Organotin(IV) carboxylates are a class of compounds explored as alternatives to platinum-containing chemotherapeutics due to propitious in vitro and in vivo results, and distinct mechanisms of action. In this study, triphenyltin(IV) derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin (HIND) and flurbiprofen (HFBP)) are synthesized and characterized, namely [Ph3Sn(IND)] and [Ph3Sn(FBP)]. The crystal structure of [Ph3Sn(IND)] reveals penta-coordination of the central tin atom with almost perfect trigonal bipyramidal geometry with phenyl groups in the equatorial positions and two axially located oxygen atoms belonging to two distinct carboxylato (IND) ligands leading to formation of a coordination polymer with bridging carboxylato ligands. Employing MTT and CV probes, the antiproliferative effects of both organotin(IV) complexes, indomethacin, and flurbiprofen were evaluated on different breast carcinoma cells (BT-474, MDA-MB-468, MCF-7 and HCC1937). [Ph3Sn(IND)] and [Ph3Sn(FBP)], unlike the inactive ligand precursors, were found extremely active towards all examined cell lines, demonstrating IC50 concentrations in the range of 0.076–0.200 µM. Flow cytometry was employed to examine the mode of action showing that neither apoptotic nor autophagic mechanisms were triggered within the first 48 h of treatment. However, both tin(IV) complexes inhibited cell proliferation potentially related to the dramatic reduction in NO production, resulting from downregulation of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) enzyme expression.

In light of recent climate change, with its rising temperatures and precipitation changes, we are facing the need to increase the valuable crop’s tolerance against unfavorable environmental conditions. Emmer wheat is a cereal crop with high nutritional value. We investigated the possibility of improving the stress tolerance of emmer wheat by activating the synthesis of the stress hormone jasmonate by overexpressing two genes of the jasmonate biosynthetic pathway from Arabidopsis thaliana, ALLENE OXIDE SYNTHASE (AtAOS) and OXOPHYTODIENOATE REDUCTASE 3 (AtOPR3). Analyses of jasmonates in intact and mechanically wounded leaves of non-transgenic and transgenic plants showed that the overexpression of each of the two genes resulted in increased wounding-induced levels of jasmonic acid and jasmonate-isoleucine. Against all expectations, the overexpression of AtAOS, encoding a chloroplast-localized enzyme, does not lead to an increased level of the chloroplast-formed 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA), suggesting an effective conversion of OPDA to downstream products in wounded emmer wheat leaves. Transgenic plants overexpressing AtAOS or AtOPR3 with increased jasmonate levels show a similar phenotype, manifested by shortening of the first and second leaves and elongation of the fourth leaf, as well as increased tolerance to osmotic stress induced by the presence of the polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000.

The molecule (2S)-naringenin is a scaffold molecule with several nutraceutical properties. Currently, (2S)-naringenin is obtained through chemical synthesis and plant isolation. However, these methods have several drawbacks. Thus, heterologous biosynthesis has emerged as a viable alternative to its production. Recently, (2S)-naringenin production studies in Escherichia coli have used different tools to increase its yield up to 588 mg/L. In this study, we designed and assembled a bio-factory for (2S)-naringenin production. Firstly, we used several parametrized algorithms to identify the shortest pathway for producing (2S)-naringenin in E. coli, selecting the genes phenylalanine ammonia lipase (pal), 4-coumarate: CoA ligase (4cl), chalcone synthase (chs), and chalcone isomerase (chi) for the biosynthetic pathway. Then, we evaluated the effect of oxygen transfer on the production of (2S)-naringenin at flask (50 mL) and bench (4 L culture) scales. At the flask scale, the agitation rate varied between 50 rpm and 250 rpm. At the bench scale, the dissolved oxygen was kept constant at 5% DO (dissolved oxygen) and 40% DO, obtaining the highest (2S)-naringenin titer (3.11 ± 0.14 g/L). Using genome-scale modeling, gene expression analysis (RT-qPCR) of oxygen-sensitive genes was obtained.

Meroterpenoids are secondary metabolites formed due to mixed biosynthetic pathways which are produced in part from a terpenoid co-substrate. These mixed biosynthetically hybrid compounds are widely produced by bacteria, algae, plants, and animals. Notably amazing chemical diversity is generated among meroterpenoids via a combination of terpenoid scaffolds with polyketides, alkaloids, phenols, and amino acids. This review deals with the isolation, chemical diversity, and biological effects of 452 new meroterpenoids reported from natural sources from January 2016 to December 2020. Most of the meroterpenoids possess antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, enzyme inhibitory, and immunosupressive effects.

