Molecular docking analysis of beta-catenin with compounds derived from Lycopersicon esculentum

Beta-catenin is linked with colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, it is of interest to design and develop novel compounds to combat CRC. Hence, we document compounds (chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, quercetin and vanillic acid) from Lycopersicon esculentum with optimal binding features for further consideration.     

Scope of Archaea in Fish Feed: a New Chapter in Aquafeed Probiotics?

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - The outbreak of diseases leading to substantial loss is a major bottleneck in aquaculture. Over the last decades, the concept of using feed probiotics was...     

Spinigerin induces apoptotic like cell death in a caspase independent manner in Leishmania donovani

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are multifunctional components of the innate immune system. Chemotherapeutic agents used for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are now threatened due to the emergence of acquired drug resistance and toxicity. AMPs are attractive alternative to conventional pharmaceuticals. In this study, first time we explored the antileishmanial activity of spinigerin originally derived from Pseudacanthotermes spiniger. Leishmania donovani promastigotes present apoptosis-like cell death upon exposure to spinigerin (IC₅₀, 150 μM). The infection rate was reduced by 20% upon exposure to 150 μM spinigerin but no cytotoxicity on host macrophages was observed. Elevation of intracellular ROS level and down-regulation of two ROS detoxifying enzymes, ascorbate peroxidase (APx) and trypanothione reductase (TR) suggested essential role of ROS machinery during spinigerin mediated cell death. About 97% cell population was found to be Annexin-V positive; 44% cells being highly Annexin-V positive. Moreover, we observed morphological changes like cell rounding, nuclear condensation, oligonucleosomal DNA degradation and TUNEL positive cells without loss of membrane integrity upon spinigerin exposure, suggests apoptosis-like death. Interestingly, collapse in mitochondrial membrane potential and increased level of intracellular ROS and calcium were not associated with caspase like activity. Computational analysis suggests spiningerin interacts with trypanothione reductase and thus probably interferes its function to detoxify the toxic ROS level. Therefore, spinigerin induces apoptosis-like cell death in L. donovani in a caspase-independent manner. The study elucidates the antileishmanial property of spinigerin that may be considered for future chemotherapeutic option alone or adjunct with other drug regimens for improved treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.     

A Signal Processing Approach for Detection of Hemodynamic Instability before Decompensation

Advanced hemodynamic monitoring is a critical component of treatment in clinical situations where aggressive yet guided hemodynamic interventions are required in order to stabilize the patient and optimize outcomes. While there are many tools at a physician’s disposal to monitor patients in a hospital setting, the reality is that none of these tools allow hi-fidelity assessment or continuous monitoring towards early detection of hemodynamic instability. We present an advanced automated analytical system which would act as a continuous monitoring and early warning mechanism that can indicate pending decompensation before traditional metrics can identify any clinical abnormality. This system computes novel features or bio-markers from both heart rate variability (HRV) as well as the morphology of the electrocardiogram (ECG). To compare their effectiveness, these features are compared with the standard HRV based bio-markers which are commonly used for hemodynamic assessment. This study utilized a unique database containing ECG waveforms from healthy volunteer subjects who underwent simulated hypovolemia under controlled experimental settings. A support vector machine was utilized to develop a model which predicts the stability or instability of the subjects. Results showed that the proposed novel set of features outperforms the traditional HRV features in predicting hemodynamic instability.     

Peripheral blood cytotoxic gammadelta T lymphocytes from patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection and AIDS lyse uninfected CD4+ T cells,and their cytocidal potential correlates with viral load

Progression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in humans is marked by declining CD4+-T-cell counts and increasing virus load (VL). Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play an important role in the lysis of HIV-infected cells, especially during the early phase of asymptomatic infection. CTL responses in the later phase of disease progression may not be as effective since progressors with lower CD4+-T-cell counts have consistently higher VL despite having elevated CTL counts. We hypothesized that, apart from antiviral effects, some CTL might also contribute to AIDS pathogenesis by depleting CD4+ T cells and that this CTL activity may correlate with the VL in AIDS patients. Therefore, a cross-sectional study of 31 HIV-1-infected patients at various clinical stages was carried out. Purified CTL from these donors as well as HIV-seronegative controls were used as effectors against different human cell targets by using standard 51Cr release cytolytic assays. A direct correlation between VL and CTL-mediated, major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-unrestricted lysis of primary CD4+-T-cell, CEM.NKR, and K562 targets was observed. CD4+-T-cell counts and duration of infection also correlated with MHC-unrestricted cytolytic activity. Our data clearly show that gammadelta CTL are abnormally expanded in the peripheral blood of HIV-infected patients and that the Vdelta1 subset of gammadelta T cells is the main effector population responsible for this type of cytolysis. The present data suggest that gammadelta CTL can contribute to the depletion of bystander CD4+ T cells in HIV-infected patients as a parallel mechanism to HIV-associated immunopathogenesis and hence expedite AIDS progression.     

Elevated levels of circulating interleukin-18 in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals: role of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and implications for AIDS pathogenesis

Originally identified as the gamma interferon-inducing factor, interleukin-18 (IL-18) was rediscovered as a proinflammatory cytokine related to the IL-1 family of cytokines that plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immune responses against viruses and intracellular pathogens. Despite its importance in inducing and regulating immune responses, relatively little is known about its production in HIV infection. We report here significantly (P < 0.05) elevated levels of this cytokine in the sera of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected/AIDS patients compared to those of HIV-seronegative healthy persons. Surprisingly, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from HIV-infected/AIDS patients were compromised in the ability to upregulate IL-18 gene expression and produce this cytokine with and without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. A significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) existed between the concentration of IL-18 in serum and its production from PBMC of HIV-seronegative healthy individuals but not those of HIV-infected/AIDS patients. Furthermore, the patients' PBMC expressed relatively reduced levels of activated caspase-1 constitutively as well as in response to LPS stimulation. Our data suggest the involvement of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in suppressing IL-18 production from the patients' PBMC for the following reasons. (i) In in vitro studies it suppressed the production of IL-18 from PBMC. (ii) Its levels were significantly higher in the plasma of patients compared to that of control subjects. (iii) A significant negative correlation existed between the concentrations of TGF-beta in plasma and of IL-18 in serum of the patients. The elevated levels of IL-18 in the serum of HIV-infected individuals may contribute to AIDS pathogenesis, whereas its compromised production from their PBMC in response to stimuli may reduce their innate defense to opportunistic intracellular pathogens.     

A smart bioconjugate of alginate and pectinase with unusual biological activity toward chitosan

The commercial preparation of pectinase (Pectinex Ultra SP-L) was conjugated to alginate by noncovalent interactions by employing 1% alginate during the conjugation protocol. The optimum "immobilization efficiency" was 0.76. The pH optimum and the thermal stability of the enzyme remained unchanged upon conjugation with alginate. The soluble bioconjugate showed a 3-fold increase in V(max)/K(m) as compared to the free enzyme when the smart biocatalyst was used for chitosan hydrolysis. Time course hydrolysis of chitosan thus showed higher conversion of chitosan into reducing oligosaccharides/sugars. The smart bioconjugate could be reused five times without any detectable loss of chitosanase activity.