Abstract Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is highly malignant with poor prognosis, causing prevalent mortality worldwide. Early-stage lung cancer can be distinguished through reliable early detection to urge timely treatment. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) might play such a vital role in tumor initiation, progression and metastasis that they are becoming an important biomarker in cancer screening. To

Abstract Overweight and obesity are serious and an ever-growing problem in modern society. It is a major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Obesity is a complex condition resulting from the interaction of a range of genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to identify genetic markers predisposing to, and

Abstract The walnut is an excellent food product with abundant nutrients. However, the inference of its population structure has been hindered by the intricate phylogenetic relationships among Juglans species. In this study, RAD sequencing was conducted to investigate the genetic variation and population structure among 41 walnut cultivars from Southwestern Sichuan (SS, n = 10), Eastern Sichuan (ES

Abstract Colletotrichum fructicola causes strawberry anthracnose, which results in considerable economic losses in quality and production in Asia. However, the molecular mechanism of strawberry infection with C. fructicola is still poorly understood. Here, we employed RNA-Seq technology to mine the strawberry transcriptome for EST-SSRs (Expressed Sequence Tag–Simple Sequence Repeats) following C. fructicola

Abstract Bioaerosol sampling is a critical step toward characterizing airborne pathogen exposure risks for many respiratory infectious diseases in human-to-human or human-to-animal outbreaks. The integrated performance-parameter design and sampling efficiency of aerosol-to-hydrosol samplers (cyclones) has been rarely published or studied. This review focuses on the determination of cyclone performance-parameter

Abstract As a valuable and powerful platform technology, yeast surface display (YSD) has been widely used in various biotechnological fields, but little in agricultural applications. Xylanase can be used as an elicitor in the plant–pathogen interaction system and induce corn defence response. In this study, the YSD technology was used to express the xylanase protein family from Setosphaeria turcica

Abstract The increasing antibiotic application in agriculture has raised a potential risk to human health worldwide. Although high concentrations of antibiotics are lethal for plants without a resistant gene, it is not clear what detoxifying processes act in plants under low antibiotic concentration. Arabidopsis thaliana was selected to characterize the effects of kanamycin antibiotic toxicity on seedling

Abstract Here we report the phycosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), using Codium capitatum extract, and the synthesis of fungal chitosan nanoparticles (FC-NPs), using extracted chitosan from Aspergillus niger mycelia. Then nanoconjugates from FC/Ag-NPs were produced and evaluated. The synthesized NPs had mean particles’ size diameters of 37.2, 68.4 and 79.6 nm for Ag-NPs, FC-NPs and FC/Ag-NPs

Abstract Red-fleshed pummelo (Citrus grandis), a mutant of ‘Guanxi’, is an important economic plant rich in carotenoids. The transcriptome of ‘Guanxi’ pummelo was compared with red-fleshed pummelo, with the aim of identifying the key genes responsible for red flesh through RNA sequencing. In total, 44.11 and 47.71 Gb clean reads were respectively obtained after filtering in red and white flesh. Altogether

Abstract Sanghuangporus baumii (Pilát) L.W. Zhou & Y.C. Dai, a popular medicinal fungus, has been used to treat several diseases by its triterpenoids bioactive ingredient for many years. However, the triterpenoids content of S. baumii is low and their biosynthesis mechanisms are not clearly understood. In order to reveal the regulation mechanism of triterpenoids biosynthesis in S. baumii, the cDNA

Abstract SWEET family genes play an important role in different physiological processes, including sugar transport and adjustments, plant development and environmental adaptability. BLAST tools and Hidden Markov Model-directed sequence alignments in Eucalyptus grandis genome identified 52 Eucalyptus SWEET genes containing MtN3/saliva domain. Out of these, 40 genes encode predicted proteins that have

Abstract Euphorbia kansui Liou is an endemic and traditional medicinal plant in China. Despite its value, the genomic and transcriptomic information of E. kansui is limited. In the present study, a total of 43,211,690 high-quality reads were generated using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology. After assembly, 58,362 unigenes were recovered with an N50 length of 1,683 bp. 36,396 (62.36%) of these

Abstract Drought seriously threatens tomato production worldwide. Despite much research on exogenous salicylic acid (SA) and Ca2+ improving plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, the molecular mechanisms of exogenous SA- and Ca2+-mediated drought resistance response in tomato remain unclear. In this study, we analyzed SA- and Ca2+ -induced differentially expressed transcripts under drought

Abstract The stingless bee Heterotrigona itama honey is generating interest among consumers due to unique antibacterial properties. Despite the substantial health benefits of this honey, its action mode of inhibiting and killing pathogenic bacteria remains unresolved. The present study aimed to unravel the effect of raw H. itama honey against four clinically important bacteria, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas

