Photobiomodulation- Yes or No?. following laser gingival depigmentation: A case report

Gingival hyperpigmentation in many esthetic concern patient poses a psychological problem and embarrassment. Among the many procedures used for gingival depigmentation, diode laser is considered as one which is highly accepted by the patient due to the absence of bleeding during and after procedure and being a fast and effective method. Literature have also stated the beneficial effect of low dose laser therapy on wound healing due to its potential to increase mitochondrial function, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), RNA, and protein synthesis which may further increase the cellular metabolism resulting in enhancement in wound healing and acceleration of the inflammatory process. This case report presents the use of diode laser for gingival depigmentation followed by laser photobiomodulation in an attempt to fasten the healing.

Consensus Recommendations for the Safe Handling of Cytotoxic Agents in Cytotoxic Academic Research Laboratories (CARL)

Cytotoxic agents, also called antineoplastic agents, are used in cancer treatment due to their inherent activity to inhibit cell growth or proliferation, or DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. They are, therefore, hazardous by nature in a non-selective manner leading to disruption of cell growth and function of both diseased and healthy cells of treated patients. While the benefits of receiving cytotoxic agents may outweigh the incurred risks for patients, the same cannot be said for exposed healthcare practitioners involved in the transport, preparation, administration, and resulting waste disposal of these agents. Consequently, many professional bodies around the world have set standards of practice to prevent occupational exposure of healthcare workers to cytotoxic agents, and hospitals have been active in defining strict policies in this concern. However, due to the variability of the practice and infrastructure in academic settings, some activities performed within the cytotoxic academic research laboratory often do not adhere to recommendations published by guidelines. The present recommendations were therefore set forward by members of a working group who are experts on the subject matter representing academic, clinical, and research backgrounds in an attempt to promote safe cytotoxic handling in academic institutions. The document maps out the trajectory of cytotoxic agents being investigated in academic research laboratories while providing recommendations on the delivery, storage, use and disposal of cytotoxic agents in university settings.

Natural Products as a Paradigm for the Treatment of Coxsackievirus - induced Myocarditis

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), a member of the Picornaviridae family, is considered to be one of the most important infectious agents to cause virus-induced myocarditis. Despite improvements in studying viral pathology, structure and molecular biology, as well as diagnosis of this disease, there is still no virus-specific drug in clinical use. Structural and nonstructural proteins produced during the coxsackievirus life cycle have been identified as potential targets for blocking viral replication at the step of attachment, entry, uncoating, RNA and protein synthesis by synthetic or natural compounds. Moreover, WIN (for Winthrop) compounds and application of nucleic-acid based strategies were shown to target viral capsid, entry and viral proteases, but have not reached to the clinical trials as a successful antiviral agent. There is an urgent need for diverse molecular libraries for phenotype-selective and high-throughput screening.

How the initiating ribosome copes with (p)ppGpp to translate mRNAs

During host colonization, bacteria use the alarmone (p)ppGpp to reshape its proteome by acting pleiotropically on RNA and protein synthesis. Here, we elucidate how the translation Initiation Factor 2 (IF2) senses the cellular ppGpp to GTP ratio and regulates the progression towards protein synthesis. Our results show that the affinity of GTP and the inhibitory concentration of ppGpp for 30S-bound IF2 vary depending on the programmed mRNA. Highly translated mRNAs enhanced GTP affinity for 30S complexes, resulting in fast transitions to elongation of protein synthesis. Less demanded mRNAs allowed ppGpp to compete with GTP for IF2, stalling 30S complexes until exchange of the mRNA enhances the affinity for GTP. Altogether, our data unveil a novel regulatory mechanism at the onset of protein synthesis that tolerates physiological concentrations of ppGpp, and that bacteria can exploit to modulate its proteome as a function of the nutritional shift happening during infection.

Ezetimibe inhibits Dengue virus infection in Huh-7 cells by blocking the cholesterol transporter Niemann–Pick C1-like 1 receptor

Despite the importance of Dengue virus (DENV) infection in human health, there is not a fully effective vaccine or antiviral treatment against the infection. Since lipids such as cholesterol are required during DENV infection, its uptake and synthesis are increased in infected cells. Ezetimibe is an FDA-approved drug that reduces cholesterol uptake in humans by inhibiting the endocytosis through Niemman-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) receptor, expressed on the membrane of enterocytes and hepatocytes. Our results indicate that an increase in the amount of NPC1L1 occurs on the surface of Huh-7 cells during DENV infection, which correlates with an increase in cholesterol levels. Blockage of NPC1L1 with ezetimibe in concentrations up to 50 μM does not reduce cell viability but diminished total cellular cholesterol, the percentage of infected cells, viral yield, viral RNA and protein synthesis without affecting DENV binding and/or entry to Huh-7 cells. Moreover, ezetimibe inhibited DENV replicative complex formation and lipid droplets accumulation. All these results indicate that ezetimibe is an excellent drug to inhibit DENV infection and confirm that cholesterol is a key target to inhibit viral infection.