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Objective To investigate the single nucleotide polymorphic variations of N-acetyltransferase 2, phase-II metabolising enzyme, and associated risk factors for oral cancer. Methods The case-control study was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018 after approval from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan, and comprised oral cancer patients and healthy controls. Single nucleotide polymorphism of the N-acetyltransferase 2 gene associated with oral cancer was analysed. Factors assessed using tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction included age, smoking, naswar, betel leaves and nuts. Results Of the 201 subjects, 94(47%) were patients and 107(53%) were controls, while 108(54%) were aged 10-30 years. Single nucleotide polymorphism rs1208 of N-acetyltransferase 2 gene was primarily A803G and Lys268Arg, with allelic frequency of G/A. Age range 51-70 was significantly (p=0.00001) associated with the prevalence of oral cancer in terms of genotypic relationship with A803G. Substantial allelic association was found between the gene and oral cancer (p=0.006895). Smoking increased the cacner risk 7-fold (odds ratio: 7.0). Conclusions The genetic variant of N-acetyltransferase 2 rs1208 was found to be significantly associated with oral cancer progression and development of associated risk factors.

Background: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. We predicted immunogenic promiscuous monovalent and polyvalent T-cell epitopes from the polyprotein of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) using a range of bioinformatics tools and servers. Methods: We used immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinology-based approaches to design prophylactic peptides by antigenicity analysis, T-cell epitopes prediction, proteasomal and conservancy evaluation, host-pathogen protein interactions, and in silico binding affinity analysis. Results: We found two early proteins (E2 and E6) and two late proteins (L1 and L2) of HPV as potential vaccine candidates. Of these proteins (E2, E6, L1 & L2), 2-epitopes of each candidate protein for multiple alleles of MHC class I and II bearing significant binding affinity (>-6.0 kcal/mole). These potential epitopes for CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were also linked to design polyvalent construct using GPGPG linkers. Cholera toxin B and mycobacterial heparin-binding hemagglutinin adjuvant with a molecular weight of 12.5 and 18.5 kDa were used for epitopes of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells respectively. The molecular docking indicated the optimum binding affinity of HPV peptides with MHC molecules. This interaction showed that our predicted vaccine candidates are suitable to trigger the host immune system to prevent HPV infections. Conclusion: The predicted conserved T-cell epitopes would contribute to the imminent design of HPV vaccine candidates, which will be able to induce a broad range of immune-responses in a heterogeneous HLA population.

Inflammasomes have become an important natural sensor of host immunity, and can protect various organs against pathogenic infections, metabolic syndromes, cellular stress and cancer metastasis. Inflammasomes are intracellular multi-protein complexes found in both parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells, stimulating the initiation of caspase-1 and interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 in response to cell danger signals. Inflammasomes induce cell death mechanisms. The potential role of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in alcoholic and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis, nanoparticle-induced liver injury and other liver diseases has recently attracted widespread attention from clinicians and researchers. In this review we summarize the role played by the NLRP3 inflammasome in molecular and pathophysiological mechanisms in the pathogenesis and progression of liver disease. This article aims to establish that targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome and other inflammasome components may make a significant therapeutic approach to the treatment of liver disease.

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) has a complex course and a worse prognosis. Immune response imbalance is an important cause of severe pancreatitis or even death in patients. Immunomodulation therapy can regulate the imbalance of inflammatory response, alleviate SAP-related organ damage and improve the prognosis of patients. There are some problems in early immune regulation measures, such as single target and simple way. In recent years, new treatment methods, such as regulating the maturation and apoptosis of immune cells, the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and multifactor combination therapy, have provided new ideas and hope for the future treatment of SAP. This article reviews the development of SAP immunoregulation and its recent progress.

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is an inflammatory disorder that progresses with local and systemic difficulties accompanied by a relatively high mortality rate. In recent years, maresin 1 (MaR1) has been shown to be a macrophage mediator with effective proresolving and anti-inflammatory properties that prevents the occurrence of various inflammatory conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of MaR1 in SAP and related lung injury. Experimental SAP was induced in mice with a combination of cerulean and lipopolysaccharide. MaR1 was administered 30 min before the primary injection of cerulean. Biochemical markers and histological injury scores were used to evaluate the severity of acute pancreatitis. To determine the degree of inflammation, serum cytokines and myeloperoxidase activity in pancreas and lung tissues were measured. Western blot analysis detected the activation of NF-κB. After MaR1 pretreatment, the activities of amylase, lipase, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were decreased in serum, and the myeloperoxidase activity both in pancreas and in lung tissues significantly decreased, whereas the activity of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in serum was increased. MaR1-pretreated mice reduced the activation of pancreatic NF-κB and decreased the severity of pancreatic and lung-related injuries. These results confirm that MaR1 alleviated inflammation of the pancreas and lung by inhibiting the activity of NF-κB in experimentally induced acute pancreatitis and exerted anti-inflammatory effects. These findings suggest that MaR1 could be a new and useful drug in the treatment of SAP. NEW & NOTEWORTHY These results provided us evidence to confirm that maresin 1 (MaR1) can alleviate inflammation of the pancreas and lung by inhibiting the activity of NF-κB in experimental induced acute pancreatitis and exerts certain anti-inflammatory effects. These findings suggest that MaR1 could be a new and useful drug in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis.

