Context: Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds found in fruits, vegetables, cereals, and beverages. Polyphenols occupy a unique place in biological science for their pharmacological properties. Gossypol is a polyphenolic compound that has attracted attention because of its biological effects. Objective: Gossypol is reported to exhibit antifertility, antioxidant, anticancer, antivirus, antiparasitic, and antimicrobial properties and lower plasma cholesterol. These are summarized with attention to the mechanisms of activity. Methods: This review summarizes the results of studies obtained in a comprehensive search of ScienceDirect, PubMed, Scirus, and Web of Science. Results and conclusion: The results of these studies provide a comprehensive understanding of the biological action of gossypol and its potential for the prevention of and therapy for resistant tumors and chronic human diseases such as HIV, malaria, and psoriasis.

Abstract. Malignant gliomas (glioblastoma multiforme) are the most aggressive of the primary brain tumors. Radiotherapy is an important tool for treatment of cancer but malignant gliomas are usually resistant to radiotherapy and other adjuvant therapies. Thus new drugs are needed to increase the efficiency of radiotherapy in order to improve the therapeutic outcome of tumor patients. Recent investigations showed that gossypol, natural polyphenolic compound produced by cotton plants, is a promising agent against solid tumors. The current study was defined to evaluate whether the combinatorial effect of radiation and gossypol would induce higher level of cell death on human glioma cell line U-87 MG than single agent treatment and its possible mechanism of action. Clonogenic survival assay showed that ionizing radiation plus gossypol significantly inhibited clonogenic growth of irradiated cells as compared with either treatment alone. Acridine orange/etidium bromide staining confirmed that there was no significant increase in necrotic and apoptotic cells, but irradiated cells in combination with gossypol showed a significant increase in accumulation of acidic vesicular organelle. The results obtained herein indicated that gossypol is a promising drug that induced autophagic cell death in radioresistant malignant glioma.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality. Angiogenesis is a rate-determining step in CRC development and metastasis. The balance of angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors is crucial in this process. Angiogenesis-related genes can be regulated post-transcriptionally by microRNAs (miRNAs) and some miRNAs have been shown to shuttle between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). MiRNAs have context-dependent actions and can promote or suppress angiogenesis dependent on the type of cancer. On the one hand, miRNAs downregulate anti-angiogenic targets and lead to angiogenesis induction. Tumor suppressor miRNAs, on the other hand, enhance anti-angiogenic response by targeting pro-angiogenic factors. Understanding the interaction between these miRNAs and their target mRNAs will help to unravel molecular mechanisms involved in CRC progression. The aim of this article is to review the current literature on angioregulatory miRNAs in CRC.

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Background and objective Optogenetics has opened new insights into biomedical research with the ability to manipulate and control cellular activity using light in combination with genetically engineered photosensitive proteins. By stimulating with light, this method provides high spatiotemporal and high specificity resolution, which is in contrast to conventional pharmacological or electrical stimulation. Optogenetics was initially introduced to control neural activities but was gradually extended to other biomedical fields. Study design In this paper, firstly, we summarize the current optogenetic tools stimulated by different light sources, including lasers, light‐emitting diodes, and laser diodes. Second, we outline the variety of biomedical applications of optogenetics not only for neuronal circuits but also for various kinds of cells and tissues from cardiomyocytes to ganglion cells. Furthermore, we highlight the potential of this technique for treating neurological disorders, cardiac arrhythmia, visual impairment, hearing loss, and urinary bladder diseases as well as clarify the mechanisms underlying cancer progression and control of stem cell differentiation. Conclusion We sought to summarize the various types of promising applications of optogenetics to treat a broad spectrum of disorders. It is conceivable to expect that optogenetics profits a growing number of patients suffering from a range of different diseases in the near future.