A comprehensive investigation of the medicinal efficacy of antimicrobial fusion peptides expressed in probiotic bacteria for the treatment of pan drug-resistant (PDR) infections.

The present work aimed to examine the intracellular antibacterial efficacy of Recombinant Lactobacillus acidophilus/antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) Melittin and Alyteserin-1a, specifically targeting Gram-negative bacteria. The first assessment was to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs versus Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, the researchers examined the in vitro viability and safety of AMPs generated by L. acidophilus. The experiments included exposing the AMPs to elevated temperatures, proteases, cationic salts at physiological levels, and specific pH settings. The safety aspect was evaluated using hemolytic analysis utilizing sheep erythrocytes; cytotoxicity assays employing cell lines, and experiments on beneficial gut lactobacilli. An experiment was done using a time-kill method to assess the intracellular antibacterial efficacy of Recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs compared to pathogenic varieties in HEp-2 cells. Previous investigations have shown that the MBC levels of recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs were consistently two to four times higher than the equivalent MIC values when evaluated versus Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, the stability of the Recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs showed variability when exposed to elevated temperatures (70 and 90 â„ƒ), treated with protease enzymes (proteinase K, lysozyme), exposed to higher concentrations of physiological salts (150 mM NaCl and 2 mM MgCl2), and varying pH levels (ranging from 4.0 to 9.0). The recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs are non-hemolytic towards sheep erythrocytes, exhibit little cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 and HEp-2 cells, and are considered safe when compared to beneficial gut lactobacilli. The research examined the intracellular bacteriostatic effects of recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs on Gram-negative bacteria inside HEp-2 cells. Nevertheless, no notable bactericidal impact was seen on Gram-positive bacteria (P > 0.05). The research shows that recombinant L. acidophilus/AMPs, namely (L. acidophilus/melittin/Alyteserin-1a) as the focus of the investigation, effectively eliminate Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, more investigation is necessary to elaborate on these discoveries.

Co-expression network analysis for the identification of potential prostate cancer genes and in vitro confirmation of their expression in cell model in the presence of Staphylococcal tsst-1 gene.

Prostate cancer has arisen as an important life-threatening malignancy in males worldwide. Therefore, it is important to study underlying molecular pathways to be able to proposed appropriate a novel pathway of apoptosis in prostate cancer. This study aimed to explore the molecular effects of Staphylococcal tsst-1 gene on PC3 cell line apoptosis by in silico and in vitro studies. In this work, the differential expression of genes in prostate cancer was predicted by analyzing the public dataset GSE132063. Then, the pcDNA3.1 (+) vector was used to transfer tsst-1 gene to the PC3 cells and its effects was investigated using flow cytometry and qPCR. Co-expression network analysis indicated that lncRNAs had strong relationship with apoptosis genes in prostate cancer. Results of protein-protein docking indicated that BCL2L11, GRAMD3 and EGR1 interacted with tsst-1. Finally, the flow cytometry results showed that transfection by pcDNA3.1 (+)- tsst-1 could increase cellular death rates (48.15%) compared with the pcDNA3.1 (+) groups (6.35%); and the expression levels of GRAMD3, EGR1, BCL2L11 and PLAC4 were dysregulated in tsst-1 -transfected PC3 compared with empty-transfected PC3 (p < .05). In conclusion, our data will provide a novel landscape to understanding the mechanism of Staphylococcal tsst-1 gene on the PC3 cells apoptosis pathways.

Safety climate assessment: a survey in an electric power distribution company.

Introduction. This study aimed to investigate safety climate and its structural dimensions as well as establish a relationship between safety climate and demographic variables in a power distribution company. Method. This cross-sectional study included 200 workers. The safety climate questionnaire recommended by the UK Health and Safety Executive was applied containing 43 questions in 11 dimensions. Demographic information was also assessed. SPSS version 22.0 was applied to analyze the data. Results. In total, 179 workers participated in this survey. The response rate was high (89.5%). Safety climate had the highest correlation with the management commitment dimension (r = 0.754). The total score of safety climate in this company was 3.37 on a scale ranging from 1 to 5. Among safety climate factors, the highest score was for safety-related training (3.87) but work pressure had the lowest score (2.80). Among demographic variables, a significant relationship was observed between safety climate and age (r = 0.180). Conclusions. Management as an organizational power can exert great influence on the promotion of safety climate. Moreover, adopting efficient training programs and making a balance in workload for decreasing work pressure can improve safety climate.

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Combined Exposure to Microwave and Heat on Gene Expression and Sperm Parameters in Mice.

OBJECTIVES: Separate exposure to microwaves (MWs) or heat had effects on expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 and sperm parameters in studied group. AIMS: The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of separate and combined exposure to 900-MHz MW (as representative of cell phone radiation) and heat on gene expression and spermogram of male mice. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This experimental animal study was conducted in the school of public health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was done on 12 male mice randomly divided into four groups (21-23 g): control, test group 1 with separate exposure to 900-MHz MW, test group 2 with separate exposure to hot and sultry climate, and test group 3 with simultaneous whole body exposures to 900-MHz MW and hot and sultry climate. In all studied groups, gene expression and sperm parameters were measured. RESULTS: Tissue samples in all test groups showed integrity of the seminiferous tubule followed by all types of germ line cells. Significant increases in the number of dead sperms in mice with separate exposure to heat were observed in comparison with the other studied groups (P < 0.05). The ratio of Bax expression was elevated to 0.015 ± 0.006 in mice after combined exposures to 900-MHz MW and heat. CONCLUSION: Separate and combined exposure to 900-MHz MW and heat may induce adverse effects on sperm parameters and gene expression of studied male mice.