Maha J. Hashim

NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase NQO1 is a phase ll enzyme that catalyzes the linked intracellular conversion of NADPH2 to NADP and duroquinone (DQ) to hydroduroquinone (DQH2) in cells. There are different methods to determine NQO1 activity. The classic NQO1 enzyme assay is the usual method for measuring NQO1 activity in cell lysates. We chose to determine the intact-cell activity to investigate the effect of the four compounds Quercetin (Q), Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, (EGCG), indole-3-carbinol (I3C), and Sulforaphane (SFN) in stimulating NQO1 activity. In brief, DQ-mediated reduction of the cell-membrane-imperative secondary electron acceptor, ferricyanide, was used to quantify intact-cell NQO1 activity. This approach involves adding quinone duroquinone to the cells and then measuring the appearance rate of the two-electron reduction product, durohydroquinone, by its ferricyanide reduction. In conclusion, I3C and SFN did not interfere with the enzymatic reaction. In contrast, Q and EGCG can interfere with the enzymatic reaction of NQO1 because Q and EGCG possess quinone structures, unlike I3C and SFN, which do not have the same shape.

Salinity stress has become a significant concern to global food security. Revealing the mechanisms that enable plants to survive under salinity has immense significance. Sorghum has increasingly attracted researchers interested in understanding the survival and adaptation strategies to high salinity. However, systematic analysis of the DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and their relative expression has not been reported in sorghum under salt stress. The de novo transcriptomic analysis of sorghum under different salinity levels from 60 to 120 mM NaCl was generated using Illumina HiSeq. Approximately 323.49 million high-quality reads, with an average contig length of 1145 bp, were assembled de novo. On average, 62% of unigenes were functionally annotated to known proteins. These DEGs were mainly involved in several important metabolic processes, such as carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, cell wall biogenesis, photosynthesis, and hormone signaling. SSG 59-3 alleviated the adverse effects of salinity by suppressing oxidative stress (H₂O₂) and stimulating enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities (SOD, APX, CAT, APX, POX, GR, GSH, ASC, proline, and GB), as well as protecting cell membrane integrity (MDA and electrolyte leakage). Significant up-regulation of transcripts encoding the NAC, MYB, and WRYK families, NHX transporters, the aquaporin protein family, photosynthetic genes, antioxidants, and compatible osmolyte proteins were observed. The tolerant line (SSG 59-3) engaged highly efficient machinery in response to elevated salinity, especially during the transport and influx of K⁺ ions, signal transduction, and osmotic homeostasis. Our data provide insights into the evolution of the NAC TFs gene family and further support the hypothesis that these genes are essential for plant responses to salinity. The findings may provide a molecular foundation for further exploring the potential functions of NAC TFs in developing salt-resistant sorghum lines.

In the modern research field, laboratory animals are constantly kept under artificial lighting conditions. However, recent studies have shown the effect of artificial light on animal behavior and metabolism. In the present study on mice, following three weeks of housing in dim light at night (dLAN; 5lux) and complete darkness (DD; 0lux), we monitored the effect on body weight, daily food intake, anxiety-like behavior by employing the open field test, and expression of the period (PER1) gene. We also studied the effect of oral administration of different concentrations of curcumin (50, 100, and 150 mg/kg) for three weeks in the same mice and monitored these parameters. The exposure to dLAN had significantly increased the anxiety-like behavior and body weight possibly through the altered metabolism in mice, whereas exposure to DD caused increased anxiety but no significant difference in weight gain. Moreover, the expression of the PER1 gene involved in sleep was also found to be decreased in the aberrant light conditions (dLAN and DD). Although the treatment of curcumin had no effect on body weight, it ameliorated the anxiety-like behavior possibly by modulating the expression of the PER1 gene. Thus, alteration in the light/dark cycle had a negative effect on laboratory animals on the body weight and emotions of animals. The present study identifies the risk factors associated with artificial lighting systems on the behavior of laboratory animals and the ameliorative effects of curcumin, with a focus on anxiety-like behavior.