Targeting Thymidine Phosphorylase With Tipiracil Hydrochloride Attenuates Thrombosis Without Increasing Risk of Bleeding in Mice.

OBJECTIVE: Current antiplatelet medications increase the risk of bleeding, which leads to a clear clinical need in developing novel mechanism-based antiplatelet drugs. TYMP (Thymidine phosphorylase), a cytoplasm protein that is highly expressed in platelets, facilitates multiple agonist-induced platelet activation, and enhances thrombosis. Tipiracil hydrochloride (TPI), a selective TYMP inhibitor, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical use. We tested the hypothesis that TPI is a safe antithrombotic medication. Approach and Results: By coexpression of TYMP and Lyn, GST (glutathione S-transferase) tagged Lyn-SH3 domain or Lyn-SH2 domain, we showed the direct evidence that TYMP binds to Lyn through both SH3 and SH2 domains, and TPI diminished the binding. TYMP deficiency significantly inhibits thrombosis in vivo in both sexes. Pretreatment of platelets with TPI rapidly inhibited collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation. Under either normal or hyperlipidemic conditions, treating wild-type mice with TPI via intraperitoneal injection, intravenous injection, or gavage feeding dramatically inhibited thrombosis without inducing significant bleeding. Even at high doses, TPI has a lower bleeding side effect compared with aspirin and clopidogrel. Intravenous delivery of TPI alone or combined with tissue plasminogen activator dramatically inhibited thrombosis. Dual administration of a very low dose of aspirin and TPI, which had no antithrombotic effects when used alone, significantly inhibited thrombosis without disturbing hemostasis. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that inhibition of TYMP, a cytoplasmic protein, attenuated multiple signaling pathways that mediate platelet activation, aggregation, and thrombosis. TPI can be used as a novel antithrombotic medication without the increase in risk of bleeding.

A Simple Glycolipid Mimic of the Phosphatidylinositol Mannoside Core from Mycobacterium tuberculosis Inhibits Macrophage Cytokine Production.

Glycolipids from Mycobacterium tuberculosis have a profound impact on the innate immune response of the host. Macrophage-inducible C-type lectin (Mincle) is a pattern-recognition receptor that has been shown to bind trehalose dimycolate (TDM) from the mycobacterium and instigate intracellular signalling in the immune cell. There are structural similarities between the structures of TDM and phosphatidyl inositol mannoside (PIM). We thus hypothesized that these latter structures might also modulate an immune response in a similar manner. To test this, we synthesized a series of new mannose derivatives modified with fatty esters at the 6-position and assessed the release of inflammatory cytokines in human U937 macrophages under the induction of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) after glycolipid treatment. The results showed that the amount of two major cytokines-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6-released from LPS-stimulated U937 cells decreased significantly when compared to a control upon treatment with the prepared glycolipids, thus indicating a reduction in cytokine production by the macrophages.

Cane Toad Skin Extract-Induced Upregulation and Increased Interaction of Serotonin 2A and D2 Receptors via Gq/11 Signaling Pathway in CLU213 Cells.

Recent evidences show that activation of serotonin 2A receptors (5-HT2A R) by agonists is significant in improving therapeutic activity of disease conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Though the exact molecular mechanism is still not well understood, it is thought to involve agonist-driven, enhanced expression of 5-HT2A R in certain areas of brain, such as the pre-frontal cortex (PFC). Several other reports have also demonstrated association of OCD with lower dopamine receptor (D2 R) availability, primarily in the striatum of the brain along with dysfunction of 5-HT2A R-D2 R heteromer regulation. We thus hypothesized that compound(s) interacting with this molecular mechanism could be developed as drugs for long-term beneficial effects against OCD. In the present study, we have obtained experimental evidence in cultured neuronal cells (CLU213) that aqueous extract (AE, 50 µg/mL, P < 0.05) of the Australian cane toad skin significantly increased the levels of 5-HT2A R and D2 R protein and mRNA expression. AE was also found to enhance the interaction between 5-HT2A R and D2 R and formation of expression of 5-HT2A R-D2 R heteromer using co-immunoprecipitation and Western blot. Further investigation showed the involvement of classical signaling pathway (Gq/11 -PLCß) along with c-FOS transcription factor preferentially in 5-HT2A -mediated agonist activation. These results obtained demonstrated that AE upregulates 5-HT2A R by a mechanism that appears to involve Gq/11 -PLCß signaling pathway and c-FOS transcription factor activation. We indicate this enhanced 5-HT2A R and D2 R expression and their interaction to induce increased 5-HT2A R-D2 R heteromer formation by exposure to AE might provide a molecular mechanism to develop potential novel drug candidates to ameliorate OCD symptoms. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 979-993, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Aqueous and Ethanol Extracts of Australian Cane Toad Skins Suppress Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion in U937 Cells via NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Toad skin extracts, such as aqueous extracts (AE) of Chinese toad skins, have demonstrated therapeutic benefits for a range of diseases including pain, inflammation, swelling, heart failure, and various types of cancers. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of an AE (0.1-10 µg/mL) and a 60% ethanol extract (EE; 0.1-10 µg/mL) from Australian cane toad (Bufo marinus) skins and the known bioactive compound, bufotenine (BT; 0.1-10 nM). The assay employed a model of the human monocyte cell line U937 stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) for the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6. We demonstrated that AE, EE, and BT significantly inhibited the release and expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner when the cells were pre-treated at non-cytotoxic concentrations. Further investigation revealed that the inhibition of TNF-α and IL-6 release and expression was associated with the suppression of nuclear factor (NF)-kappa (κ)B activation. These results indicate that AE, EE, and BT are strong inflammation inhibitors, thus have the potential for further development as anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents from a natural source regarded as a feral pest in Australia. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2769-2780, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Perspectives for synthetic curcumins in chemoprevention and treatment of cancer: An update with promising analogues.

