Assessing Radiosensitivity: Effects of Acute Ionizing Radiation on Inflammation and Apoptosis in Macrophage Cell Line (RAW 264.7).

Introduction: The responses of biological systems to various types of radiation have multifaceted dimensions. In the field of ionizing radiation, in vitro external gamma radiation therapy has primarily been studied as a model to elucidate the challenges that biological systems face from radiation effects. Exposure of cells/organisms to gamma radiation results in a cascade of ionization events that can cause severe and irreversible biological damage. However, the biological responses and oxidative stress-related mechanisms under acute radiation conditions remain poorly understood in inflammatory systems. The present study aimed to provide a model of the effect of ionizing radiation on macrophages, which play a pivotal role in the mechanisms of inflammation, to assess the impact of radiotherapy as an approach to treating inflammatory diseases. Methods: A macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) was cultured and exposed to different doses of gamma radiation (4, 6, 8, 10 Gy). Cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration, nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production, expression of pro-inflammatory and apoptotic genes, and cytokine secretion of macrophages were also evaluated. Results: The results showed that gamma radiation at 4 Gy had a low effect on macrophage characteristics and cytokine secretion patterns. In contrast, higher doses (8 and 10 Gy) increased DNA damage, expression of apoptotic genes, and secretion of NO and PGE2 cytokines. 6 Gy radiation, the maximum radiation dose, showed moderate non-destructive effects and inflammation process modulation. In this study, doses higher than 6 Gy of Gamma radiation caused cell mortality. Conclusion: It appears that 6 Gy of gamma radiation modulates the inflammatory cascade caused by macrophage cells.

Silymarin-Loaded Tin(IV) Nanoparticles Exhibit Enhanced Bioavailability and Antiproliferative Effects on Colorectal Cancer Cells.

Silymarin (SM) exhibits potential therapeutic effects due to having antioxidant activity. However, the low solubility and bioavailability of SM restrict its biological performance. To overcome this limitation, this study aimed to develop a nanoformulation composed of SM and dimethyltindichloride and investigate the effect of SM-loaded Sn nanoparticles on cancer cell growth and survival. An SM-Sn complex was synthesized and then characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), EDS-MAP, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ζ-potential analysis. After that, the SW480 colorectal cancer cell line was treated with different concentrations of SM and the SM-Sn complex. Cell viability was examined through the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, analyzing apoptosis, and live-dead assay. The lipid peroxidation rate was assessed through the measurement of thiobarbituric acid (TBA). Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and cell population in the cell cycle were measured using a flow cytometry instrument. To evaluate the colonization ability of SW480 cells, a colony formation assay was performed. Gene expression analysis was also conducted using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The findings of this study revealed the effectiveness of the SM-Sn complex in decreasing SW480 cell viability by inducing cell death-associated mechanisms. We found that the SM-Sn complex increases intracellular ROS level and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. It was also revealed that the SM-Sn complex induces cell cycle arrest and the expression of apoptotic genes. In addition, the SM-Sn complex could effectively hinder SW480 cells from constituting colonies. We conclude that the use of tin(IV) as a scaffold for enhanced delivery of SM could be considered an efficient option for inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and survival.

Potential application of bioemulsifier RAG-1 as an anti-staling agent in flat bread quality.

Bread undergoes physicochemical processes known as 'staling', which limits shelf life and quality. Despite the fact that several chemical emulsifiers have been employed to combat this issue, they may offer risks to human health. In this investigation, the effects of bioemulsan, a natural bioemulsifier (BE), on bread quality and staleness were examined. The yield of emulsan generated by Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1 was 1.49 g/L. The presence of clear zones around colonies, high emulsification value of 100%, and remaining surface tension below 40 mN/m after heating (at 250 °C for 15-20 min) verified emulsan thermal stability. BE-supplemented bread had a greater moisture percentage than the control, resulting in reduced crumb hardening and improved bread quality during storage as measured by moisture content. The first day after adding 0.5% emulsan, the hardness rose from 90.45 N (for the control) to 150.45 N. Texture analysis showed that although the hardness increased during storage, adding emulsan allowed obtaining bread with clearly softer crumb after 2 and 3 days of baking, especially at 0.5% level (from 215.6 N for the control to 150.5 N for 0.5% BE-enriched bread after 2 days, and from 425.7 to 210.25 N after 3 days). Based on the sensory evaluation results, emulsan did not lead to any unpleasant changes on bread organoleptic parameters. Therefore, using bioemulsifier RAG-1 as a green emulsifier and anti-staling agent found to be more promising.

Oral Lactobacillus species and their probiotic capabilities in patients with periodontitis and periodontally healthy individuals.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify oral Lactobacillus species and characterize their adhesion properties and antibacterial activity in patients with periodontitis compared with periodontally healthy individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred and fifty-four isolates from the saliva, subgingival, and tongue plaque of 59 periodontitis patients and 59 healthy individuals were analyzed. Oral Lactobacillus species were identified through the culture method in the modified MRS medium and confirmed by molecular testing. Moreover, the radial diffusion assay and cell culture methods were used to determine the antibacterial activities of oral strains against oral pathogens and their adhesion activity in vitro. RESULTS: 67.7% of the cases and 75.7% of the control samples were positive for the Lactobacillus species. Lacticaseibacillus paracasei and Limosilactobacillus fermentum were the dominant species in the case group, whereas Lacticaseibacillus casei and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum were dominant in the control group. Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus gasseri had higher antibacterial effects against oral pathogens. Moreover, Ligilactobacillus salivarius and L. fermentum demonstrated the highest ability to adhere to oral mucosal cells and salivary-coated hydroxyapatite. CONCLUSION: L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. fermentum, and L. salivarius can be introduced as probiotic candidates since they demonstrated appropriate adherence to oral mucosal cells and salivary-coated hydroxyapatite and also antibacterial activities. However, further studies should be conducted to assess the safety of probiotic interventions using these strains in patients with periodontal disease.

