Protective effect of melatonin against methamphetamine-induced attention deficits through miR-181/SIRT1 axis in the prefrontal cortex.

Introduction: Methamphetamine (METH) is an addictive psychostimulant with deleterious effects on the central nervous system. Chronic use of METH in high doses impairs cognition, attention and executive functions, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a post-translational regulator that is downregulated following METH neurotoxicity.

Design and manufacture of new hybrid hydrogel and superabsorbent polymer for controlled release of fulvic acid based on grafted xanthan gum/gelatin using electron irradiation and its use in fodder corn cultivation.

A humic acid-gelatin (HA-Gel) hydrogel, a gallic acid-xanthan gum (GA-XG) hydrogel, a HA-Gel/GA-XG hydrogel, and superabsorbent polymer (SAP) of HA-Gel/GA-XG/polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel were synthesized using electron beam irradiation method. The capability of synthesized hydrogels in loading and controlled release of fulvic acid (FA) was studied. The chemical and physical structure of sorbents was confirmed by various analyses.

Design, development, and assessment of a novel multi-peptide vaccine targeting PspC, PsaA, and PhtD proteins of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Pneumococcus is the top cause of diseases such as pneumonia/meningitis, and of secondary infections after viral respiratory diseases like COVID-19/flu. Pneumococcal protein-based vaccines consisting of proteins with various functions in virulence might provide a qualified alternative for present vaccines. In this project, PspC, PsaA, and PhtD proteins were considered to anticipate B/T-cell epitopes using immunoinformatics to develop 4 multi-peptide constructs (C, A, and D individual constructs, and a fusion construct CAD).

Bromelain-loaded nanocomposites decrease inflammatory and cytotoxicity effects of gliadin on Caco-2 cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of celiac patients.

Enzyme therapy can be an appropriate treatment option for celiac disease (CeD). Here, we developed Bromelain-Loaded Nanocomposites (BLNCs) to improve the stability and retention of bromelain enzyme activity. After the characterization of BLNCs, the cytotoxicity of BLNCs was determined on the Caco-2 cell line.

A new candidate epitope-based vaccine against PspA PhtD of : a computational experimental approach.

Introduction: Pneumococcus is an important respiratory pathogen that is associated with high rates of death in newborn children and the elderly. Given the disadvantages of current polysaccharide-based vaccines, the most promising alternative for developing improved vaccines may be to use protein antigens with different roles in pneumococcus virulence. PspA and PhtD, highly immunogenic surface proteins expressed by almost all pneumococcal strains, are capable of eliciting protective immunity against lethal infections.

Bromelain and ficin proteolytic effects on gliadin cytotoxicity and expression of genes involved in cell-tight junctions in Caco-2 cells.

Enzyme therapy for celiac disease (CeD), which digests gliadin into non-immunogenic and non-toxic peptides, can be an appropriate treatment option for CeD. Here, we have investigated the effectiveness of bromelain and ficin on gliadin digestion using in vitro, such as SDS-PAGE, HPLC, and circular dichroism (CD). Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of gliadin and 19-mer peptide before and after digestion with these enzymes was evaluated using the MTT assay in the Caco-2 cell line.

Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity of fisetin-loaded nanoparticles in an in vitro model of osteoarthritis.

Cartilage lesions, especially osteoarthritis (OA), are a common health problem, causing pain and disability in various age groups, principally in older adults and athletes. One of the main challenges to be considered in cartilage tissue repair is the regeneration of cartilage tissue in an active inflammatory environment. Fisetin has various biological effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, apoptotic, and antiproliferative activities.

Synthesis of the scFv fragment of anti-Frizzled-7 antibody and evaluation of its effects on triple-negative breast cancer in vitro study.

Objectives: Among the most promising antibody formats in terms of inhibiting carcinogenesis are single-stranded variable fragments, whose targeted binding to the Fzd7 receptor has been proven effective at suppressing tumorigenesis. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of an anti-Fzd7 antibody fragment against both tumor growth and metastasis of breast cancer cells.

