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Ching-Feng Chiu,1–3 Guan-Ying Lai,4 Chung-Hwan Chen,5–7 Chien-Chao Chiu,8 Shao-Wen Hung,8,9 Chi-Fen Chang10 1Graduate Institute of Metabolism and Obesity Sciences, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; 2TMU Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; 3TMU Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 4Master Program for Pharmaceutical Manufacture, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; 5Department of Orthopedics, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80145, Taiwan; 6Department of Orthopedics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; 7Orthopaedic Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; 8Division of Animal Industry, Animal Technology Laboratories, Agricultural Technology Research Institute, Xiangshan, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan; 9Nursing Department, Yuanpei University, Xiangshan, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan; 10Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan Background: Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and therefore, the development of novel drugs for its prevention and therapy are urgently required. This study aimed to determine the molecular mechanism of 6,7-dihydroxy-2-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)naphthalene (PNAP-6)-induced cytotoxicity in human colorectal cancer (HCT116) cells.Methods: The effects of 2-phenylnaphthalene derivatives on HCT116 cell growth and viability were assessed by MTT assays. The mechanisms involved in the regulation of the extrinsic apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways by PNAP-6 were analyzed by annexin-V/propidium iodide flow cytometric analysis, Hoechst 33342 fluorescent staining, and Western blotting.Results: PNAP-6 was shown to have an IC50 value 15.20µM. It induced G2/M phase arrest in HCT116 cells, associated with a marked decrease in cyclin B and CDK1 protein expression and increased caspase activation, PARP cleavage, chromatin condensation, and sub-G1 apoptosis. Moreover, we found that the apoptotic effects of PNAP-6 proceeded through extrinsic apoptosis and ER stress pathways, by increasing the expression of Fas protein and ER stress markers, including PERK, ATF4, CHOP, p-IRE1α, and XBP-1s.Conclusion: These results suggest that 2-phenylnaphthalene derivatives, such as PNAP-6, have potential as new treatments for colorectal cancer. Keywords: colorectal cancer, endoplasmic reticulum stress, extrinsic apoptosis pathway, 2-phenylnaphthalenes

Aquaculture continues to be the fastest-growing food production field that has a lot of potential to meet the aqua-protein needs. The scientific and business communities are responding to the many challenges and opportunities inherent in the growing aquaculture field. Advancements in production and detection of harmful material systems and technologies are contributing to aquaculture industry’s expansion and sustainability. All of these production system technologies are benefitting from expanding information and communication systems, which are enabling advances in every stage of production. In the future, the new farming operation of friendly environment will focus on the use of nonecology destructive substances, no antibiotics, and the natural probiotics or novel immunomodulatory substances to match the physiological regulation of cultured organisms and the management of aquaculture. The future scientific-based innovation will contribute toward meeting increasing food demands, while improving social, environmental, and financial sustainability of the global aquaculture industry.

Microglia typically exist in a resting state of a mature brain and monitors the brain environment. In response to brain injuries or immunological stimuli, however, microglia are readily activated. In their activated state, they can serve diverse beneficial functions essential for enhancing neuron survival through the release of trophic and anti-inflammatory factors. Under certain circumstances, such as sustained epilepsy, however, microglia become overactivated and can induce significant and highly detrimental neurotoxic effects by the excessive production of a large array of cytotoxic factors, such as nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines. Neuroinflammation has been identified in epileptogenic tissue and is suspected of participating in epileptogenesis. Recent evidence has shown the effects of anti-inflammation and protection against ischemic brain injury by inhibiting soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) pharmacologically and genetically. We assume that sEH inhibition might be also beneficial to prevent inflammatory processes caused by seizures and subsequent chronic epilepsy. In the present study, we investigated whether sEH is involved in overactivated microglia-induced neuroinflammation and subsequent epileptogenesis in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Overactivated microglia will be detected by using imaging techniques. It is hoped that the results of the present study would provide a better understanding of the roles of sEH and microglia in epileptogenesis.

Neurological disorders (NDs) are diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system that affected the hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common NDs with hallucinations and disturbance of consciousness that cause the abnormal neurological activity in any part of brain. Neuroinflammation (NI) has been identified in epilepsy-related tissue from both experimental and clinical evidence and suspected to participate in the formation of neuronal cell death, reactive gliosis and neuroplastic changes in the hippocampus, may contribute to epileptogenesis. The NI is tightly regulated by microglia, but it is thought that excessive or chronic microglial activation can contribute to neurodegenerative processes. Therefore, the modulation of microglia responses may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of severe or chronic NI conditions. Although the condition responds well to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), there are still unresponsive to AEDs in about 1/3 of cases. Neural stem cells are the origin of various types of neural cells during embryonic development. Currently, many results of stem cell therapies in the animal experiments and clinical trials were demonstrated the efficacious therapeutic effects in the attenuated symptoms of ND. Therefore, the combined application therapies of stem cells and drugs may be a promising candidate for the therapeutic strategies of NDs, especially TLE.