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ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) can be considered a highly efficient Zn source that has been widely used in agriculture to promote crop development and productivity. The turmeric (Curcuma longa) plant has several medical properties, and its rhizome is utilized as a spice in the food sector. In this work, C. longa leaves were sprayed with various concentrations of ZnO NPs to inspect their effect on growth, yield, and bioactive compound compositions. ZnO NPs considerably increased tumeric productivity, yield, and curcuminoid content versus the control treatment. The ZnO NPs concentration of 10 mgL−1 was found to be the optimum concentration for producing the highest C. longa yields, while the concentration of 40 mgL−1 promoted positive effects on photosynthetic pigments, bisdemethoxycurcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and curcumin contents. This demonstrates that ZnO nano-fertilizer promotes plant growth, yield characteristics, and curcuminoid component synthesis, and its application is therefore notably beneficial for progressive sustainable C. longa agriculture.

Innate recognition of pathogens depends on the interaction between microbial structures known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) in host cells. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are among the most important PRRs being expressed on and in a wide range of immune cell types. Studies on the interaction mechanisms between different pathogen species and the immune system of the dromedary camel are still scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory effect of synthetic bacterial and viral TLR ligands on some phenotypic properties and selected functions of neutrophils purified from dromedary camel blood. Neutrophils were separated from camel blood (n = five animals) and were stimulated in vitro with the TLR ligands LPS, Pam3CSK4, R848 (Resiquimod), and Poly IC or were left without stimulation. Stimulation with the protein kinase C activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) was used as a positive control stimulation. Shape change, phagocytosis activity, ROS production, the expression of cell surface markers, and cell vitality were compared between stimulated and non-stimulated cells. With exception of the TLR3 agonist Poly IC, all TLR ligands used showed the potential to stimulate camel neutrophils resulting in increased cell size and the upregulation of CD18 and CD14 on their surface. Similarly, the phagocytosis activity of camel neutrophils was significantly improved after priming with all TLR ligands, except Poly IC, which, in contrast, resulted in a reduced percentage of phagocytosis-positive cells. In contrast to stimulation with PMA, which induced a significant ROS production in camel neutrophils, none of the TLR ligands used stimulated ROS generation in neutrophils. Only stimulation with Pam3CSK4 increased the expression of MHCII molecules on camel neutrophils, resulting in an expanded MHCIIhigh fraction within camel neutrophils. Our study indicates selective immunomodulating effects of TLR agonists on purified camel neutrophils without affecting their vitality.

(1) Toll-like receptors (TLR) are a family of pattern recognition receptors that sense distinct molecular patterns of microbial origin. Although the immune cell composition of camel milk has been recently described, host–pathogen interaction studies in the camel mammary gland are still scarce. The present study aimed to use a whole milk stimulation assay for investigating the modulatory effect of selected Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands on the phenotype and function of milk immune cells. (2) Methods—camel milk samples (n = 7) were stimulated in vitro with the TLR4 ligand LPS or the TLR2/1 ligand Pam3CSK4, and separated milk cells were evaluated for stimulation-induced shape change, the expression of cell surface markers, phagocytosis, apoptosis, ROS production, and NETosis. Stimulation with PMA was used as a control stimulation. (3) Results—all stimulants induced shape change in milk cells, change in the expression of several cell markers, and increased cell apoptosis and NETosis. In addition, stimulation with Pam3CSK4 and PMA was associated with enhanced ROS production, while only PMA stimulation resulted in enhanced bacterial phagocytosis by milk immune cells. (4) Conclusions—our data indicates selective modulating effects of the TLR ligands LPS and Pam3CSK4 on camel milk phagocytes. These results may have implications for the use of synthetic TLR agonists as immunomodulatory adjuvants of the immune response to intra-mammary vaccines against mastitis pathogens.

Atropine (ATR) is extracted from a belladonna plant that belongs to a class of anticholinergic drugs and is therefore involved in the treatment of the overdose of cholinergic drugs or mushroom poisoning. It is a well-known blocker of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) that are expressed in various tumor cells, including breast tumors from animal and human origin, but it has yet to be recommended as an anticancer drug. Our in silico docking analysis indicates that atropine has a roust virtual binding, with a stable binding energy, to two major signaling molecules involved in EMT regulation: E-cad and ZEB-2. For both, the gene and the protein expression level results show that atropine is an effective molecule in reducing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and colony formation induced by TGF-B or carboplatin in both the mesenchymal-like cell line MDA-MB-231 and the epithelial-like cell line T47D. We conclude that atropine as a potential suppressor of EMT could be co-administrated with other chemotherapeutic drugs to reduce stemness in drug-resistant breast tumor cells.

The application of exogenously applied salicylic acid plays important roles in improving the growth, yield, and bioactive compound compositions of different plant species. Curcuma longa is a medicinal plant that is commonly used as a spice and food additive, and has antioxidant potential. In this study, an innovative strategy for enhancing active compound production was investigated by applying a natural plant growth enhancer—namely, salicylic acid (SA)—to C. longa plants. The experiment was conducted using a complete randomized block design. The effects of SA on the growth, yield, and chemical compound contents of C. longa were recorded. Our findings demonstrated that SA significantly improved C. longa growth, yield, and curcuminoid content when compared to control treatment, with SA at 10−3 M having the greatest effect. The study also indicated that the increase in the curcuminoid content was accompanied by the overexpression of the curcumin synthase 1 (CURS1), 2 (CURS2), and 3 (CURS3) genes, as well as the diketide-CoA synthase (DCS) gene, which have been implicated in the synthesis of curcuminoids.

Biotic elicitors such as Aloe vera extract (ALE) have been shown to stimulate growth and modify the bioactive composition of various plant species. ALE has a unique mixture of nutrients that support plant production and growth. In this study, the bio-stimulative effects of ALE foliar spray on plant production and growth, silybin levels, and chalcone synthase gene expression in Silybum marianum were examined. The findings indicated that foliar spray of all the ALE concentrations under study increased plant growth and yield. Additionally, by raising the silybin level of the plant extract, ALE increased the therapeutic value of S. marianum. Further, the activation of the chalcone synthase gene by ALE was analyzed by gene expression research. S. marianum’s growth and production were improved by the application of 60 mL/L ALE, while the silybin level and the chalcone synthase gene expression levels were improved by the application of 40 mL/L ALE. In addition, methanolic fruit extract that contained a higher silybin content also demonstrated a higher anti-microbial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.