Background Because of the highly heterogeneous nature of breast cancer, each subtype differs in response to several treatment regimens. This has limited the therapeutic options for metastatic breast cancer disease requiring exploration of diverse therapeutic models to target tumor specific biomarkers. Methods Differentially expressed breast cancer genes identified through extensive data mapping were studied for their interaction with other target proteins involved in breast cancer progression. The molecular mechanisms by which these signature genes are involved in breast cancer metastasis were also studied through pathway analysis. The potential drug targets for these genes were also identified. Results From 50 DEGs, 20 genes were identified based on fold change and p-value and the data curation of these genes helped in shortlisting 8 potential gene signatures that can be used as potential candidates for breast cancer. Their network and pathway analysis clarified the role of these genes in breast cancer and their interaction with other signaling pathways involved in the progression of disease metastasis. The miRNA targets identified through miRDB predictor provided potential miRNA targets for these genes that can be involved in breast cancer progression. Several FDA approved drug targets were identified for the signature genes easing the therapeutic options for breast cancer treatment. Conclusion The study provides a more clarified role of signature genes, their interaction with other genes as well as signaling pathways. The miRNA prediction and the potential drugs identified will aid in assessing the role of these targets in breast cancer.

Background. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a public health epidemic, leading to around 3 million hospitalization and about 66,000 deaths each year. It is a life-threatening condition exclusive to children with no effective treatment. Methods. In this study, we used system-level and vaccinomics approaches to design a polyvalent vaccine for RSV, which could stimulate the immune components of the host to manage this infection. Our framework involves data accession, antigenicity and subcellular localization analysis, T cell epitope prediction, proteasomal and conservancy evaluation, host-pathogen-protein interactions, pathway studies, and in silico binding affinity analysis. Results. We found glycoprotein (G), fusion protein (F), and small hydrophobic protein (SH) of RSV as potential vaccine candidates. Of these proteins (G, F, and SH), we found 9 epitopes for multiple alleles of MHC classes I and II bear significant binding affinity. These potential epitopes were linked to form a polyvalent construct using AAY, GPGPG linkers, and cholera toxin B adjuvant at N-terminal with a 23.9 kDa molecular weight of 224 amino acid residues. The final construct was a stable, immunogenic, and nonallergenic protein containing cleavage sites, TAP transport efficiency, posttranslation shifts, and CTL epitopes. The molecular docking indicated the optimum binding affinity of RSV polyvalent construct with MHC molecules (-12.49 and -10.48 kcal/mol for MHC classes I and II, respectively). This interaction showed that a polyvalent construct could manage and control this disease. Conclusion. Our vaccinomics and system-level investigation could be appropriate to trigger the host immune system to prevent RSV infection.

Oral cancer (OC) ranked as eleventh malignancy worldwide, with the increasing incidence among young patients. Limited understanding of complications in cancer progression, its development system, and their interactions are major restrictions towards the progress of optimal and effective treatment strategies. The system-level approach has been designed to explore genetic complexity of the disease and to identify novel oral cancer related genes to detect genomic alterations at molecular level, through cDNA differential analysis. We analyzed 21 oral cancer-related cDNA datasets and listed 30 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among 30, we found 6 significant DEGs including CYP1A1, CYP1B1, ADCY2, C7, SERPINB5, and ANAPC13 and studied their functional role in OC. Our genomic and interactive analysis showed significant enrichment of xenobiotics metabolism, p53 signaling pathway and microRNA pathways, towards OC progression and development. We used human proteomic data for post-translational modifications to interpret disease mutations and inter-individual genetic variations. The mutational analysis revealed the sequence predicted disordered region of 14%, 12.5%, 10.5% for ADCY2, CYP1B1, and C7 respectively. The MiRNA target prediction showed functional molecular annotation including specific miRNA-targets hsa-miR-4282, hsa-miR-2052, hsa-miR-216a-3p, for CYP1B1, C7, and ADCY2 respectively associated with oral cancer. We constructed the system level network and found important gene signatures. The drug-gene interaction of OC source genes with seven FDA approved OC drugs help to design or identify new drug target or establishing novel biomedical linkages regarding disease pathophysiology. This investigation demonstrates the importance of system genetics for identifying 6 OC genes (CYP1A1, CYP1B1, ADCY2, C7, SERPINB5, and ANAPC13) as potential drugs targets. Our integrative network-based system-level approach would help to find the genetic variants of OC that can accelerate drug discovery outcomes to develop a better understanding regarding treatment strategies for many cancer types.

Background Colorectal cancer is known to be the most common type of cancer worldwide with high disease-related mortality. It is the third most common cancer in men and women and is the second major cause of death globally due to cancer. It is a complicated and fatal disease comprising of a group of molecular heterogeneous disorders. Results This study identifies the potential biomarkers of CRC through differentially expressed analysis, system biology, and proteomic analysis. Ten publicly available microarray datasets were analyzed and seven potential biomarkers were identified from the list of differentially expressed genes having a p value Conclusion The integrated pathway analysis indicated the role of these genes in important physiological responses, such as cell cycle regulation, WNT, hedgehog, MAPK, and calcium signaling pathways during colorectal cancer. These pathways are involved in cell proliferation, chemotaxis, cellular growth, differentiation, tissue patterning, and cytokine production. The study shows the regulatory role of these genes in colorectal cancer and the pathways that can be effected after the dysregulation of these genes.

Background Biological procedures for the synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) are eco-friendly, cost-effective, and easily scalable as compared to chemical and physical methods. Methods In the present study, a simple fungus based synthesis method was used for copper nanoparticles. After morphological and molecular characterization of fungal strains, Aspergillus niger strain STA9 was used for CuNPs synthesis. Particles synthesized by fungi were characterized by UV–visible spectrophotometer, FTIR, and Zetasizer. The MTT anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and antibacterial assays of CuNPs were performed. Results The CuNPs were produced at optimized conditions with a size of 500 nm, Z-average 398.2 nm, and 0.246 poly dispersion index. These particles were quantified at 480 nm and FTIR confirmed the existence of O H and -C=C- functional groups. MTT assay revealed that CuNPs have a significant cytotoxic effect against human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (Huh-7) with 3.09 μg/ml IC50 value. Alpha-glucosidase inhibition showed that CuNPs have a moderate antidiabetic effect. The agar well antibacterial effect indicated 19, 21, 16, 20, and 17 mm zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus subtilis respectively. Conclusion Such biomedical applications of CuNPs reveal the importance of a targeted drug delivery system.

Genetic variations develop inherited tendency to progress cancer. The incidence rate of head and neck cancer (HNC) is 15–40% of all cancer types worldwide but this ratio is worse in South Asian region of Pakistan. We collected 185 samples and observed variations in IFNG, GTF2H4, OAS3 and SULF1 genes of HNC samples associated with tobacco, betel leaf and nuts, naswar and gutka. We performed the tetra-arm PCR and found significant allelic associations of IFNG rs11177074 (P = 0.001135), GTF2H4 rs2894054 (P = 0.0001), OAS3 rs12302655 (P = 0.000001) and SULF1 rs4737999 (P = 0.00001) with HNC. The cancer and control samples were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and the pooled odds ratios was 95% of confidence. Tobacco and naswar was progressive factor of HNC compare to betel leaves and nuts. The irrational habits of population of the Southern Punjab is bringing a substantial change in SNPs and therefore these variants could be used as genetic biomarkers to diagnose HNC.

