Novel boron-containing compound, halogenated boroxine, induces selective cytotoxicity through apoptosis triggering in UT-7 leukemia

Apoptosis induction is a promising approach in targeting tumor cells. As halogenated boroxine (HB) shows antitumor activity, but its mechanism of action in hematological tumors remains unclear, in this study, we aimed to analyze apoptosis triggering in normal and UT-7 leukemia cells by HB. Methods for assessing cell viability and cytotoxicity, apoptosis detection, relative expression of 84 apoptosis-associated genes and BCL-2, and functional analysis were applied. Pronounced HB activities in inhibition of cell viability, cytotoxicity, and apoptosis induction with measurable differences between tumor and normal cells were found. HB modulated the expression of 21 genes, predominantly downregulated the antiapoptotic genes in leukemia. The functional association revealed HB's impact on inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway. BCL-2 expression decreasing was found only in UT-7 leukemia. This study identified HB as an apoptosis inducer affecting leukemia but not normal cells considering mechanisms of selective activity that may be a great advantage of HB applications.

Bacterioplankton assembly and interspecies interaction indicating increasing coastal eutrophication

Anthropogenic perturbations impose negative effects on coastal ecosystems, such as increasing levels of eutrophication. Given the biogeochemical significance of microorganisms, understanding the processes and mechanisms underlying their spatial distribution under changing environmental conditions is critical. To address this question, we examined how coastal bacterioplankton communities respond to increasing eutrophication levels created by anthropogenic perturbations. The results showed that the magnitude of changes in the bacterioplankton community compositions (BCCs) and the importance of deterministic processes that constrained bacterial assembly were closely associated with eutrophication levels. Moreover, increasing eutrophication significantly (P < 0.001) attenuated the distance decay rate, with a random spatial distribution of BCCs in the undisturbed location. In contrast, the complexity of interspecies interaction was enhanced under moderate eutrophication levels but declined under heavy eutrophication. Changes in the relative abundances of 27 bacterial families were significantly correlated with eutrophication levels. Notably, the pattern of enrichment or decrease for a given bacterial family was consistent with its known ecological functions. Our findings demonstrate that the magnitude of changes in BCCs and underlying determinism are dependent on eutrophication levels. However, the buffer capacity of bacterioplankton community is limited, with disrupted interspecies interaction occurring under heavy eutrophication. As such, bacterial assemblages are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and could thus potentially serve as bio-indicators for increasing eutrophication.

Boron-containing acids: preliminary evaluation of acute toxicity and access to the brain determined by Raman scattering spectroscopy

Boron-containing compounds (BCCs), particularly boron containing acids (BCAs), have become attractive moieties or molecules in drug development. It has been suggested that when functional groups with boron atoms are added to well-known drugs, the latter are conferred with greater potency and efficacy in relation to their target receptors. However, the use of BCAs in drug development is limited due to the lack of a toxicological profile. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the acute toxicity of boric and boronic acids. Thus, a determination was made of the lethal dose (LD50) of test compounds in male CD1 mice, as well as the effective dose required to negatively affect spontaneous motor activity and to produce notable behavioral abnormalities. After treatment of animals at different doses, macroscopic observations were made from a necropsy, and Raman scattering spectroscopic studies were carried out on brain tissue samples. In general, the results show that most of the tested BCAs have very low toxicity, evidenced by the high doses required to induce notable toxic effects (greater than 100 mg/kg of body weight for all compounds, except for 3-thyenilboronic acid). Such toxic effects, presumably mediated by action on the CNS, include eye damage, gastrointestinal effects (e.g., gastric-gut dilatation and fecal retention), sedation, hypnosis and/or trembling. This preliminary toxicological profile suggests that BCAs can be considered potential therapeutic agents or moieties to be added to other compounds in the development of new drugs. Future studies are required to explore possible chronic toxicity of BCCs.