Dramatic Dietary Shift Maintains Sequestered Toxins in Chemically Defended Snakes
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Bufadienolides from the Skin Secretions of the Neotropical Toad Rhinella Alata (Anura: Bufonidae): Antiprotozoal Activity Against Trypanosoma Cruzi
molecules Article Bufadienolides from the Skin Secretions of the Neotropical Toad Rhinella alata (Anura: Bufonidae): Antiprotozoal Activity against Trypanosoma cruzi Candelario Rodriguez 1,2,3 , Roberto Ibáñez 4 , Luis Mojica 5, Michelle Ng 6, Carmenza Spadafora 6 , Armando A. Durant-Archibold 1,3,* and Marcelino Gutiérrez 1,* 1 Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Apartado 0843-01103, Panama; [email protected] 2 Department of Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur 522510, India 3 Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Apartado 0824-03366, Panama 4 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Balboa, Ancon P.O. Box 0843-03092, Panama; [email protected] 5 Centro Nacional de Metrología de Panamá (CENAMEP AIP), Apartado 0843-01353, Panama; [email protected] 6 Centro de Biología Celular y Molecular de Enfermedades, INDICASAT AIP, Apartado 0843-01103, Panama; [email protected] (M.N.); [email protected] (C.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected] (A.A.D.-A.); [email protected] (M.G.) Abstract: Toads in the family Bufonidae contain bufadienolides in their venom, which are charac- Citation: Rodriguez, C.; Ibáñez, R.; terized by their chemical diversity and high pharmacological potential. American trypanosomiasis Mojica, L.; Ng, M.; Spadafora, C.; is a neglected disease that affects an estimated 8 million people in tropical and subtropical coun- Durant-Archibold, A.A.; Gutiérrez, M. tries. In this research, we investigated the chemical composition and antitrypanosomal activity Bufadienolides from the Skin of toad venom from Rhinella alata collected in Panama. -
Preventive and Therapeutic Effects of Chinese Herbal Compounds Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma
molecules Review Preventive and Therapeutic Effects of Chinese Herbal Compounds against Hepatocellular Carcinoma Bing Hu 1,*, Hong-Mei An 2, Shuang-Shuang Wang 1, Jin-Jun Chen 3 and Ling Xu 1 1 Department of Oncology and Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Oncology, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China; [email protected] (S.-S.W.); [email protected] (L.X.) 2 Department of Science & Technology, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 202032, China; [email protected] 3 Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, The Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200011, China; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +86-21-64385700 Academic Editor: Derek J. McPhee Received: 16 November 2015 ; Accepted: 20 January 2016 ; Published: 27 January 2016 Abstract: Traditional Chinese Medicines, unique biomedical and pharmaceutical resources, have been widely used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prevention and treatment. Accumulated Chinese herb-derived compounds with significant anti-cancer effects against HCC have been identified. Chinese herbal compounds are effective in preventing carcinogenesis, inhibiting cell proliferation, arresting cell cycle, inducing apoptosis, autophagy, cell senescence and anoikis, inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastasis and angiogenesis, regulating immune function, reversing drug -
Cinobufagin Inhibits Tumor Growth by Inducing Apoptosis Through Notch Signaling Pathways in Human Cholangiocarcinoma
2469 Original Article Cinobufagin inhibits tumor growth by inducing apoptosis through Notch signaling pathways in human cholangiocarcinoma Jiajun Ren1, Shouhua Wang2, Longyang Jin2, Fei Ma3, Di Zhou2, Qiang Cai1 1Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China; 2Department of General Surgery, 3Department of Oncology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China Contributions: (I) Conception and design: J Ren, D Zhou, Q Cai; (II) Administrative support: D Zhou, Q Cai; (III) Provision of study materials or patients: S Wang, L Jin; (IV) Collection and assembly of data: S Wang, F Ma; (V) Data analysis and interpretation: L Jin, F Ma; (VI) Manuscript writing: All authors; (VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors. Correspondence to: Qiang Cai. Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 197 Ruijin No. 2 Road, Shanghai 200025, China. Email: [email protected]; Di Zhou. Department of General Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China. Email: [email protected]. Background: Many studies have shown that cinobufagin has antitumor effects against many cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cinobufagin on cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cells. Methods: Colony formation assay, cell-counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and tumor xenograft experiments were applied to investigate the function of cinobufagin on human CCA cells, in vitro and in vivo. Flow cytometric analysis was performed to validate the effects of cinobufagin on cell apoptosis. -