Cisplatin is a DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agent used for treating cancer. Based on cDNA dataset analysis, we investigated how cisplatin modified gene expression and observed cisplatin-induced dysregulation and system-level variations relating to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). T2DM is a multifactorial disease affecting 462 million people in the world, and drug-induced T2DM is a serious issue. To understand this etiology, we designed an integrative, system-level study to identify associations between cisplatin-induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and T2DM. From a list of differential expressed genes, cisplatin downregulated the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1 (CDKN1A), tumor necrosis factor (FAS), and sestrin-1 (SESN1) genes responsible for modifying signaling pathways, including the p53, JAK-STAT, FOXO, MAPK, mTOR, P13-AKT, Toll-like receptor (TLR), adipocytokine, and insulin signaling pathways. These enriched pathways were expressively associated with the disease. We observed significant gene signatures, including SMAD3, IRS, PDK1, PRKAA1, AKT, SOS, RAS, GRB2, MEK1/2, and ERK, interacting with source genes. This study revealed the value of system genetics for identifying the cisplatin-induced genetic variants responsible for the progression of T2DM. Also, by cross-validating gene expression data for T2DM islets, we found that downregulating IRS and PRK families is critical in insulin and T2DM signaling pathways. Cisplatin, by inhibiting CDKN1A, FAS, and SESN1, promotes IRS and PRK activity in a similar way to rosiglitazone (a popular drug used for T2DM treatment). Our integrative, network-based approach can help in understanding the drug-induced pathophysiological mechanisms of diabetes.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic gram-negative bacterium that causes nosocomial infection in healthcare settings. Despite the high morbidity and mortality rate associated with these bacterial infections, no effective vaccine is available to counter the pathogen. In this study, the pangenome of a total of 222 available complete genomes of K. pneumoniae was explored to obtain the core proteome. A reverse vaccinology strategy was applied to the core proteins to identify four antigenic proteins. These proteins were then subjected to epitope mapping and prioritization steps to shortlist nine B-cell derived T-cell epitopes which were linked together using GPGPG linkers. An adjuvant (Cholera Toxin B) was also added at the N-terminal of the vaccine construct to improve its immunogenicity and a stabilized multi-epitope protein structure was obtained using molecular dynamics simulation. The designed vaccine exhibited sustainable and strong bonding interactions with Toll-like receptor 2 and Toll-like receptor 4. In silico reverse translation and codon optimization also confirmed its high expression in E. coli K12 strain. The computer-aided analyses performed in this study imply that the designed multi-epitope vaccine can elicit specific immune responses against K. pneumoniae. However, wet lab validation is necessary to further verify the effectiveness of this proposed vaccine candidate.

Aloe verais a multifunctional plant that has gained acceptance as an excellent home remedy source in Asia and the world. The present study was intended to evaluate the phytochemical contents andin vitroantioxidant, antimicrobial, antileishmanial, and protein kinase inhibition activities in different fractions ofA. veraleaf. Methanolic extract ofA. veraleaves was fractionated using column chromatography and ten fractions (AV1-AV10) were obtained. Phenolics composition, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antileishmanial, and protein kinase inhibition activities were evaluated using standard protocols. Well-known compounds ofA. verawere used for in silico study against enzymes involved in brine shrimp and antileishmanial and hyphae formation inhibition assay on the basis of results. Five fractions (AV3 to AV7) possess potential total phenolics and flavonoids contents along with significant biological activities. AV4 fraction exhibited the highest total phenolics content 332.4 ± 32.6μg GAE/mg and total antioxidant activity 150.4 ± 25.815μg AAE/mg determined by phosphomolybdenum complex assay. Fraction AV6 showed 95% antileishmanial effect as well as the lowest LD50value of 0.5305μg/mL in brine shrimp lethality assay. The Protein Kinase inhibition potential inA. veraleaves was determined for the first time and three fractions AV1, AV6, and AV7 depicted activity with the highest zone of inhibition up to 21±0.5mm (AV7). Docking analysis showed thatA. veracontains anthraquinones, anthrones, chromones, and polysaccharides responsible for synergistic cytotoxic, antileishmanial, antibacterial, and antioxidant potential of this plant. Therefore, with more studies,A. veracould probably have the potential to be used for drug development against leishmaniasis.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an acute gastrointestinal disorder that is the most common and requiring emergency hospitalization. Its incidence is increasing worldwide, thus increasing the burden of medical services. Approximately 20% of the patients develop moderate to severe necrotizing pancreatitis associated with pancreatic or peri‐pancreatic tissue necrosis and multiple organ failure. There are many reports about the anti‐inflammatory effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on pancreatitis and the repair of tissue damage. MSCs cells come from a wide range of sources, autologous MSCs come from bone marrow and allogeneic MSCs such as umbilical cord blood MSCs, placenta‐derived MSCs, etc. The wide source is not only an advantage of MSCs but also a disadvantage of MSCs. Because of different cell sources and different methods of collection and preparation, it is impossible to establish a unified standard method for evaluation of efficacy. The biggest advantage of iMSCs is that it can be prepared by a standardized process, and can be prepared on a large scale, which makes it easier to commercialize. This paper reviews the present status of diagnosis and progress of MSCs therapy for AP.

Background Alopecia or hair loss is a complex polygenetic and psychologically devastating disease affecting millions of men and women globally. Since the gene annotation and environmental knowledge is limited for alopecia, a systematic analysis for the identification of candidate biomarkers is required that could provide potential therapeutic targets for hair loss therapy. Results We designed an interactive framework to perform a meta-analytical study based on differential expression analysis, systems biology, and functional proteomic investigations. We analyzed eight publicly available microarray datasets and found 12 potential candidate biomarkers including three extracellular proteins from the list of differentially expressed genes with a p-value

Insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction are two major metabolic disorders in diabetic patients. Many genes are linked with insulin secretions and contribute to the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study is designed to investigate the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of NFKB1A (rs7152376, rs1951276) and SRR k(rs1490763013) association with T2DM in the population of Southern Punjab Pakistan. We found a significant association of T2DM and our genetic variants among different associated genetic and environmental risk factors. The total study subjects in this investigation included 136 controls and 122 cases. The polymorphic genotyping was studied by Tetra ARMS-PCR. We found a significant association of the disease with genotypes of NFKB1A and SRR. We observed that NFKB1A (rs7152376) showed the ratio of mutant homozygous allele T is 0.7% in cases as compared to 0.5% in controls presenting increased disease-risk in our population. Similarly, the other SNP rs1951276 of NFKB1A revealed homozygous wild type G-allele higher in cases (0.91%). Similarly, the SRR (rs1490763013) showed that homozygous wild T-allele is 0.47% as compared to homozygous mutant C-allele 0.52% in control sample population. The stratification of our genetic variants with T2DM also revealed a significant association with smoking, cholesterol, and depression having P = 0.00001, at significance odd ratio level and 95% Confidence interval. Therefore, these polymorphic variants of NFKB1A and SRR are likely to be used in prognostics of T2DM.

Discovery of alternative and complementary regimens for HCV infection treatment is a need of time from clinical as well as economical point of views. Low cost of bioactive natural compounds production, high biochemical diversity and inexistent/milder side effects contribute to new therapies. Aim of this study is to clarify anti-HCV role of Taraxacum officinale, a natural habitat plant rich of flavonoids. In this study, methanol extract of T. officinale leaves was initially analyzed for its cytotoxic activity in human hepatoma (Huh-7) and CHO cell lines. Hepatoma cells were transfected with pCR3.1/Flagtag/HCV NS5B gene cloned vector (genotype 1a) along with T. officinale extract. Considering NS5B polymerase as potential therapeutic drug target, twelve phytochemicals of T. officinale were selected as ligands for molecular interaction with NS5B protein using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software. Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi: brand name) currently approved as new anti-HCV drug, was used as standard in current study for comparative analysis in computational docking screening. HCV NS5B polymerase as name indicates plays key role in viral genome replication. On the basis of which NS5B gene is targeted for determining antiviral role of T. officinale extract and 65% inhibition of NS5B expression was documented at nontoxic dose concentration (200μg/ml) using Real-time PCR. In addition, 57% inhibition of HCV replication was recorded when incubating Huh-7 cells with high titer serum of HCV infected patients along with leaves extract. Phytochemicals for instance d-glucopyranoside (-31.212 Kcal/mol), Quercetin (-29.222 Kcal/mol), Luteolin (-26.941 Kcal/mol) and some others displayed least binding energies as compared to standard drug Sofosbuvir (-21.0746 Kcal/mol). Results of our study strongly revealed that T. officinale leaves extract potentially blocked the viral replication and NS5B gene expression without posing any toxic effect on normal fibroblast cells of body.

The antimicrobial peptide from a bacterial strain is isolated from soil sample of Margalla Hills of Islamabad, Pakistan. The peptide is found to significantly inhibit the growth of both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Micrococcus luteus ATCC 10240) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Salmonella typhi ATCC 14028) bacteria as compared to gramicidin as standard. The bacterium is identified as Bacillus brevis strain MH9 based on phenotype and phylogenetic analysis. The antibacterial polypeptide was produced optimally at 35 °C after 48 h of growth, precipitated by 50 % ammonium sulphate, and further purified using HPLC. The sequential steps of purification decrease the peptide contents with prominent antibacterial activity. The peptide composed of 11 amino acid was further characterized by FT-IR and NMR. Results suggested that the peptide molecule is a novel antibacterial agent that is effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This study may have important implications for new peptide antibiotic that could be a new addition to treat infections.

A novel thermophilic bacterial strain of the genus Aeribacillus was isolated from Thar Dessert Pakistan. This strain showed significant antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The strain coded as ‘SAT4’ resembled with Aeribacillus pallidus in the morphological, biochemical and molecular tests. The production of antibacterial metabolites by SAT4 was optimized. These active metabolites were precipitated by 50% ammonium sulphate and purified through sephadex G-75 gel permeation chromatography and reverse phase HPLC. The molecular weight of 37 kDa was examined by SDS-PAGE. The structural elucidation of the purified product was studied by FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR. The X-ray diffractions study showed that the crystals belonged to the primitive orthorhombic lattice (a = 12.137, b = 13.421, c = 14.097 A) and 3D structure (proposed name: Aeritracin) was determined. This new peptide antibacterial molecule can get a position in pharmaceutical and biotechnological industrial research.

