Effects of various beverages on characteristics of provisional restoration materials.

Objective: To investigate the effect of common beverages on four currently used provisional restoration materials: Protemp®4, Integrity®, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) block, and acrylic resin. Flowable resin composite is included as a control group.

Materials And Methods: Each material was formed into disks of 10-mm diameter and 4-mm thickness (N = 40) by loading the material into acrylic molds.

The inhibition of Caco-2 proliferation by astaxanthin from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous.

Purpose: To investigate the efficiency of natural astaxanthin that has been extracted from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous in inhibiting the proliferation and viability of colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (Caco-2; colon cancer cells).

Methodology: Caco-2 cells and normal human oralkeratinocytes (NOKs) were treated with different concentrations of extracted astaxanthin, ranging from 0.075 to 10 mg ml, for 24, 48 and 72 h.

The role of the Cx43 C-terminus in GJ plaque formation and internalization.

Connexin 43 (Cx43) is a major gap junction (GJ) protein found in many mammalian cell types. The C-terminal (CT) domain of Cx43 has unique characteristics in terms of amino acid (aa) sequence and its length differs from other connexins. This CT domain can be associated with protein partners to regulate GJ assembly and degradation, which results in the direct control of gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC).