Search

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are emerging contaminants that persist and contaminate the environment. They mimic hormones, block hormones, or modulate their synthesis, metabolism, transport, and action, affecting living organisms and their progeny. Steroid hormones from exogenous sources like water bodies are important EDCs. Their biodegradation is an urgent global need. The present study is a preliminary work to maximize the estrone degradation potential of Spirulina CPCC-695 and study the effect of optimized conditions on its laccase activity. It was observed that the exponential phase culture at pH 10.0, 30 ℃, and 200 rpm of agitation speed resulted in the maximum growth, estrone degradation efficiency (93.12%), and highest laccase activity (74%) of Spirulina CPCC-695.

Chemokines are small secreted proteins that regulate the immune system by signaling through chemokine receptors to induce immune cell migration, motility, and infiltration into the tissue. Altered chemokine/receptor expression is associated with numerous inflammatory diseases, and more recently in non-immune cell diseases like cancer. Emerging new studies demonstrate that chemokines can directly modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) to assist tumorigenesis by regulating proinflammatory signaling, immune cell infiltration,and metastasis. However, the diversity and complexity in the regulation of chemokine expression and how chemokine receptor signaling influences TME needs comprehensive understanding. One mechanistic pathway that has shown promising early results in targeting tumor progression is the non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). These are widely expressed and designated as prime gene regulatory factors in tumors and the immune system. Notably, ncRNAs have been implicated in regulating chromatin stability, translation of cytoplasmic mRNAs, and the functional regulation of membrane-less nuclear bodies, which are significant pathways implicated in tumorigenesis. Tissue-specific patterns of expression of ncRNAs have suggested their role as potential cancer biomarkers, providing a suitable rationale for targeting them clinically. In this review, we discuss the recent findings which demonstrate the role of differential expression of chemokines and ncRNA in modulating TME during tumor progression. We also discuss the communication between tumor and immune effector cells via chemokine/ncRNAs and identify their potential as novel therapeutic targets.

Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and its severe form Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) are the major cause of ICU death worldwide. ALI/ARDS is characterized by severe hypoxemia and inflammation that leads to poor lung compliance. Despite many advances in understanding and management, ALI/ARDS is still causing significant morbidity and mortality. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is a fast-growing topic in lung inflammation and injury. lncRNA is a class of non-coding RNA having a length of more than 200 nucleotides. It has been a center of research for understanding the pathophysiology of various diseases in the past few years. Multiple studies have shown that lncRNAs are abundant in acute lung injury/injuries in mouse models and cell lines. By targeting these long non-coding RNAs, many investigators have demonstrated the alleviation of ALI in various mouse models. Therefore, lncRNAs show great promise as a therapeutic target in ALI. This review provides the current state of knowledge about the relationship between lncRNAs in various biological processes in acute lung injury and its use as a potential therapeutic target.

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) catalyzes the deamination of phenylalanine to cinnamic acid and ammonia. It plays a crucial role in the formation of secondary metabolites through the phenylpropanoid pathway. Recently there has been growing interest in exploring the biochemical properties of PAL for its clinical and commercial applications. PAL as a key component has been used in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Due to its high substrate specificity and catalytic efficacy, PAL has opened a new area of interest in the biomedical field. PAL has been frequently used in the enzyme replacement therapy of phenylketonuria, cancer treatment and microbial production of l-phe the precursor of noncalorific sweetener aspartame (Methyl L-α-aspartyl-l-phenylalaninate), antimicrobial and health supplements. PAL occurs in few plants, fungi, bacteria, and cyanobacteria. The present investigation is a preliminary study in which an attempt has been made for the isolation, partial purification, and biochemical characterization of PAL (crude and partially purified) from Spirulina CPCC-695. Partially purified PAL exhibited higher enzymatic activity and protein content than the crude enzyme. Molecular weight of the crude and partially purified PAL was ~ 66 kDa. The optimum temperature and pH for PAL activity was observed as 30 ℃ and 8.0 respectively. l-Phe was the most preferred substrate (100 mM) whereas gallic acid showed maximum inhibition of PAL activity. Enzyme kinetics suggested good catalytic efficacy of the PAL enzyme and affinity towards substrate. Both the enzyme (crude and partially purified) showed less than 5% haemolysis suggesting the biocompatible nature of PAL.

