Search

Background: Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (E. coli O157:H7), capable of causing serious food-borne illnesses, is extensively studied and is known to be transmitted through animal reservoirs or person-to-person contact, leading to severe disease outbreaks. The emergence of antibiotic resistance in these strains, coupled with increased adverse effects of existing therapeutics, underscores the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies., Objective: This study aims to evaluate Glutamate Racemase (MurI protein) of the food-path-ogenic E. coli O157:H7 (EC MurI) as a novel drug target. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify new compounds with potential inhibitory effects against this protein., Methods: Using computational tools, the study identified inhibitor binding sites on EC MurI and identified relevant inhibitors capable of binding to these sites. Molecular docking tech-niques were employed to assess potential hits, and selected compounds were further analyzed for their structural activity and binding affinity to the protein., Results: The results of the study revealed that Frigocyclinone and Deslanoside, exhibited the best binding affinity with EC-MurI. Subsequent molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of the selected complexes indicated that both compounds were stable. This suggests that Frigocy-clinone and Deslanoside have the potential to serve as potent inhibitors of EC-MurI., Conclusion: In summary, this study highlights the urgent need for alternative therapies against food-pathogenic E. coli, focusing on E. coli O157:H7. Evaluation of Glutamate Race-mase as a drug target identified Frigocyclinone and Deslanoside as promising inhibitors. MD simulations indicated their stability, suggesting their potential as lead molecules for further research and treatment development., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

In this article, we propose high-performance colorimetric detection of Hg +2 using silver nanoprisms. The spherical and triangular AgNPs were synthesized using varied concentration of NaBH4. Pristine AgNPs without any further modification were used for the detection of various metal ions including Hg 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cl - , Cd 2+ , Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , Ba 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cr 3+ , Cr₂O 2- 7 , Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ etc. AgNPs were not only selective in detecting the ions of Cl - and Hg +2 ions but also highly sensitive. Minimum detection limit was observed to be as low as 10 -7 ppm for both Hg +2 and Cl - . Water samples collected from various locations detected for the presence of various heavy metals. Silver nanoprisms owing to their surface plasmon resonance exhibit highly selective tendency towards detection against Hg +2 .