Nano-biotechnology in tumour and cancerous disease: A perspective review

In recent years, drug manufacturers and researchers have begun to consider the nanobiotechnology approach to improve the drug delivery system for tumour and cancer diseases. In this article, we review current strategies to improve tumour and cancer drug delivery, which mainly focuses on sustaining biocompatibility, biodistribution, and active targeting. The conventional therapy using cornerstone drugs such as fludarabine, cisplatin etoposide, and paclitaxel has its own challenges especially not being able to discriminate between tumour versus normal cells which eventually led to toxicity and side effects in the patients. In contrast to the conventional approach, nanoparticle-based drug delivery provides target-specific delivery and controlled release of the drug, which provides a better therapeutic window for treatment options by focusing on the eradication of diseased cells via active targeting and sparing normal cells via passive targeting. Additionally, treatment of tumours associated with the brain is hampered by the impermeability of the blood–brain barriers to the drugs, which eventually led to poor survival in the patients. Nanoparticle-based therapy offers superior delivery of drugs to the target by breaching the blood–brain barriers. Herein, we provide an overview of the properties of nanoparticles that are crucial for nanotechnology applications. We address the potential future applications of nanobiotechnology targeting specific or desired areas. In particular, the use of nanomaterials, biostructures, and drug delivery methods for the targeted treatment of tumours and cancer are explored.     

RUNX1T1, a potential prognostic marker in breast cancer,is co-ordinately expressed with ERα, and regulated by estrogen receptor signalling in breast cancer cells

Molecular Biology Reports - RUNX1T1 is extensively studied in the context of AML1-RUNX1T1 fusion protein in acute myeloid leukemia. Little is known about the function of RUNX1T1 itself, although...     

Agonist Leukadherin-1 Increases CD11b/CD18-Dependent Adhesion Via Membrane Tethers

Integrin CD11b/CD18 is a key adhesion receptor that mediates leukocyte migration and immune functions. Leukadherin-1 (LA1) is a small molecule agonist that enhances CD11b/CD18-dependent cell adhesion to its ligand ICAM-1. Here, we used single-molecule force spectroscopy to investigate the biophysical mechanism by which LA1-activated CD11b/CD18 mediates leukocyte adhesion. Between the two distinct populations of CD11b/CD18:ICAM-1 complex that participate in cell adhesion, the cytoskeleton(CSK)-anchored elastic elements and the membrane tethers, we found that LA1 enhanced binding of CD11b/CD18 on K562 cells to ICAM-1 via the formation of long membrane tethers, whereas Mn²⁺ additionally increased ICAM-1 binding via CSK-anchored bonds. LA1 activated wild-type and LFA1^−/− neutrophils also showed longer detachment distances and time from ICAM-1-coated atomic force microscopy tips, but significantly lower detachment force, as compared to the Mn²⁺-activated cells, confirming that LA1 primarily increased membrane-tether bonds to enhance CD11b/CD18:ICAM-1 binding, whereas Mn²⁺ induced additional CSK-anchored bond formation. The results suggest that the two types of agonists differentially activate integrins and couple them to the cellular machinery, providing what we feel are new insights into signal mechanotransduction by such agents.     

Membrane microdomains,caveolae, and caveolar endocytosis of sphingolipids (Review)

Caveolae are flask-shape membrane invaginations of the plasma membrane that have been implicated in endocytosis, transcytosis, and cell signaling. Recent years have witnessed the resurgence of studies on caveolae because they have been found to be involved in the uptake of some membrane components such as glycosphingolipids and integrins, as well as viruses, bacteria, and bacterial toxins. Accumulating evidence shows that endocytosis mediated by caveolae requires unique structural and signaling machinery (caveolin-1, src kinase), which indicates that caveolar endocytosis occurs through a mechanism which is distinct from other forms of lipid microdomain-associated, clathrin-independent endocytosis. Furthermore, a balance of glycosphingolipids, cholesterol, and caveolin-1 has been shown to be important in regulating caveolae endocytosis.     

