These are the days when one would go online first seeking home remedies before seeing a doctor. Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is one such popular yet scientifically under-validated remedy. Our results prove the unequivocal antimicrobial activity of ACV to be true at full strength concentrations. However, the activity cannot be generalised because although strong antibacterial activity was observed at 25% concentrations, in terms of antifungal activity, yeasts, especially Candida were found to be less susceptible. The antimicrobial/antioxidant properties are ascertained to the total phenolic contents of ACV, as confirmed by our characterisation of the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. When checking for its cytotoxicity, ACV exhibited toxicity even at concentrations as low as 0.7%. These results indicate that there is no question of generalising the idea of ACV usage, instead more in vitro and in vivo validations are necessary in order to precisely weigh the pros and cons of ACV.

Activating anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) mutations occur in pediatric neuroblastoma and are associated with poor prognosis. To study ALK-activating mutations in a genetically controllable system, we employed CRIPSR/Cas9, incorporating orthologs of the human oncogenic mutations ALKF1174L and ALKY1278S in the Drosophila Alk locus. AlkF1251L and AlkY1355S mutant Drosophila exhibited enhanced Alk signaling phenotypes, but unexpectedly depended on the Jelly belly (Jeb) ligand for activation. Both AlkF1251L and AlkY1355S mutant larval brains displayed hyperplasia, represented by increased numbers of Alk-positive neurons. Despite this hyperplasic phenotype, no brain tumors were observed in mutant animals. We showed that hyperplasia in Alk mutants was not caused by significantly increased rates of proliferation, but rather by decreased levels of apoptosis in the larval brain. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified perturbations during temporal fate specification in AlkY1355S mutant mushroom body lineages. These findings shed light on the role of Alk in neurodevelopmental processes and highlight the potential of Alk-activating mutations to perturb specification and promote survival in neuronal lineages. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract