Maxim V. Trushin

Effects of Type II Pyrethroids on "Daphnia magna" : Dose and Temperature Dependences.

Environmental contamination with various insecticides remains an actual problem. In this connection, investigation of toxicologic hazard of insecticides is essential. In this work, effects of the type II pyrethroids (fenvalerate, cypermethrin and deltamethrin) on Daphnia magna were determined. It was found for the first time that not only low doses (up to 10(-12) M) of the above-mentioned chemicals but also extremely low doses (up to 10(-29) M) showed toxicological action on the invertebrates both at optimal (23 +/- 0.5 degrees C) and increased (28 +/- 0.5 degrees C) temperature. At higher temperature, toxic effects were more pronounced.

Significant Delay of Lethal Outcome in Cancer Patients Due to Peroral Administration of Bacillus oligonitrophilus KU-1

Treatment of cancer patients remains a serious medical problem and the development of alternative treatment strategies is therefore of great importance. In this connection, we developed a new bacterial-based, anticancer method. Ten cancer patients (three males, seven females) were involved in this study. Bacterial suspension of stationary phase Bacillus oligonitrophilus KU-1 was used as a remedy for peroral administration. In five patients, side effects (sicchasia, slight blood, and intracranial pressure gain) were detected, but all patients showed significant delay of lethal outcome without serious side effects. In conclusion, the suggested method was, in our opinion, a good alternative to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy techniques. In order to evaluate its efficiency for various tumors, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study is needed.

Antimicrobial resistance in mollicutes: known and newly emerging mechanisms

This review is devoted to the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in mollicutes (class Bacilli, subclass Mollicutes), the smallest self-replicating bacteria, that can cause diseases in plants, animals and humans, and also contaminate cell cultures and vaccine preparations. Research in this area has been mainly based on the ubiquitous mollicute and the main contaminant of cell cultures, Acholeplasma laidlawii. The omics technologies applied to this and other bacteria have yielded a complex picture of responses to antimicrobials, including their removal from the cell, the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes and mutations that potentially allow global reprogramming of many cellular processes. This review provides a brief summary of well-known resistance mechanisms that have been demonstrated in several mollicutes species and, in more detail, novel mechanisms revealed in A. laidlawii, including the least explored vesicle-mediated transfer of short RNAs with a regulatory potency. We hope that this review highlights new avenues for further studies on antimicrobial resistance in these bacteria for both a basic science and an application perspective of infection control and management in clinical and research/production settings.

Parkinson’s disease: Alpha synuclein, heme oxygenase and biotherapeutic countermeasures.

Neurodegenerative disorders have been and remain persistent sources of enormous suffering throughout human history. The tragedy of their impact on human relationships, physical vitality, and fundamental dignity cannot be understated. Parkinsons disease (PD), one of the most common of these terrible illnesses, has a global incidence of approximately two-to-four percent of the human population, along with devastating social and economic impact. The present review analyzes aspects of PD pathophysiology that offer particularly attractive strategies for the development of improved prevention and therapy. The occurrence, symptoms, pathogenesis, and etiology of PD are considered, with focus on how the Alpha synuclein protein, which normally regulates neurotransmitter release, is aggregated by oxidative stressors into toxic inclusions, prominently including Lewy bodies and insoluble fibrils that disrupt the organization of brain areas responsible for motor control. The contribution to a progressively prooxidant tissue environment resulting from interaction between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their cognate receptors (RAGEs) is examined here as a significant driver of PD. This review also explores strategies currently being developed by a U.S.-Russian team that may reduce the risk and severity of PD by use of recombinant atoxic derivatives (ad) of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT/A ad), that traffic inducers of the cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase to selected midbrain neurons, at which Alpha synuclein aggregation occurs. Considered together, the topic material presented here provides both researchers and clinicians with a short but concise overview of the current understanding of PD pathology and approaches to biotherapeutic (precision) countermeasures to its onset and progression.

Changes of photosynthesis and carbon metabolism in Typha angustifolia L grown in conditions of nitrate nitrogen overload

Abstract - Nitrates may induce alterations in NO-signaling system and change photosynthesis in plants. Significant reduction of 14CO2 fixation was noted at concentration of 3.96 mM NaNO3 in an aquatic macrophyte (Typha angustifolia L.). Assimilation of 14CO2 seven days after the introduction of nitrates did not differ between control and experimental samples. There were changes in distribution of 14C among products of 4CO2 fixation 4 h after NaNO3 addition, resulting in increased sugar radioactivity in experimental plants. It was suggested that the observed changes may have regulatory importance.