Ozoroa insignis Del. is an ethnobotanical plant widely used in traditional medicine for various ailments, including schistosomiasis, tapeworm, and hookworm infections. From the so far not investigated fruits of Ozoroa insignis, the anthelmintic principles could be isolated through bioassay-guided isolation using Caenorhabditis elegans and identified by NMR spectroscopic analysis and mass spectrometric studies. Isolated 6-[8(Z)-pentadecenyl] anacardic (1), 6-[10(Z)-heptadecenyl] anacardic acid (2), and 3-[7(Z)-pentadecenyl] phenol (3) were evaluated against the 5 parasitic organisms Schistosoma mansoni (adult and newly transformed schistosomula), Strongyloides ratti, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Necator americanus, and Ancylostoma ceylanicum, which mainly infect humans and other mammals. Compounds 1–3 showed good activity against Schistosoma mansoni, with compound 1 showing the best activity against newly transformed schistosomula with 50% activity at 1µM. The isolated compounds were also evaluated for their cytotoxic properties against PC-3 (human prostate adenocarcinoma) and HT-29 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma) cell lines, whereby compounds 2 and 3 showed antiproliferative activity in both cancer cell lines, while compound 1 exhibited antiproliferative activity only on PC-3 cells. With an IC50 value of 43.2 µM, compound 3 was found to be the most active of the 3 investigated compounds.

Ranunculus muricatus L. is a spiny fruit buttercup that is used in various traditional medicinal systems. In the current investigation of R. muricatus, the new chalcone 4-benzyloxylonchocarpin (1), the new anthraquinone muracatanes A (2), the new-to-nature anthraquinone muracatanes B (3), and the new naphthalene analog muracatanes C (4) were isolated, in addition to the three previously reported compounds, 4-methoxylonchocarpin (5), β-sitosterol (6), and β-sitosterol β-D-glucopyranoside (7). Their structures were elucidated using 1D (1H and 13C) and 2D (COSY, HSQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy and HR-ESI-MS. Chalcone 1 showed potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effects with Ki of 5.39 µM and Ki′ of 3.54 µM, but none of the isolated compounds showed inhibitory activity towards butyrylcholinesterase. Anthraquinone 3 illustrated α-glucosidase inhibitory effects with IC50-values of 164.46 ± 83.04 µM. Compound 5 displayed moderate cytotoxic activity towards ovarian carcinoma (A2780, IC50 = 25.4 µM), colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29, IC50 = 20.2 µM), breast cancer (MCF7, IC50 = 23.7 µM), and thyroid carcinoma (SW1736, IC50 = 26.2 µM) while it was inactive towards pharynx carcinoma (FaDu: IC50 > 30 µM).

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A crucial feature of plant performance is its strong dependence on the availability of essential mineral nutrients, affecting multiple vital functions. Indeed, mineral-nutrient deficiency is one of the major stress factors affecting plant growth and development. Thereby, nitrogen and potassium represent the most abundant mineral contributors, critical for plant survival. While studying plant responses to nutrient deficiency, one should keep in mind that mineral nutrients, along with their specific metabolic roles, are directly involved in maintaining cell ion homeostasis, which relies on a finely tuned equilibrium between cytosolic and vacuolar ion pools. Therefore, in this chapter we briefly summarize the role of the ion homeostasis system in cell responses to environmental deficiency of nitrate and potassium ions. Special attention is paid to the implementation of plant responses via NO3− and K+ root transport and regulation of ion distribution in cell compartments. These responses are strongly dependent on plant species, as well as severity and duration of nutrient deficiency.

The chapter “Mass Spectrometry Data Processing” focuses on the mass spectrometry data processing workflow. The first step consists of processing the raw MS data using conversion of vendor formats to open standards, followed by feature detection, optionally retention time correction and grouping of features across samples leading to a feature matrix amenable for statistical analysis. The metabolomics community has developed several open source software packages capable of processing large-scale data commonly occurring in metabolomics studies. In the second stage, features of interest are identified, i.e., annotated with names of metabolites, or compound classes. Tandem MS or LC-MS/MS fragmentation data provides structural hints. The MS/MS spectra can be used to search in open and commercial spectral libraries. If no reference spectra are available, in-silico annotation tools or more recently machine learning approaches can be used.

The structure of the microtubule cytoskeleton provides valuable information related to morphogenesis of cells. The cytoskeleton organizes into diverse patterns that vary in cells of different types and tissues, but also within a single tissue. To assess differences in cytoskeleton organization methods are needed that quantify cytoskeleton patterns within a complete cell and which are suitable for large data sets. A major bottleneck in most approaches, however, is a lack of techniques for automatic extraction of cell contours. Here, we present a semi-automatic pipeline for cell segmentation and quantification of microtubule organization. Automatic methods are applied to extract major parts of the contours and a handy image editor is provided to manually add missing information efficiently. Experimental results prove that our approach yields high-quality contour data with minimal user intervention and serves a suitable basis for subsequent quantitative studies.