Project description:Synbiotics are a combination of probiotics and prebiotics which can alter the composition of the gastrointestinal tract evoking beneficial effects throughout the body through the production of a battery of bioactive metabolites. In this study, a synbiotic was used to reduce the behavioral and biochemical symptoms of depression and this nanostring panel was used to decipher where along the gut-brain-axis the synbiotic-derived metabolites were invoking their beneficial effects on the immune system. The synbitoic was composed of two probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus fermentum ATCC 793 and Bifidobacteria longum ATCC 15707 and a grape -derived prebiotic composed of grape seed polyphenol extract, resveratrol and a concord grape extract. Male mice (C57BL/6) were pretreatment with either nothing (control), BDPP, probiotic or synbiotic and underwent 28 days of chronic unpredicitable stress. After 28 days, animals' behavior reflected an increase in depressive- and anxiety-like behavior, rescued specifically by the synbiotic. This nanostring multiplex analysis reveals both tissue- and treatment-specific effects on immune modulators.
Project description:Solar ultraviolet C(UV-C)radiation reaching the Earth’s surface is little due to the filtering effects of the stratospheric ozone layer. At present, artificial UV-C irradiation is utilized for different biological processes. Grape is a major fruit crop around the world. Research has shown that UV-C irradiation induced the biosynthesis of phenols. However, changes at the molecular level in response to UV-C and leading to these effects are poorly understood. To elucidate the effect of UV-C on expression of genes in grape and the response mechanism, transcript abundance of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) leaves was quantified using the Affymetrix Grape Genome oligonucleotide microarray (15,700 transcripts)
Project description:Although the anti-cancer properties of Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (OPCs) from grape seeds has been well recognized, the molecular mechanisms by which they exert anti-cancer effects are poorly understood. In this study, through comprehensive RNA-sequencing based gene-expression profiling in multiple colorectal cancer cell lines, we for the first time illuminate the genome-wide effects of OPCs from grape seeds in colorectal cancer. Our data revealed that OPCs affects several key cancer-associated genes. In particular, genes involved in cell cycle and DNA replication were most significantly and consistently altered by OPCs across multiple cell lines. Intriguingly, our in vivo experiments showed that OPCs was significantly more potent at decreasing xenograft tumor growth compared to the unfractionated grape seed extract (GSE) that includes the larger polymers of proanthocyanidins. These findings were further confirmed in colorectal cancer patient-derived organoids, wherein OPCs more potently inhibited the formation of organoids compared to GSE. Further, we validated alteration of cell cycle and DNA replication associated genes in cancer cell lines, mice xenografts as well as patient-derived organoids. Overall, this study provides an unbiased and comprehensive look at the mechanisms by which OPCs exerts anti-cancer properties in colorectal cancer.
Project description:We used Affymetrix microarrays to investigate gene expression changes in PBMCs isolated from male patients ongoing secondary prevention of CVD to determine significant modulatory effects that may have been induced by the intake of an initial dose of 8 mg of resveratrol-enriched grape extract for 6 months and then, 16 mg for a further 6 months. The aim of this work was to determine whether the daily intake of dietary levels of resveratrol (RES) for a total of 12 months exerted any modulatory effects, at the level of gene expression, in PBMCs isolated from patients in secondary prevention of CVD. Male patients were divided in 3 groups: placebo (A), grape extract (B) and resveratrol-enriched grape extract (C). Total RNA was extracted from isolated PBMCs belonging to a total of 18 diabetic male patients (6 from each group) in 3 time points (at day 0, after 6 months and after 12 months) to compare differential gene expression between the groups. Differential gene expression after 6 and 12 months of the study for each group: placebo (A), grape extract (B) and resveratrol-enriched grape extract (C)
Project description:Solar ultraviolet C(UV-C)radiation reaching the Earth’s surface is little due to the filtering effects of the stratospheric ozone layer. At present, artificial UV-C irradiation is utilized for different biological processes. Grape is a major fruit crop around the world. Research has shown that UV-C irradiation induced the biosynthesis of phenols. However, changes at the molecular level in response to UV-C and leading to these effects are poorly understood. To elucidate the effect of UV-C on expression of genes in grape and the response mechanism, transcript abundance of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) leaves was quantified using the Affymetrix Grape Genome oligonucleotide microarray (15,700 transcripts) Grape leaves were exposed to UV-C irradiation at 6W/m2 for 10 min. LCK-0-1, LCK-0-2 and LCK-0-3 are 0 h after the initiation of treatment and as the controls; LTR-6-1, LTR-6-2 and LTR-6-3 are for 6 h after the initiation of treatment; LTR-12-1, LTR-12-2 and LTR-12-3 are for 12 h after the initiation of treatment. Three replicates for each time point. 9 samples in all.