Leishmania infantum infection modulates messenger RNA, microRNA and long non-coding RNA expression in human neutrophils in vitro.

In the Americas, L. infantum (syn. chagasi) is the main cause of human visceral leishmaniasis.

Co-expression analysis suggests lncRNA-mRNA interactions enhance antiviral immune response during acute Chikungunya fever in whole blood of pediatric patients.

Chikungunya virus is an arbovirus that causes the neglected tropical disease chikungunya fever, common in tropical areas worldwide. There is evidence that arboviruses alter host transcriptome and modulate immune response; this modulation may involve transcriptional and post-transcriptional control mechanisms mediated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Herein, we employed bioinformatic analysis to evaluate co-expression of lncRNAs and their putative target mRNAs in whole blood during natural Chikungunya infection in adolescent boys.

Co-expression analysis of lncRNA and mRNA suggests a role for ncRNA-mediated regulation of host-parasite interactions in primary skin lesions of patients with American tegumentary leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis, caused by different Leishmania species, manifests as cutaneous or visceral forms. In the American continent, the cutaneous form is called American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) and is primarily caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. Mucosal leishmaniasis (ML), the most severe form of ATL, arises in approximately 20% of patients from a primary cutaneous lesion.

Co-expression analysis of lncRNA and mRNA identifies potential adipogenesis regulatory non-coding RNAs involved in the transgenerational effects of tributyltin.

The obesity epidemic is considered a global public health crisis, with an increase in caloric intake, sedentary lifestyles and/or genetic predispositions as contributing factors. Although the positive energy balance is one of the most significant causes of obesity, recent research has linked early exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) such as the obesogen tributyltin (TBT) to the disease epidemic. In addition to their actions on the hormonal profile, EDCs can induce long-term changes in gene expression, possibly due to changes in epigenetic patterns.

Comparative study between apocynin and protocatechuic acid regarding antioxidant capacity and vascular effects.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from NOX enzymes activity play an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Compounds able to decrease oxidative stress damage are potential candidates as drugs and/or supplements for hypertension treatment. Here, we aimed to compare ROS scavenging potency, effective NOX inhibition and effects on vascular reactivity of apocynin to another phenolic compound, protocatechuic acid, in vascular cells from spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), where redox signaling is altered and contributes to the development and/or maintenance of hypertension.

Pregnancy restores altered sympathetic vasomotor modulation and parasympathetic cardiac modulation in hypertensive rats.

Hypertension is associated to impaired baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), pregnancy reduces blood pressure, and this effect has been associated to increase nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Increased NO bioavailability has been linked to improve BRS in hypertensive animals.

Data of Nebivolol on oxidative stress parameters in hypertensive patients.

Oxidative stress is a key feature in hypertension, since reactive oxygen species are involved in all stages of cardiovascular diseases. Saliva is a body fluid that can be used to investigate alterations in the oxidative system with several specific advantages over blood. Nebivolol is a third-generation selective β1-adrenergic receptor antagonist that promotes vasodilation and has been shown to reduce oxidative stress in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

Optimization of Surface Loading of the Silatrane Anchoring Group on TiO.

Anchoring groups are usually needed for the attachment of small molecules to metal oxide surfaces such as in water-splitting dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (WS-DSPECs). Here, we optimize the surface loading onto titanium dioxide surfaces of the silatrane anchoring group, a triethanolamine-protected trialkoxysilane. This anchoring group is not yet widely used because prior protocols afforded low surface coverage, but it has the advantage of high stability over a wide pH range and at both oxidizing and reducing potentials when bound.

Caveolin-1/Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Interaction Is Reduced in Arteries From Pregnant Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.

We have investigated the role caveolae/caveolin-1 (Cav-1) plays in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation and how it impacts pregnancy-induced decreased vascular reactivity in normotensive (Wistar rats) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Wistar rats and SHR were divided into non-pregnant (NP) and pregnant (P). Nitrite levels were assessed by the Griess method in the aorta and mesenteric vascular bed.

Concerted Differential Changes of Helical Dynamics and Packing upon Ligand Occupancy in a Bacterial Chemoreceptor.

Transmembrane receptors are central components of the chemosensory systems by which motile bacteria detect and respond to chemical gradients. An attractant bound to the receptor periplasmic domain generates conformational signals that regulate a histidine kinase interacting with its cytoplasmic domain. Ligand-induced signaling through the periplasmic and transmembrane domains of the receptor involves a piston-like helical displacement, but the nature of this signaling through the >200 Å four-helix coiled coil of the cytoplasmic domain had not yet been identified.

Identification of distinct pH- and zeaxanthin-dependent quenching in LHCSR3 from .

Under high light, oxygenic photosynthetic organisms avoid photodamage by thermally dissipating absorbed energy, which is called nonphotochemical quenching. In green algae, a chlorophyll and carotenoid-binding protein, light-harvesting complex stress-related (LHCSR3), detects excess energy via a pH drop and serves as a quenching site. Using a combined in vivo and in vitro approach, we investigated quenching within LHCSR3 from In vitro two distinct quenching processes, individually controlled by pH and zeaxanthin, were identified within LHCSR3.

