Protective effect of Dunaliella salina (Volvocales, Chlorophyta) against experimentally induced fibrosarcoma on wistar rats

The beta-carotene-yielding microalga, Dunaliella salina (Dunal) Teod. maintained in De Walne's medium was harvested and lyophilized. Fibrosarcoma was induced in rats by 20-methylcholanthrene. 0.5 g and 1.0 g of lyophilized D. salina powder was administered to the rats orally through carboxy methyl cellulose. Cisplatin was administered along with vitamin E to compare the protective effect of D. salina against fibrosarcoma. Administration of D. salina decreased the levels of cholesterol and lactate dehydrogenase as well as the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, serum aspartate aminotransaminase, serum alanine aminotransferase, when compared to control. A significant reduction in the levels of hepatic and renal RNA and DNA was observed in the sarcoma rats when treated with D. salina powder. Histopathological studies of tumor tissues showed regenerative and regressive changes. beta-carotene globules isolated from the powder of Dunaliella salina confirmed the presence of 9-cis-beta-carotene and all-trans-beta-carotene.     

Advances in algal drug research with emphasis on enzyme inhibitors

Enzyme inhibitors are now included in all kinds of drugs essential to treat most of the human diseases including communicable, metabolic, cardiovascular, neurological diseases and cancer. Numerous marine algae have been reported to be a potential source of novel enzyme inhibitors with various pharmaceutical values. Thus, the purpose of this review is to brief the enzyme inhibitors from marine algae of therapeutic potential to treat common diseases. As per our knowledge this is the first review for the potential enzyme inhibitors from marine origin. This review contains 86 algal enzyme inhibitors reported during 1989–2013 and commercial enzyme inhibitors available in the market. Compounds in the review are grouped according to the disease conditions in which they are involved; diabetes, obesity, dementia, inflammation, melanogenesis, AIDS, hypertension and other viral diseases. The structure-activity relationship of most of the compounds are also discussed. In addition, the drug likeness properties of algal inhibitors were evaluated using Lipinski's 'Rule of Five'.     

Seasonal studies on alginate and its composition II: Turbinaria conoides (J.Ag.) Kütz. (Fucales, Phaeophyceae)

The alginates extracted from ‘leaf’, ‘stem’ and entire thallus of Turbinaria conoides (J.Ag.) Kütz. were investigated for their viscosity and biochemical constituents namely, β-D-mannuronic acid (M-block}), α-L-guluronic acid (G-Block) and alternating sequences of β–D-mannuronic acid and α-L-guluronic acid (MG-block). Substantial seasonal variation was recorded with high yield of alginate during premonsoon. The yield of alginate was maximum in ‘leaf’ region. In contrast to this, viscosity and G-block were maximum in the ‘stem’ region. A significant positive correlation was observed between viscosity and G-block}. The ratio of guluronic: mannuronic acid was also assessed. Low levels of M/G ratio were recorded in the ‘stem’ region followed by ‘leaf’ and entire thallus.     

Development of a Test System To Evaluate Procedures for Decontamination of Respirators Containing Viral Droplets