Curcumin, a pure compound extracted from the flowering plant, turmeric (Curcuma longa. Zingiberaceae), is a common dietary ingredient found in curry powder. It has been studied extensively for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-tumour activities. Evidence is accumulating demonstrating its potential in chemoprevention and as an anti-tumour agent for the treatment of cancer. Despite demonstrated safety and tolerability, the clinical application of curcumin is frustrated by its poor solubility, metabolic instability and low oral bioavailability. Consequently researchers have tried novel techniques of formulation and delivery as well as synthesis of analogues with enhanced properties to overcome these barriers. This review presents the synthetic analogues of curcumin that have proven their anticancer potential from different studies. It also highlights studies that combined these analogues with approved chemotherapies and delivered them via novel techniques. Currently, there are no reports of clinical studies on any of the synthetic congeners of curcumin and this presents an opportunity for future research. This review presents the synthetic analogues of curcumin and makes a compelling argument for their potential application in the management of cancerous disease.

The Development of Toad Toxins as Potential Therapeutic Agents.

Toxins from toads have long been known to contain rich chemicals with great pharmaceutical potential. Recent studies have shown more than 100 such chemical components, including peptides, steroids, indole alkaloids, bufogargarizanines, organic acids, and others, in the parotoid and skins gland secretions from different species of toads. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), processed toad toxins have been used for treating various diseases for hundreds of years. Modern studies, including both experimental and clinical trials, have also revealed the molecular mechanisms that support the development of these components into medicines for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancers. More recently, there have been studies that demonstrated the therapeutic potential of toxins from other species of toads, such as Australian cane toads. Previous reviews mostly focused on the pharmaceutical effects of the whole extracts from parotoid glands or skins of toads. However, to fully understand the molecular basis of toad toxins in their use for therapy, a comprehensive understanding of the individual compound contained in toad toxins is necessary; thus, this paper seeks to review the recent studies of some typical compounds frequently identified in toad secretions.

Multi-constituent identification in Australian cane toad skin extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry.

Toad skins and venom glandular secretions have been widely used for centuries in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine for the treatment of various ailments such as cancer, sores, toothache, local inflammation and pain. The active chemical constituents from traditional oriental medicines have demonstrated potential in the development of effective therapeutic pharmaceuticals. Our primary focus in this research was to identify and characterise 'active' compounds or groups of compounds for their potential as neuropsychiatric disorder therapeutics. For this aim, we utilised a variety of solvents, i.e., the aqueous, 60% ethanol (aqueous) and acetic acid (aq) (at two different pHs) for extractions of Australian cane toad skins to identify chemical constituents. The identification of compounds was carried out using HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS based on the accurate mass measurement for molecular ions and MS/MS analysis, whereby accurate mass pseudo-molecular ions and characteristic fragment ions were compared to published reference data, including mass bank and NIST. As a result, we have to date identified 42 major constituents including alkaloids, amino acids, bufadienolides, fatty acids, nucleobases, nucleosides and vitamins mostly from the aqueous and 60% ethanol extracts. Of the 42 constituents identified, 29 were found in the aqueous extract, 35 were found in the ethanol (aq) extract and only 10 in the pH 1.78 acetic acid extract and 11 in the pH 2.17 acetic acid extract of the cane toad skins. Therefore, the aqueous and 60% ethanolic extracts present the greatest potential for ongoing development in our assays. There have been no previous reports on the identification of many of the constituents we have here identified in Australian cane toad skins. These findings, while somewhat consistent with findings in toad skins in other countries, identifies the presence of potential bioactive constituents. Our results showed that HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS is an effective method to characterise and identify components in Australian cane toad skin extracts. Chemical profiling is an essential initial step in the identification and therapeutic exploitation of bioactive agents present in Australian cane toad skin extracts.

Indolealkylamines from Toad Vertebrates and Sea Invertebrates - Their Identification and Potential Activities on the Central Nervous System.

