Exploring the Biosafety Potential of Friv. Culture Total Ethanol Extract: A Comprehensive Assessment of Genotoxicity, Mitotoxicity, and Cytotoxicity for Therapeutic Applications.

The escalating elderly population worldwide has prompted a surge of interest in longevity medicine. Its goal is to interfere with the speed of ageing by slowing it down or even reversing its accompanying effects. As a field, it is rapidly growing and spreading into different branches.

Plant In Vitro Culture Factories for Pentacyclic Triterpenoid Production.

Pentacyclic triterpenoids are a diverse subclass of naturally occurring terpenes with various biological activities and applications. These compounds are broadly distributed in natural plant resources, but their low abundance and the slow growth cycle of plants pose challenges to their extraction and production. The biosynthesis of pentacyclic triterpenoids occurs through two main pathways, the mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway and the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, which involve several enzymes and modifications.

Photomanipulation of Minimal Synthetic Cells: Area Increase, Softening, and Interleaflet Coupling of Membrane Models Doped with Azobenzene-Lipid Photoswitches.

Light can effectively interrogate biological systems in a reversible and physiologically compatible manner with high spatiotemporal precision. Understanding the biophysics of photo-induced processes in bio-systems is crucial for achieving relevant clinical applications. Employing membranes doped with the photolipid azobenzene-phosphatidylcholine (azo-PC), a holistic picture of light-triggered changes in membrane kinetics, morphology, and material properties obtained from correlative studies on cell-sized vesicles, Langmuir monolayers, supported lipid bilayers, and molecular dynamics simulations is provided.

Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant and DNA-Protective Capacity, and Microscopic Characters of Aerial Substances.

Invasive species as sources of natural components are of increasing interest for scientific research. This is the case of , which belongs to the top 100 of the most dangerous invasive plant species in Europe, and which is the subject of the present study. The purpose of the research was to analyze the main phenolic compounds in the flowers, leaves, and stem bark of and determine the DNA-protective and antioxidant potential of their ethanolic extracts.

Stepwise remodeling and subcompartment formation in individual vesicles by three ESCRT-III proteins.

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) is a multi-protein machinery involved in several membrane remodeling processes. Different approaches have been used to resolve how ESCRT proteins scission membranes. However, the underlying mechanisms generating membrane deformations are still a matter of debate.

Metabolite Profiling of Ellis In Vitro Cultures with Different Levels of Differentiation.

Ellis is an aromatic and medicinal plant of high economic value. Much research has focused on the phytochemistry and biological activities of fruit extracts; however, the potential of the plant in vitro cultures used as mass production systems of valuable secondary metabolites has been understudied. This paper presents data on metabolite profiling (GC/MS and HPLC), antioxidant activities (DPPH, TEAC, FRAP, and CUPRAC), and SSR profiles of plant leaves and in vitro cultures with different levels of differentiation (shoots, callus, and cell suspension).

Zwitterionic Dendrimersomes: A Closer Xenobiotic Mimic of Cell Membranes.

Building functional mimics of cell membranes is an important task toward the development of synthetic cells. So far, lipid and amphiphilic block copolymers are the most widely used amphiphiles with the bilayers by the former lacking stability while membranes by the latter are typically characterized by very slow dynamics. Herein, a new type of Janus dendrimer containing a zwitterionic phosphocholine hydrophilic headgroup (JD ) and a 3,5-substituted dihydrobenzoate-based hydrophobic dendron is introduced.

Femtoliter Injection of ESCRT-III Proteins into Adhered Giant Unilamellar Vesicles.

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery mediates membrane fission reactions that exhibit a different topology from that observed in clathrin-coated vesicles. In all of the ESCRT-mediated events, the nascent vesicle buds away from the cytosol. However, ESCRT proteins are able to act upon membranes with different geometries.

ESCRT-III induces phase separation in model membranes prior to budding and causes invagination of the liquid-ordered phase.

Membrane fission triggered by the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) is an important process observed in several pathogenic and non-pathogenic cellular events. From a synthetic-biology viewpoint, ESCRT proteins represent an interesting machinery for the construction of cell mimetic sub-compartments produced by fission. Since their discovery, the studies on ESCRT-III-mediated action, have mainly focused on protein dynamics, ignoring the role of lipid organization and membrane phase state.

The ESCRT-III machinery participates in the production of extracellular vesicles and protein export during Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Infection with Plasmodium falciparum enhances extracellular vesicle (EV) production in parasitized red blood cells (pRBCs), an important mechanism for parasite-to-parasite communication during the asexual intraerythrocytic life cycle. The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT), and in particular the ESCRT-III sub-complex, participates in the formation of EVs in higher eukaryotes. However, RBCs have lost the majority of their organelles through the maturation process, including an important reduction in their vesicular network.

Recent applications of plant cell culture technology in cosmetics and foods.

Plants have been used as the main source of phytochemicals with nutritional, medicinal, cultural and cosmetic applications since times immemorial. Nowadays, achieving sustainable development, global climate change, restricted access to fresh water, limited food supply and growing energy demands are among the critical global challenges faced by humanity. Plant cell culture technology has the potential to address some of these challenges by providing effective tools for sustainable supply of phyto-ingredients with reduced energy, carbon and water footprints.

