Formononetin attenuates HO-induced cell death through decreasing ROS level by PI3K/Akt-Nrf2-activated antioxidant gene expression and suppressing MAPK-regulated apoptosis in neuronal SH-SY5Y cells.

Formononetin is an isoflavone, found in herbs like Trifolium pratense, which executes a variety of physiological activities including anti-neurodegenerative effect. However, the molecular mechanism of formononetin-mediated neuroprotection remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of formononetin on hydrogen peroxide (HO)-induced death of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and its underlying molecular mechanism.

Impact of Ice Morphology on Design Space of Pharmaceutical Freeze-Drying.

It has been known that the sublimation kinetics of a freeze-drying product is affected by its internal ice crystal microstructures. This article demonstrates the impact of the ice morphologies of a frozen formulation in a vial on the design space for the primary drying of a pharmaceutical freeze-drying process. Cross-sectional images of frozen sucrose-bovine serum albumin aqueous solutions were optically observed and digital pictures were acquired.

Addition of Monovalent Electrolytes to Improve Storage Stability of Freeze-Dried Protein Formulations.

This study investigates the effect of low levels of electrolytes on storage stability in freeze-dried sucrose-based protein formulations. Both bovine serum albumin and recombinant human serum albumin were freeze dried with sucrose and alkali halides (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, RbCl, and CsCl) at selected low levels. All formulations were stored at 50 °C and 65 °C up to 2 months and then assayed for protein aggregation.

Involvement of β-adrenoceptors in the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into mesodermal progenitor cells.

Previous studies suggest that β-adrenoceptor stimulation may enhance the cardiac differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. It remains unclear whether the differentiations of ES cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells rely on similar molecular mechanisms. In addition, no previous studies have shown that human iPS cells express β-adrenoceptors.

Role of activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced sensitization of p53-deficient human colon cancer cells to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-mediated apoptosis through up-regulation of death receptor 5 (DR5) by zerumbone and celecoxib.

Death receptor 5 (DR5) is a death domain-containing transmembrane receptor that triggers cell death upon binding to its ligand, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), and a combination of TRAIL and agents that increase the expression of DR5 is expected to be a novel anticancer therapy. In this report, we demonstrate that the stress response gene ATF3 is required for endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated DR5 induction upon zerumbone (ZER) and celecoxib (CCB) in human p53-deficient colorectal cancer cells. Both agents activated PERK-eIF2α kinases and induced the expression of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4)-CCAAT enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein, which were remarkably suppressed by reactive oxygen species scavengers.