Indolealkylamines (IAAs) are biogenic amines and derivatives of 5-hydroxytryptamine, acting primarily on serotonin receptors. IAAs are often considered the most thoroughly investigated group of aromatic amines in the amphibian skin. On the contrary, at present the detailed knowledge of these compounds in lower organisms is still limited and the biogenic amine receptors, mediating hormonal and modulatory functions, are largely unknown in primitive invertebrates. However, some active research is currently underway investigating this class of biogenic amines. Notably, during the last three decades several investigations have demonstrated the biological activity of endogenous biogenic amines in cnidarians, which are known to be the lowest beings equipped with an effective, even though rudimentary, nervous system. Toads, especially those from the Bufonidae family, constitute a significant part of the amphibian family and are an identified source of IAAs. To date fourteen IAAs have been identified in the skins of toad species. All are 5-substituted IAA derivatives acting mainly on the central nervous system (CNS), with most exhibiting some degrees of 5-HT2A receptor selectivity. This selective ability presents potential for their use in the development of treatments for various disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and chronic pain conditions. There are indications that some IAAs may also show subclass selectivity through binding to multiple 5-HT receptor subtypes. Thus, there exists an additional promising platform for the development of therapeutics targeting multiple 5-HT receptors. In this review, IAAs occurring naturally in various species of toad skins, which have been identified and isolated since 1944 are summarized and comparisons are made with similar biogenic amines recognized in cnidarians to date. Such comparisons highlight the potential to utilize existing knowledge gathered from vertebrates, such as toads in order to improve the understanding of the activities of such compounds in lower invertebrates.

The yield and quality of cellular and bacterial DNA extracts from human oral rinse samples are variably affected by the cell lysis methodology.

Recent culture-independent studies have enabled detailed mapping of human microbiome that has not been hitherto achievable by culture-based methods. DNA extraction is a key element of bacterial culture-independent studies that critically impacts on the outcome of the detected microbial profile. Despite the variations in DNA extraction methods described in the literature, no standardized technique is available for the purpose of microbiome profiling. Hence, standardization of DNA extraction methods is urgently needed to yield comparable data from different studies. We examined the effect of eight different cell lysis protocols on the yield and quality of the extracted DNA from oral rinse samples. These samples were exposed to cell lysis techniques based on enzymatic, mechanical, and a combination of enzymatic-mechanical methods. The outcome measures evaluated were total bacterial population, Firmicutes levels and human DNA contamination (in terms of surrogate GAPDH levels). We noted that all three parameters were significantly affected by the method of cell lysis employed. Although the highest yield of gDNA was obtained using lysozyme-achromopeptidase method, the lysozyme-zirconium beads method yielded the peak quantity of total bacterial DNA and Firmicutes with a lower degree of GAPDH contamination compared with the other methods. Taken together our data clearly points to an urgent need for a consensus, standardized DNA extraction technique to evaluate the oral microbiome using oral rinse samples. Further, if Firmicutes levels are the focus of investigation in oral rinse microbiome analyses then the lysozyme-zirconium bead method would be the method of choice in preference to others.

Toad glandular secretions and skin extractions as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents.

Toad glandular secretions and skin extractions contain many natural agents which may provide a unique resource for novel drug development. The dried secretion from the auricular and skin glands of Chinese toad (Bufo bufo gargarizans) is named Chansu, which has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating infection and inflammation for hundreds of years. The sterilized hot water extraction of dried toad skin is named Huachansu (Cinobufacini) which was developed for treating hepatitis B virus (HBV) and several types of cancers. However, the mechanisms of action of Chansu, Huachansu, and their constituents within are not well reported. Existing studies have suggested that their anti-inflammation and anticancer potential were via targeting Nuclear Factor (NF)-κB and its signalling pathways which are crucial hallmarks of inflammation and cancer in various experimental models. Here, we review some current studies of Chansu, Huachansu, and their compounds in terms of their use as both anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents. We also explored the potential use of toad glandular secretions and skin extractions as alternate resources for treating human cancers in combinational therapies.

Anti-bacterial activity and brine shrimp lethality bioassay of methanolic extracts of fourteen different edible vegetables from Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of fourteen different edible vegetables methanolic extract from Bangladesh. METHODS: The antibacterial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion assay method against 12 bacteria (both gram positive and gram negative). The plant extracts were also screened for cytotoxic activity using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay method and the lethal concentrations (LC50) were determined at 95% confidence intervals by analyzing the data on a computer loaded with "Finney Programme". RESULTS: All the vegetable extracts showed low to elevated levels of antibacterial activity against most of the tested strains (zone of inhibition=5-28 mm). The most active extract against all bacterial strains was from Xanthium indicum which showed remarkable antibacterial activity having the diameter of growth inhibition zone ranging from 12 to 28 mm followed by Alternanthera sessilis (zone of inhibition=6-21 mm). All extracts exhibited considerable general toxicity towards brine shrimps. The LC50 value of the tested extracts was within the range of 8.447 to 60.323 µg/mL with respect to the positive control (vincristine sulphate) which was 0.91 µg/mL. Among all studied extracts, Xanthium indicum displayed the highest cytotoxic effect with LC50 value of 8.447 µg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present investigation suggest that most of the studied plants are potentially good source of antibacterial and anticancer agents.