The aim of this study was to develop a test system to evaluate the effectiveness of procedures for decontamination of respirators contaminated with viral droplets. MS2 coliphage was used as a surrogate for pathogenic viruses. A viral droplet test system was constructed, and the size distribution of viral droplets loaded directly onto respirators was characterized using an aerodynamic particle sizer. The sizes ranged from 0.5 to 15 μm, and the sizes of the majority of the droplets were the range from 0.74 to 3.5 μm. The results also showed that the droplet test system generated similar droplet concentrations (particle counts) at different respirator locations. The test system was validated by studying the relative efficiencies of decontamination of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) and UV irradiation with droplets containing MS2 virus on filtering facepiece respirators. It was hypothesized that more potent decontamination treatments would result in corresponding larger decreases in the number of viable viruses recovered from the respirators. Sodium hypochlorite doses of 2.75 to 5.50 mg/liter with a 10-min decontamination period resulted in approximately 3- to 4-log reductions in the level of MS2 coliphage. When higher sodium hypochlorite doses (≥8.25 mg/liter) were used with the same contact time that was used for the dilute solutions containing 2.75 to 5.50 mg/liter, all MS2 was inactivated. For UV decontamination at a wavelength of 254 nm, an approximately 3-log reduction in the level of MS2 virus was achieved with dose of 4.32 J/cm² (3 h of contact time with a UV intensity of 0.4 mW/cm²), while with higher doses of UV irradiation (≥7.20 J/cm²; UV intensity, 0.4 mW/cm²; contact times, ≥5 h), all MS2 was inactivated. These findings may lead to development of a standard method to test decontamination of respirators challenged by viral droplets.During an infectious disease outbreak widespread panic can result from a limited understanding of the transmission route. Although some research points to a larger role for droplet nuclei (21, 28), other research suggests that droplets are the principal means of transmitting respiratory infections (10, 26). Droplets containing an infectious microorganism are believed to be transmitted to individuals who directly inhale the droplets resulting from coughing by carriers in close proximity or who ingest droplets spread to the mouth or the nose via the hands (7, 15). Large droplets were first defined as droplets more than 100 μm in diameter by Wells (30). Elsewhere, however, droplets more than 5 μm (23) or 10 μm (8) in diameter are often treated as large droplets. In this paper, the term “viral droplet” refers to all virus-containing liquid particles that retain their original size without significant evaporation, regardless of their specific size.N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are routinely employed to prevent exposure of workers to biological hazards such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, tuberculosis, and novel H1N1 influenza A (6). In addition to CDC interim guidance (6), a recent report from the National Academies'' Institute of Medicine suggests that healthcare workers who are in close contact with individuals with novel H1N1 influenza illnesses should use fit-tested N95 respirators to reduce the risk of infection (18). This report also recommends increased research on influenza transmission and respiratory protection, which would enable policy makers to update these types of recommendations as additional disease prevention data become available.Current best practices suggest that once an FFR is worn in the presence of an infected patient, it should be considered potentially contaminated and discarded (5). However, during a pandemic outbreak a shortage of FFRs could occur (4). According to another report from the Institute of Medicine, during a 42-day influenza pandemic outbreak over 90 million N95 FFRs will be needed to protect workers in the healthcare sector (4). Furthermore, this report suggested that FFR reuse following decontamination should be considered a possible solution to deal with anticipated FFR shortages. Low-temperature biological decontamination methods have been suggested as a possible solution, but additional research needs to be done to determine whether infectious organisms can survive the decontamination process and if the decontamination method changes respirator fit (29).While it is well known that droplets play a role in the transmission of some respiratory infections, there is a lack of knowledge and data on the effectiveness of decontamination methods applied to respirators and porous personal protective equipment. There are several test methods for evaluation of the effectiveness of decontamination procedures for liquids and for hard porous or nonporous surfaces when they are challenged with viruses (2, 3, 27), while other methods are used to assess the effectiveness of decontamination procedures for FFRs when they are challenged with viral droplet nuclei (12). However, there is no test method to evaluate the effectiveness of biological decontamination procedures for disposable FFRs after they are challenged with viral droplets (liquid droplets containing a virus) whose sizes are similar to the sizes of droplets expelled by humans.Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop a test system to evaluate the effectiveness of procedures for decontamination of respirators contaminated with viral droplets. The system was validated using two possible decontamination strategies: sodium hypochlorite and UV irradiation. It was hypothesized that the more potent decontamination treatments would result in corresponding larger decreases in the number of viable viruses recovered from the respirators than the less aggressive treatments.     

Identification of protein targets in red complex organisms binding with resveratrol

Periodontitis is attributed to the dental biofilm formation. Red complex organisms are a group of organisms linked with periodontal diseases. Therefore, it is of interest to identify potential targets from the red complex organisms to bind with the herbal compound resveratrol (E - 5 - (4 - hydroxy styryl) benzene 1,3 diol). We report a list of potential proteins having optimal drug like binding features with the herbal agent Resveratrol for further consideration. We used the STITCH v.5 pipeline VICMPred and VirulentPred tools to identify such targets as potential virulent factors in the red complex organisms. We considered the strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 33277, Treponema denticola ATCC 35405 and Tannerella forsythia ATCC 43037 in the red complex pathogens for this analysis. Protein targets in the red complex organisms with optimal binding features with the herbal compound resveratrol were thus identified and reported for further consideration.     

Microbial electron uptake in microbial electrosynthesis: a mini-review

Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology - Microbial electron uptake (EU) is the biological capacity of microbes to accept electrons from electroconductive solid materials. EU has...     

Expansion Mechanisms and Functional Divergence of the Glutathione S-Transferase Family in Sorghum and Other Higher Plants

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) exist in various eukaryotes and function in detoxification of xenobiotics and in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. We have carried out a genome-wide survey of this gene family in 10 plant genomes. Our data show that tandem duplication has been regarded as the major expansion mechanism and both monocot and dicot plants may have practiced different expansion and evolutionary history. Non-synonymous substitutions per site (Ka) and synonymous substitutions per site (Ks) analyses showed that N- and C-terminal functional domains of GSTs (GST_N and GST_C) seem to have evolved under a strong purifying selection (Ka/Ks < 1) under different selective pressures. Differential evolutionary rates between GST_N and GST_C and high degree of expression divergence have been regarded as the major drivers for the retention of duplicated genes and the adaptability to various stresses. Expression profiling also indicated that the gene family plays a role not only in stress-related biological processes but also in the sugar-signalling pathway. Our survey provides additional annotation of the plant GST gene family and advance the understanding of plant GSTs in lineage-specific expansion and species diversification.