Replacing current refractory treatments for melanoma with new prevention and therapeutic approaches is crucial in order to successfully treat this aggressive cancer form. Melanoma develops from neural crest cells, which express tyrosinase – a key enzyme in the pigmentation pathway. The tyrosinase enzyme is highly active in melanoma cells and metabolizes polyphenolic compounds; tyrosinase expression thus makes feasible a target for polyphenol-based therapies. For example, quercetin (3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) is a highly ubiquitous and well-classified dietary polyphenol found in various fruits, vegetables, and other plant products including onions, broccoli, kale, oranges, blueberries, apples, and tea. Quercetin has demonstrated antiproliferative and proapoptotic activity in various cancer cell types. Quercetin is readily metabolized by tyrosinase into various compounds that promote anticancer activity; additionally, given that tyrosinase expression increases during tumorigenesis, and its activity is associated with pigmentation changes in both early- and late-stage melanocytic lesions, it suggests that quercetin can be used to target melanoma. In this review, we explore the potential of quercetin as an anti-melanoma agent utilizing and extrapolating on evidence from previous in vitro studies in various human malignant cell lines and propose a “four-focus area strategy” to develop quercetin as a targeted anti-melanoma compound for use as either a preventative or therapeutic agent. The four areas of focus include utilizing quercetin to (i) modulate cellular bioreduction potential and associated signaling cascades, (ii) affect transcription of relevant genes, (iii) regulate epigenetic processes, and (iv) develop effective combination therapies and delivery modalities/protocols. In general, quercetin could be used to exploit tyrosinase activity to prevent, and/or treat, melanoma with minimal additional side effects.

Os distúrbios gastrintestinais e toxi-infeciosos causadas por Escherichia coli são uma importante causa de mortalidade, atrasos no crescimento e decréscimo na taxa de conversão alimentar em leitões no período pós-desmame, gerando perdas econômicas severas. Dentre as estratégias de combate a estas formas de apresentação estão à utilização de antimicrobianos, probióticos e aditivos na dieta, como o óxido de zinco. O zinco tem efeito promotor de crescimento, diminui a incidência de diarréia e mortalidade de leitões desmamados. O objetivo da realização desse trabalho foi verificar, in vitro, o papel de diferentes concentrações de zinco na adesão da E. coli aos enterócitos de suínos. O ensaio avaliou a eficácia de quatro suspensões: zero (controle negativo), 1200, 2400 e 3000 ppm de óxido de zinco. O teste de adesão fundamentou-se na exposição de enterócitos suínos, a uma cepa patogênica de E. coli e ao zinco, simulando o que ocorreria in vivo. Nas condições in vitro em que foi desenvolvido o experimento, o zinco não foi capaz de inibir a adesão de E.coli aos enterócitos em nenhuma das concentrações utilizadas.