BRF1 is a rate-limiting factor for RNA Polymerase III-mediated transcription and is elevated in numerous cancers. Here, we report that elevated levels of BRF1 associate with poor prognosis in human prostate cancer. In vitro studies in human prostate cancer cell lines demonstrated that transient overexpression of BRF1 increased cell proliferation whereas the transient downregulation of BRF1 reduced proliferation and mediated cell cycle arrest. Consistent with our clinical observations, BRF1 overexpression in a Pten-deficient mouse (Pten(Delta/Delta)BRF1(Tg)) prostate cancer model accelerated prostate carcinogenesis and shortened survival. In Pten(Delta/Delta)BRF1(Tg) tumours, immune and inflammatory processes were altered, with reduced tumoral infiltration of neutrophils and CD4 positive T cells, which can be explained by decreased levels of complement factor D (CFD) and C7 components of the complement cascade, an innate immune pathway that influences the adaptive immune response. We tested if the secretome was involved in BRF1-driven tumorigenesis. Unbiased proteomic analysis on BRF1-overexpresing PC3 cells confirmed reduced levels of CFD in the secretome, implicating the complement system in prostate carcinogenesis. We further identify that expression of C7 significantly correlates with expression of CD4 and has the potential to alter clinical outcome in human prostate cancer, where low levels of C7 associate with poorer prognosis.

The effect of different size of bacterial cellulose particles used in the production of hydrogel was investigated. Bacterial cellulose was extracted from nata de coco, a local dessert origin from the Philippines. Micro size particle was prepared by conventional grinding of dried sheet of bacterial cellulose whereas cellulose nanoparticle was prepared by acid hydrolysis treatment. Both were then used in hydrogels formulation with acrylic acid (in ratio of 70% of bacterial cellulose dispersion to 30% acrylic acid) and exposed to electron beam irradiation (40 kGy). TEM observation showed nano cellulose particle, having range of dimension of 80 - 160 nm in length and 13 - 22 nm in diameter. It was found that hydrogel with nano cellulose has higher glass transition temperature (39 degrees C) as compared to micro cellulose hydrogel (32 degrees C). SEM observation revealed that swollen nano cellulose hydrogel has smaller and homogenous pores arrangement while micro cellulose has bigger and irregular pores thus affecting their swelling degree.

Sulfonylbenzimidazoles and their copper complexes have tremendous applications in drug development. In the present work, bis(2-hydroxylbenzoato-kappa O-2,O ')bis(2-methyl-1-(toluene-4-sulfonyl)-1H-benzimidazole) copper(II) complex [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] has been synthesized and structurally characterized by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The complex formed a distorted octahedral geometry with the benzimidazole ligands occupying the axial position and the hydroxylbenzoato ligands in the equatorial positions. The latter ligands coordinated in an isobidentate manner with a Cu-O-deprotenated bond length of 1.955(18) angstrom and a long range Cu-O-carbonyl of 2.574(2) angstrom. An excellent correlation was found between bond lengths and bond angles obtained experimentally from single-crystal XRD analysis and that obtained from density functional theory. Electrochemical behavior of [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] has been probed by cyclic voltammetry (CV). CV studies revealed that it undergoes one-electron reduction followed by one-electron oxidation process. In vitro tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the complex was evaluated and it was observed that it exhibited good inhibitory potential with IC50 value 56.8 +/- 11.4 mu M. Complex-DNA-interaction studies were performed by CV, electronic and florescence spectroscopic titrations and it has been inferred that the [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] binds with DNA through intercalation and the value of binding constant was 3.6 x 10(4) M-1.

Sulfonylbenzimidazoles and their copper complexes have tremendous applications in drug development. In the present work, bis(2-hydroxylbenzoato-kappa O-2,O ')bis(2-methyl-1-(toluene-4-sulfonyl)-1H-benzimidazole) copper(II) complex [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] has been synthesized and structurally characterized by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The complex formed a distorted octahedral geometry with the benzimidazole ligands occupying the axial position and the hydroxylbenzoato ligands in the equatorial positions. The latter ligands coordinated in an isobidentate manner with a Cu-O-deprotenated bond length of 1.955(18) angstrom and a long range Cu-O-carbonyl of 2.574(2) angstrom. An excellent correlation was found between bond lengths and bond angles obtained experimentally from single-crystal XRD analysis and that obtained from density functional theory. Electrochemical behavior of [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] has been probed by cyclic voltammetry (CV). CV studies revealed that it undergoes one-electron reduction followed by one-electron oxidation process. In vitro tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the complex was evaluated and it was observed that it exhibited good inhibitory potential with IC50 value 56.8 +/- 11.4 mu M. Complex-DNA-interaction studies were performed by CV, electronic and florescence spectroscopic titrations and it has been inferred that the [Cu(L-1)(L-2)] binds with DNA through intercalation and the value of binding constant was 3.6 x 10(4) M-1.

This paper focuses on the micro- and nano-topological organization of a hydrogel, constituted by a mixture of bacterial cellulose and acrylic acid, and intended for biomedical applications. The presence of acrylic acid promotes the formation of two interpenetrated continuous phases: the primary "pores phase" (PP) containing only water and the secondary "polymeric network phase" (PNP) constituted by the polymeric network swollen by the water. Low field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF NMR), rheology, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and release tests were used to determine the characteristics of the two phases. In particular, we found that this system is a strong hydrogel constituted by 81% (v/v) of PP phase the remaining part being occupied by the PNP phase. Pores diameters span in the range 10-100 pm, the majority of them (85%) falling in the range 30-90 mu m. The high PP phase tortuosity indicates that big pores are not directly connected to each other, but their connection is realized by a series of interconnected small pores that rend the drug path tortuous. The PNP is characterized by a polymer volume fraction around 0.73 while mesh size is around 3 nm. The theoretical interpretation of the experimental data coming from the techniques panel adopted, yielded to the micro- and nano-organization of our hydrogel. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.