root tissues.

Cadmium induces hypodermal periderm formation in the roots of the monocotyledonous medicinal plant Merwilla plumbea.

The use of plant growth regulators is well established and they are used in many fields of plant science for enhancing growth. Brassica juncea plants were treated with 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 microM auxin indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), which promotes rooting. The IBA-treated plants were also sprayed with 100 microM gibberellic acid (GA3) and kinetin (Kin) to increase leaf-foliage. Gold (I) chloride (AuCl) was added to the growth medium of plants to achieve required gold concentration. The solubilizing agent ammonium thiocyanate (1 g kg(-1)) (commonly used in mining industries to solubilize gold) was added to the nutrient solution after six weeks of growth and, two weeks later, plants were harvested. Plant growth regulators improved shoot and root dry biomass of B. juncea plants. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry analysis showed the highest Au uptake for plants treated with 5.0 microM IBA. The average recovery of Au with this treatment was significantly greater than the control treatment by 45.8 mg kg(-1) (155.7%). The other IBA concentrations (2.5 and 7.5 microM) also showed a significant increase in Au uptake compared to the control plants by 14.7 mg kg(-1) (50%) and 42.5 mg kg(-1) (144.5%) respectively. A similar trend of Au accumulation was recorded in the roots of B. juncea plants. This study conducted in solution culture suggests that plant growth regulators can play a significant role in improving phytoextraction of Au.

Plant growth regulators enhance gold uptake in Brassica juncea.

Welding is pivotal in shipbuilding. The fumes and gases involved in welding may cause respiratory morbidity.

Respiratory morbidity among welders in the shipbuilding industry, Goa.

The effect of 2-chloro-6-(3-methoxyphenyl)aminopurine [inhibitor of cytokinin degradation (INCYDE)] at 10 nM on growth, biochemical and photosynthetic efficiency in sodium chloride (NaCl)-stressed (75, 100 and 150 mM) tomato plants was investigated. NaCl-induced decline in plant vigor index was slightly reversed by both drenching and foliar application of INCYDE. Foliar application of INCYDE significantly increased the flower number in the control and 75 mM NaCl-supplemented plants, while drenching was more effective in 150 mM NaCl-stressed plants. Antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase) were enhanced in the presence of INCYDE in the control and NaCl-stressed plants. Higher concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) associated with oxidative (lipid peroxidation) damage in leaf tissue which was evident in the presence of NaCl stress was significantly attenuated with the drenching and foliar application of INCYDE. Regardless of NaCl concentration, application of INCYDE had no significant influence on maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II. However, the reduced quantum yield of photosystem II and coefficient of photochemical quenching under continuous illumination with actinic light at four intensities (264, 488, 800 and 1,200 µmol m(-2) s(-1)) in NaCl-stressed (100 and 150 mM) tomato plants were significantly alleviated by drenching application with INCYDE. Non-photochemical quenching of the singlet excited state of chlorophyll a and relative electron transfer rate were generally higher in INCYDE-treated plants than in the controls. From an agricultural perspective, these findings indicate the potential of INCYDE in protecting plants against NaCl stress and the possibility of enhanced productivity.

A novel inhibitor of cytokinin degradation (INCYDE) influences the biochemical parameters and photosynthetic apparatus in NaCl-stressed tomato plants.

Enzyme inhibitors are now included in all kinds of drugs essential to treat most of the human diseases including communicable, metabolic, cardiovascular, neurological diseases and cancer. Numerous marine algae have been reported to be a potential source of novel enzyme inhibitors with various pharmaceutical values. Thus, the purpose of this review is to brief the enzyme inhibitors from marine algae of therapeutic potential to treat common diseases. As per our knowledge this is the first review for the potential enzyme inhibitors from marine origin. This review contains 86 algal enzyme inhibitors reported during 1989-2013 and commercial enzyme inhibitors available in the market. Compounds in the review are grouped according to the disease conditions in which they are involved; diabetes, obesity, dementia, inflammation, melanogenesis, AIDS, hypertension and other viral diseases. The structure-activity relationship of most of the compounds are also discussed. In addition, the drug likeness properties of algal inhibitors were evaluated using Lipinski's 'Rule of Five'.

Advances in algal drug research with emphasis on enzyme inhibitors.

The use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and biostimulants to enhance phytoextraction is gaining popularity in phytoremediation technology. This study investigated the stimulatory effects of smoke-water (SW), a smoke-derived compound karrikinolide (KAR1) and other known plant growth regulators (PGRs) [gibberellic acid (GA3), kinetin (Kin) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA)] to enhance the phytoextraction potential of Pennisetum clandestinum. Pennisetum clandestinum seedlings were grown for 10 weeks in vermiculite using Hoagland's nutrient solution and were treated with cadmium (Cd) (2, 5 and 10 mg L(-1)) and SW, KAR1 and PGRs. KAR1exhibited positive effects on shoot and root dry weight (140 and 137 mg respectively) at the highest concentration of Cd (10 mg L(-1)) compared to all the other treatments. KAR1 and SW treatments used in the present study significantly improved the phytoextraction potential of P. clandestinum (602 and 575 mg kg(-1) respectively) compared to the other tested PGRs. This is the first report on the use of SW and KAR1to enhance phytoremediation potential in P. clandestinum. Further studies are needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms of smoke constituents involved in phytoextraction potential of plant species.

Enhancing Phytoremediation Potential of Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst in Cadmium- Contaminated Soil using Smoke-Water and Smoke-Isolated Karrikinolide.

Enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR)is an essential type II fatty acid synthase (FAS-II) pathway enzyme that is an attractive target for designing novel antitubercular agents.Herein, we report sixty-eight novel pyrrolyl substituted aryloxy-1,3,4-thiadiazoles synthesized by three-step optimization processes. Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships (3D-QSAR) were established for pyrrolyl substituted aryloxy-1,3,4-thiadiazole series of InhA inhibitors using the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA).Docking analysis of the crystal structure of ENR performed by using Surflex-Dock in Sybyl-X 2.0 software indicates the occupation of pyrrolyl substituted aryloxy 1,3,4-thiadiazole into hydrophobic pocket of InhA enzyme. Based on docking and database alignment rules, two computational models were established to compare their statistical results. The analysis of 3D contour plots allowed us to investigate the effect of different substituent groups at different positions of the common scaffold. In vitro testing of ligands using biological assays substantiated the efficacy of ligands that were screened through in silico methods.

Manoj Kulkarni

Institute for Ophthalmic Research,
Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience

University of Tübingen

Imaging Ca²⁺ Dynamics in Cone Photoreceptor Axon Terminals of the Mouse Retina

Manoj Kulkarni

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Institute for Ophthalmic Research,Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience

University of Tübingen

Imaging Ca2+ Dynamics in Cone Photoreceptor Axon Terminals of the Mouse Retina

Institute for Ophthalmic Research,
Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience

Imaging Ca²⁺ Dynamics in Cone Photoreceptor Axon Terminals of the Mouse Retina