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In the present study, we effectively constructed a biomaterial that consists of Xanthan gum, DEGDMA and montmorillonite infused as nanofillers for their prospective application in the restoration of bone. Utilizing FTIR, XRD, TGA, SEM, and numerous other techniques, each of the physicochemical features related to the synthesized biomaterial was characterized. The incorporation of montmorillonite was found to induce noticeable rheological characteristics. The fabricated biomaterial shows a more controlled release of drugs. The biocompatibility and the cytocompatibility of the synthesized biomaterial were demonstrated by the cellular attachment and growth of different secondary cell lines which remain active but do not produce enhanced ROS. An elevated ALP-activity, improved differentiation and increased mineralization by SaOS-2 cells on the developed biomaterial under an osteoinductive environment impart its capability for osteogenesis. This material can be used for delivering drugs and can serve as an affordable substrate for cellular activity. We claim that this material possesses the features suitable for bone tissue regeneration and restoration. We propose that the developed biomaterial has future implications in the biomedical sector at low cost.

Treating different types of bone defects is difficult, complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. Here, we demonstrate that transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4 (TRPV4), a mechanosensitive, thermogated, and nonselective cation channel, is endogenously present in the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). TRPV4 regulates both cytosolic Ca2+levels and mitochondrial health. Accordingly, the hydrogel made from a natural modified biopolymer carboxymethyl tamarind CMT-Hy and encapsulated with TRPV4-modulatory agents affects different parameters of MSCs, such as cell morphology, focal adhesion points, intracellular Ca2+, and reactive oxygen species- and NO-levels. TRPV4 also regulates cell differentiation and biomineralization in vitro. We demonstrate that 4α-10-CMT-Hy and 4α-50-CMT-Hy (the hydrogel encapsulated with 4αPDD, 10 and 50 nM, TRPV4 activator) surfaces upregulate mitochondrial health, i.e., an increase in ATP- and cardiolipin-levels, and improve the mitochondrial membrane potential. The same scaffold turned out to be nontoxic in vivo. 4α-50-CMT-Hy enhances the repair of the bone-drill hole in rat femur, both qualitatively and quantitatively in vivo. We conclude that 4α-50-CMT-Hy as a scaffold is suitable for treating large-scale bone defects at low cost and can be tested for clinical trials.

Multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria have emerged as a major clinical challenge. The unavailability of effective antibiotics has necessitated the use of emerging nanoparticles as alternatives. In this work, we have developed carbohydrate-coated bimetallic nanoparticles (Au-AgNP, 30–40 nm diameter) that are nontoxic toward mammalian cells yet highly effective against MDR strains as compared to their monometallic counterparts (Ag-NP, Au-NP). The Au-AgNP is much more effective against Gram-negative MDR Escherichia coliand Enterobacter cloacaewhen compared to most of the potent antibiotics. We demonstrate that in vivo, Au-AgNP is at least 11000 times more effective than Gentamicin in eliminating MDR Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) infecting mice skin wounds. Au-AgNP is able to heal and regenerate infected wounds faster and in scar-free manner. In vivoresults show that this Au-AgNP is very effective antibacterial agent against MDR strains and does not produce adverse toxicity. We conclude that this bimetallic nanoparticle can be safe in complete skin regeneration in bacteria infected wounds.

Polar monomers are often grafted onto poly(ethylene-co-octene) [POE] to expand its application spectrum. However, the process frequently involves cautious handling of reactive monomers and hazardous solvents. On the contrary, the present work deals with similar modification but using a polymer, poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) [EVA] in the melt through the formation of a double network hybrid using an external crosslinker. POE is an important new generation elastomer having great balance between physical and mechanical properties but its polarity needs to be improved for furthering its uses in industrial oil resistant applications and surface adhesion with other agents. The POE (major component)-EVA (minor component) hybrid compositions were designed using Taguchi statistical technique for optimization. Physico-mechanical properties like tensile, stress relaxation, hysteresis, rheological properties like pseudoplastic index, die swell and solvent swelling kinetics were investigated. The results were found depended on the network morphology of the hybrids. One composition was finally selected which produced better balance between all physico-rheological properties.

