Current approaches and challenges for chemical characterization of inhibitory effect against cancer cell line isolated from Gokshur extract.

In the present study, the potential effect anti tumor and the chemical composition of different fractions of Gokshur was evaluated. Commonly known as puncture vine, it has been used for a long time in both the Indian and traditional Chinese medicine. It is popularly used as a remedy for fertility disorder in Ayurveda. Samples were collected during June-September 2014 in the Cap Bon (north east of the northern Tunisia). Different organs were separated and extracted by sequential process to compare and investigate their potential anti-tumor effect. For the first time, we report the antiproliferatif effect of leaves n-butannolic fraction against cancer cell lines. The better anti-tumor fraction (94.76±1.52%) has been detected and performed by RP-HPLC has shown a great peak area (5578.21Mau). Novel designed natural derivatives from Gokshur, a cyclotrisiloxane, major compound identified by GC-MS.

MicroRNA expression profile in human macrophages in response to Leishmania major infection.

BACKGROUND: Leishmania (L.) are intracellular protozoan parasites able to survive and replicate in the hostile phagolysosomal environment of infected macrophages. They cause leishmaniasis, a heterogeneous group of worldwide-distributed affections, representing a paradigm of neglected diseases that are mainly embedded in impoverished populations. To establish successful infection and ensure their own survival, Leishmania have developed sophisticated strategies to subvert the host macrophage responses. Despite a wealth of gained crucial information, these strategies still remain poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), an evolutionarily conserved class of endogenous 22-nucleotide non-coding RNAs, are described to participate in the regulation of almost every cellular process investigated so far. They regulate the expression of target genes both at the levels of mRNA stability and translation; changes in their expression have a profound effect on their target transcripts. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report in this study a comprehensive analysis of miRNA expression profiles in L. major-infected human primary macrophages of three healthy donors assessed at different time-points post-infection (three to 24 h). We show that expression of 64 out of 365 analyzed miRNAs was consistently deregulated upon infection with the same trends in all donors. Among these, several are known to be induced by TLR-dependent responses. GO enrichment analysis of experimentally validated miRNA-targeted genes revealed that several pathways and molecular functions were disturbed upon parasite infection. Finally, following parasite infection, miR-210 abundance was enhanced in HIF-1α-dependent manner, though it did not contribute to inhibiting anti-apoptotic pathways through pro-apoptotic caspase-3 regulation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest that alteration in miRNA levels likely plays an important role in regulating macrophage functions following L. major infection. These results could contribute to better understanding of the dynamics of gene expression in host cells during leishmaniasis.