Methods: To develop anti-Fzd7 antibodies, bioinformatics approaches were used and the antibodies were expressed recombinantly in E.

Immunoinformatics-aided design of a new multi-epitope vaccine adjuvanted with domain 4 of pneumolysin against Streptococcus pneumoniae strains.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae (Pneumococcus) has remained a leading cause of fatal infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. Moreover, this pathogen plays a major role in bacterial co-infection in patients with life-threatening respiratory virus diseases such as influenza and COVID-19. High morbidity and mortality in over one million cases, especially in very young children and the elderly, are the main motivations for pneumococcal vaccine development.

In silico designing of a novel epitope-based candidate vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae with introduction of a new domain of PepO as adjuvant.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading reason for invasive diseases including pneumonia and meningitis, and also secondary infections following viral respiratory diseases such as flu and COVID-19. Currently, serotype-dependent vaccines, which have several insufficiency and limitations, are the only way to prevent pneumococcal infections. Hence, it is plain to need an alternative effective strategy for prevention of this organism.

Micro- and nanotechnology in biomedical engineering for cartilage tissue regeneration in osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis, which typically arises from aging, traumatic injury, or obesity, is the most common form of arthritis, which usually leads to malfunction of the joints and requires medical interventions due to the poor self-healing capacity of articular cartilage. However, currently used medical treatment modalities have reported, at least in part, disappointing and frustrating results for patients with osteoarthritis. Recent progress in the design and fabrication of tissue-engineered microscale/nanoscale platforms, which arises from the convergence of stem cell research and nanotechnology methods, has shown promising results in the administration of new and efficient options for treating osteochondral lesions.

Covid-19 Effects on the Mental Workload and Quality of Work Life in Iranian Nurses.

Introduction: The mental health of people working in Covid-19 wards (nurses, doctors, etc.) may be compromised due to the specific conditions of the workplace and patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental burden and quality of work life in nurses in intensive care units of Covid-19 patients.

Rational design of hyper-glycosylated human follicle-stimulating hormone analogs (a bioinformatics approach).

N-glycosylation is a complex mechanism in which the carbohydrate molecules bind to the Asn amino acid in the N-glycan consensus sequence (AsnXxxThr/Ser sequon, where Xxx is any residue, excluding Pro). Introduction of additional N-linked glycosylation site into proposed location in the protein causes to its hyper-glycosylation and can enhance the protein characteristics to provide promising prospects in treatment. Glycoengineering is a favorably used strategy to design and generate hyper-glycosylated variants.

First report of antifungal activity of CecropinA-Magenin2 (CE-MA) hybrid peptide and its truncated derivatives.

The use of natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is limited. Modifications of peptides by in silico predictions and computational methods can lead to more accurate designs and reducing their high synthesis costs, instability, and cytotoxicity. In this study, the antifungal properties of CecropinA-Magenin2 (CE-MA) hybrid peptide and its truncated derivatives were evaluated.

Design and Synthesis of Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Antimicrobial Peptides Based on Truncated Rabbit and Human CAP18 Peptides and Evaluation of Their Action Mechanism.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a toxic and immunogenic agent for human. Additionally, LPS is a good target for some antimicrobial compounds, including antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). LPS-binding peptides (LBPs) can recognize and neutralize LPS.

Dispersive solid-phase extraction of buprenorphine from biological fluids using metal-organic frameworks and its determination by ultra-performance liquid chromatography.

In this work, various types of metal-organic frameworks were synthesized, and their affinities toward buprenorphine were evaluated using dispersive solid-phase extraction. The extracted buprenorphine was determined by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection system. The highest extraction recovery was observed by employing zeolitic imidazole framework-67.

Design of a pseudo stir bar sorptive extraction using graphenized pencil lead as the base of the molecularly imprinted polymer for extraction of nabumetone.