Pregnancy decreases O-GlcNAc-modified proteins in systemic arteries of normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Aim: We determined the role played by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) of proteins in systemic arteries during late pregnancy in normotensive and hypertensive rats.

Main Methods: O-GlcNAc levels and O-GlcNAc modification of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were determined in aorta (conductance vessel) and mesenteric arteries (resistance vessels) of non-pregnant (NP) and pregnant (P) Wistar rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Vascular O-GlcNAc-modified proteins, O-GlcNAcase (OGA) and O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) expression, and OGA activity were analyzed.

Apocynin alters redox signaling in conductance and resistance vessels of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Chronic treatment with apocynin reduces blood pressure and prevents endothelial dysfunction development in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Mechanisms underlying apocynin effects on SHR remain unclear. Compared to diapocynin and other drugs, apocynin is a weak antioxidant, which suggests that its effects on SHR are associated with other mechanisms besides its antioxidant capacity.

Polycation Interactions with Zwitterionic Phospholipid Monolayers on Oil Nanodroplet Suspensions in Water (DO) Probed by Sum Frequency Scattering.

By combining dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements with the interface and bond specificity of vibrational sum frequency generation scattering (SFS) spectroscopy, we probe several structural aspects of how zwitterionic DMPC lipids adsorbed to oil droplets suspended in water (DO) respond to the presence of the common polycation poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) in the presence of low and high salt concentration. We show that the polycation interactions with the lipids generally result in two distinct outcomes that depend upon salt and PAH concentration, identified here as Scheme 1 (observed under conditions of high salt concentration) and Scheme 2 (observed under conditions of low salt concentration). The schemes differ in the extent of changes to droplet size and droplet coalescence coinciding with PAH addition.

Endothelial modulation of a nitric oxide donor complex-induced relaxation in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

We hypothesized that endothelium modulates relaxation induced by a nitric oxide (NO) donor ruthenium complex (TERPY, [Ru(terpy)(bdq)NO]) in mesenteric arteries of normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats in different ways. We analyzed the mechanism involved in TERPY-induced relaxation in the second and third branches of mesenteric arteries and investigated how endothelium contributes to the TERPY vasodilator effect on SHR blood vessels. TERPY induced concentration-dependent relaxation in endothelium-denuded (E) and endothelium-intact (E) mesenteric arteries of normotensive rats and SHR.

Quantifying the Electrostatics of Polycation-Lipid Bilayer Interactions.

Mechanistic insight into how polycations disrupt and cross cell membranes is needed for understanding and controlling polycation-membrane interactions, yet such information is surprisingly difficult to obtain at the molecular level. We use second harmonic and vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopies along with quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and computer simulations to quantify the interaction of poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAH) and its monomeric precursor allylamine hydrochloride (AH) with lipid bilayers. We find PAH adsorption to be reversible and nondisruptive to the bilayer under the conditions of our experiments.

Hypotensive and vasorelaxant effect of Diapocynin in normotensive rats.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NAD(P)H-oxidase) is a multicomponent enzyme system that generates superoxide anion by one-electron reduction of molecular oxygen and represents the major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vascular cells. Apocynin has been extensively used as an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase (NOX) in phagocytic cells and as an antioxidant in non-phagocytic cells. In phagocytes cells, due to the presence of myeloperoxidase, apocynin can be the converted to diapocynin, which is supposed to be the active form of this phytochemical.

Resonantly Enhanced Nonlinear Optical Probes of Oxidized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes at Supported Lipid Bilayers.

With production of carbon nanotubes surpassing billions of tons per annum, concern about their potential interactions with biological systems is growing. Herein, we utilize second harmonic generation spectroscopy, sum frequency generation spectroscopy, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring to probe the interactions between oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (O-MWCNTs) and supported lipid bilayers composed of phospholipids with phosphatidylcholine head groups as the dominant component. We quantify O-MWCNT attachment to supported lipid bilayers under biogeochemically relevant conditions and discern that the interactions occur without disrupting the structural integrity of the lipid bilayers for the systems probed.

Apocynin reduces blood pressure and restores the proper function of vascular endothelium in SHR.

This study has evaluated how the vascular endothelium of hypertensive rats chronically treated with apocynin affects acetylcholine (ACh), sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and phenylephrine (PE) action on the nitric oxide (NO) signal transduction pathway in endothelial (EC) and vascular smooth muscle cells. Treatment with apocynin significantly reduced the mean arterial pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In addition, apocynin improved the impaired ACh hypotensive effect on SHR.

Increased activity of the antioxidants systems modulate the oxidative stress in saliva of toddlers with early childhood caries.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the oxidative stress levels and the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems in saliva of toddlers with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC).

Design: Unstimulated saliva samples were collected at the morning from 0 to 3 year-old S-ECC (n=30) or caries-free (CF) children (n=30/group) for evaluation of oxidative stress (OS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), which were measured by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, as well as to assess the activity of enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, SOD) and non-enzymatic (uric acid, UA) antioxidant systems, respectively. Data were analyzed by Student's t-test (p<0.