Circulating tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) levels, which are elevated in obesity‐associated insulin resistance and diabetes, inhibit insulin signalling at several points in the signalling cascade. The liver is critical in maintaining circulating glucose levels and, in a preliminary investigation using the human hepatoma (HepG2) cell line in this study, we demonstrated the role of TNFα in the regulation of this phenomenon and determined the underlying molecular mechanisms. As the transcription factor Foxa2 has been implicated, in part, in the regulation of gluconeogenic genes, we studied the effects of TNFα and/or insulin on its cellular status in hepatocytes, followed by an assessment of its occupancy on the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) promoter. Preincubation of cells with TNFα, followed by insulin, significantly prevented insulin‐mediated nuclear exclusion of Foxa2 and substantially increased its nuclear concentration. Foxa2 was subsequently found to occupy its binding element on the PEPCK promoter. TNFα alone, however, did not alter the status of cellular Foxa2 or its occupancy on the PEPCK promoter. TNFα preincubation also significantly attenuated insulin‐induced inhibition of the expression of gluconeogenic enzymes and hepatic glucose production. Insulin inhibition of PEPCK expression and the preventive effect of TNFα could be partially but significantly restored in the presence of Foxa2 siRNA. Several other well‐known mediators of insulin action in the liver in general and of gluconeogenic genes in particular include Foxo1, PGC‐1 and SREBP‐1c. Our results indicate that another transcription factor, Foxa2, is at least partly responsible for the attenuating effect of TNFα on insulin action on PEPCK expression and glucose production in HepG2 cells. Structured digital abstract http://mint.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/search/interaction.do?interactionAc=MINT-7040448: TBP (uniprotkb:http://www.ebi.uniprot.org/entry/P20226), FOXA2 (uniprotkb:http://www.ebi.uniprot.org/entry/Q9Y261) and FOXA1 (uniprotkb:http://www.ebi.uniprot.org/entry/P55317) colocalize (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0403) by cosedimentation (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/?termId=MI:0027)

The world's food demand is increasing rapidly due to fast population growth that has posed a challenge to meeting the requirements of nutritionally balanced diets. Pulses could play a major role in the human diet to combat these challenges and provide nutritional and physiological benefits. Pulses such as chickpeas, green gram, peas, horse gram, beans, lentils, black gram, etc., are rich sources of protein (190–260 g kg−1), carbohydrates (600–630 g kg−1), dietary fibers, and bioactive compounds. There are many health benefits of phytochemicals present in pulses, like flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, phytates, saponins, lectins, oxalates, phytosterols peptides, and enzyme inhibitors. Some of them have anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerative, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer effects. Along with these, pulses are also rich in vitamins and minerals. In this review, we highlight the potential role of pulses in global food systems and diets, their nutritional value, health benefits, and prospects for biofortification of major pulses. The food composition databases with respect to pulses, effect of processing techniques, and approaches for improvement of nutritional profile of pulses are elaborated.

Conventionally, in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), oligonucleotide primers bind to the template DNA in an antiparallel complementary way and the template DNA is amplified as it is. Here we describe an approach in which the first primer binds in a parallel complementary orientation to the single-stranded DNA, leading to synthesis in a parallel direction. Further reactions happened in a conventional way leading to the synthesis of PCR product having polarity opposite to the template used. This is the first study showing that synthesis of DNA can happen also in a parallel direction. We report that from a single-stranded DNA template, two different but related PCR products can be synthesized.

Worldwide, there is an issue of  irreproducibility in life science research. In the USA alone $28 billion per year spent on preclinical research is not reproducible. Within this opinion article, I provide a brief historical account of the discovery of the Watson-Crick DNA model and introduce another neglected model of DNA. This negligence may be one of the fundamental reasons behind irreproducibility in molecular biology research.