In this study, a library of new intriguing flavonol derivatives (1–17) was designed and synthesized through a facile route involving Algar-Flynn-Oyamada reaction in a one-pot synthesis. The molecular structures of all newly synthesized compounds were unequivocally corroborated by different spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR, UV–Vis, 1H NMR and 13C NMR and mass spectrometry (EI-MS). All the synthesized analogs (1-17) were evaluated in vitro for their inhibitory potential against ɑ-amylase and ɑ-glucosidase enzymes. Interestingly, all the synthetic compounds displayed good to moderate inhibition potential with IC50 values ranging from 4.86 ± 1.39 to 265.61 ± 5.85 μM for a-amylase, and 70.57 ± 1.13 to 322.98 ± 4.43 μM for a-glucosidase in comparison to the standard acarbose (IC50 = 5.03 ± 9.44 μM for a-amylase and IC50 = 75.26 ± 0.15 μM for α-glucosidase). It is worth mentioning that amongst the series, the compounds 9 (IC50 = 4.86 ± 1.39 μM for a-amylase and IC50 = 70.57 ± 1.13 μM for α-glucosidase) and 14 (IC50 = 5.02 ± 1.35 for a-amylase and IC50 = 71.69 ± 5.85 μM for α-glucosidase) were found the most potent dual inhibitors, even more active than standard. Furthermore, the target compounds (1-17) exhibited moderate to good antioxidant activities. Molecular simulations studies were conducted to correlate the in vitro results and to identify the possible mode of binding interaction of ligands with the active site of enzymes. Moreover, molecular description was performed with the drug-likeness and bioactivity scores. The results showed that some compounds are in a linear correlation with Lipinski’s rule of five demonstrating good drug-likeness and bioactivity score for drug targets. Structure-activity relationships delivered useful insights towards this class of compounds, and thus paved the way to design novel analogs with improved potency.

In this paper, we propose DeCoST (Drug Repurposing from Control System Theory) framework to apply control system paradigm for drug repurposing purpose. Drug repurposing has become one of the most active areas in pharmacology since the last decade. Compared to traditional drug development, drug repurposing may provide more systematic and significantly less expensive approaches in discovering new treatments for complex diseases. Although drug repurposing techniques rapidly evolve from ‘one: disease-gene-drug’ to ‘multi: gene, drug’ and from ‘lazy guilt-by-association’ to ‘systematic model-based pattern matching’, mathematical system and control paradigm has not been widely applied to model the system biology connectivity among drugs, genes, and diseases. In this paradigm, our DeCoST framework, which is among the earliest approaches in drug repurposing with control theory paradigm, applies biological and pharmaceutical knowledge to quantify rich connective data sources among drugs, genes, and diseases to construct disease-specific mathematical model. We use linear–quadratic regulator control technique to assess the therapeutic effect of a drug in disease-specific treatment. DeCoST framework could classify between FDA-approved drugs and rejected/withdrawn drug, which is the foundation to apply DeCoST in recommending potentially new treatment. Applying DeCoST in Breast Cancer and Bladder Cancer, we reprofiled 8 promising candidate drugs for Breast Cancer ER+ (Erbitux, Flutamide, etc.), 2 drugs for Breast Cancer ER- (Daunorubicin and Donepezil) and 10 drugs for Bladder Cancer repurposing (Zafirlukast, Tenofovir, etc.).

Clinical needs for new antifungal agents have gradually and steadily increased with the rise of AIDS-related mycoses, and the change in spectrum of fatal disseminated fungal infections.Triazoles are taken as potential antifungal molecules considering the existing portfolio of antifungal agents available in the market. This study was aimed to evaluate antifungal potential of 4-Amino 5-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)-1,2,4-Triazole-3-Thione and4-(2-hydroxybenzalidine)amine-5-(2-hydroxy)phenyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol using molecular docking and in-vitro antifungal screening approach. This study was further designed to evaluate potential drug likeness properties and ADME/T prediction of aforementioned experimental triazoles. 3D crystal model of cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14 α-demethylaseenzyme was acquired from Protein Data Bank (PDB ID 5EQB). Docking studies revealed that both experimental compounds showed stable binding complex with lowest binding affinity values compared to reference standard Fluconazole (-6.8, -7.8 and -7.1Kcal/mol respectively for UI, UIA and Fluconazole) against cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14 α-demethylase, which is a key yeast target.In-vitro evaluation revealed that both experimental triazoles especially UIA showed promising MIC values, 24, 48 and 80 μg against Candida albican, Candida tropicalis and Candida glabrata respectively. Rat acute toxicity prediction using GUSAR model suggested that both experimental molecules were virtually non toxic when computationally studied through IV, IP, SC and oral routes of administration. This experimental work concludes that both triazoles possess strong fungicidal potential and should be further explored. In-silico work in current study further proposes an exceptional strategy for drug discovery with minimum cost and time

