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Background Higher aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH) activity is one of the important signatures of breast cancer appearance and has been associated with poor prognosis. ALDH1A3 has been over-expressed in breast cancer patients. This study aims to analyze gene expression patterns of 18 ALDH isozymes in breast cancer tissue samples. It is carried out using a chip-based microarray, next-generation DNA sequencing of ALDH2 gene following in silico study to identify the natural products which act as inhibitors for over-expressed ALDH isoforms. The synthesis of rutin-copper complex and cell viability assay is carried out on MDA-MB-468 cell line. Results ALDH1A3 and ALDH18A1 have shown the highest positive mean fold of variation; whereas, ALDH2 and ALDH1A2 have shown the highest negative mean fold variation. In silico studies revealed that rutin has the highest binding affinity with both ALDH1A3 and ALDH18A1 and supported with IC50 value of rutin against MDA-MB-468 cells (144.50 μg/ml). Chemically synthesized rutin-copper complex significantly lowered the IC50 value to 119.40 μg/ml. The next-generation sequencing study provides the novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from T to G in the ALDH2 gene. Conclusion The present study signifies that, along with ALDH1A3, ALDH18A1 also acts as a marker for breast cancer. Apart from that, inhibitors of ALDH1A3 and ALDH18A1 were attained. Perhaps the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) obtained during the mutation analysis may be the probable cause of the highest downregulation of ALDH2 in breast cancer.

Continuous monitoring of glucose and sugar sensing plays a vital role in diabetes control. The drawbacks of the present enzyme-based sugar sensors have encouraged the investigation into alternate approaches to design new sensors. The popularity of fluorescence sensors is due to their ability to bind reversibly to compounds containing diol. In this study we investigated the binding ability of phenyl boronic acid P1 for monosaccharides and disaccharides (sugars) in aqueous medium at physiological pH 7.4 using steady-state fluorescence and absorbance. P1 fluorescence was quenched due to formation of esters with sugars. Absorbance and fluorescence measurements led to results that indicated that the sugars studied could be ordered in terms of their affinity to P1, as stated: sucrose > lactose > galactose > xylose > ribose > arabinose. In each case, the slope of modified Stern-Volmer plots was nearly 1, indicating the presence of only a single binding site in boronic acids for sugars. Docking studies were carried out using Schrodinger Maestro v.11.2 software. The binding affinity of phenyl boronic acid P1 with periplasmic protein (PDB ID 2IPM and 2IPL) was estimated using GlideScore.

Background There are many biomarkers associated with breast cancer. Higher expression of PIK3CA (Phosphoinositide 3-kinase Cα), in its upregulated form, is associated with Hr+ and Her2− breast cancer; therefore, many drugs were synthesized against this protein to treat breast cancer patients. FDA recently approved that the drug alpelisib also inhibits PI3KCα (PDB ID-5DXT) in BC patients with Hr+ and Her2−. In present study, we have exploited fourteen coumarin-carbonodithioate derivatives and alpelisib against this protein along with eighteen others which are responsible for causing BC through computational analysis. We have used Schrödinger Maestro 11.2 version for our in silico docking study, and to calculate relative binding energies of ligands, we used prime MM-GBSA module. Result Docking study revealed that among all fourteen compounds, 2f, 2a, 2d, and 2e showed the highest G score than the alpelisib and coumarin against PI3KCα with − 9.3, − 9.0, − 9.0 and − 9.1 kcal/mol respectively, along with individual G score of alpelisib (− 8.9) and coumarin (− 7.9). Prime MM-GBSA analysis gave the relative binding energies of alpelisib, 2f, and 2e with − 19.94864535, − 18.63076296 and − 13.07341286 kcal/mol sequentially. Conclusion This study provides an insight into the coumarin-carbonodithioate derivatives that could act as inhibitors of PI3KCα like alpelisib. Further prime MM-GBSA study revealed ligand binding energies and ligands strain energies.

Soil pollution caused by toxic and hazardous chemical contaminants is in high enough concentrations to be of risk to plants, wildlife, humans and certainly for soil to itself. Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the phytoextraction capacity of an ornamental plant Sansevieria roxburghiana cultivated in soil artificially contaminated with 200, 400, and 600 mg kg-1 of zinc (Zn) treatments including control for 6 weeks. The soil was amended with garlic and cilantro extracts as the natural irrigation solutions (metal chelants). Garlic application significantly enhanced the Zn accumulation and was found to be the most efficient chelating amendment, increasing concentrations of Zn in roots from 65 mg kg-1 to 423 mg kg-1 dry weight (DW) soil. The phytochemical screening of acetone and ether extracts of S. roxburghiana plant samples revealed the presence of biologically active phytochemicals. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) of plant extracts revealed antibacterial efficacy against pathogenic bacterial strain. The plant samples were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric technique. The use of ornamental plant and varied irrigation solutions in our present study revealed positive effects on growth and phytoextraction together with an improvement of the soil quality.

Chlorpropham [isopropyl N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate] (CIPC), an important phenyl carbamate herbicide, has been used as a plant growth regulator and potato sprout suppressant (Solanum tuberosum L) during long-term storage. A bacterium capable of utilizing the residual herbicide CIPC as a sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from herbicide-contaminated soil samples employing selective enrichment method. The isolated bacterial strain was identified as Bacillus licheniformis NKC-1 on the basis of its morphological, cultural, biochemical characteristics and also by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The organism degraded CIPC through its initial hydrolysis by CIPC hydrolase enzyme to yield 3-chloroaniline (3-CA) as a major metabolic product. An inducible 3-CA dioxygenase not only catalyzes the incorporation of molecular oxygen but also removes the amino group by the deamination yielding a monochlorinated catechol. Further, degradation of 4-chlorocatechol proceeded via ortho- ring cleavage through the maleylacetate process. 3-Chloroaniline and 4-chlorocatechol are the intermediates in the CIPC degradation which suggested that dechlorination had occurred after the aromatic ring cleavage. The presence of these metabolites has been confirmed by using ultra-violet (UV), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), Fourier transmission-infrared (FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and gas chromatography-mass (GC-MS) spectral analysis. Enzyme activities of CIPC hydrolase, 3-CA dioxygenase and chlorocatechol 1, 2-dioxygenase were detected in the cell-free-extract of the CIPC culture and are induced by cells of NKC-1 strain. These results demonstrate the biodegradation pathways of herbicide CIPC and promote the potential use of NKC-1 strain to bioremediate CIPC-contaminated environment with subsequent release of ammonia, chloride ions and carbon dioxide.