Structure modeling and antidiabetic activity of a seed protein of Momordica charantia in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice

Momordica charantia is a well known medicinal plant used in the traditional medicinal system for the treatment of various diseases including diabetes mellitus. Recently, a novel protein termed as ADMc1 from the seed extract of M. charantia has been identified and isolated showing significant antihyperglycemic activity in type 1 diabetic rats in which diabetes was induced. However, the structure of this protein has not yet been analyzed. Homology modeling approach was used to generate a high quality protein 3D structure for the amino acid sequence of the ADMc1 protein in this study. The comparative assessment of secondary structures revealed ADMc1 as an all-alpha helix protein with random coils. Tertiary structure predicted on the template structure of Napin of B. Napus (PDB ID: 1SM7) with which the ADMc1 showed significant sequence similarity, was validated using protein structure validation tools like PROCHECK, WHAT_CHECK, VERIFY3D and ProSA. Arrangement of disulfide bridges formed by cysteine residues were predicted by the Dianna 1.1 server. The presence of multiple disulfide bond confers the stable nature of the ADMc1 protein. Further, the biological activity of the ADMc1 was assessed in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice which are spontaneous model of type 1 diabetes. Significant reduction in the blood glucose levels of NOD mice was observed up to 8 h post administration of the rADMc1 protein. Overall, the structural characterizations with antihyperglycemic activity of this seed protein of Momordica charantia demonstrate its potential as an antidiabetic agent.     

Chemistry,antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt)

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt) seed extracts were evaluated. Seeds were extracted with acetone, ethanol, methanol, butanol and water. All the extracts have shown significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against the tested microorganisms. Among all extracts, acetone extract has shown the highest antioxidant activity. The acetone extract showed 93.12 ± 1.48 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g dry weight total phenolic content, DPPH scavenging activity of 63.04 ± 1.56%, chelating activity of 64.11 ± 2.21% and 74.36 ± 1.94% inhibition of β-carotene bleaching, at 1 mg/mL extract concentration. Out of all extracts, acetone extract was able to exert antimicrobial activity against all tested bacteria and fungi. Acetone extract has shown the strongest antibacterial and antifungal activity with Staphylococcus aureus (13.8 ± 0.42 mm) and Aspergillus niger (14.4 ± 0.37 mm), respectively. GC–MS analysis of acetone extract has revealed the presence of 32 compounds of extract representing 99.49%. Sabinene (28.61%) has shown the highest occurrence in the extract. β-Pinene (10.26), α-pinene (9.72), myristicin (4.30%), isoeugenol (2.72%), p-cymene (1.81%), carvacrol (1.54%), eugenol (0.89%) and β-caryophellene (0.82%) were reported as possible contributor for antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of nutmeg.     

Bacteriophage immobilized graphene electrodes for impedimetric sensing of bacteria (Staphylococcus arlettae)

Bacteriophages are a class of viruses that specifically infect and replicate within a bacterium. They possess inherent affinity and specificity to the particular bacterial cells. This property of bacteriophages makes them an attractive biorecognition element in the field of biosensor development. In this work, we report the use of an immobilized bacteriophage for the development of a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for Staphylococcus arlettae, bacteria from the pathogenic family of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). The specific bacteriophages were covalently immobilized on the screen-printed graphene electrodes. Thus, the fabricated bacteriophage biosensor displayed quantitative response for the target bacteria (S. arlettae) for a broad detection range (2.0–2.0 × 10⁶ cfu). A fast response time (2 min), low limit of detection (2 cfu), specificity, and stability over a prolonged period (3 months) are some of the important highlights of the proposed sensor. The practical utility of the developed sensor has been demonstrated by the analysis of S. arlettae in spiked water and apple juice samples.     

Environmental and spatial characterisation of an unknown fauna using DNA sequencing – an example with Himalayan Hydropsychidae (Insecta: Trichoptera)

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Bioaccumulation of mercury,arsenic, cadmium,and lead in plants grown on coal mine soil

Mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) are the major toxic metals released by coal mining activities in the surrounding environment. These metals get accumulated in the soils. The plants grown on the contaminated soil uptake these toxic metals in their roots and aerial parts. This study monitored the bioaccumulation of Hg and other three toxic metals in coal mine soil. The pot study of Hg accumulation in Brassica juncea showed that the extent of Hg uptake by roots and shoots of the plants grown on was high in the mature plant and Hg content in root was higher than the shoot. In the soil of unreclaimed overburden (OB) dump, the toxic metal content was higher than that of reclaimed OB dump which posed high ecological risk in the soil of unreclaimed OB dump. Bioaccumulation coefficient (BAC) value showed that Hg was not accumulated in the leaves of Dalbergia sissoo L., Gmelina arborea, Peltaphorum inerme L., Cassia seamea L, and Acacia mangium L grown on coal mine soil.