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and metabolic disorder affecting large set of population of the world. To widen the scope of understanding of genetic causes of this disease, we performed interactive and toxicogenomic based systems biology study to find potential T2DM related genes after cDNA differential analysis. Methods: From the list of 50-differential expressed genes (p < 0.05), we found 9-T2DM related genes using extensive data mapping. In our constructed gene-network, T2DM-related differentially expressed seeder genes (9-genes) are found to interact with functionally related gene signatures (31-genes). The genetic interaction network of both T2DM-associated seeder as well as signature genes generally relates well with the disease condition based on toxicogenomic and data curation. Results: These networks showed significant enrichment of insulin signaling, insulin secretion and other T2DM-related pathways including JAK-STAT, MAPK, TGF, Toll-like receptor, p53 and mTOR, adipocytokine, FOXO, PPAR, P13-AKT, and triglyceride metabolic pathways. We found some enriched pathways that are common in different conditions. We recognized 11-signaling pathways as a connecting link between gene signatures in insulin resistance and T2DM. Notably, in the drug-gene network, the interacting genes showed significant overlap with 13-FDA approved and few non-approved drugs. This study demonstrates the value of systems genetics for identifying 18 potential genes associated with T2DM that are probable drug targets. Conclusions: This integrative and network based approaches for finding variants in genomic data expect to accelerate identification of new drug target molecules for different diseases and can speed up drug discovery outcomes.

Purpose: The triazole nucleus is an important part of the therapeutically interesting drug candidate as antimicrobial, analgesic, anticancer, anticonvulsant and anti-inflammatory agents. Methods: Therefore, in this study, twelve 4,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiols were synthesized by the reaction of substituted isothiocyanates and hydrazides using the common method of base catalysed intramolecular dehydrative cyclization of substituted thiosemicarbazides 3(a-f) and 4(a-f). The structures of these compounds were characterized by means of FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and elemental analysis data. All these compounds were screened for antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor and cytotoxic activities. Results: Among these compounds: 5c, 5f and 6f were found active against gram positive cocci, the compounds 5a, 5b, 5d, 6a and 6f showed 85% free radical scavenging effect at 3 ppm when tested for antioxidant activity, 75% tumors inhibition was recorded using 5c, 5d and 6a and brine shrimps lethality assay declared 5a, 5b and 6d was 129.62 μg/ml, 161.577 μg/ml and 81.56 μg/ml respectively. Conclusion: Compounds carrying significant bioactivity can be further studied using animal models to establish their safety profile prior to initiating clinical trials.

Leishmaniasis is a protozoal infection which presents a broad spectrum drug resistance and causing diseases ranging from asymptomatic infections to significant mortality. The enzyme, trypanothione reductase from Leishmania infantumis is essential for the parasite survival. It is an attractive target to design new less toxic drugs against Leishmaniasis as found absent in mammalian cells. The antileishmanial activity of epicoccamide derivatives was studied by in silico approaches. The crystallographic structure of trypanothione reductase was obtained from the protein data bank (ID: 2W0H) database. Binding mode of the epicoccamide inhibitors showed that they are stabilized in the active site of enzyme through hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions. These derivatives (A-D) showed significant binding affinities with trypanothione reductase with binding energies: -13.21, -13.44, -13.31, and -13.52 kcal/mol, respectively.The present study showed new and effective antileishmanial compounds that can get pharmaceutical importance.

Ethanol, petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of Piper betel leaf were tested against Grampositive (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633), Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas putida, Salmonella typhi ATCC 19430, Shigella flexneri ATCC 25929, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 33347, Vibrio cholerae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 49565) bacterial strains by Agar-well Diffusion Method. All the crude extracts showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity inhibiting both the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Petroleum ether extracts of Piper betel were found to be least effective against most of the tested organisms. Moderate antibacterial activity has been studied with chloroform extracts while ethanolic fractions have been investigated to show optimum activity against nearly all chosen strains. Levofloxacin, the semi-synthetic broad spectrum antibiotic was used as standard Compare to levofloxacin, bio active fractions of Piper betel showed maximum activity against the Klebsiella pneumonia. This study reports the possible activity of Piper betel leaf in arresting the growth of selected bacterial strains. It has been expected that the present work on antimicrobial isolation of the plant bio active parts will lead to the researchers who continue work that may bring clinical success concerning the fatal diseases.

A systematic study was conducted to investigate the causes of gastroenteritis in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad during June, 2010. Of 220 individuals, 180 cases of gastroenteritis (81.8%) were recorded, compared to an average 18 monthly cases. Case study revealed that, illness was associated with drinking tap and poor filtered water. Enterococci were recovered from both gastroenteritis patients and water samples. Bacteriological analysis of 50 water samples showed that more than 80% of samples deviate from the WHO standards. This is an issue of public health significance and appropriate steps are required on behalf of authorities to address it.