Abstract Chinese wild pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) acts as a source of genetic variability for cultivated pepper breeding. High-resolution quantitative train locus (QTL) mapping is essential for identifying genetic regions related to important phenotype variation. In this study, a set of 120 F2 populations derived from a cross between cultivar Capsicum annuum ‘007EA’ and the wild relative Capsicum

Abstract Daylily (Hemerocallis citrina Borani), a widespread ornamental plant around the world, has been considered as an ideal model to study flower development recently. To initiate the research to comprehensively investigate the molecular mechanism of the flower development of daylily, we performed a transcriptome sequencing study to establish the transcriptional profiles of this plant at different

Abstract White celery (Apium graveolens L.), a variety of common celery, is an important leafy vegetable in the Apiaceae family and is famous for its nutritional value. However, limited work has been devoted to quality formation and regulation in white celery. In this study, four white celery varieties, ‘Xuebaiqincai’, ‘Saixue’, ‘Baiganshiqin’ and ‘Ruixue’, were selected and analyzed for the comparison

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the association between expressions of five periodontal pathogens (Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Tannerella forsythensis (Tf), Treponema denticola (Td) and Prevotella intermedia (Pi) and the periodontal pocket depth (PD) in people suffering from periodontitis. A study of 1164 plaque samples from individuals

Abstract Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) flowers can be used to produce lutein, but the production process generates fermentation wastewater, which is rich in lactic acid. Currently, most fermentation wastewater treatment methods are relatively expensive and time-consuming. To develop a practical marigold flower fermentation wastewater treatment method, in this study, we treated the fermentation wastewater

Abstract Many bladder cancer (BC) patients with early disease are asymptomatic and diagnosed at advanced stage when the therapeutic options are limited. This necessitates the development of reliable predictive molecular biomarkers that will ensure a positive therapeutic response in every patient. The aim of this study was to screen for alterations in gene expression levels related to drug sensitivity

Abstract Large-scale production of thiocyanate (SCN-) for industrial purposes has led to widespread environmental pollution by this compound. Thiocyanate (SCN-) is toxic for humans and recalcitrant to biological oxygenation and hydrolysis. Phytoremediation is an effective technique for disposal of SCN- because thiocyanate (SCN-) can be assimilated by many plants from contaminated water and soil. In

Abstract The evolutionary speed hypothesis (ESH) states that the molecular evolutionary rates of plants in the warm areas are higher than that in the cool areas. Nevertheless, largely due to the scarcity of molecular data from lower taxonomic lineages, ESH remains elusive in plants. In this study, we comprehensively conducted genome-wide comparative analyses of a total of 76 chloroplast (cp) genomes

Abstract At present, the oestrogens detected in the environment have been classified as group 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization. They have obvious effects on organisms at extremely low environmental concentration (1.0 ng/L) and easily accumulate in the ecosystem, which has adverse effects on the environment and ecological health. The use of microbial degradation to remove steroid estrogens

Abstract Reducing the Cd content in crop plants is an important process for ensuring the safety of food made from the crop. In this study, the CMV△2b vector was used to express the PvSR2 gene to reduce the Cd content of Nicotiana benthamiana plants. The infectious clone plasmid pCB301-CMVFny209△2b-PvSR2 was successfully constructed. N. benthamiana plants at six leaf stages were inoculated with plasmid-Agrobacterium

Abstract Boron (B) is an essential plant micronutrient but studies regarding its transport are still limited to a few plants. This work identified two major B transport sequences in plants, NIP5;1 boric acid channel protein and BOR1 transporter. 80 BOR1 and 34 NIP5;1 homologs were identified in 18 different plant genomes. BOR1 homologs had a HCO3-transporter domain, 649–737 amino-acid residues with

Abstract The broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent ivermectin has been very recently found to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and proposed as a candidate for drug repurposing in COVID-19. In the present report the in vitro antiviral activity end-points are analyzed from the pharmacokinetic perspective. The available pharmacokinetic data from clinically relevant and excessive dosing studies indicate that the

Abstract The treatment of choice for distal femur malignancies in skeletally immature patients remains controversial. As the mainstream treatment, limb-salvage treatment has been recently investigated, but its application in children remains challenging. Specifically, the procedure causes potential limb-length discrepancy from the continued normal growth of the contralateral lower extremity. We designed

Abstract SARS-CoV-2 virus is responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in more than 2 million confirmed cases and 139,515 deaths in 213 countries, areas and territories as of 20th April 2020. Although reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction is the diagnostic test, screening studies for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are essential for our extensive knowledge of the viral spread

Abstract Bilirubin oxidases (BODs), which catalyze the oxidation of bilirubin to biliverdin, are multi-copper oxidases that can be used in clinical diagnoses. Given their different reported enzymatic characterizations from laccases, BODs have gained considerable attention for their application in healthcare and environment management. In this study, a BOD gene from Myrothecium verrucaria was chemically

Abstract Phloroglucinol (PG) is an important chemical that has been produced in engineered E. coli. Low yield and high cost are the bottlenecks that limit the industrialisation and popularisation of PG biosynthesis. In this study, a new expression system (pNEW vector) was developed for PG biosynthesis by using inexpensive p-isopropylbenzoate (cumate) as the inducer, and the copy number control element

Abstract Lymphoma has become the seventh most common cancer expected to occur and the ninth most common cause of cancer death in both males and females. However, pathological diagnosis as the main diagnostic method is time-consuming, expensive and error-prone. Nowadays, with the outstanding performance of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in image analysis, its application in medical image classification

Abstract Metabolic engineering of a yeast fermentation process with an intention of increasing ethanol production is a challenging engineering task since the fermentation system involves multi-enzymes and multi-substrates systems. When a certain reaction is disturbed, the other reactions are also influenced since it is a connecting system coupled with co-enzymes/co-factors which also controls the metabolic

Abstract Gamma-decalactone is an interesting flavuring compound with an intense oily-peachy aroma. It is commonly used in food and cosmetic industry. Biotechnological methods of its synthesis are based on the processes of fatty acid degradation, mainly ricinoleic acid, which is the main component of castor oil. The aim of this study was to compare the productivity of gamma-decalactone in batch cultures

Abstract To keep plant height (PH) stable in various densities, mapping QTL underlying te response of PH to density is of importance for soybean breeding. In this study, two soybean RIL populations were planted under two densities in two environments and PH at the pod-bearing stage (PBS), seed-filling stage (SFS) and maturity stage (MS) were measured to identify QTL controlling PH and its response

Abstract This paper presents results from the first application of molecular-genetic analysis combined with conventional light microscopy (LM) for identification of cylindrospermopsin (CYN) producers in field phytoplankton samples from Bulgaria. In total 68 cyanoprokaryotes were found by LM, out of which 18 were considered potential CYN-producers according to the literature. They occurred in different

Abstract This study was aimed at investigating the possibility of biological removal of crude oil with the use of native bacterial strains, isolated from the shorelines of the Caspian Sea. For this purpose, based on the growth rate, hemolytic and emulsification activity, oil spreading assay and liquid surface tension reduction, 115 bacterial strains were isolated from seven selected stations across

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) migrate to sites of inflammation and tumor formation in the body. In this way, MSCs become activated and release a plethora of growth factors and cytokines that are involved in the regulation and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment. The effect of MSCs on tumor cells is bipolar by nature and the data on this interaction is quite contradictory. The purpose

Abstract Sugar transporter proteins (STPs) play an important role in plant growth and development and stress resistance. Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a significant economic crop and is widely cultivated worldwide. However, the evolution and the roles of STP genes in the growth and development and in coping with abiotic stresses in pepper are poorly known. Here, we characterized STP gene family in

Abstract Plant invertases comprise a family of enzymes that catalyze the irreversible hydrolysis of sucrose into glucose and fructose, which plays a crucial role in carbohydrate partitioning and regulating plant growth and development. However, currently, there is little information on the roles of invertases in the development of pear trees. In this study, we performed genome-wide identification of

Abstract This review presents an overview of published studies for a better understanding of the anti-mutagenic potential of medicinal plants and the precise indications for the utilization of natural compounds as chemo-preventive agents. Reports on the anti-mutagenic potential of medicinal plants published from 1997 to 2019 were searched through different scientific databases using the following keywords:

Abstract Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) is an essential oil-bearing and medicinal plant of great economic and social importance to Bulgaria, which is the world largest producer of lavender oil nowadays. Currently, the industrial cultivation of lavender in Bulgaria employs up to seven varieties established during the last century. Despite the growing industrial lavender cultivation, few molecular

Abstract The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of MCP-1 in injured cartilage tissues, peripheral blood and synovial fluid from patients with cartilage injury of elbow joint of upper limbs, and try to understand its relationship with microRNA (miRNA or miR)-421. Twenty-eight patients and 26 healthy subjects were included. Injured cartilage tissues and peripheral blood were collected

Abstract The objective of this study was isolation of humanized single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies against IL1RAP, a promising cancer marker in leukemia and other tumors. Here, we screened for antibody fragments that recognized IL1RAP using a phage-display library of humanized scFv through several rounds of bio-panning and further FACS selection of enriched yeast-display sub-library.