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized through the coprecipitation method on the graphene oxide anchored pencil lead as a substrate for the first time and applied as an efficient sorbent for pseudo stir bar sorptive extraction of nabumetone. The extracted analyte was determined by a novel spectrophotometric method based on the aggregation of silicate sol-gel stabilized silver nanoparticles in the presence of the analyte. The synthesized polymer was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy.

Design of new truncated derivatives based on direct and reverse mirror repeats of first six residues of Caerin 4 antimicrobial peptide and evaluation of their activity and cytotoxicity.

Caerin 4 is a family of AMPs isolated from the frog called Litoria caerulea. In silico drug designing methods and using machine learning algorithms for AMPs design can reduce their usage restrictions such as production costs and the time required for investigation of their activity and toxicity. In this study, two short peptides were designed based on direct and reverse mirror repeats of GLWQKI conserved sequence from Caerin 4 family that called dCar12 and rCar12.

Doxycycline drug delivery using hydrogels of O-carboxymethyl chitosan conjugated with caffeic acid and its composite with polyacrylamide synthesized by electron beam irradiation.

Two hydrogels of O-carboxymethyl chitosan conjugated with caffeic acid and its composite with polyacrylamide were synthesized using electron beam irradiation. The synthesized hydrogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical properties studies. The hydrogels were loaded with doxycycline by swelling and its release was investigated in various media.

Optimization and High Level Production of Recombinant Synthetic Streptokinase in Using Response Surface Methodology.

Streptokinase (SK) is an extracellular protein comprising 414 amino acids with considerable clinical importance as a commonly used thrombolytic agent. Due to its wide spread application and clinical importance designing more efficient SK production platforms worth investigation. In this regard, a synthetic SK gene was optimized and cloned in to pET21b plasmid for periplasmic expression.

Levan Exerts Health Benefit Effect through Alteration in Bifidobacteria Population.

Background: Recently, exploring novel dietary nondigestible carbohydrates, which are able to influence the gut flora, has drawn much attention. The objective of this study was to find out the effective dose of levan, as a prebiotic, in rats in order to further apply in food industry.

Methods: Levan at various doses (2-10%) was orally administered to male Wistar Albino rats once a day for 90 days.

AurH1: a new heptapeptide derived from Aurein1.2 antimicrobial peptide with specific and exclusive fungicidal activity.

Due to the increasing incidence of fungal opportunistic infections and emergence of antibiotic-resistant fungal strains, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as ideal candidates for antifungal compounds. In silico methods can reduce the limitations of natural AMPs such as toxicity and instability and improve their antimicrobial properties and selectivity. In this study, we designed AurH1, a new truncated peptide, based on the six-amino acid sequence of Aurein1.

Electron beam irradiation synthesis of porous and non-porous pectin based hydrogels for a tetracycline drug delivery system.

Electron beam irradiation was used for the synthesize of porous and non-porous pectin based hydrogels through conjugation of pectin with 5-hydroxytryptophan in the presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, respectively. The hydrogels were characterized by different methods. Tetracycline hydrochloride was loaded on the hydrogels by swelling equilibrium method and its release in different media was studied.

A novel theranostic system of AS1411 aptamer-functionalized albumin nanoparticles loaded on iron oxide and gold nanoparticles for doxorubicin delivery.

Recently DNA aptamers have attracted remarkable attention as possible targeting ligands since selective targeting of cancer cells is a critical step in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, the development of AS1411 aptamer-functionalized albumin nanoparticles loaded on iron oxide and gold nanoparticles is reported for target delivery of the well-known anticancer drug of doxorubicin (Dox). Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were prepared by ultrasound-assisted and controlled seeded growth synthetic methods, respectively.

Effect of long-term exposure of silver nanoparticles on growth indices, hematological and biochemical parameters and gonad histology of male goldfish (Carassius auratus gibelio).

Studying the impact of emerging pollutants such as nanoparticles is necessary to reveal the adverse effect. In this study, the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on hematological, biochemical, and gonad histopathological indices of male goldfish were examined. Sublethal toxicity were calculated based on acute toxicity and three dosages were selected.