Microbial steroid biotransformation have found wide-reaching application for the production of more precious and functionalized compounds due to their high regio-and stereoselectivity. In this study, the possibility of using filamentous fungi Aspergillus brasiliensis cells in the biotransformation of progesterone (I), a C-21 steroid hormone was studied for the first time.The fungal strain was i...

Recent studies indicate that neuroprotection afforded by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is mediated by extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K). However, the mechanisms by which ERK and PI3K exert neuroprotection are not completely understood. Because ERK1/2 and PI3K both stimulate serum response element (SRE)-mediated gene expression, and s...

We showed recently that nicotine activates the growth-promoting enzyme Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) in PC12 cells and that preincubation of these cells with the JAK2-specific inhibitor AG-490 blocked the nicotine-induced neuroprotection against beta-amyloid (1-42) [Abeta (1-42)]. These results provided direct evidence for linkage between JAK2 and the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-induced neu...

1. Abstract Phenotypic plasticity has an important place in evolution because in order to survive in a dynamically changing environment, an organism needs to have a well-adapted set of defense responses, which include pre-emptive and retaliatory phenotypic shifts. From previous research it seems that while only a few vertebrates can survive prolonged periods of hypoxia or anoxia, the greatest p...

introduction: chronic radicular low back pain is a common disease that limits patient’s daily activity. epidural steroid injection (esi) is becoming the mainstay of therapies for radicular low back pain due to contained bulged disc. aim: to determine the effect of adding hypertonic saline to epidural steroid injections to provide pain relief for chronic radiculopathy back pain secondary to fora...

background: enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) has been described as an alternative to radioimmunoassay for the mammalian and nonmammalian steroids detection. in this study, a simple and rapid elisa is described and validated for 4-pregnen-3,20, dione (progesterone). materials and methods: a general procedure for preparation of the acetylcholinesterase labelled steroid is described which...

The SAINT studies on NXY-0591,2 have reinvigorated debate over the momentous issues of neuroprotection and the development of novel stroke therapeutics. Some may argue there is little new ground that NXY-059 has unearthed and, in fact, the clinical trials merely confirm that as a strategy, neuroprotection has not been shown to be effective. Editorials in high-profile journals have sent out the ...