Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac) Demonstrates Oncostatic Activity in the Therapeutic and Preventive Model of Breast Carcinoma

Comprehensive scientific data provide evidence that isolated phytochemicals or whole plant foods may beneficially modify carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the oncostatic activities of Rhus coriaria L. (sumac) using animal models (rat and mouse), and cell lines of breast carcinoma. R. coriaria (as a powder) was administered through the diet at two concentrations (low dose: 0.1% (w/w) and high dose: 1 % (w/w)) for the duration of the experiment in a syngeneic 4T1 mouse and chemically-induced rat mammary carcinoma models. After autopsy, histopathological and molecular analyses of tumor samples in rodents were performed. Moreover, in vitro analyses using MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were conducted. The dominant metabolites present in tested R. coriaria methanolic extract were glycosides of gallic acid (possible gallotannins). In the mouse model, R. coriaria at a higher dose (1%) significantly decreased tumor volume by 27% when compared to controls. In addition, treated tumors showed significant dose-dependent decrease in mitotic activity index by 36.5% and 51% in comparison with the control group. In the chemoprevention study using rats, R. coriaria at a higher dose significantly reduced the tumor incidence by 20% and in lower dose non-significantly reduced tumor frequency by 29% when compared to controls. Evaluations of the mechanism of oncostatic action using valid clinical markers demonstrated several positive alterations in rat tumor cells after the treatment with R. coriaria. In this regard, histopathological analysis of treated tumor specimens showed robust dose-dependent decrease in the ratio of high-/low-grade carcinomas by 66% and 73% compared to controls. In treated rat carcinomas, we found significant caspase-3, Bax, and Bax/Bcl-2 expression increases; on the other side, a significant down-regulation of Bcl-2, Ki67, CD24, ALDH1, and EpCam expressions and MDA levels. When compared to control specimens, evaluation of epigenetic alterations in rat tumor cells in vivo showed significant dose-dependent decrease in lysine methylation status of H3K4m3 and H3K9m3 and dose-dependent increase in lysine acetylation in H4K16ac levels (H4K20m3 was not changed) in treated groups. However, only in lower dose of sumac were significant decreases in the expression of oncogenic miR210 and increase of tumor-suppressive miR145 (miR21, miR22, and miR155 were not changed) observed. Finally, only in lower sumac dose, significant decreases in methylation status of three out of five gene promoters–ATM, PTEN, and TIMP3 (PITX2 and RASSF1 promoters were not changed). In vitro evaluations using methanolic extract of R. coriaria showed significant anticancer efficacy in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells (using Resazurin, cell cycle, annexin V/PI, caspase-3/7, Bcl-2, PARP, and mitochondrial membrane potential analyses). In conclusion, sumac demonstrated significant oncostatic activities in rodent models of breast carcinoma that were validated by mechanistic studies in vivo and in vitro.     

Fluorescent Nanodiamonds Embedded in Biocompatible Translucent Shells

High pressure high temperature (HPHT) nanodiamonds (NDs) represent extremely promising materials for construction of fluorescent nanoprobes and nanosensors. However, some properties of bare NDs limit their direct use in these applications: they precipitate in biological solutions, only a limited set of bio‐orthogonal conjugation techniques is available and the accessible material is greatly polydisperse in shape. In this work, we encapsulate bright 30‐nm fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) in 10–20‐nm thick translucent (i.e., not altering FND fluorescence) silica shells, yielding monodisperse near‐spherical particles of mean diameter 66 nm. High yield modification of the shells with PEG chains stabilizes the particles in ionic solutions, making them applicable in biological environments. We further modify the opposite ends of PEG chains with fluorescent dyes or vectoring peptide using click chemistry. High conversion of this bio‐orthogonal coupling yielded circa 2000 dye or peptide molecules on a single FND. We demonstrate the superior properties of these particles by in vitro interaction with human prostate cancer cells: while bare nanodiamonds strongly aggregate in the buffer and adsorb onto the cell membrane, the shell encapsulated NDs do not adsorb nonspecifically and they penetrate inside the cells.     