Biological and Proteomic Analysis of Venom from the Puerto Rican Racer (Alsophis Portoricensis: Dipsadidae)
Toxicon 55 (2010) 558–569 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Toxicon journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/toxicon Biological and proteomic analysis of venom from the Puerto Rican Racer (Alsophis portoricensis: Dipsadidae) Caroline L. Weldon, Stephen P. Mackessy* School of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, 501 20th Street, CB 92, Greeley, CO 80639-0017, USA article info abstract Article history: The Puerto Rican Racer Alsophis portoricensis is known to use venom to subdue lizard prey, Received 12 August 2009 and extensive damage to specific lizard body tissues has been well documented. The Received in revised form toxicity and biochemistry of the venom, however, has not been explored extensively. We 27 September 2009 employed biological assays and proteomic techniques to characterize venom from Accepted 2 October 2009 A. portoricensis anegadae collected from Guana Island, British Virgin Islands. High metal- Available online 14 October 2009 loproteinase and gelatinase, as well as low acetylcholinesterase and phosphodiesterase activities were detected, and the venom hydrolyzed the a-subunit of human fibrinogen Keywords: Biological roles very rapidly. SDS-PAGE analysis of venoms revealed up to 22 protein bands, with masses of w Colubrid 5–160 kDa; very little variation among individual snakes or within one snake between CRISP venom extractions was observed. Most bands were approximately 25–62 kD, but MALDI- Enzymes TOF analysis of crude venom indicated considerable complexity in the 1.5–13 kD mass a-Fibrinogenase range, including low intensity peaks in the 6.2–8.8 kD mass range (potential three-finger Gland histology toxins). MALDI-TOF/TOF MS analysis of tryptic peptides confirmed that a 25 kDa band was Hemorrhage a venom cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRiSP) with sequence homology with tigrin, Mass spectrometry a CRiSP from the natricine colubrid Rhabdophis tigrinus. -
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Revista de Biología Tropical, ISSN: 2215-2075, Vol. 69(2): 545-556, April-June 2021 (Published Apr. 19, 2021) 545 Rostelato-Ferreira, S., Vettorazzo, O.B., Tribuiani, N., Leal, A.P., Dal Belo, C.A., Rodrigues-Simioni, L., Floriano, R.S., Oshima- Franco, Y. (2021). Action of heparin and acetylcholine modulators on the neurotoxicity of the toad Rhinella schneideri (Anura: Bufonidae) in Brazil. Revista de Biología Tropical, 69(2), 545- 556. DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i2.44539 DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i2.44539 Action of heparin and acetylcholine modulators on the neurotoxicity of the toad Rhinella schneideri (Anura: Bufonidae) in Brazil Sandro Rostelato-Ferreira1,2; Orcid: 0000-0002-8987-434X Orlando B. Vettorazzo2; Orcid: 0000-0003-4731-4771 Natália Tribuiani2; Orcid: 0000-0002-7661-475X Allan P. Leal3; Orcid: 0000-0002-4689-4615 Cháriston A. Dal Belo3,4; Orcid: 0000-0001-7010-650 Léa Rodrigues-Simioni5; Orcid: 0000-0002-8712-6639 Rafael S. Floriano6; Orcid: 0000-0003-0759-5863 Yoko Oshima-Franco2*; Orcid: 0000-0002-4972-8444 1. Institute of Health Sciences, Paulista University (UNIP), Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil; [email protected] 2. Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sorocaba (UNISO), Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (*Correspondence) 3. Graduate Program in Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; [email protected] 4. Laboratory of Neurobiology and Toxinology (Lanetox), Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA), São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; [email protected] 5. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-970, São Paulo, Brazil; [email protected] 6. -