Phytoremediation of PAHs in Contaminated Soils: A Review

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are also part of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are considered to be especially toxic to humans (carcinogenic), likewise to plants, microorganisms and other living organisms. PAHs soil contamination occurs by storage leaking, transport loss, the land disposal of petroleum waste, and accidental or intentional spills. Due to their ubiquitous occurrence, recalcitrance, bioaccumulation potential and carcinogenic activity, PAHs are a significant environmental concern. The methods of controlling and repairing PAH-contaminated soils mainly include physical remediation, chemical remediation and phytoremediation. However, there was an increasing focus on phytoremediation technologies as a result of their unique advantages, including low cost, lack of secondary pollution and large-area application. Phytoremediation is therefore one of the soil remediation technologies with the greatest potential.

Morphological characteristics of changes in the squamous epithelium of the upper part of the digestive tract in model organisms in the settings of provoked carcinogenesis

Relevance: Noticeable spreading of malignant neoplasms of upper section of digestive system and the worsening of these patients’ quality of life in case of late diagnostics stimulate the development of protocols for early detection of precancerous changes. The purpose of the study was to investigate the morphological characteristics of changes in the squamous epithelium of the upper part of the digestive tube in model organisms under provoked carcinogenesis when exposed to substances with proven carcinogenic activity. Methods: 40 female nonlinear white rats obtained from the Orekhovo-Zuevsky urban settlement veterinary station were used as model organisms. The rats were divided into 4 equal groups. The first control group was not exposed to any specific influences. In groups 2-4, the rats underwent sedation and mechanical scarification microtraumatization of the oral mucosa. Then, they were applied twice a week by 0.9% NaCl solution (control group 2), 1% aqueous solution of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, Akrikhin, Russia) (control group 3), or 1% aqueous solution of DMSO containing 0.1 mg/ml 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4- NQO, Acros Organics, USA) (experimental group 4). Results: The cytological picture associated with chronic trauma to the mucous membrane of the upper digestive tract was characterized by nonspecific reactions: inflammation, hyper- and parakeratosis, and atrophic changes. There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of such changes between the experimental and control groups. Specific changes in squamous epithelium towards a precancerous state in the experimental group with chronic exposure to a substance with carcinogenic activity occurred significantly more often than in the control groups (p <0.05), as proven by the results of comparative histological verification. Conclusion: Cytological study can be offered for clinical study as a screening tool for precancerous oropharynx and upper esophagus conditions

A Review on the Effects of Cadmium Toxicity on Living Beings

Cadmium is a toxic transition heavy metal with perilous effects on the health of animals and humans by indefinite ways. It is one of the asserted carcinogens group given by IARC. There are jillion ways by which cadmium may be prevalent in the environment as the pollutant or may be through contaminated water, food or by smoking. Cadmium poisoning may be seen in the form of itai itai disease. It came in knowledge after its outbreak in Japan in 1960s after the consumption of cadmium-contaminated rice as a food source. The exposure and accumulation of cadmium may lead to numerous forms of cancer, including breast, lung, prostate and nasopharynx, pancreas and kidney cancers. It expresses its effect by formation of stress proteins that depends on the amount of exposure and time of exposure. It had shown effects on the functioning of mitochondria resulting in formation of less energy or ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and more ROS. Other effects are cell apoptosis and inhibit growth, division and carcinogenic activity in cells. The current study has been done to understand the various effects scrutinised by numerous workers.

YAP1 Activation by Human Papillomavirus E7 Promotes Basal Cell Identity in Squamous Epithelia

Persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of stratified squamous epithelial cells causes nearly five percent of cancer cases worldwide. HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers harbor few mutations in the Hippo signaling pathway compared to HPV-negative cancers at the same anatomical site, prompting the hypothesis that an HPV-encoded protein inactivates the Hippo pathway and activates the Hippo effector YAP1. The HPV E7 oncoprotein is required for HPV infection and for HPV-mediated oncogenic transformation. We investigated the effects of HPV oncoproteins on YAP1 and found that E7 activates YAP1, promoting YAP1 nuclear localization in basal epithelial cells. YAP1 activation by HPV E7 required that E7 bind and degrade the tumor suppressor PTPN14. E7 required YAP1 transcriptional activity to extend the lifespan of primary keratinocytes, indicating that YAP1 activation contributes to E7 carcinogenic activity. Maintaining infection in basal cells is critical for HPV persistence, and here we demonstrate that YAP1 activation causes HPV E7 expressing cells to be retained in the basal compartment of stratified epithelia. We propose that YAP1 activation resulting from PTPN14 inactivation is an essential, targetable activity of the HPV E7 oncoprotein relevant to HPV infection and carcinogenesis.

Evaluation of Anti Carcinogenic Activity of Trifolium pratense on Oral Cancer Cell- An in vitro Study

Introduction: Trifolium pratense also known as the red clover is widely distributed in the tropics and in the subtropical regions. It is generally consumed in the form of tea by the northern states of India and some tribal people of Nepal and Bhutan. Studies reveal that it is rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. It is due to the presence of unique isoflavones found in Trifolium pratense are Biohanin A and formononetin. Aim: The main aim of the study is to find out whether Trifolium pratense extract has antiproliferative activity against oral squamous carcinoma cells. Materials and Methods: The dried buds of Trifolium pratense flowers were purchased commercially and then powdered Then MTT assays was carried out to find out it’s inhibitory activity against oral carcinoma cells Results and Discussion: From the assay it is evident that it shows a potent inhibitory activity against oral squamous carcinoma cells. Linear regression analysis revealed that the IC50 was found to be at 53.13µg/ml which is higher than that of other species of this family. Conclusion: From the above study it is evident that Trifolium pratense has a very good inhibitory activity and hence can be used in the treatment of oral cancer.