Recent Progress in Amaryllidaceae Biotechnology.

Plants belonging to the monocotyledonous Amaryllidaceae family include about 1100 species divided among 75 genera. They are well known as medicinal and ornamental plants, producing pharmaceutically important alkaloids, the most intensively investigated of which are galanthamine and lycorine. Amaryllidaceae alkaloids possess various biological activities, the most important one being their anti-acetylcholinesterase activity, used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Fluctuation spectroscopy of giant unilamellar vesicles using confocal and phase contrast microscopy.

A widely used method to measure the bending rigidity of bilayer membranes is fluctuation spectroscopy, which analyses the thermally-driven membrane undulations of giant unilamellar vesicles recorded with either phase-contrast or confocal microscopy. Here, we analyze the fluctuations of the same vesicle using both techniques and obtain consistent values for the bending modulus. We discuss the factors that may lead to discrepancies.

In sito galanthamine extraction during the cultivation of L. shoot culture in two-phase bubble column cultivation system.

Two-phase bioreactor cultivation system was developed and applied for in sito recovery of extracellular galanthamine during the cultivation of L. shoot culture in a modified column bioreactor system. The inclusion of an external circulation column with adsorbent resin Amberlite XAD-4 as a second phase, on the 21st day of the beginning of cultivation resulted in 1.

Chemical Composition, In Vitro Antioxidant Potential, and Antimicrobial Activities of Essential Oils and Hydrosols from Native American Muscadine Grapes.

Essential oils and hydrosols of two cultivars of muscadine grapes ( (Michx.) Small.) were obtained by hydro-distillation of flowers and berry skins.

Interaction of SNARE Mimetic Peptides with Lipid bilayers: Effects of Secondary Structure, Bilayer Composition and Lipid Anchoring.

The coiled-coil forming peptides 'K' enriched in lysine and 'E' enriched in glutamic acid have been used as a minimal SNARE mimetic system for membrane fusion. Here we describe atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the interactions of these peptides with lipid bilayers for two different compositions. For neutral phosphatidylcholine (PC)/phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) bilayers the peptides experience a strong repulsive barrier against adsorption, also observed in potential of mean force (PMF) profiles calculated with umbrella sampling.

Area Increase and Budding in Giant Vesicles Triggered by Light: Behind the Scene.

Biomembranes are constantly remodeled and in cells, these processes are controlled and modulated by an assortment of membrane proteins. Here, it is shown that such remodeling can also be induced by photoresponsive molecules. The morphological control of giant vesicles in the presence of a water-soluble -tetrafluoroazobenzene photoswitch (F-azo) is demonstrated and it is shown that the shape transformations are based on an increase in membrane area and generation of spontaneous curvature.

Plant cell culture as emerging technology for production of active cosmetic ingredients.

Plants have always been the main source for active cosmetic ingredients, having proven health beneficial effects on human, such as anti-aging, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, UV-protective, anti-cancer, anti-wrinkle, skin soothing, whitening, moisturizing, etc. Extracts from herbal, aromatic and/or medicinal plants have been widely used as effective active ingredients in cosmeceuticals or nutricosmetics, especially in products for topical application and skin-care formulations. However, over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest to plant cell culture - derived active cosmetic ingredients.

Protopine production by fumaria cell suspension cultures: effect of light.

Protopine biosynthesis in Fumaria rostellata and Fumaria officinalis cell suspensions was investigated. For the first time, we reported for calli and cell suspensions obtained from F. rostellata and F.

Recent advances and uses of grape flavonoids as nutraceuticals.

Grape is one of the oldest fruit crops domesticated by humans. The numerous uses of grape in making wine, beverages, jelly, and other products, has made it one of the most economically important plants worldwide. The complex phytochemistry of the berry is characterized by a wide variety of compounds, most of which have been demonstrated to have therapeutic or health promoting properties.

Sage in vitro cultures: a promising tool for the production of bioactive terpenes and phenolic substances.

Extracts of Salvia species are used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. The economic importance of this genus has increased in recent years due to evidence that some of its secondary metabolites have valuable pharmaceutical and nutraceutical properties.The bioactivity of sage extracts is mainly due to their content of terpenes and polyphenols.

Elicitation of galanthamine biosynthesis by Leucojum aestivum liquid shoot cultures.

The effects of methyl jasmonate and jasmonic acid on galanthamine production, phenolic acid content and growth of Leucojum aestivum L. shoot culture, cultivated in submerged conditions were investigated. The best time-point for addition of elicitors was during the exponential phase of the culture growth.

Manipulation and engineering of metabolic and biosynthetic pathway of plant polyphenols.

Polyphenols are bioactive natural molecules biogenerated through secondary metabolic pathways. They are involved in different functions in the ecology, physiology, and biochemistry of plants such as chemical defense against predators and in plant-plant interferences. These compounds are known to have important biological activities related to human health such as antioxidant action, antiinflammatory and antimicrobial effects.