The lace plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis) is an aquatic monocot that utilizes programmed cell death (PCD) to form perforations throughout its mature leaves as part of normal development. The lace plant is an emerging model system representing a unique form of developmental PCD. The role of autophagy in lace plant PCD was investigated using live cell imaging, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), immunolocalization, and in vivo pharmacological experimentation. ATG8 immunostaining and acridine orange staining revealed that autophagy occurs in both healthy and dying cells. Autophagosome-like vesicles were also found in healthy and dying cells through ultrastructural analysis with TEM. Following autophagy modulation, there was a noticeable increase in vesicles and vacuolar aggregates. A novel cell death assay utilizing lace plant leaves revealed that autophagy enhancement with rapamycin significantly decreased cell death rates compared to the control, whereas inhibition of autophagosome formation with wortmannin or blocking the degradation of cargoes with concanamycin A had an opposite effect. Although autophagy modulation significantly affected cell death rates in cells that are destined to die, neither the promotion nor inhibition of autophagy in whole plants had a significant effect on the number of perforations formed in lace plant leaves. Our data indicate that autophagy predominantly contributes to cell survival, and we found no clear evidence for its direct involvement in the induction of developmental PCD during perforation formation in lace plant leaves.

INTRODUCTION:Aponogeton madagascariensis (lace plant) is a freshwater aquatic flowering plant belonging to the family Aponogetonaceae that forms leaf perforations via programmed cell death (PCD). The lace plant has emerged as a novel model system for studying PCD in planta due to the predictability and accessibility of this process. Anthocyanins, and the balance between ROS and antioxidants, play a central role in regulating PCD in lace plant leaves. Aponogetonaceae family members have shown medicinal properties, including antioxidant and anticancer activities; however, nothing is known about the lace plant's potential for medicinal use. Therefore, this study evaluated the anticancer activities of lace plant anthocyanin extracts. METHODS:Cell line growth and viability were assessed following exposure to lace plant leaf anthocyanin extracts. This study utilized a triple-negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, two human ovarian epithelial cancer cell lines, OVCAR-8 and SKOV-3, along with a normal mammary epithelial cell line, MCF-10A. Furthermore, crude anthocyanin extracts were fractionated into anthocyanin and non-anthocyanin containing fractions and tested only on MDA-MB-231 cells. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:The crude anthocyanin extracts from lace plant leaves inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231, OVCAR-8, and SKOV-3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner and had no effect on MCF-10A cells. Lace plant crude anthocyanin extracts appeared to induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Interestingly, treatment with anthocyanin and non-anthocyanin fractions decreased the growth of MDA-MB-231, similarly to crude anthocyanin extracts, suggesting the presence of other anticancer compounds in the lace plant extracts.

Background People with depression often present with concurrent cognitive impairment. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is a safe and efficacious strategy to maintain or enhance cognitive performance in a range of clinical populations. However, its efficacy in people with depression and how it varies across populations and design factors are currently unclear. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO from inception to 13 July 2021 for randomised controlled trials examining the efficacy of CCT vs any control condition on cognitive, mood, psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial, and daily functioning in adults with depression. Eligible samples include studies specifically targeting people with major depressive disorder as well as those with other diagnoses where at least 50% of the sample meets the clinical criteria for depression, with the exception of major psychiatric disorders or dementia. The primary outcome is change in the overall cognitive performance. Multivariate analyses will be used to examine the effect sizes on each outcome category as well as possible effect modifiers and correlations between categories. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool version 2. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first systematic review and meta-analysis of narrowly defined CCT across clinical populations with depression. We aim to investigate not only whether CCT is efficacious for cognition, but also how such effects vary across design factors, what other clinically relevant outcomes might respond to CCT, and the extent to which they differ across populations. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020204209

Background People with depression often present with concurrent cognitive impairment. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is safe and efficacious strategy to maintain or enhance cognitive performance in a range of clinical populations. However, its efficacy in people with depression and how it varies across populations and design factors is currently unclear. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO from inception to 29 June 2020 for randomised controlled trials examining the efficacy of CCT vs any control condition on cognitive, mood, psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial functioning and daily function in adults with depression. Eligible samples include studies specifically targeting people with major depressive disorder as well as those with other diagnoses where at least 50% of the sample meets clinical criteria for depression, with the exception of major psychiatric disorders or dementia. The primary outcome is change in overall cognitive performance. Multivariate analyses will be used to examine effect sizes on each outcome category as well as possible effect modifiers and correlations between categories. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool version 2. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first systematic review and meta-analysis of narrowly-defined CCT across clinical populations with depression. We aim to investigate not only whether CCT is efficacious for cognition, but also how such effects vary across design factors, what other clinically relevant outcomes might respond to CCT and the extent to which they differ across populations. Systematic review registration: Submitted and pending evaluation with PROSPERO.