This paper demonstrates interesting contrasts between physical, mechanical and rheological properties of double network hybrids developed from high (30 wt.%) and low (9 wt.%) methyl acrylate containing poly (ethylene-co-methyl acrylate) and poly (ethylene-co-octene) thermoplastic elastomer. The compositions were designed adopting a Taguchi L9 statistical model. The model was espoused to consider a wide range of blend compositions and process conditions for optimization. The majority of the low methyl acrylate containing hybrids showed normal correlation between mechanical and other physical properties with the net gel content while for the other variety, they were ambiguous. The reason was investigated and it was found to be due to the influence of the nature of crosslinks formed between the phases which controlled the properties in the latter. Based on the results, finally, two blend compositions were chosen from each set as the most optimized formulations for future study.

Sperm cells exhibit extremely high sensitivity in response to slight changes in temperature, osmotic pressure and/or presence of various chemical stimuli. In most cases throughout the evolution, these physico-chemical stimuli trigger Ca2+-signaling and subsequently alter structure, cellular function, motility and survival of the sperm cells. Few reports have recently demonstrated the presence of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels in the sperm cells from higher eukaryotes, mainly from higher mammals. In this work, we have explored if the sperm cells from lower vertebrates can also have thermo-sensitive TRP channels. In this paper, we demonstrate the endogenous presence of one specific thermo-sensitive ion channel, namely Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid family member sub type 1 (TRPV1) in the sperm cells collected from fresh water teleost fish, Labeo rohita. By using western blot analysis, fluorescence assisted cell sorting (FACS) and confocal microscopy; we confirm the presence of this non-selective cation channel. Activation of TRPV1 by an endogenous activator NADA significantly increases the quality as well as the duration of fish sperm movement. The sperm cell specific expression of TRPV1 matches well with our in silico sequence analysis. The results demonstrate that TRPV1 gene is conserved in various fishes, ranging from 1–3 in copy number, and it originated by fish-specific duplication events within the last 320 million years (MY). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the presence of any thermo-sensitive TRP channels in the sperm cells of early vertebrates as well as of aquatic animals, which undergo external fertilization in fresh water. This observation may have implications in the aquaculture, breeding of several fresh water and marine fish species and cryopreservation of fish sperms.

This is the first report on the use of waste chrome-tanned Indian leather buffing dust for plasticizing atactic polystyrene (PS). There is no effective re-use of waste leather buffing dust reported till today. This waste material, after preliminary characterization, has been dispersed in solvated polystyrene. Resultant composites prepared therefrom via solution cast method exhibit a drastic drop in surface hardness up to certain modifier concentration, beyond which it increases. Addition of surfactants during dispersion of the buffing dust at the optimum level further reduces surface hardness. Para-toluene sulphonic acid (PTSA) has been found to be a better compatibilizer than more conventional sodium lauryl sulphate (LS) in this system. The compatibilized composites show substantial “yield behaviour” when stretched and the breaking strain has been improved drastically from 0.2% in pure polystyrene to 25% in PTSA compatibilized system without any loss in strength. Accordingly, the breaking energy has been increased to much greater than that of the virgin polymer. Effective plasticization of the composites has lowered the glass transition temperature (Tg); PTSA containing composite has shown the minimum value, possibly due to generation of more free volume around the rigid polystyrene molecules on account of its effective adsorption over finer dust particles. Accelerated thermal degradation study shows greater thermal stability of the composites as compared to virgin polymer and this possibly resulted due to the presence of chromium content in the waste, which acts as heat sinks.

TRP channels are localized at specialized sub-cellular compartments like filopodial tips, ciliary structures, growth cones and spines that have importance in the context of several sensory functions. Several motor proteins largely regulate these localizations. Recent studies indicate that both physical and genetic interactions exist between TRP channels with actin and microtubule-based motor proteins. These two groups of proteins share specialized and fine regulation underlying physiological functions. Indeed, mutations causing loss of these interactions and regulations result in development of pathophysiological disorders and syndromes. In this review we analyze the recent progress made in cell-biological, biochemical, electrophysiological and genetic studies and summarize the multi-dimensional crosstalk between TRP channels with different motor proteins.