Mahmoud Zaki El-Readi

Herein, sol–gel are used to synthesize pure and calcium‐doped ZnO (CZO). X‐ray diffraction shows that all samples have hexagonal wurtzite structure with a slight distortion of ZnO lattice and no extra secondary phases. The crystallite size increases after the addition of calcium from 31 to 34 nm. Photoluminescence shows the vanishment of the green emission band existed in the pure sample; in addition to the appearance of new peaks at 408, 448, 465, and 596 nm attributed to zinc interstitials (Zn i ), zinc vacancy (V Zn ), oxygen vacancy defect (V o ), and oxygen interstitial (O i ), respectively. The increase of crystallites size influences the efficacity of CZO sample against microbes. The different mechanisms to enhance the antibacterial activities are the release of Zn 2+ , reactive oxygen species production, and electrostatic interactions. Increasing the amount of CZO powder in dimethyl sulfoxide from 50 to 100 μg mL −1 leads to an increase of antibacterial activity of samples; and this is probably due to enhancement of number of interaction sites. Promising results are illustrated, which proves the potentiality of doping with Ca. The growth curves through optical density (OD 600 nm ) measurements of strains in CZO nanoparticles using serial fold dilution method indicated that strains viability decreases with increasing nanoparticles concentrations.

This study investigated the chemotherapeutic effects of 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU), metformin (Met), and/or thymoquinone (TQ) single/dual/triple therapies in the HT29, SW480 and SW620 colon cancer (CRC) cell lines. Cell cycle/apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. The gene and protein expression of apoptosis (PCNA/survivin/BAX/Cytochrome‐C/Caspase‐3) and cell cycle (CCND1/CCND3/p21/p27) molecules, the PI3K/mTOR/HIF1α oncogenic pathway, and glycolysis regulatory enzymes were measured by quantitative‐PCR and Western blot. Markers of oxidative stress were also measured by colorimetric assays. Although all treatments induced anti‐cancer effects related to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, the triple therapy showed the highest pro‐apoptotic actions that coincided with the lowest expression of CCND1/CCND3/PCNA/survivin and the maximal increases in p21/p27/BAX/Cytochrome‐C/Caspase‐3 in all cell lines. The triple therapy also revealed the best suppression of the PI3K/mTOR/HIF1α pathway by increasing its endogenous inhibitors (PTEN/AMPKα) in all cell lines. Moreover, the lowest expression of lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase‐1 with the highest expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase were seen with the triple therapy, which also showed the highest increases in oxidative stress markers (ROS/RNS/MDA/protein carbonyl groups) alongside the lowest antioxidant levels (GSH/CAT) in all cell lines. In conclusion, this is the first study to reveal enhanced anti‐cancer effects for metformin/thymoquinone in CRC that were superior to all monotherapies and the other dual therapies. However, the triple therapy approach showed the best tumoricidal actions related to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in all cell lines, possibly by enhancing oxidative glycolysis and augmenting oxidative stress through stronger modulation of the PI3K/mTOR/HIF1α oncogenic network.

Many species belonging to the genus Ocimum are used for aromatic, medicinal, and cosmetic purposes. The essential oil (OFEO) obtained by hydrodistillation of the flowering aerial parts of Forsskal’s Basil “Ocimum forskolei Benth” growing in extreme environmental conditions in Mecca Region, Saudi Arabia was analyzed by GC-MS. The main constituents were phenylpropanoids (methyl eugenol 55.65% and eugenol 11.66%), monoterpene (linalool 9.75%), and sesquiterpenes (germacrene D 3.72% and β-caryophyllene 2.57%). The OFEO was tested against MCF7, HT29, and HCT116 cancer cells and compared with normal fibroblast cells (MRC5). The MTT assay showed that HCT116 was more sensitive to OFEO (IC50 5.34 μg/mL), which reduced the number of HCT116 colonies at 6 μg/mL, while causing complete colony death at 12 and 24 μg/mL. Western Blotting and qRT-PCR were used to evaluate the level change of different proteins with respect to GAPDH. OFEO upregulated the apoptotic protein (caspase 3), and downregulated the cell proliferation proteins (AKT and pAKT), cell cycle arrest (PCNA, Cyclin D1), and the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 proteins. OFEO was also tested against reference strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus by using the well-diffusion and assessing their MICs, which ranged from 250 to 500 μg/mL.