Connexin 43 expression in tooth germ and benign odontogenic tumors.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the immunohistochemical expression of connexin 43 (Cx43) in tooth germs (TGs), ameloblastic fibromas (AFs), ameloblastic fibro-odontomas (AFOs), and conventional ameloblastomas (AMs). STUDY DESIGN: Nine TGs, 12 AFs, 12 AFOs, and 27 AMs were evaluated for Cx43 expression by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Most of the TGs expressed Cx43 in the mesenchyme (77.6%) and in the late stages of odontogenesis. Cx43 was more highly expressed (P < .05) in the mesenchymal layer of all groups than in the epithelial layer except for the AFOs. When comparing the expression of Cx43 in the different layers of the analyzed groups, statistically significant differences were observed between AFO vs AM (*P = .0158) in the epithelial layer and between AF vs AFO (P** = .0046) in the mesenchymal layer. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study showed that Cx43 is a protein with important expression in the mesenchymal layer of the embryonic and odontogenic tissues studied. It could be speculated that Cx43 participates in mineralization events based on the relationship of the expression of this protein between the epithelial and mesenchymal layers of odontogenic tissues.

Virtual Screening, Molecular Dynamics and ADME-Tox Tools for Finding Potential Inhibitors of Phosphoglycerate Mutase 1 from Plasmodium falciparum.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, malaria is still one of the most important and lethal diseases worldwide, causing 445,000 deaths in a year. Due to the actual treatment resistance, there is an emergency to find new drugs. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to find potential inhibitors of phosphoglycerate mutase 1 from P. falciparum. RESULTS: Through virtual screening of a chemical library of 15,123 small molecules, analyzed by two programs, four potential inhibitors of phosphoglycerate mutase 1 from P. falciparum were found: ZINC64219552, ZINC39095354, ZINC04593310, and ZINC04343691; their binding energies in SP mode were -7.3, -7.41, -7.4, and -7.18 kcal/mol respectively. Molecular dynamic analysis revealed that these molecules interact with residues important for enzyme catalysis and molecule ZINC04343691 provoked the highest structural changes. Physiochemical and toxicological profiles evaluation of these inhibitors with ADME-Tox method suggested that they can be considered as potential drugs. Furthermore, analysis of human PGAM-B suggested that these molecules could be selective for the parasitic enzyme. CONCLUSION: The compounds reported here are the first selective potential inhibitors of phosphoglycerate mutase 1 from P. falciparum, and can serve as a starting point in the search of a new chemotherapy against malaria.