In the mammalian intestine, crypts of Leiberkühn house intestinal epithelial stem/progenitor cells at their base. The mammalian intestine also harbors a diverse array of microbial metabolite compounds that potentially modulate stem/progenitor cell activity. Unbiased screening identified butyrate, a prominent bacterial metabolite, as a potent inhibitor of intestinal stem/progenitor proliferation...

Once activated by agents such as IFN-y and bacterial LPS, macrophages (MO)t can inhibit the growth of a wide variety of tumor and microbial targets (1, 2) . Although MO products such as hydrogen peroxide, TNFa, and IL-1 cause cytostasis and/or cytotoxicity (3-5), in many cases these mediators do not appear to be involved . With some targets, Mo-mediated cytostasis and injury to the mitochondria...

This study was undertaken to validate the use of microbial biotransformation systems for drug metabolism studies. Thymoxamine 1 was rapidly hydrolyzed to desacetylthymoxamine (DAT) 2 by numerous fungi. Other known animal metabolites, such as N-desmethyl-desacetylthymoxamine 3 and desacetylthymoxamine-O-sulfate 6, were produced from DAT by Mucor rouxii and Mortierella isabellina. DAT-N-oxide 5, ...

Due to a rate increase in the resistance of microbial pathogens to currently used antibiotics, there is a need in society for the discovery of novel antimicrobials. Historically, fungi are a proven source for antimicrobial compounds. The main goals of this study were to investigate the fungal diversity associated with sea foam collected around the coast of Prince Edward Island and the utility o...