Pancreatic beta-cell apoptosis is an important feature of islets in type 2 diabetes. Apoptosis can occur through two major pathways, the extrinsic or death receptor mediated pathway, and the intrinsic or Bcl-2-regulated pathway. Hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidaemia and islet amyloid poly-peptide (IAPP) represent important possible causes of increased beta-cell apoptosis. Hyperglycaemia induces islet...

A pivotal role has emerged for glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) as an important contributor to Alzheimer's disease pathology. Evidence for the involvement of GSK3 in Alzheimer's disease pathology and neuronal loss comes from studies of GSK3 overexpression, GSK3 localization studies, multiple relationships between GSK3 and amyloid β-peptide (Aβ), interactions between GSK3 and the microtubule-as...

Thrombosis is the major mechanism underlying acute complications of atherosclerosis. Although thrombogenicity of atherosclerotic plaques has been ascribed to activation of the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation, in the present study we investigated contribution of the intrinsic factor VIII (fVIII)–dependent pathway. We found that in vitro exposure of human macrophages and smooth muscle cell...

objective(s):sea cucumber is one of the classes of echinoderms, which is considered as a health marine product and possess various biological characteristics with therapeutic application. the present investigation attempted to evaluate the potential of anti-cancer persian gulf sea cucumber species holothuria arenicola (h. arenicola) aqueous extract on mice colon carcinoma cells in vitro and in ...

Background: The anti-cancer effects of honey bee venom (BV) and chrysin might open a new window for treatment of chemo-resistant cancers. This study was designed to evaluate cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of BV and chrysin on A2780cp cistplatin- resistant human ovarian cancer cells. Methods: As per the study objectives, A2780cp cells were categorized to 4 groups: 3 experiment groups (treat...

Umbelliprenin is a prenylated compound, which belongs to the class of sesquiterpene coumarins. It is extracted from dried roots of Ferula szwitsiana collected from the mountains of Golestan forest (Golestan Province, north of Iran). Induction of apoptosis in Jurkat T-CLL cells has been previously shown. In this study, effect of umbelliprenin on proapoptotic caspases (caspase-8 and -9) and antia...