Illuminating the role of protein on the surface of cyanobacterial derived capped, decapped AgNPs and its biomedical application.

Background: Garlic, being a well-known medicinal plant, is the most commonly used culinary spice worldwide. Investigation of protease inhibitor isolated from garlic leads to a promising contender in pharmacognostic and pharmacological studies. Objective/Introduction: Protease Inhibitor (PI) from 'garlic' (Allium sativum) was analyzed for its biological role as an antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory agent. Methods: Antioxidant activity was evaluated using ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The anti-inflammatory activity was assessed using trypsin inhibitory assay and heat-induced albumin denaturation method. The antimicrobial activity was examined in broth against E. coli and B. Subtilis. The crystallization was setup using the hanging drop method. Results: ASPI showed DPPH radical scavenging with IC50 values 561±0.337 μg/ml. Also, ASPI showed the highest value of 0.699±0.009 mM at 1000 μg/ml and the lowest i.e. 0.181±0.006 mM at 100 μg/ml in FRAP assay. Ascorbic acid was taken as standard in both cases. ASPI showed IC50 values of 651±0.532 μg/ml and ~657±1.802 μg/ml, respectively. The antibacterial role of ASPI was testified, and results showed maximum inhibition against E. coli (ATCC 25922) i.e., 87.8 ±0.602% but no inhibition against B. subtilis (MTCC 736). Cuboidal shaped crystals of the ASPI were obtained in 4-6 weeks using 0.2M calcium chloride dihydrate, 0.1M sodium acetate trihydrate, 20 % isopropanol. Conclusion: ASPI has tremendous potential in the development of suitable drugs in pharmaceutical industries against diseases due to the generation of reactive oxygen species and cancer. The cuboidal crystals were obtained, which is the first study in the context of crystallization of ASPI to date.

Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a marine diatom, rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and brown pigment, that is, fucoxanthin. These high-value renewables (HVRs) have a high commercial and nutritional relevance. In this study, our focus was to enhance the productivities of such renewables by employing media engineering strategy via., photoautotrophic (P1, P2, P3) and mixotrophic (M1, M2, M3, M4) modes of cultivation with varying substrate combinations of carbon (glycerol: 0.1 m) and nitrogen (urea: 441 mm and/or sodium nitrate: 882 mm). Our results demonstrate that mixotrophic [M4] condition supplemented with glycerol (0.1 m) and urea (441 mm) feed enhanced productivities (mg L

Biofilms are microbial colonies that remain enclosed in an organic polymeric matrix substance on biotic and abiotic surfaces, allowing them to colonize medical equipments and involved in most device associated life intimidating infections. Due to their antimicrobial resistance there is an urgent need to discover novel biofilm preventive and therapeutic agents.ZnO NPs were synthesized using cyanobacteria Gleocapsa gelatinosa cell extract through green and cost-effective approach. Physiochemical characterization was done to determine their morphologies and size distribution. Antibiofilm and eradication activity of ZnO NPs was determined. Cell viability and internalization ability of ZnO NPs into biofilm was analyzed by flow cytometry. Confocal microscopy was done to visualize the disrupted biofilm morphology treated with ZnO NPs.It was observed that ZnONPs were spherical in shape with 31-35 nm size and were moderately dispersed. ZnO NPs exhibited high antibiofilm activity against B. cereus and E. coli with minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) of ZnO NPs at 46.8 µg mlThis study emphasizes the potential mechanisms underlying the selective bactericidal properties of ZnO NPs and highlighted the strong interaction of ZnO NPs with intracellular components leading to biofim destruction. Therefore, ZnO NPs could be considered as a promising antibiofilm agent and thus could expand the possibility to use as therapeutic agent.

