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Mitochondrial genome A3243G mutation in the tRNALeu(UUR) encodinggene (MTTL)is the main cause of mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). This mutation exists in heteroplasmic form and severity of the disease is affected by many factors including heteroplasmy level. In this study, a pediatric proband (female, 8 years old) was found to carry A3243G mutation at 77.6% of heteroplasmy by using PCR-RFLP in combination with real-time PCR. The results of the A3243G mutation analysis of the proband’s family showed that her mother without any symptoms of encephalopathyalso carried the mutation at 7.9% of heteroplasmy whereas the mutation was not found in the proband’s healthy father and healthy sister, indicating that the proband received the A3243G mutation from her mother and the expression of MELAS syndromes depended on the level of heteroplasmy.

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been synthesized by a chemical reduction method using sodium borohydride and functionalized with amino groups on their surface. The GNPs were then conjugated with the anti-HER2 human antibody (trastuzumab) for detecting breast cancer cells. The specific binding of trastuzumab-conjugated GNPs onto the breast cancer cells (KPL4 line) were observed by bright-field and dark-field microscopy and were for the first time observed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray scanning. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2011.544]

Vemurafenib has recently been used as drug for treatment of melanomas with BRAFV600E mutation. Unfortunately, treatment with only vemurafenib has not been sufficiently effective, with recurrence after a short period. In this study, three vemurafenib-resistant BRAFV600E melanoma cell lines, A375PR, A375MR and SKMEL-28R, were established from the original A375P, A375M and SKMEL-28 cell lines. Examination of the molecular mechanisms showed that the phosphorylation levels of MEK and ERK, which play key roles in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, were reduced in these three cell lines, with increased phosphorylation levels of pAKTs limited to SKMEL-28R cells. Treatment of SKMEL-28R cells with 100 nM paclitaxel resulted in increased apoptosis and decreased cellular proliferation, invasion and colony formation via reduction of expression levels of EGFR and pAKTs. Moreover, vemurafenib-induced pAKTs in SKMEL-28R were decreased by treatment with an AKT inhibitor, MK-2206. Taken together, our results revealed that resistance mechanisms of BRAFV600E-mutation melanoma cells to vemurafenib depended on the cell type. Our results suggested that paclitaxel should be considered as a drug in combination with vemurafenib to treat melanoma cells.

Proline (Pro) and Trehalose (Tre) function as compatible solutes and are upregulated in plants under abiotic stress. They play an osmoprotective role in physiological responses, enabling the plants to better tolerate the adverse effects of abiotic stress. We investigated the effect of exogenous Pro and Tre (10 mM) in seedlings of Thai aromatic rice (cv. KDML105; salt-sensitive) during salt stress and subsequent recovery. Salt stress (S, NaCl) resulted in growth reduction, increase in the Na(+)/K(+) ratio, increase in Pro level and up-regulation of Pro synthesis genes (pyrroline-5-carboxylatesynthetase, P5CS; pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase, P5CR) as well as accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), increased activity of antioxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; peroxidase, POX; ascorbate peroxidase, APX; catalase, CAT) and transcript up-regulation of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes (Cu/ZnSOD, MnSOD, CytAPX, CatC). Under salt stress, exogenous Pro (PS; Pro+NaCl) reduced the Na(+)/K(+) ratio, further increased endogenous Pro and transcript levels of P5CS and P5CR, but decreased the activity of the four antioxidant enzymes. The transcription of genes encoding several antioxidant enzymes was upregulated. Exogenous Tre (TS; Tre+NaCl) also reduced the Na(+)/K(+) ratio and strongly decreased endogenous Pro. Transcription of P5CS and P5CR was upregulated, the activities of SOD and POX decreased, the activity of APX increased and the transcription of all antioxidant enzyme genes upregulated. Although exogenous osmoprotectants did not alleviate growth inhibition during salt stress, they exhibited a pronounced beneficial effect during recovery period showing higher percentage of growth recovery in PS (162.38%) and TS (98.43%) compared with S (3.68%). During recovery, plants treated with PS showed a much greater reduction in endogenous Pro than NaCl-treated (S) or Tre-treated plants (TS). Increase in CAT activity was most related to significant reduction in H(2)O(2), particularly in the case of PS-treated plants. Advantageous effects of Pro were also associated with increase in APX activity during recovery.

Background Wound healing has being extensively investigated over the world. Healing impairment is caused by many reasons including increasing of free-radicals-mediated damage, delaying in granulation tissue formation, reducing in angiogenesis and decreasing in collagen reorganization. These facts consequently lead to chronic wound healing. Piper betle Linn (Betle) leaves have been folklore used as an ingredient of drugs for cutaneous wound treatment. However, the effect of betle leaf on wound healing is not yet well elucidated. In this study, we aimed to investigate the healing efficacy of methanol leaf extract of Piper betle Linn on proliferation of fibroblast NIH3T3 cells as well as full-thickness burn and excision wounds in swiss mice. Methods Scratch wound healing assays were conducted to examine the effects of betle leaf extract on healing activity of fibroblast cells. Burn and excision wounds on swiss mouse skins were created for investigating the wound healing progress caused by the betle leaf extract. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was also evaluated to examine the products of lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) under conditions of with or without betle leaf extract treatment. Results The results of this study showed that Piper betle Linn leaf extract in methanol increased proliferation of NIH3T3 cells and promoted wound healing in vitro and in vivo with both burn wound and excision wound models. In addition, this extract significant decreased level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver of treated-mice compared with that in non-treated mice. Conclusions Our results suggest that Piper betle Linn can be used as an ingredient in developing natural origin drugs for treatment of cutaneous wounds.