Hairy roots were induced in using, strains A4, A13, ATCC15834, and ATCC15834. The leaf, petiole and shoot explants of marshmallow were used for the hairy roots induction. When hairy roots appeared, cultures were established in MS (Murashige and Skoog) liquid medium without growth regulators. Hairy roots in explants appeared 5-12 days after inoculation. Maximum transformation frequency of 83% was observed on shoot explants with ATCC15834 strain. Among the strains, ATCC15834 strain showed better potential in the mass production of hairy roots in the hormone-free liquid medium after 50 days of culturing. The highest total phenolic and flavonoids content was found at 1.57 ± 0.1 mg/g dry weight in A13 strain and 3.47 ± 0.3 mg/g in A4 strain, respectively. Secondary metabolite content of hairy roots was found to be strain-specific.

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Background: Oral infections and dental caries are still considered as serious public health problem and inflict a costly burden to health care services around the world especially in developing countries. Objectives: In the present study, we evaluated the antibacterial activity of Capsella bursa-pastoris alone and also combined with Glycyrrhiza glabra against Streptococcus mutans, S. sanguis, Actinomyces viscosus, Enterococcus faecalis as oral pathogens. Materials and Methods:The antimicrobial activities of an ethanol extract of C. bursa-pastoris alone and in combination with G. glabra were in vitro tested against six reference strains of oral pathogenic bacteria. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were examined using disc diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined by both broth and Agar dilution methods and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) by broth dilution methods. Results: In this study, C. bursa-pastoris extract showed good antibacterial activity against six bacteria in using in of the mentioned methods. No strain in this study showed resistance against this extract. Antibacterial activity of mixed extract including C .bursa-pastoris and G. glabra was evaluated and showed that mixed extract was more effective against all bacteria than any of the cases alone that indicate the synergistic effect between these two extracts. Conclusions: C. bursa-pastoris and its mixture with G. glabra are suggested as appropriate candidates to control dental caries and endodontic infections.

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Hypoxia is a condition of low oxygen level which poses a common feature of most cancers. In the current study, we investigated effect of water containing oxygen nanobubble (ONB) on tumor growth in breast cancer 4T1‐bearing mice during 14‐day treatment period. Tumor‐bearing mice were randomly divided into three groups (six mice per group), including the ONB group drinking water containing ONB, the air nanobubble (ANB) group drinking water containing ANB, and control group drinking normal water. Tumor weight and size were measured in 2‐day interval during 14‐day treatment. mRNA expression of p53, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia‐inducible factor (HIF), and cyclin D/Cdk2 genes were measured in the treated and control mice. After 8, 12, and 14 days of treatment, tumor size in ONB group was significantly decreased by 40.5%, 32.8%, and 28%, respectively, when compared with the control group. In addition, ANB group showed a significant reduction in tumor burden as well. The messenger RNA (mRNA) level of p53 in tumor cells of ONB and ANB group was found to be 36‐fold (P = 0.0001) and 33‐fold (P = 0.0001) higher than that in the control group, respectively. There was a ninefold increase in mRNA expression of VEGF gene in tumor cells of ANB mice than that in control mice; however, there was no significant changes in ONB group. Expression of HIF gene was significantly lower in tumor cells of ONB and ANB group than in the control group. It is concluded that drinking ONB water has potential to inhibit tumor growth, however more preclinical and proof‐of‐concept studies are needed to confirm its safety and therapeutic effect.

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Nowadays, salicylic acid is used as a growth regulator to reduce the negative effects of different levels of stress. This research was conducted as factorial experiment on a completely randomized block design. Wheat plants were planted in four levels of cadmium (0, 100, 200 and 300 μmol) with three levels of salicylic acid (0, 0.5 and 1.0 mmol) in three replications. The results showed that root heights, fresh and dry weight of the stem were decreased significantly, and leaf proline and catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes were increased due to cadmium stress. Foliar application of salicylic acid in non-stress conditions had a significant effect on the traits and resulted in their increase, as well. Application of two concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 mmol salicylic acid in stress conditions resulted in reduction of the effects of stress and consequently, reduction of proline and catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes and growth was improved. The amount of 1.0 mmol of salicylic acid was more effective and it can be concluded that salicylic acid has a moderating and decreasing effect on the negative effects of cadmium toxicity in wheat plant.

Curcumin is the active ingredient of Curcuma longa, which inhibits the development of malignant cells. Prevention and treatment of cancer by natural compounds, especially curcumin, and understanding the mechanism of action, is an area of interest in cancer research. In this study, we evaluated the effects of curcumin on cell proliferation, ornithine decarboxylase 1 (ODC1) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene expression in human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) as compared to the non-cancer line (MCF-10A). Both cell lines were subjected to increasing doses of curcumin, ranging from 0 to 30 ?g/mL. Cell viability was quantified by the MTT assay. In vitro clonogenic survival assay was performed on MCF-7 cells. Expression of ADA and ODC1 were analyzed by Western blotting and qRT-PCR. Curcumin inhibited the growth of malignant cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The calculated IC50 value for MCF-7 cells in 48 h was 12 ?g/mL. Forty-five to 70% decreases in colony formation were observed in MCF-7 cells treated with 30-60 ?g/mL curcumin, respectively. Our data revealed a dose-dependent downregulation of ODC1 and ADA expression and respective enzyme activities by curcumin, which correlated with decreased proliferation in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. These data suggest that curcumin represses the proliferation of breast cancer cells through downregulation of ODC1 and ADA gene expression, which might be another mechanism of curcumin-mediated tumor growth inhibition.