Project description:Worldwide, more than 1 billion people are affected by infestations with soil-transmitted helminths and also in veterinary medicine helminthiases are a severe thread to livestock due to emerging resistances against the common anthelmintics. Proanthocyanidins have been increasingly investigated for their anthelmintic properties, however, except for an interaction with certain proteins of the nematodes, not much is known about their mode of action. To investigate the anthelmintic activity on a molecular level, a transcriptome analysis was performed in Caenorhabditis elegans after treatment with purified and fully characterized oligomeric procyanidins (OPC). The OPCs had previously been obtained from a hydro-ethanolic (1:1) extract from the leaves of Combretum mucronatum, a plant which is traditionally used in West Africa for the treatment of helminthiasis, therefore, also the crude extract was included in the study. Significant changes in differential gene expression were observed mainly for proteins related to the intestine, many of which were located extracellularly or within cellular membranes. Among the up-regulated genes, several hitherto undescribed orthologues of structural proteins in humans were identified, but also genes that are potentially involved in the worms’ defense against tannins. For example, T22D1.2, an orthologue of human basic salivary proline-rich protein (PRB) 2, and numr-1 (nuclear localized metal responsive) were found to be strongly up-regulated. Down-regulated genes were mainly associated with lysosomal activity, glycoside hydrolysis or the worms’ innate immune response. No major differences were found between the groups treated with purified OPCs versus the crude extract. Investigations using GFP reporter gene constructs of T22D1.2 and numr-1 corroborated the intestine as the predominant site of the anthelmintic activity.
Project description:Two known settlement/metamorphosis inducing stimuli (crustose coralline algae, and ethanolic extract of crustose coralline algae) and one stimulus which just induces metamorphosis (LWamide) were used to stimulate competent planula larvae of the coral Acropora millepora. Samples were taken 0.5h, 4h and 12h post induction isolate the genes controlling settlement and metamorphosis in this coral.
Project description:We investigated the effects of the crude extract of a South African medicinal plant, Cotyledon orbiculata, on cell survival of colon (HCT116) cancer cell lines. Using RNASeq, we discovered that the extract interfered with mRNA regulatory pathways. Here, we found that the extract of Cotyledon orbiculata, a South African medicinal plant, had an anti-proliferative effect in cancer cells, mediated by apoptosis induced by alternative splicing of hnRNPA2B1 and BCL2L1.
Project description:To investigate the protein expression changes at the synapse induced by Eef2 reduction, we performed (LCMS)/MS-based proteomic analysis in crude synaptosome preparations from the PFC of WT and Eef2 HET mice.
Project description:This study tested the anti-inflammatory potential of a green tea extract rich in polyphenols (GrTP) in the colon of the multi-drug resistance targeted mutation (Mdr1a-/-) mouse model of IBD. A colonic histological injury score was determined for each mouse to establish the effect of GrTP on inflammation. Insights into mechanisms responsible for changes in inflammation were gained using transcriptome (microarray) and proteome (2-D gel electrophoresis and LCMS protein identification) analyses.
Project description:We investigate the molecular targets and pathways that the neem extracts and the associated compounds act through, to bring about tumor suppression by using a genome-wide functional pooled shRNA screen on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line treated with crude neem leaf extracts. We analyzed differences in global clonal sizes of the shRNA-infected cells cultured under no treatment and treatment with neem leaf extract conditions, assayed using next-generation sequencing. We further analyzed differences in gene expression in HSC-4 cells, upon treatment with neem leaf extract in a time-dependent manner, followed by a time-dependent rescue. Our results indicate that neem extract simultaneously affects various important molecular signaling pathways in head and neck cancer cells, some (TGF-β/HSF-1) of which may be therapeutic targets for this devastating tumor.