NOPR Collection:

Organ-specific distribution of chlorophyll-related compounds from dietary spinach in rabbits

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Organ-specific distribution of chlorophyll-related compounds from dietary spinach in rabbits Authors: Hsu, Ching-Yun; Yeh, Tsan-Huei; Huang, Meng-Yuan; Hu, Shene-Pin; Chao, Pi-Yu; Yang, Chi-Ming Abstract: The distribution of chlorophyll-related compounds (CRCs) derived from dietary spinach was investigated in different organs the rabbits. The rabbits in the experimental group consumed 100 g of freeze-dried spinach powder after a 24 h fasting period and sacrificed 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h later and in the control group sacrificed after the 24 h fasting period. The main CRCs in the liver were found to be chlorophyll (Chl a) and b, chlorophyllide (Chlide) a and b, pheophytin (Phe) a and b and pheophorbide (Pho) a and b, which reached their peak values at 8 h post-feeding. The gallbladder contained mainly Chlide a and a', Pho a and a', Pho b and b', which peaked their values at 2 h post-feeding. Pho a and b were consistently observed in the blood and peaked at 12 h post-feeding. The earlier appearance of Chlide a', Pho a' and Pho b' in the gallbladder compared to the liver indicated that these CRCs were compartmentalized differently and might undergo the same type of vectorialized transport as characterized for the bile salts. Pho levels peaked later in the blood compared to the liver, suggesting that Pho might be released into the peripheral blood circulation from the liver. In conclusion, Chlide and Pho were the principal Chl metabolites in the rabbits. Our data may expand our understanding of the metabolism and biodistribution of CRCs in the human body. A number of biological functions, including anti-oxidation, anti-tumor and anti-aging have recently been attributed to CRCs, it will be interesting to explore, if the binding of Chlide and Pho to other nutrients or trace metal ions in the body mediate their biological functions. Page(s): 388-395

In vitro anticancer activity of extracts of Mentha Spp. against human cancer cells

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Title: In vitro anticancer activity of extracts of Mentha Spp. against human cancer cells Authors: Sharma, Vikas; Hussain, Shabir; Gupta, Moni; Saxena, Ajit Kumar Abstract: In vitro anticancer potential of methanolic and aqueous extracts of whole plants of Mentha arvensis, M. longifolia, M. spicata and M. viridis at concentration of 100 µg/ml was evaluated against eight human cancer cell lines — A-549, COLO-205, HCT-116, MCF-7, NCI-H322, PC-3, THP-1 and U-87MG from six different origins (breast, colon, glioblastoma, lung, leukemia and prostate) using sulphorhodamine blue (SRB) assay. Methanolic extracts of above-mentioned Mentha Spp. displayed anti-proliferative effect in the range of 70-97% against four human cancer cell lines, namely COLO-205, MCF-7, NCI-H322 and THP-1; however, aqueous extracts were found to be active against HCT-116 and PC-3. The results indicate that Mentha Spp. contain certain constituents with cytotoxic properties which may find use in developing anticancer agents. Page(s): 416-419

Conformational behavior of phenylglycines and hydroxyphenylglycines and non-planarity of phenyl rings

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Conformational behavior of phenylglycines and hydroxyphenylglycines and non-planarity of phenyl rings Authors: Nandel, Fateh S; Shafique, Mohd Abstract: The non-proteinogenic amino acids — phenylglycine (PG) and hydroxyphenylglycine (HPG) are crucial components of certain peptidic natural products and are important for the preparation of various medicines. In this, study, the conformation of model dipeptides Ac-X-NHMe of PG, p-HPG and 3, 5-di-hydroxyphenylglycine (3, 5-DHPG) was studied both in R and S form by quantum mechanical (QM) and molecular dynamics approaches. On the energy scale, the conformational states of these molecules in both the R and S were found to be degenerate by QM studies, stabilized by non-covalent interactions like carbonyl--carbonyl interactions, carbonyl-lp··π (aromatic ring) interactions etc. These interactions disappeared/weakened due to interaction of water molecules with carbonyl groups of backbone in simulation and water was found to interact with the aromatic ring through O_w-H··π or O_wlp··π interactions. The degeneracy of conformational states was lifted in favor of R-form of PG and DHPG and water molecules interactions with aromatic ring led to non-planarity of the aromatic ring. In simulation studies, irrespective of the starting geometry, the , values for the R form correspond to inverse b/inverse collagen region and for the S-form, the , values correspond to b/collagen region i.e., adopt single conformation. The obtained results were in conformity with the CD spectroscopic data on D-PG and D-p-HPG. The conformational behavior of the unusual amino acids might be of great help in designing of bioactive peptides/peptide based drugs to be realized in single conformation – an essential requirement. Page(s): 350-357

In silico analysis of the structure and interaction of COP1 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana

Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Title: In silico analysis of the structure and interaction of COP1 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana Authors: Karumuri, Sudha; Bandopadhyay, Rajib Abstract: Previous studies have shown that COP1 (constitutive photomorphogenic 1) protein of Arabidopsis thaliana plays a crucial role in different aspects of photomorphogenesis. Interaction of COP1 with SPA1 (suppressor of phytochrome A)and other regulatory proteins actively affect light regulatory gene expression in diverse directions. Though several studies have explained the function of COP1 protein, method of its interaction with SPA1 and cryptochromes are still not explained in detail. In this study, in silico analysis was followed to predict the tertiary structure, active site residues, functionally important regions and regular expressions of COP1 protein. Its ease of its interaction with SPA1 and seven other regulatory proteins, namely bZIP transcription factor 56 (HY5), transcription factor HY5-like (HYH), serine/threonine-protein phosphatase 7 (AtPP7), protein long hypocotyl in FAR-RED 1 (HFR1), OBP3-responsive protein 1 (OBP3), transcription factor MYC2 (MYC2/ZBF1) and Z-box binding factor 2 protein (GBF1/ZBF2) was measured using protein-protein docking. Interaction with MYC2 was found to be stronger than with others with a global energy value of -22.46. It was also found that COP1 shared three regions of regular expression with SPA1, the last expression also being present in MYC2/ZBF1 and OBP3. Taken together, the insight into structural and functional properties of COP1 protein presented in this study would be helpful in determining the role of COP1 in unknown mechanisms of photomorphogenesis. Page(s): 343-349