A Novel c-Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Factor Intergenic Fusion Response to Crizotinib in a Chinese Patient With Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report

BackgroundThe c-mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor (C-MET) is an oncogene encoding a tyrosine kinase receptor that plays an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines have approved carbatinib/crizotinib for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with MET exon 14 skipping.MethodsIn June 2020, the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Peking University People’s Hospital admitted a 72-year-old male patient with lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) with a history of interstitial lung disease secondary to antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. Genetic examination by next-generation sequencing showed an intergenic fusion of MET, and crizotinib was administered on August 14, 2020. Follow-up showed that tumor volume was significantly reduced. However, crizotinib was discontinued in November 2020 because of the patient’s worsening interstitial lung disease, and CT scans showed continued partial response (PR) for 5 months. In April 2021, right lower lobe mass progressed, and disease progression was considered.ConclusionThis was the first case of a patient with LADC with MET intergenic fusion who significantly benefited from crizotinib. Even after crizotinib was discontinued for 5 months, the patient continued exhibiting PR, suggesting that MET intergenic fusion may have carcinogenic activity in LADC and was sensitive to crizotinib.

Impact of Shodhana on Semecarpus anacardium Nuts

Semecarpus anacardium is classified in Ayurveda under the category of toxic plants. However, this toxic plant is reported to possess anti-inflammatory activity, anti-arthritic effect, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, anti- carcinogenic activity, hypoglycemic activity, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, and hypolipidemic activity etc. All these activities are attributed to its various constituents like phenolic compounds, flavonoids, carbohydrates, alkaloids, steroids, etc. In Ayurveda, a series of pharmaceutical procedures which converts a poisonous drug into a safe and therapeutically effective medicine is termed as Shodhana. Shodhana improves the yield, decreases the phenolic and flavonoid content; and converts toxic urushiol into nontoxic anacardol derivative thereby reducing toxicity of nuts of Semecarpus anacardium. There are reports of alteration in pharmacology and phytochemistry of nuts of Semecarpus anacardium due to Shodhana.

Human Organoid and Supporting Technologies for Cancer and Toxicological Research

Recent progress in the field of organoid-based cell culture systems has enabled the use of patient-derived cells in conditions that resemble those in cancer tissue, which are better than two-dimensional (2D) cultured cell lines. In particular, organoids allow human cancer cells to be handled in conditions that resemble those in cancer tissue, resulting in more efficient establishment of cells compared with 2D cultured cell lines, thus enabling the use of multiple patient-derived cells with cells from different genetic background, in keeping with the heterogeneity of the cells. One of the most valuable points of using organoids is that human cells from either healthy or cancerous tissue can be used. Using genome editing technology such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein, organoid genomes can be modified to, for example, cancer-prone genomes. The normal, cancer, or genome-modified organoids can be used to evaluate whether chemicals have genotoxic or non-genotoxic carcinogenic activity by evaluating the cancer incidence, cancer progression, and cancer metastasis. In this review, the organoid technology and the accompanying technologies were summarized and the advantages of organoid-based toxicology and its application to pancreatic cancer study were discussed.

Enigmatic mechanism of the N-vinylpyrrolidone hepatocarcinogenicity in the rat

N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) is produced up to several thousand tons per year as starting material for the production of polymers to be used in pharmaceutics, cosmetics and food technology. Upon inhalation NVP was carcinogenic in the rat, liver tumor formation is starting already at the rather low concentration of 5 ppm. Hence, differentiation whether NVP is a genotoxic carcinogen (presumed to generally have no dose threshold for the carcinogenic activity) or a non-genotoxic carcinogen (with a potentially definable threshold) is highly important. In the present study, therefore, the existing genotoxicity investigations on NVP (all showing consistently negative results) were extended and complemented with investigations on possible alternative mechanisms, which also all proved negative. All tests were performed in the same species (rat) using the same route of exposure (inhalation) and the same doses of NVP (5, 10 and 20 ppm) as had been used in the positive carcinogenicity test. Specifically, the tests included an ex vivo Comet assay (so far not available) and an ex vivo micronucleus test (in contrast to the already available micronucleus test in mice here in the same species and by the same route of application as in the bioassay which had shown the carcinogenicity), tests on oxidative stress (non-protein-bound sulfhydryls and glutathione recycling test), mechanisms mediated by hepatic receptors, the activation of which had been shown earlier to lead to carcinogenicity in some instances (Ah receptor, CAR, PXR, PPARα). No indications were obtained for any of the investigated mechanisms to be responsible for or to contribute to the observed carcinogenicity of NVP. The most important of these exclusions is genotoxicity. Thus, NVP can rightfully be regarded and treated as a non-genotoxic carcinogen and threshold approaches to the assessment of this chemical are supported. However, the mechanism underlying the carcinogenicity of NVP in rats remains unclear.