The results showed that C. chlorophaea, D. miniatum and P. saxatilis lichens, which were found to be a rich source of phenolic compounds, might be of interest in the pharmaceutical and food industries.Pentacyclic triterpenes and cardenolides were isolated from Acokanthera oblongifolia leaves. Their chemical structures were determined based on comprehensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Their MIC was determined against 12 microorganisms. Their exerted cytotoxicity on the immortalized normal cells, hTERT-RPE1 was assessed by the sulforhodamine-B assay. The viral inhibitory effects of compounds against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and H5N1 influenza virus IV were evaluated. Four in vitro antioxidant assays were performed in comparison with BHT and trolox and a weak activity was exhibited. Acovenoside A was with potent against H5N1-IV and NDV with IC50 ≤ 3.2 and ≤ 2.1 μg/ml and SI values of 93.75 and 95.23%, respectively, in comparison to ribavirin. Its CC50 record on Vero cells was > 400 and 200 μg/ml, respectively. Acobioside A was the most active compound against a broad range of microbes while Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most sensitive. Its MIC (0.07 μg/ml) was 1/100-fold of the recorded CC50 (7.1 μg/ml/72 h) against hTERT-RPE1. The molecular docking of compounds on human DNA topoisomerase I (Top1-DNA) and IV glycoprotein hemagglutinin were studied using MOE program. This study has introduced the cardenolides rather than triterpenoids with the best docking score and binding interaction with the active site of the studied proteins.

Laron syndrome (LS) is a disease caused by growth hormone receptor (GHR) defects. It is characterized by severe postnatal growth retardation and distinctive facial features.

In this case report, we describe the clinical and biochemical characteristics of two siblings with LS, a sister and a brother, and identify a homozygous c.344A> C (p.Asn115Thr) variant in GHR. The sister was 11 years 9 months old with a height of 127.5 cm (-3.86 SDS), and the brother was 14 years 10 months old with a height of 139 cm (-4.27 SDS). Their phenotype did not have features suggesting classical LS.

In the current literature, there are three cases with the same missense variant. Our cases differ from them in clinical (higher height SDS, mild dysmorphism including a broad forehead, malar hypoplasia, prominent columella and chin, thick lips) and biochemical characteristics. Here, we present the variable expressivity in the two siblings.

In the current literature, there are three cases with the same missense variant. Our cases differ from them in clinical (higher height SDS, mild dysmorphism including a broad forehead, malar hypoplasia, prominent columella and chin, thick lips) and biochemical characteristics. Here, we present the variable expressivity in the two siblings.Wound healing and tissue regeneration are orchestrated by the cellular microenvironment, e.g. the extracellular matrix (ECM). Including ECM components in biomaterials is a promising approach for improving regenerative processes, e.g. wound healing in skin. This review addresses recent findings for enhanced epidermal-dermal regenerative processes on collagen (coll)/glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-based matrices containing sulfated GAG (sGAG) in simple and complex in vitro models. These matrices comprise 2D-coatings, electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds, and photo-crosslinked acrylated hyaluronan (HA-AC)/coll-based hydrogels. They demonstrated to regulate keratinocyte and fibroblast migration and growth, to stimulate melanogenesis in melanocytes from the outer root sheath (ORS) of hair follicles and to enhance the epithelial differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). The matrices’ suitability for delivery of relevant growth factors, like heparin-binding epidermal growth factor like growth factor (HB-EGF), further highlights their potential as bioinspired, functional microenvironments for enhancing skin regeneration.Since December 2019, the COVID-19 emerging pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in one of the most important global health threats. Concerning the absence of an approved effective vaccine or drug for the treatment and outcome improvement of COVID-19 patients, and the role of SARS-CoV-2 in activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, we decided to review the previous data regarding the therapeutic effect of mTOR inhibitor drugs in COVID-19 patients. We searched the scientific databases such as Web of Science, Embase, Medline (PubMed), Scopus, and Google Scholar using appropriate keywords to find suitable studies or suggestions until October 2020. The findings of the current study confirmed that mTOR inhibitor drugs through suggested mechanisms such as T cell adjustment, induction of autophagy without apoptosis, reduction of viral replication, restoration of the T-cell function, decrease cytokine storm, and moderation of the mTOR-PI3K-AKT pathway activation bring about a therapeutic impact in COVID-19 patients. Taken together, it is necessary to find a suitable therapy for the COVID-19 pandemic emerging. this website In this regard, we clarify that it is valuable to consider the therapeutic effect of mTOR inhibitor drugs and metformin by its mTOR inhibition property in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.Using results from genome-wide association studies for understanding complex traits is a current challenge. Here we review how genotype data can be used with different machine learning (ML) methods to predict phenotype occurrence and severity from genotype data. We discuss common feature encoding schemes and how studies handle the often small number of samples compared to the huge number of variants. We compare which ML methods are being applied, including recent results using deep neural networks. Further, we review the application of methods for feature explanation and interpretation.The main objective of structural biology is to model proteins and other biological macromolecules and link the structural information to function and dynamics. The biological functions of protein molecules and nucleic acids are inherently dependent on their conformational dynamics. Imaging of individual molecules and their dynamic characteristics is an ample source of knowledge that brings new insights about mechanisms of action. The atomic-resolution structural information on most of the biomolecules has been solved by biophysical techniques; either by X-ray diffraction in single crystals or by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in solution. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is emerging as a new tool for analysis of a larger macromolecule that couldn’t be solved by X-ray crystallography or NMR. Now a day’s low-resolution Cryo-EM is used in combination with either X-ray crystallography or NMR. The present review intends to provide updated information on applications like X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM and NMR which can be used independently and/or together in solving structures of biological macromolecules for our full comprehension of their biological mechanisms.