A Systematic Review of Parkinson’s Disease Pharmacogenomics: Is There Time for Translation into the Clinics?

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disease, which creates a significant public health burden. There is a challenge for the optimization of therapies since patients not only respond differently to current treatment options but also develop different side effects to the treatment. Genetic variability in the human genome can serve as a biomarker for the metabolism, availability of drugs and stratification of patients for suitable therapies. The goal of this systematic review is to assess the current evidence for the clinical translation of pharmacogenomics in the personalization of treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Methods: We performed a systematic search of Medline database for publications covering the topic of pharmacogenomics and genotype specific mutations in Parkinson’s disease treatment, along with a manual search, and finally included a total of 116 publications in the review. Results: We analyzed 75 studies and 41 reviews published up to December of 2020. Most research is focused on levodopa pharmacogenomic properties and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzymatic pathway polymorphisms, which have potential for clinical implementation due to changes in treatment response and side-effects. Likewise, there is some consistent evidence in the heritability of impulse control disorder via Opioid Receptor Kappa 1 (OPRK1), 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor 2A (HTR2a) and Dopa decarboxylase (DDC) genotypes, and hyperhomocysteinemia via the Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene. On the other hand, many available studies vary in design and methodology and lack in sample size, leading to inconsistent findings. Conclusions: This systematic review demonstrated that the evidence for implementation of pharmacogenomics in clinical practice is still lacking and that further research needs to be done to enable a more personalized approach to therapy for each patient.     

Advanced Industrial Engineering in Next Generation of Manufacturing Systems

The article deals with possible approaches to the development trends in the industrial engineering in manufacturing organizations. The authors emphasize the need for integration of advanced industrial engineering in the next generation of manufacturing systems, which responds to new trends of production, innovation and advanced technology. This integration represents a sustainable development, so that humanization of work are increased, more effective use of natural and energy resources are achieved and production costs are reduced. Trends in the products manufacturing must meet both industrial engineering as well as production management. The development trends in the industrial engineering in manufacturing organizations must use methods and tools of advanced industrial engineering to achieve competitiveness. The second part of this article deals with specification of these approaches in next generation of production systems.     

Development of Pull Strategies in Production Management in Order to Increase Efficiency of Manufacturing Enterprise

The article deals with possible approaches to the management of manufacturing organizations. The authors emphasize the need for integration of lean management with eco-innovation. This integration represents a sustainable development so that environmental impacts are reduced, more effective use of natural resources is achieved and production costs are reduced. Manufacturing organizations based on that approach must use so-called pull production control systems. Pull systems are most often presented in production management system--Kanban. This article also deals with specification of these systems and the development of pull strategies in production management in order to increase efficiency of manufacturing enterprise.     

Determination of the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 coatings on ceramic tiles by monitoring the photodegradation of organic dyes

A method for the evaluation of the photocatalytic effectiveness of nanotitania coatings on ceramic substrate was established. Decolourization of three organic dyes, including methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RB) and crystal violet (CV), was investigated under different experimental conditions. The results showed that the UV light spectrum and light intensity are important parameters when establishing this method.The effect of TiO₂ on the percentage degradation of the dyes was examined by varying its concentration in the suspensions between 0.1% and 4.5 wt%, which resulted in different thicknesses of the TiO₂ layers, and as expected higher percentages of nanotitania resulted in higher photocatalytic efficiencies. However higher amounts of titania lead to the formation of cracks on the surface, which might detrimentally affect adhesion and thus also long-term durability. The applicability of all the dyes used in the present study was proved, and there is good correlation between MB, RB and CV in the evaluation of self-cleaning efficiency.     