The use of aqueous cyanobacterial extracts for selenium nanoparticle (SeNP) synthesis is considered green, cost-effective, and eco-friendly technology that is more advanced than physical and chemical methods. In the current study, an aqueous extract of Arthrospira indica SOSA-4 was used as a reducing and stabilizing agent for the green synthesis of SeNPs. The UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Scanning electron microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy(SEM-EDX), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were performed to characterize the biosynthesized SeNPs. Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was also performed to know the composition of the cyanobacterial extract. SEM, TEM, and AFM showed the average size of SeNPs to be 8.5 nm, 9 nm, and 8.7 nm respectively. FT-IR analysis demonstrated the presence of functional groups on the SeNPs that acted as stabilizing agents. XRD pattern and Raman spectroscopy showed the amorphous nature of SeNPs. Synthesized SeNPs showed significant antioxidant activity in DPPH, FRAP, SOR, and ABTS assay. SeNPs showed good anti-microbial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, and Candida tropicalis and good anti-cancer activity in MTT assay, Trypan assay, and Flow cytometry analysis against MCF-7, SiHa, and SW480 cell lines. Non-toxicity of SeNPs against normal cell line (HEK-293) was an additional property that affirmed its potential as a bio-compatible nanomaterial.

Driven by the need to biosynthesize alternate biomedical agents to prevent and treat infection, silver nanoparticles have surfaced as a promising avenue. Cyanobacteria-derived nanomaterial synthesis is of substantive interest as it offers an eco-friendly, cost-effective, sustainable, and biocompatible route for further development. In the present study optimal conditions for synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were 1 : 9 v/v [cell extract: AgNO

Increasing population has resulted in increased food demand. Pesticides like paraquat (PQ) have been used indiscriminately to increase the growth and yield of crops. However, this has adversely affected a wide spectrum of non-target organisms like cyanobacteria that are used as a bio-fertilizer in the rice field. In the present study, biogenic- Gloeocaspa gelatinosa NCCU -430 mediated selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) were synthesized and characterized using different techniques including UV-Visible spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, TEM and SEM-EDX for their use as PQ toxicity mitigator in cyanobacterial biofertilizer (Anabaena variabilis NCCU-442). Therefore, a comparative study was performed among control, PQ, SeNPs and SeNPs+PQ to check the efficacy of SeNPs in mitigation of PQ induced toxicity. Supplementation of SeNPs in PQ treated culture enhanced antioxidant enzymes activity i.e., SOD (7.55%), CAT (57.94%), APX (17.45%) and GR (14.72%) as compared to only PQ treated culture. The outcomes of the present study suggested that SeNPs can ameliorate the PQ induced stress that may be used in sustainable rice cultivation needed for filing the gap between requirement and supply.

In present study, H3PO4–activated sugarcane bagasse carbon-based composite with Al(OH)3, was prepared and characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. The adsorptive decolorization of methylene blue (MB) and methyl violet (MV) contaminated water employing sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) bagasse carbon/Al(OH)3 {SBC/Al(OH)3} composite was explored under varying operational conditions. The equilibrium data for MB and MV adsorption was best appropriated by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, respectively with the maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity of 261 mg/g for MB and 125 mg/g for MV illustrating the monolayer adsorption of MB onto energetically homogeneous sites and multilayer adsorption of MV onto heterogeneous surface sites. The kinetics of both MB and MV adsorption process onto SBC/Al(OH)3 composite was consistent with pseudo-second order model. The thermodynamic parameters such as ∆H° (5–17 kJ/mol for MB; 20–17 kJ/mol for MV) and ∆S° (0.063–0.1 kJ/mol.K for MB; 0.095 −0.21 kJ/mol.K for MV), and –∆G° (6.1–11.3 kJ/mol for MB; 12.4–30.0 kJ/mol for MV) advocated respectively the endothermic, increased randomness at the SBC/Al(OH)3–MB or MV interface, and spontaneous and feasible adsorption process. The adsorbent was efficiently regenerated and had the potential to be used for five recycles with limited loss in efficacy. The SBC/Al(OH)3 exhibited consistently good antibacterial activity against gram–negative (K. pneumonia; E. coli; P. aeruginosa) bacterial strains with zone of inhibition between 8 and 18 mm compared to gram–positive, B. cereus (6–13 mm). The apparent superiority of SBC/Al(OH)3 over other adsorbents in terms of adsorption capacity, promising reusability, and potent antibacterial properties demonstrated that SBC/Al(OH)3 composite could be a sustainable, remarkably efficient and cost-effective adsorbent for aquatic pollution abatement.