Conditioned media from human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes inhibit the growth and migration of lung cancer cells.

Conditioned media (CM) from various cell types contain significant levels of paracrine factors. Recently, therapeutic properties of CM derived from stem cells have been revealed. Based on the fact that heart cancer is extremely rarely, we hypothesized that the CM obtained from human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes might inhibit cancer cell growth and survival. To this end, lung cancer cell line A549 along with human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) were treated with serial concentrations of cardiomyocyte CM (CCM) or fibroblast CM (FCM). We found that CCM markedly reduced the viability of lung cancer cells, while FCM did not compromise the viability of neither cancer cells nor HFF cells. Furthermore, we determined an optimized CCM concentration, 30 mg/mL, at which the growth, clonogenicity, and migration of A549 and Calu6 lung cancer cell lines were substantially impaired, whereas FCM did not influence these properties. Moreover, lung cancer cells exhibited cell cycle regulation upon treatment with CCM and the rate of apoptosis was markedly increased by cardiomyocyte CM in both lung cancer cell lines tested. Finally, in response to CCM treatment, A549 and Calu6 cells expressed lower levels of antiapoptotic and stemness genes, but higher levels of proapoptotic genes. In conclusion, this study provides cellular and molecular evidence for the antitumor ability of secretome obtained from stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Prognostic Significance of Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Patients With Salivary Gland Carcinomas.

OBJECTIVES: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small group of cells resistant to therapy and play a major role in tumor progression, recurrence, and poor clinical outcomes of patients. This study aimed to evaluate the association of CSC markers with clinicopathologic features and survival in patients with salivary gland carcinomas (SGCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 48 patients affected by mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) and 47 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) were reviewed retrospectively. SOX2, CD133, and CD44 expression was appraised by immunohistochemistry and statistically analyzed to weigh the correlation between these markers and patients' clinicopathologic features and tumor outcomes. RESULTS: In AdCC patients showing poor outcomes, a trend toward a high expression of CD133 and CD44 and low expression of SOX2 was observed, while in MEC patients experiencing the same outcomes, there was a trend toward a high expression of CD44 and low expression of CD133 and SOX2. Only the increase of MEC histopathologic grade was statistically significant with decreased SOX2 expression. Distant metastasis in AdCC patients, tumor grade, lymph node involvement, and local recurrence in MEC patients had significant correlations with patients' survival. CONCLUSION: Besides the significant association between low SOX2 expression and higher grades of MEC, we found no statistically significant correlation between the studied CSC markers and patients' survival or clinicopathologic features. Therefore, a larger sample size with long-term follow-up is beneficial for thorough investigations toward the main role of CSCs in patients with SGCs.

A novel panel of blood-based microRNAs capable of discrimination between benign breast disease and breast cancer at early stages.

Breast cancer (BC) as a leading cause of cancer death among women, exhibits a wide range of genetic heterogeneity in affected individuals. Satisfactory management of BC depends on early diagnosis and proper monitoring of patients' response to therapy. In this study, we aimed to assess the relation between the expression patterns of blood-based microRNAs (miRNAs) with demographic characteristics of the patients with BC in an attempt to find novel diagnostic markers for BC with acceptable precision in clinical applications. To this end, we performed comprehensive statistical analysis of the data of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the blood miRNome dataset (GSE31309). As a result, 21 miRNAs were selected for experimental verification by quantitative RT-PCR on blood samples of 70 BC patients and 60 normal individuals (without any lesions or benign breast diseases). Statistical one-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference in the blood levels of the selected miRNAs in BC patients compared to any lesions or benign breast diseases. However, the multi-marker panel consisting of hsa-miR-106b-5p, -126-3p, -140-3p, -193a-5p, and -10b-5p could detect early-stages of BC with 0.79 sensitivity, 0.86 specificity and 0.82 accuracy. Furthermore, this multi-marker panel showed the potential of detecting benign breast diseases from BC patients with 0.67 sensitivity, 0.80 specificity, and 0.74 accuracy. In conclusion, these data indicate that the present panel might be considered an asset in detecting benign breast disease and BC.

Oral rehabilitation in a patient with sclerotic-phenotype chronic graft versus host disease: a case report.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a bone marrow malignancy in which blasts count increases by more than 20% in the bone marrow. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) is a treatment option for these patients with high risk of graft versus host disease (GVHD) development. Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) often mimics a variety of autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematous or systemic sclerosis. Sclerotic cGVHD has a wide spectrum of oral manifestations, including mucosal atrophy, microstomia, and hyposalivation. This report presents a full-mouth implant-retained reconstruction in a 35-year-old male patient who had undergone alloHCT for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and developed sclerotic cGVHD afterwards. Implant-retained prosthetics might be a practicable treatment for patients with these complications.