Esterase activity and interaction of human hemoglobin with diclofenac sodium: A spectroscopic and molecular docking study

To get an idea about the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, it is important to study the drug‐protein interaction. Therefore, herein, we studied the interaction of diclofenac sodium (DIC) with human hemoglobin. The binding study of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, DIC with human hemoglobin (HHB) was done by utilizing fluorescence, UV–visible, time‐resolved fluorescence and far‐UV circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). Various thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH), entropy change (ΔS), and Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) were also calculated. CD results showed that DIC induces secondary structure change in HHB. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer was also performed. Additionally, it was also observed that DIC inhibits the esterase‐like enzymatic activity of HHB via competitive inhibition.     

SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and Nsp3 binding: an in silico study

Archives of Microbiology - Severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the single-stranded positive-sense RNA family. The virus contains a large genome that encodes four...     

Sterol and oxysterol synthases near the ciliary base activate the Hedgehog pathway

Vertebrate Hedgehog signals are transduced through the primary cilium, a specialized lipid microdomain that is required for Smoothened activation. Cilia-associated sterol and oxysterol lipids bind to Smoothened to activate the Hedgehog pathway, but how ciliary lipids are regulated is incompletely understood. Here we identified DHCR7, an enzyme that produces cholesterol, activates the Hedgehog pathway, and localizes near the ciliary base. We found that Hedgehog stimulation negatively regulates DHCR7 activity and removes DHCR7 from the ciliary microenvironment, suggesting that DHCR7 primes cilia for Hedgehog pathway activation. In contrast, we found that Hedgehog stimulation positively regulates the oxysterol synthase CYP7A1, which accumulates near the ciliary base and produces oxysterols that promote Hedgehog signaling in response to pathway activation. Our results reveal that enzymes involved in lipid biosynthesis in the ciliary microenvironment promote Hedgehog signaling, shedding light on how ciliary lipids are established and regulated to transduce Hedgehog signals.     

Correction to: In Silico Evaluation of Food Derived Bioactive Peptides as Inhibitors of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE)

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - The original version of the article unfortunately contained a typo in co-author name.     

Phytotoxic effect of simulated acid rain on black gram

A pot experiment was carried out to observe the response of black gram (Phaseolus mungo L.) to acid rain. The plants were exposed to different concentrations of simulated acid rain (pH 5, 4, 3). The symptoms such as injuries and necrotic spots appeared on the leaves. Plant growth, yield and photosynthetic pigments were suppressed greatly in all the treatments. The suppressions were directly proportional to the exposure levels of acid rain on the plants.     

Obesity-related genetic variants, human pigmentation, and risk of melanoma

Previous biological studies showed evidence of a genetic link between obesity and pigmentation in both animal models and humans. Our study investigated the individual and joint associations between obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and both human pigmentation and risk of melanoma. Eight obesity-related SNPs in the FTO, MAP2K5, NEGR1, FLJ35779, ETV5, CADM2, and NUDT3 genes were nominally significantly associated with hair color among 5,876 individuals of European ancestry. The genetic score combining 35 independent obesity-risk loci was significantly associated with darker hair color (beta-coefficient per ten alleles = 0.12, P value = 4 × 10^?5). However, single SNPs or genetic scores showed non-significant association with tanning ability. We further examined the SNPs at the FTO locus for their associations with pigmentation and risk of melanoma. Among the 783 SNPs in the FTO gene with imputation R ² quality metric >0.8 using the 1,000 genome data set, ten and three independent SNPs were significantly associated with hair color and tanning ability respectively. Moreover, five independent FTO SNPs showed nominally significant association with risk of melanoma in 1,804 cases and 1,026 controls. But none of them was associated with obesity or in linkage disequilibrium with obesity-related variants. FTO locus may confer variation in human pigmentation and risk of melanoma, which may be independent of its effect on obesity.     

An Optimal Au Grating Structure for Light Absorption in Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Solar Cell

Plasmonics - Effect of different gold (Au) grating structures on light absorption in solar cell is investigated by finite elemental analysis using COMSOL multiphysics-RF module. The geometry of the...     

Physical and chemical mutagens improved Sporotrichum thermophile,strain ST20 for enhanced Phytase activity

ObjectivePhosphorous is an essential micronutrient of plants and involved in critical biological functions. In nature, phosphorous is mostly present in immobilized inorganic mineral and in the fixed organic form including phytic acid and phosphoesteric compounds. However, the bioavailability of bound phosphorous could be enhanced by the use of phosphate solubilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. The phytases are widespread in an environment and have been isolated from different sources comprising bacteria and fungi.MethodologyIn current studies, we show the successful use of gamma rays and EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulphonate) mutagenesis for enhanced activity of phytases in a fungal strain Sporotrichum thermophile.ResultsWe report an improved strain ST2 that could produce a clear halo zone around the colony, up to 24 mm. The maximum enzymatic activity was found of 382 U/mL on pH 5.5. However, the phytase activity was improved to 387 U/ml at 45 °C. We also report that the mutants produced through EMS showed the greater potential for phytase production.ConclusionThe current study highlights the potential of EMS mutagenesis for strain improvement over physical mutagens.