Abstract Lipoxygenases (LOXs; EC1.13.11.12) are widely involved in plant growth, development, maturation, senescence and stress resistance. LOXs have been studied in many crop species but not in Tartary buckwheat [Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.]. This study aimed to systematically identify and analyze LOX genes in Tartary buckwheat. Eight LOX genes, which were unevenly distributed on five chromosomes

Abstract Hip replacement is one of the most effective surgical procedures in medicine. Despite the fact that the clinical results of arthroplasty are usually excellent, some implants loosen with time and require revision. To help resolve this problem, research has focused on providing conditions that have a positive biological effect on bone building elements, resulting in a fast, seamless proliferation

Abstract The aim of the present study was to determine the content of residual monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA) in cold and hot polymerized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), both widely applicable in dentistry, by using MHE-GC-MS (multiple headspace extraction analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) in combination with GC-FID (gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection). The samples

Abstract This study investigated the expression of inflammatory factors in tumour tissues, monocytes and blood of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients taking tetrandrine (Tet) during low-dose radiotherapy. Sixty NSCLC patients underwent surgical resection of lung cancer after low-dose radiotherapy. Thirty patients did not take Tet (control group) and the other thirty patients took Tet during

Abstract This study describes our experience with the treatment of cervical degenerative pathology through anterior cervical decompression and fusion technique. We evaluated the clinical outcome and complications after 6-months follow-up and analysed the data to optimize the efficacy and safety of this particular surgical treatment in order to minimize the risks of complications. The presented study

Abstract The design and synthesis of biopolymer nano- and micro-formulations are a new trend with growing priority in scientific research and development in the fields of biomedicine, bioorganic/medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, agrochemistry and food industry. This incorporates a vast variety of improved and newly-developed analytical and physico-chemical techniques for green and efficient synthesis

Abstract Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) resulting from perinatal asphyxia or intrapartum-related events is a common cause of neonatal brain damage death among neonatal brain injury and term infants. However, the potential mechanisms of brain injury in term infants with HIE remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-454-3p in HIE. The protective effect of microRNA-454-3p

Abstract This study explored whether sufentanil, a lipophilic opioid, can protect against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury via regulating Sestrin 2 (Sesn2) expression. The expression of Sesn2 was measured in the blood of patients with myocardial I/R after sufentanil administration. H9c2 cells were applied to establish I/R injury by oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R). After

Abstract Poly ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs) are family of proteins that use nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) as substrate. Seventeen putative PARP sequences were determined in the human genome. Although PARPs show a variety of functions and low sequence identities, they share common structural and functional properties. In our study, PARP1 and PARP2 and PARP4 sequences in different species

Abstract Vitiligo is caused by the disappearance of melanocyte function in the skin, but the mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the expression and role of miR-217 in dysfunctional human primary melanocytes caused by oxidative stress, so as to explore its potential role in vitiligo. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used to induce the oxidative damage of melanocytes

Abstract Rutin (Vitamin P1) is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory flavonoid. This study examined the effect of rutin on the potential of cisplatin to cause oxidative and proinflammatory damage in blood serum, ureter, bladder and urethra in rats. Animals were divided into four groups: (i) healthy (HG), (ii) 50 mg/kg of rutin + 5 mg/kg of cisplatin (C + R50), (iii) 100 mg/kg of rutin + 5 mg/kg of cisplatin

Abstract Neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a neurological disease that can cause neonatal death. MicroRNA-124-3p (miR-124-3p) plays an important role in the development of various diseases. In this research, our aim was to investigate the potential function of miR-124-3p in regulating HIE and to find the underlying mechanism. Here, we discovered that miR-124-3p expression was reduced

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of radiofrequency radiation emitted from Wi-Fi systems and mobile phones on cord blood and placenta. The study included 149 pregnant women who were divided in subgroups: unexposed (control), mobile phone exposed, Wi-Fi exposed and mobile phone plus Wi-Fi exposed groups. Immediately after birth, placenta and cord blood samples were collected

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the expression and role of microRNA-449a (miR-449a) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children, and further to explore the underlying mechanism. To study the role of miR-449a in IBD development, an in vitro inflammatory model of IBD was conducted by stimulating the normal intestinal epithelial cells Caco-2 with 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). The results

Abstract This study investigated the role of ErbB4, the schizophrenia susceptibility gene, in synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission and its association with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. We found that there was no significant difference in the size of inhibitory synapsin Gephyrin clusters in the dendrites of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the cultured cortex of ErbB4 knockout (ErbB4−/−)

Abstract In line with the well-established ethnobotanical use of Arum maculatum for the treatment of hemorrhoidal disease, we sought to determine the activities of 30% or 70% ethanol extracts of the plant tubers in an array of pharmacological and biochemical models of some crucial events implicated in the pathogenesis of this disorder, namely angiogenesis, collagenase activity remodeling, cyclooxygenase

Abstract Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a housekeeping protein which plays various roles in non-metabolic processes in addition to its role in glucose catabolism. There are several GAPDH isoforms in plant cells. In this study, we cloned the full-length cDNA encoding the isoform GAPC in two ecotypes of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvelev, gray–green type and yellow–green type. The