The effect of various types of soot on the behaviour of sulphur dioxide in the air investigated on model systems

The effect of four different types of oil soot on the behaviour of sulphur dioxide in the air was investigated on model systems. The efficiency of soot for removing SO₂ from the air stream increases with increased active surface of soot, length of contact and relative humidity.The experimental results indicate that the removal of SO₂ from the air stream in contact with soot is a result of SO₂ adsorption because all removed SO₂ is desorbed from soot at a temperature of 250°C.     

Benchtop Fluorination of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds on a Preparative Scale: Toward Unusually Hydrophilic Bright Particles

Fluorination of diamonds modulates their optical and electromagnetic properties and creates surfaces with increased hydrophobicity. In addition, fluorination of diamonds and nanodiamonds has been recently shown to stabilize fluorescent nitrogen‐vacancy centers, which can serve as extremely sensitive single atomic defects in a vast range of sensing applications from quantum physics to high‐resolution biological imaging. Traditionally, fluorination of carbon nanomaterials has been achieved using harsh and complex experimental conditions, creating hydrophobic interfaces with difficult dispersibility in aqueous environments. Here, a mild benchtop approach to nanodiamond fluorination is described using selective Ag⁺‐catalyzed radical substitution of surface carboxyls for fluorine. In contrast to other approaches, this high‐yielding procedure does not etch diamond carbons and produces a highly hydrophilic interface with mixed C?F and C?OH termination. This dual functionalization of nanodiamonds suppresses detrimental hydrophobic interactions that would lead to colloidal destabilization of nanodiamonds. It is also demonstrated that even a relatively low surface density of fluorine contributes to stabilization of negatively charged nitrogen‐vacancy centers and boosts their fluorescence. The simultaneous control of the surface hydrophilicity and the fluorescence of nitrogen‐vacancy centers is an important issue enabling direct application of fluorescent nanodiamonds as nanosensors for quantum optical and magnetometry measurements operated in biological environment.     

Cross-Recognition of Promoters by the Nine SigB Homologues Present in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

In contrast to Bacillus subtilis, Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) contains nine homologues of stress response sigma factor SigB with a major role in differentiation and osmotic stress response. The aim of this study was to further characterize these SigB homologues. We previously established a two-plasmid system to identify promoters recognized by sigma factors and used it to identify promoters recognized by the three SigB homologues, SigF, SigG, and SigH from S. coelicolor A3(2). Here, we used this system to identify 14 promoters recognized by SigB. The promoters were verified in vivo in S. coelicolor A3(2) under osmotic stress conditions in sigB and sigH operon mutants, indicating some cross-recognition of these promoters by these two SigB homologues. This two-plasmid system was used to examine the recognition of all identified SigB-, SigF-, SigG-, and SigH-dependent promoters with all nine SigB homologues. The results confirmed this cross-recognition. Almost all 24 investigated promoters were recognized by two or more SigB homologues and data suggested some distinguishing groups of promoters recognized by these sigma factors. However, analysis of the promoters did not reveal any specific sequence characteristics for these recognition groups. All promoters showed high similarity in the -35 and -10 regions. Immunoblot analysis revealed the presence of SigB under osmotic stress conditions and SigH during morphological differentiation. Together with the phenotypic analysis of sigB and sigH operon mutants in S. coelicolor A3(2), the results suggest a dominant role for SigB in the osmotic stress response and a dual role for SigH in the osmotic stress response and morphological differentiation. These data suggest a complex regulation of the osmotic stress response in relation to morphological differentiation in S. coelicolor A3(2).     

Photo-catalytic efficiency of laboratory made and commercially available ceramic building products

Self-cleaning building products are mainly based on the application of nanotitania onto exposed outdoor surfaces. In order to achieve high self-cleaning efficiency for outdoor applications, it is important that nanotitania is in the form of anatase, and that particle sizes (also in the case of additional thermal treatment) are in the nano-range, so that a large enough specific surface area can be activated. The particle size and the mineralogy of the photocatalytic layers were determined by means of SEM and Raman spectroscopy, respectively.