Studies on the neurosecretory system and retrocerebral endocrine glands of Nezara viridula Linn. (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

The neurosecretory system and retrocerebral endocrine glands of Nezara viridula Linn. have been described on the basis of in situ preparations and histological sections employing the paraldehyde fuchsin (PF) and performic acid-victoria blue (PAVB) techniques. In the brain of N. viridula, there are two medial groups–each consisting of five neurosecretory cells which belong to A-type. The lateral neurosecretory cells are absent. The axons of the two groups of medial neurosecretory cells (MNC) compose the two bundles of neurosecretory pathways (NSP) that decussate in the anterodorsal part of the protocerebrum. The two pathways, after the cross-over, run deep into the protocerebrum and deutocerebrum and emerge as NCC-I from the tritocerebrum. The nervi corporis cardiaci-I (NCC-I) of each side which are heavily loaded with NSM terminate in the aorta wall. Thus, the neurosecretory material (NSM), elaborated in the medial neurosecretory cells of the brain, is stored in the aortic wall and nervi corporis cardiaci-I (NCC-I). The NCC-II are very short nerves that originate from the tritocerebrum and terminate in the corpora cardiaca (CC) of their side. Below the aorta, but dorsal to the oesophagus, lie two oval or spherical corpora cardiaca. A corpus allatum (CA) lies posterior to the corpora cardiaca (CC). The corpora cardiaca do not contain NSM; only the intrinsic secretion of their cells has been occasionally observed which stains orange or green with PF staining method. The corpus allatum sometimes exhibits PF positive granules of cerebral origin. A new connection between the corpus allatum and aorta has been recorded. The suboesophageal ganglion contains two neurosecretory cells of A-type which, in structure and staining behaviour, are similar to the medial neurosecretory cells of the brain. The course and termination of axons of suboesophageal ganglion neurosecretory cells, and the storage organ for the secretion of these cells have been reported. It is suggested that the aortic wall and NCC-I axons function as neurohaemal organ for cerebral and suboesophageal secretions.     

Characterization of endogenous fluorescence in nonsmall lung cancerous cells: A comparison with nonmalignant lung normal cells

Monitoring fluorescence properties of endogenous fluorophores such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in normal and cancerous cells provide substantial information noninvasively on biochemical and biophysical aspects of metabolic dysfunction of cancerous cells. Time‐resolved spectral profiles and fluorescence lifetime images of NADH and FAD were obtained in human lung nonsmall carcinomas (H661 and A549) and normal lung cells (MRC‐5). Both fluorophores show the fast and slowly decaying emission components upon pulsed excitation, and fluorescence spectra of NADH and FAD show blue‐ and red‐shifts, respectively, during their decay. All identified lifetime components of NADH and FAD were found to be shorter in cancerous cells than in normal cells, no matter how they were measured under different extra‐cellular conditions (cells suspended in cuvette and cells attached on glass substrate), indicating that the changes in metabolism likely altered the subcellular milieu and potentially also affected the interaction of NADH and FAD with enzymes to which these cofactors were bound. The intensity ratio of NADH and FAD of cancerous cells was also shown to be larger than that of normal cells.     

Modulation in the conformational and stability attributes of the Alzheimer’s disease associated amyloid-beta mutants and their favorable stabilization by curcumin: molecular dynamics simulation analysis

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides in brain. In the present study, two familial Aβ42 mutations, namely A2V (harmful) and A2T (protective) have been analyzed and compared with the wild-type (WT) by performing all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the absence and presence of curcumin, a well-known inhibitor of Aβ plaque formation. Mutant A2V was found to exhibit highest stability followed by WT and mutant A2T in the absence of curcumin. This stability trend was found to be reversed in the presence of curcumin, suggesting a significant change in the conformational landscape of Aβ42 folding. Due to significant differences in the folding and interaction patterns of the mutants A2V and A2T, curcumin exhibited higher binding affinity for mutant A2T as compared to that of A2V. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the effect of curcumin binding on structural landscapes of the two contrasting point mutants providing an understanding of the basis of Aβ plaque formation and its prevention by curcumin.     

Priority based data gathering using multiple mobile sinks in cluster based UWSNs for oil pipeline leakage detection

Energy efficient and completely reliable data gathering in resource constrained sparse Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) is challenging and requires dedicated routing techniques. Routing having mobility assistance employs a Mobile Sink (MS) or a mobile relay for data gathering. It mitigates transmission power consumption as well as relaying overhead. But multiple MSs should be deployed in order to reduce the load of a single MS. The visiting schedule of each MS should consider the priority of data, data gathering delay and buffer overflow of each sensor. In order to address these issues, a priority-based data gathering scheme using multiple MSs for clustered UWSN is proposed to help in pipeline leakage detection under the water. In this work, each MS is deployed in such a way so that it can move in both the directions i.e., top to bottom or bottom to top. When a Cluster Head (CH) receives critical data, it sends an emergency notification to the nearest MS via other CHs. Upon receiving the emergency notification, MS immediately visits that CH to gather the critical data (oil leakage).

     

Superior Therapeutic Efficacy of Nanoparticle Albumin Bound Paclitaxel Over Cremophor-Bound Paclitaxel in Experimental Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is the fastest growing cancer in the western world and the overall 5 year survival rate of EAC is below 20%. Most patients with EAC present with locally advanced or widespread metastatic disease, where current treatment is largely ineffective. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) is a novel albumin-stabilized, cremophor-free and water soluble nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel, and the potential role of nab-paclitaxel has not been tested yet in experimental EAC. Here we tested the antiproliferative and antitumor efficacy with survival advantage of nab-paclitaxel as monotherapy and in combinations in in-vitro, and in murine subcutaneous xenograft and peritoneal metastatic survival models of human EAC. Nab-paclitaxel significantly inhibited in-vitro cell proliferation with higher in-vivo antitumour efficacy and survival benefit compared to paclitaxel or carboplatin treatments both in mono- and combination therapies. Nab-paclitaxel treatment increased expression of mitotic-spindle associated phospho-stathmin, decreased expression of proliferative markers and enhanced apoptosis. This study demonstrates that nab-paclitaxel had stronger antiproliferative and antitumor activity in experimental EAC than the current standard chemotherapeutic agents which supports the rationale for its clinical use in EAC.     

In vitro clonal propagation of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Clerodendrum serratum</Emphasis> (Linn.) Moon (barangi): a rare and threatened medicinal plant

An in vitro process for rapid clonal propagation of Clerodendrum serratum (Linn.) Moon, a rare and threatened medicinal shrub, has been developed. Nodal stem segments having axillary bud, taken from field-grown plant, showed bud-break within 15 days of culture on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) (Physiol Plant 15:473–497, 1962) medium supplemented with 0.25 mg/l each of 6-benzylaminopurine and indole-3-acetic acid along with 15 mg/l adenine sulphate (AdS). Regenerated shoots could be further multiplied on the same agarified morphogenetic medium in presence of 0.5 mg/l 2-chloroethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride with increased concentration of AdS, i.e., 30 mg/l. A group of five shoots used as inoculum produced on an average 4.98 new shoots per original shoot after 4 weeks of subculture. Shoots excised from cultures of proliferating shoots were rooted in half-strength MS medium having 1 mg/l indole-3-propionic acid. In vitro rooted shoots—plantlets—grew luxuriantly under field conditions and came to flowering after 10 months of transplantation. The genetic fidelity of in vitro-raised field-grown plants and their mother plant was ascertained by random amplified polymorphic DNA markers. The protocol developed holds good for in vitro cloning of C. serratum.     

Piperine,an active ingredient of white pepper,suppresses the growth of multidrug-resistant toxigenic Vibrio cholerae and other pathogenic bacteria

Emergence and rapid spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria including Vibrio cholerae are a global public health issue. Much attention has been paid to natural compounds, such as spices and herbs to find novel antimicrobial compounds as they are considered to be cheaper alternatives to develop as a drug. Here, we show that methanol extract of white pepper could inhibit the growth of V. cholerae O1 El Tor variant, responsible for the recent outbreaks/epidemics. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time that piperine, the major component of white pepper, showed a dose-dependent bactericidal effect on V. cholerae growth irrespective of their biotypes and serogroups in the presence of 200 and 300 µg ml⁻¹ of piperine, respectively. Piperine also inhibited the growth of MDR strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli isolated from poultry and enterohemorrhagic/enteroaggregative E. coli O104 in the presence of 200 µg ml⁻¹. Interestingly, we did not observe any significant inhibitory effect of piperine on E. coli strains isolated from healthy person even up to 200 µg ml⁻¹. Our data suggest that piperine could be a novel antimicrobial agent in therapeutic and preventive applications against infections caused by pathogenic bacteria including MDR strains.     

Protection of potato virus X infection by plant extracts

Extracts from the roots ofBoerhaavia diffusa L., stems ofCuscuta reflexa Roxb. or leaves ofEuphorbia hirta L. have shown a potential protective effect on the infection of potato virus X, in hypersensitive and systemic hosts. The inhibition by these extracts was systemic and sensitive to actinomycin D.