Purpose: Epidemiological and intervention studies have attempted to link the health effects of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with the consumption of polyphenols and their impact in neurodegenerative diseases. Studies have shown that polyphenols can cross the intestinal barrier and reach concentrations in the bloodstream able to exert effects in vivo. However, the effective uptake of polyphenols in the brain is still regarded with some reservations. Here we describe a combination of approaches to examine the putative transport of blackberry-digested polyphenols (BDP) across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and ultimate evaluation of their beneficial effects.
Blood-brain barrier transport and neuroprotective potential of blackberry-digested polyphenols: an in vitro study.
Sex, Specimen part, Cell line, Race
View SamplesThe importance of boron (B) for living organisms is a puzzling matter. Despite the long established essential micronutrient role of B for vascular plants, only recent research gave insights on the mechanisms of its uptake, transport and direct participation in cell-wall formation. Despite that its precise role in plant metabolism remains elusive. In an attempt to clarify the role of B in plant metabolism the gene expression profile of a persistent response to B suppression was evaluated. For that purpose, the transcriptional profile of Arabidopsis thaliana subjected to 2 days of B deficiency was analyzed and the genes that kept responding 4 days after B deficiency were selected. The gene expression profile of Arabidopsis plants submitted to Ca deficiency was also evaluated and this data cross-compared with the 2 days transcriptional profile obtained under B deficiency.
No associated publication
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesBacteria are extremely versatile organisms which rapidly adapt to changing environments. When Escherichia coli cells switch from planktonic growth to biofilm, flagellum formation is turned off, and the production of fimbriae and extracellular polysaccharides is switched on. Here we show that BolA protein is a new bacterial transcription factor which modulates the switch from planktonic to sessile lifestyle. BolA negatively modulates flagella biosynthesis and thus swimming capacity. Furthermore, BolA overexpression favors biofilm formation and involvesinvolving fimbriae-like adhesins and curli production. Our results unraveled for the first time that BolA is a protein with high affinity to DNA, involved in the regulation of several genes of E. coli at a genome-wide scale level. Moreover, this observation further demonstrated that the most significant targets of this protein involved a complex network of genes encoding proteins extremely necessary in biofilm development processes. Herein we propose that BolA is a motile/adhesive transcriptional switch, specifically involved in the transition between the planktonic and the attachment stage of biofilm formation process.
BolA is a transcriptional switch that turns off motility and turns on biofilm development.
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