The aim of present study was to determine the changes of sodium, potassium, chloride, copper, and zinc in serum of Nili-Ravi buffalo during pregnancy and lactation. The study was carried out on 25 Nili-Ravi buffaloes during March 2008 to February 2009 at Buffalo Research Institute, Pattoki, District Kasur. Blood samples were taken from each buffalo during early pregnancy (Phase EP), i.e., between 1 and 3 months gestation, mid pregnancy (Phase MP), i.e., between 4 and 6 months gestation, late pregnancy (Phase LP), i.e., between 7 and 10 months gestation, and during lactation (Phase LT). Serum sodium, potassium, and chloride were determined on a clinical chemistry analyzer whereas copper and zinc were determined on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The mean serum sodium, potassium, and chloride concentrations varied non-significantly (P > 0.05) during pregnancy and lactation. With advancing pregnancy, copper increased and was significantly high (P

Dengue virus (DENV) belongs to the family Flaviviridae and can cause major health problems worldwide, including dengue fever and dengue shock syndrome. DENV replicon in human cells inhibits interferon alpha and beta with the help of its non-structural proteins. Non-structural protein 5 (NS5) of DENV is responsible for the proteasome-mediated degradation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 2 protein, which has been implicated in the development of resistance against interferon-mediated antiviral effect. This degradation of STAT2 primarily occurs with the help of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Seven in absentia homologue (SIAH) 2 is a host protein that can mediate the ubiquitination of proteins and is known for its interaction with NS5. In this study, comprehensive computational analysis was performed to characterize the protein-protein interactions between NS5, SIAH2, and STAT2 to gain insight into the residues and sites of interaction between these proteins. The objective of the study was to structurally characterize the NS5-STAT2, SIAH2-STAT2, and NS5-SIAH2 interactions along with the determination of the possible reaction pattern for the degradation of STAT2. Docking and physicochemical studies indicated that DENV NS5 may first interact with the host SIAH2, which can then proceed towards binding with STAT2 from the side of SIAH2. These implications are reported for the first time and require validation by wet-lab studies.

A computational and in silico system level framework was developed to identify and prioritize the antibacterial drug targets in Clostridium botulinum (Clb), the causative agent of flaccid paralysis in humans that can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases. This disease is difficult to control due to the emergence of drug-resistant pathogenic strains and the only available treatment antitoxin which can target the neurotoxin at the extracellular level and cannot reverse the paralysis. This study framework is based on comprehensive systems-scale analysis of genomic sequence homology and phylogenetic relationships among Clostridium, other infectious bacteria, host and human gut flora. First, the entire 2628-annotated genes of this bacterial genome were categorized into essential, non-essential and virulence genes. The results obtained showed that 39% of essential proteins that functionally interact with virulence proteins were identified, which could be a key to new interventions that may kill the bacteria and minimize the host damage caused by the virulence factors. Second, a comprehensive comparative COGs and blast sequence analysis of these proteins and host proteins to minimize the risks of side effects was carried out. This revealed that 47% of a set of C. botulinum proteins were evolutionary related with Homo sapiens proteins to sort out the non-human homologs. Third, orthology analysis with other infectious bacteria to assess broad-spectrum effects was executed and COGs were mostly found in Clostridia, Bacilli (Firmicutes), and in alpha and beta Proteobacteria. Fourth, a comparative phylogenetic analysis was performed with human microbiota to filter out drug targets that may also affect human gut flora. This reduced the list of candidate proteins down to 131. Finally, the role of these putative drug targets in clostridial biological pathways was studied while subcellular localization of these candidate proteins in bacterial cellular system exhibited that 68% of the proteins were located in the cytoplasm, out of which 6% was virulent. Finally, this framework may serve as a general computational strategy for future drug target identification in infectious diseases.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the inhibitory action of quercetin glycosides by computational docking studies. For this, natural metabolite quercetin glycosides isolated from buckwheat and onions were used as ligand for molecular interaction. The crystallographic structure of molecular target angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) was obtained from PDB database (PDB ID: 1O86). Enalapril, a well-known brand of ACE inhibitor was taken as the standard for comparative analysis. Computational docking analysis was performed using PyRx, AutoDock Vina option based on scoring functions. The quercetin showed optimum binding affinity with a molecular target (angiotensin-converting-enzyme) with the binding energy of −8.5 kcal/mol as compared to the standard (−7.0 kcal/mol). These results indicated that quercetin glycosides could be one of the potential ligands to treat hypertension, myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure.