A novel approach to cyclin-dependent kinase 5/p25 inhibitors: A potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Based on the earlier results of our in-house database and compound library, a series of novel clubbed thienyl triazoles was designed which may emerge as potential cdk5/p25 inhibitors, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. A benign synthesis was planned so as to take an advantage of MAOS (Microwave Assisted Organic Synthesis) method. Evaluation of the SAR of this series has allowed the identification of compounds 4, 5, 7 and 8 from series I while 13, 14, 16 and 17 from series II as significant cdk5/p25 inhibitors and thus have potential as possible treatments for Alzheimer's disease.     

Lysine overproducing Corynebacterium glutamicum is characterized by a robust linear combination of two optimal phenotypic states

A homoserine auxotroph strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum accumulates storage compound trehalose with lysine when limited by growth. Industrially lysine is produced from C. glutamicum through aspartate biosynthetic pathway, where enzymatic activity of aspartate kinase is allosterically controlled by the concerted feedback inhibition of threonine plus lysine. Ample threonine in the medium supports growth and inhibits lysine production (phenotype-I) and its complete absence leads to inhibition of growth in addition to accumulating lysine and trehalose (phenotype-II). In this work, we demonstrate that as threonine concentration becomes limiting, metabolic state of the cell shifts from maximizing growth (phenotype-I) to maximizing trehalose phenotype (phenotype-II) in a highly sensitive manner (with a Hill coefficient of 4). Trehalose formation was linked to lysine production through stoichiometry of the network. The study demonstrated that the net flux of the population was a linear combination of the two optimal phenotypic states, requiring only two experimental measurements to evaluate the flux distribution. The property of linear combination of two extreme phenotypes was robust for various medium conditions including varying batch time, initial glucose concentrations and medium osmolality.     

Construction and functionalization of fused pyridine ring leading to novel compounds as potential antitubercular agents

A series of fused and functionalized pyridine derivatives were designed, synthesized and tested for their potential antitubercular properties. All these novel compounds were prepared by using multistep methods involving the construction of pyridine ring as a key synthetic step. Some of these compounds were found to be interesting when tested for their antitubercular properties in vitro and one of them appeared as an attractive and potential antitubercular agent.     

Haemolysis of rabbit erythrocytes by a lectin from the seeds of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Croton tiglium</Emphasis>

The kinetics of haemolysis of rabbit erythrocytes byCroton tiglium lectin was studied as a function of concentration of the lectin and erythrocytes. The length of the prelytic period decreased with increasing lectin concentrations, indicating that the secondary events at the membrane which follow the binding of the lectin to cell surface carbohydrate receptors are accelerated at higher surface concentrations of the lectin. The rate or extent of haemolysis was not affected by the inclusion of ions like K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ in the medium or by the substitution of ionic medium by a non-ionic medium. The inhibition of haemagglutination and haemolysis of rabbit red cells byCroton tiglium lectin by antilectin rabbit serum was observed. A possible mechanism of haemolysis by the lectin is discussed.     

Computer modeling of mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, metabolite transport, and electrophysiology

A computational model of mitochondrial metabolism and electrophysiology is introduced and applied to analysis of data from isolated cardiac mitochondria and data on phosphate metabolites in striated muscle in vivo. This model is constructed based on detailed kinetics and thermodynamically balanced reaction mechanisms and a strict accounting of rapidly equilibrating biochemical species. Since building such a model requires introducing a large number of adjustable kinetic parameters, a correspondingly large amount of independent data from isolated mitochondria respiring on different substrates and subject to a variety of protocols is used to parameterize the model and ensure that it is challenged by a wide range of data corresponding to diverse conditions. The developed model is further validated by both in vitro data on isolated cardiac mitochondria and in vivo experimental measurements on human skeletal muscle. The validated model is used to predict the roles of NAD and ADP in regulating the tricarboxylic acid cycle dehydrogenase fluxes, demonstrating that NAD is the more important regulator. Further model predictions reveal that a decrease of cytosolic pH value results in decreases in mitochondrial membrane potential and a corresponding drop in the ability of the mitochondria to synthesize ATP at the hydrolysis potential required for cellular function.     

Deregulation of Beclin 1 in patients with tobacco-related oral squamous cell carcinoma

Autophagy is a physiologically regulated and evolutionary conserved process that plays a critical role in degradation of cytoplasmic proteins and other macromolecules within the lysosomes. Beclin-1, the mammalian orthologue of yeast Atg6, is an important mediator of autophagy that has been studied in many human cancers. However, the expression of Beclin-1 has not yet been investigated in oral cancer. We for the first time investigated the expression of Beclin-1 in serum and tissues and correlated it with the clinic-pathological features of oral cancer patients. m-RNA expression of Beclin-1 was evaluated in tumor and normal areas of surgical specimens from 10 oral cancer patients by real-time PCR. Approximately, 8-fold lower expression (p<0.001) of Beclin-1 mRNA was observed in tumor tissue as compared to the normal tissue. Serum levels of Beclin-1 were evaluated by SPR and ELISA. No significant difference was observed in serum Beclin-1 levels in patients as compared to healthy subjects, similarly no correlation was found between serum levels and clinic-pathological parameters such as stage, lymph node involvement and tumor size. Our results demonstrate that down-regulation of Beclin-1 may play an important role in the development and progression of oral cancer possibly by dysregulation of autophagy in tumor cells.