פרסומים

Oral delivery of poorly soluble and permeable drugs represents a significant challenge in drug development. The oral delivery of drugs remains to be the ultimate route of any drugs. However, in many cases, drugs are not absorbed well in the gastrointestinal tract, or they lose their activity. Polymer micelles were recognized as an effective carrier system for drug encapsulation, and are now studied as a vehicle for oral delivery of insoluble compounds. We characterized the properties of monomethoxy polyethylene glycol-poly lactic acid (mPEG-PLA) micelles, and visualized their internalization in mouse small intestine. Using Caco-2 cells as a cellular model, we studied the kinetics of particle uptake, their transport, and the molecular mechanism of their intestinal absorption. Moreover, by inhibiting specific endocytosis pathways, pharmacologically and genetically, we found that mPEG-PLA nanoparticle endocytosis is mediated by clathrin in an energy-dependent manner, and that the low-density lipoprotein receptor is involved. FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR: Many current drugs used are non-water soluble and indeed, the ability to deliver these drugs via the gastrointestinal tract remains the holy grail for many researchers. The authors in this paper developed monomethoxy polyethylene glycol-poly lactic acid (mPEG-PLA) micelles as a drug nanocarrier, and studied the mechanism of uptake across intestinal cells. The findings should improve our current understanding and point to the development of more nanocarriers.

Various aspects of the linear response approximation (LRA) approach were examined when calculating reaction barriers within an enzyme and its different mutants. Scaling the electrostatic interactions is shown to slightly affect the absolute values of the barriers but not the overall trend when comparing wild-type and mutants. Convergence of the overall energetics was shown to depend on the sampling. Finally, the contribution of particular residues was shown to be significant, despite its small value.

Objective: This study examines patterns of and barriers for help seeking after exposure to community violence (ECV) among Palestinian adolescents from theWest Bank and East Jerusalem. Method: Self-administrated questionnaireswere filled-out by a sample of 1930 Palestinian Junior andHigh school students. Participants reported on their ECV, choice of help agent, barriers for help seeking, perceived help experience, and sociodemographic factors. Results: Informal help agents were the first choice of 48% of both male and female adolescents, 30% of the boys and 20% of the girls sought formal help, and 1.9% of the participants sought only formal help. Positive help experience was best attributed to listening and giving advice, while confronting the help seeker led to the most adverse experience. Seeking help from multiple sources produced better help experience. The common reason for not seeking help by girls was feeling that talking wouldn't help. Boys did not seek help out of fear of disclosure and feeling that the problem would go away on its own. Conclusions: Palestinian adolescents' help seeking patterns tend to confirm with those found in other populations. Study limitations and practical implications are discussed, and future studies are suggested.

The oxidant scavenging ability (OSA) of catalase-rich Candida albicans is markedly enhanced by chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), polymyxin B, the bile salt ursodeoxycholate and by lysophosphatidylcholine, which all act as detergents facilitating the penetration of oxidants and their intracellular decomposition. Quantifications of the OSA of Candida albicans were measured by a highly sensitive luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay and by the Thurman’s assay, to quantify hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The OSA enhancing activity by CHX depends to some extent on the media on which candida grew. The OSA of candida treated by CHX was modulated by whole human saliva, red blood cells, lysozyme, cationic peptides and by polyphenols. Concentrations of CHX, which killed over 95 % of Candida albicans cells, did not affect the cells’ abilities to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). The OSA of Candida cells treated by CHX is highly refractory to H2O2 (50 mM) but is strongly inhibited by hypochlorous acid, lecithin, trypan blue and by heparin. We speculate that similarly to catalase-rich red blood cells, Candida albicans and additional catalase-rich microbiota may also have the ability to scavenge oxidants and thus can protect catalase-negative anaerobes and facultative anaerobes cariogenic streptococci against peroxide and thus secure their survival in the oral cavity.