Changing human hair fibre colour and shape from the follicle.

Introduction: Natural hair curvature and colour are genetically determined human traits, that we intentionally change by applying thermal and chemical treatments to the fibre. Presently, those cosmetic methodologies act externally and their recurrent use is quite detrimental to hair fibre quality and even to our health.

Objectives: This work represents a disruptive concept to modify natural hair colour and curvature.

Individual Limb Muscle Bundles Are Formed through Progressive Steps Orchestrated by Adjacent Connective Tissue Cells during Primary Myogenesis.

Although the factors regulating muscle cell differentiation are well described, we know very little about how differentiating muscle fibers are organized into individual muscle tissue bundles. Disruption of these processes leads to muscle hypoplasia or dysplasia, and replicating these events is vital in tissue engineering approaches. We describe the progressive cellular events that orchestrate the formation of individual limb muscle bundles and directly demonstrate the role of the connective tissue cells that surround muscle precursors in controlling these events.

Nanoparticles Alter Secondary Metabolism in Plants via ROS Burst.

The particles within the size range of 1 and 100 nm are known as nanoparticles (NPs). NP-containing wastes released from household, industrial and medical products are emerging as a new threat to the environment. Plants, being fixed to the two major environmental sinks where NPs accumulate - namely water and soil, cannot escape the impact of nanopollution.

Mechanisms of vertebrate embryo segmentation: Common themes in trunk and limb development.

Various ultradian rhythms ensure proper temporal regulations during embryo development. The embryo molecular clock, which was first identified in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) underlying periodic somite formation, is one among them. Somites are the earliest manifestation of the segmented vertebrate body and they are formed with strict temporal precision.

PEGylated ofloxacin nanoparticles render strong antibacterial activity against many clinically important human pathogens.

The rise of bacterial resistance against important drugs threatens their clinical utility. Fluoroquinones, one of the most important classes of contemporary antibiotics has also reported to suffer bacterial resistance. Since the general mechanism of bacterial resistance against fluoroquinone antibiotics (e.

Delivery as nanoparticles reduces imatinib mesylate-induced cardiotoxicity and improves anticancer activity.

Clinical effectiveness of imatinib mesylate in cancer treatment is compromised by its off-target cardiotoxicity. In the present study, we have developed physically stable imatinib mesylate-loaded poly(lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles (INPs) that could sustainably release the drug, and studied its efficacy by in vitro anticancer and in vivo cardiotoxicity assays. MTT (methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay revealed that INPs are more cytotoxic to MCF-7 breast cancer cells compared to the equivalent concentration of free imatinib mesylate.

Getting a handle on embryo limb development: Molecular interactions driving limb outgrowth and patterning.

Development of the vertebrate embryo involves multiple segmentation processes to generate a functional, articulated organism. Cell proliferation, differentiation and patterning involve spatially and temporally regulated gene expression and signal transduction mechanisms. The developing vertebrate limb is an excellent model to study such fine-tuned regulations, whereby cells proliferate and are differentially sculptured along the proximal-distal, anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral axes to form a functional limb.

Limb patterning: from signaling gradients to molecular oscillations.

The developing forelimb is patterned along the proximal-distal and anterior-posterior axes by opposing gradients of retinoic acid and fibroblast growth factors and by graded sonic hedgehog signaling, respectively. However, how coordinated patterning along both axes is accomplished with temporal precision remains unknown. The limb molecular oscillator hairy2 was recently shown to be a direct readout of the combined signaling activities of retinoic acid, fibroblast growth factor and sonic hedgehog in the limb mesenchyme.

Joint interpretation of AER/FGF and ZPA/SHH over time and space underlies hairy2 expression in the chick limb.

Embryo development requires precise orchestration of cell proliferation and differentiation in both time and space. A molecular clock operating through gene expression oscillations was first described in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) underlying periodic somite formation. Cycles of HES gene expression have been further identified in other progenitor cells, including the chick distal limb mesenchyme, embryonic neural progenitors and both mesenchymal and embryonic stem cells.

Retinoic acid signaling regulates embryonic clock hairy2 gene expression in the developing chick limb.

Embryo development proceeds under strict temporal control and an embryonic molecular clock (EC), evidenced by cyclic gene expression, is operating during somite formation and limb development, providing temporal information to precursor cells. In somite precursor cells, EC gene expression and periodicity depends on Retinoic acid (RA) signaling and this morphogen is also essential for limb initiation, outgrowth and patterning. Since the limb EC gene hairy2 is differentially expressed along the proximal-distal axis as growth proceeds, concomitant with changes in flank-derived RA activity in the mesenchyme, we have interrogated the role of RA signaling on limb hairy2 expression regulation.

Comprehensive analysis of fibroblast growth factor receptor expression patterns during chick forelimb development.

Specific interactions between fibroblast growth factors (Fgf1-22) and their tyrosine kinase receptors (FgfR1-4) activate different signalling pathways that are responsible for the biological processes in which Fgf signalling is implicated during embryonic development. In the chick, several Fgf ligands (Fgf2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 18) and the four FgfRs (FgfR 1, 2, 3 and 4) have been reported to be expressed in the developing limb. The precise spatial and temporal expression of these transcripts is important to guide the limb bud to develop into a wing/leg.

Poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoencapsulation reduces Erlotinib-induced subacute toxicity in rat.

Erlotinib-HCl is a quinazoline derivative used as a drug in the therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer. The present study was conducted to compare the subacute toxicity induced by Erlotinib-HCl delivered to rats as nanoparticles and as free drug. Wistar rats were orally administered with a daily dosage of 200 mg kg(-1) Erlotinib-HCl either as free drug or as Poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) encapsulated nanoparticles.

Chick Hairy1 protein interacts with Sap18, a component of the Sin3/HDAC transcriptional repressor complex.

Background: The vertebrate adult axial skeleton, trunk and limb skeletal muscles and dermis of the back all arise from early embryonic structures called somites. Somites are symmetrically positioned flanking the embryo axial structures (neural tube and notochord) and are periodically formed in a anterior-posterior direction from the presomitic mesoderm. The time required to form a somite pair is constant and species-specific.