Hosny Abdel Aziz¹, Mohamed Sharaf^2,3, Magdy Omar⁴, Ahmed Abou El-Yazied⁵, Nada Ibrahim AlJwaizea⁶, Shaimaa Ismail⁵, Mohamed M. A. Omar⁷, Khadiga Alharbi^6,*, Amr Elkelish^8,9, Moataz Tawfik¹⁰

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 1019-1036, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.026769

Abstract Drought stress has become more common in recent years as a result of climate change impacts on the production of banana crops and other fruit trees. The growth and productivity of Musa spp are severely impacted by the gradual degradation of water resources and the erratic distribution pattern of annual precipitation amount. The aim of the work includes increased drought tolerance in light of water scarcity in the world as a result of the bananas’ being gluttonous for water needs. This investigation was carried out from 2019 to 2020 to study the effect of potassium silicate on morphological growth and… More >

HAZAEL RAMIRO CEJA-GALVEZ¹, ERANDIS DHENI TORRES-SÁNCHEZ¹, JUAN HERIBERTO TORRES-JASSO², EMMANUEL REYESURIBE¹, JOEL SALAZAR-FLORES^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1241-1250, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015771

Abstract Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes organophosphate pesticides. The presence of polymorphisms in PON-1 (L55M and Q192R) decreases its enzyme activity and increases the risk of central nervous system (CNS) toxicity in occupationally exposed farmers, leading to chronic degenerative diseases and death. We studied 103 farmers in the region of Cienega Jalisco, Mexico, which were exposed mainly to organophosphate pesticides. We used serum and plasma samples to assay PON-1 activity and perform polymorphism analysis (L55M and Q192R) using qPCR and TaqMan probes, respectively. For both polymorphisms, there was high percentage of heterozygosity (55 LL = 0.19, LM = 0.75,… More >

Hui Yao¹, Liqun Wang³, Jia Guo¹, Weimin Liu⁴, Jingjing Li¹, Yingxiao Wang², Linhong Deng^1,*, Mingxing Ouyang^1,2,3,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.17, No.3, pp. 101-111, 2020, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2020.09595

Abstract Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men beyond 50 years old, and ranked the second in mortality. The level of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in serum has been a routine biomarker for clinical assessment of the cancer development, which is detected mostly by antibody-based immunoassays. The proteolytic activity of PSA also has important functions. Here a genetically encoded biosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology was developed to measure PSA activity. In vitro assay showed that the biosensor containing a substrate peptide ‘RLSSYYSGAG’ had 400% FRET change in response to 1 µg/ml PSA within 90 min, and… More >

A. Shukla^1,1, A.R. Dunn^2,2, M.A. Moses^3,3, K.J. Van Vliet^4,4

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 279-290, 2004, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2004.001.279

Abstract Although it is established that endothelial cells can respond to external mechanical cues (e.g., alignment in the direction of fluid shear stress), the extent to which mechanical stress and strain applied via the endothelial cell substrate impact biomolecular and cellular processes is not well-understood. This issue is particularly important in the context of inflammation, vascular remodeling, and cancer progression, as each of these processes occurs concurrently with localized increases in strain and marked changes in molecules secreted by adjacent cells. Here, we systematically vary the level and duration of cyclic tensile strain applied to human dermal microvascular and bovine capillary… More >