Gökhan Kars

Implications from a pharmacogenomic analysis: Nerium oleander leaf distillate supplemented diet regulates cholesterol metabolism in rats

Abstract Context: Despite the usage of Nerium oleander L. (Apocynaceae) for anticancer studies and traditional remediation, the regulatory effect of N. oleander leaf distillate on cholesterol metabolism is not disclosed sufficiently. Objective: Cholesterol is an important biological molecule and the synthesis rate is regulated by the amount of cholesterol uptake from the diet. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of cholesterol metabolism in response to a high-fat diet (HFD) and the effects of N. oleander leaf distillate-supplemented diet (NOHFD) in rats. Materials and methods: Microarray technology was used to clarify the regulation of cholesterol mechanism in HFD and NOHFD-fed rats (375 μg/0.5 mL distilled water applied by gavage). The treatment period was 90 days. Rat liver tissues were used for microarray analysis using the Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Genome platform. Results of groups were statistically analyzed with the Partek 6.6 bioinformatic program. Results: The HFD group exhibited alterations in the expression levels of about 1945 genes with respect to the normal diet (ND) group. The results showed that expression levels of 47 genes were altered related to cholesterol metabolism in HFD and NOHFD groups. The expression levels of seven genes in the NOHFD group were significantly closer to those in the ND group than those of the HFD group. Discussion and conclusion: To conclude, findings suggest that N. oleander leaf distillate-supplemented food has considerable beneficial effects on cholesterol metabolism-related gene expression levels.

Heterologous expression of glutamyl-tRNA reductase gene in Rhodobacter sphaeroides O.U.001 to enhance 5-aminolevulinic acid production

The pathways for synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) use either succinyl-CoA and glycine (C-4 pathway), or glutamate (C-5 pathway). Although Rhodobacter sphaeroides synthesizes 5-ALA through the C-4 pathway, it also has the genes coding for the enzymes of the C-5 pathway, except for glutamyl-tRNA reductase. The glutamyl-tRNA reductase gene was cloned from Rhodospirillum rubrum and expressed in R. sphaeroides; thus, the C-5 pathway was enabled to function upon assembling all the required genes. Consequently, a new and unique bacterial strain producing more 5-ALA was developed. Biohydrogen was also produced in the same bioprocess within a biorefinery approach using sugar beet molasses as substrate. The amount of 5-ALA produced by the modified strain was 25.9 mg/g dry cell weight (DCW), whereas the wild-type strain produced 12.4 mg/g DCW. In addition, the amount of H2 generated by the modified and wild-type cells, respectively, was 0.92 L/L culture and 1.05 L/L culture.