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We herein elucidate the function of SARS-CoV-2 derived 5'UTR in the human cells. 5'UTR bound cellular RNA was immunoprecipitated by gRNA-dCas13 targeting luciferase RNA fused to SARS-CoV-2 5'UTR in HEK293T and A549 cells. The 5'UTR bound RNA extractions were predominantly enriched for regulating lipid metabolism. Overexpression of SARS-CoV-2 5'UTR RNA altered the expression of factors known to be involved in the process of the human Mevalonate pathway. Besides, HMMG-CoA reductase inhibitors suppressed 5'UTR-mediated translation activity, which is derived from the SARS-CoV-2 model. In conclusion, we deduce the array of host RNAs interacting with SARS-CoV-2 5'UTR that drives SARS-CoV-2 translational initiation and influences metabolic pathways.

Objective Permanent loss of cardiomyocytes after myocardial infarction results in irreversible damage to cardiac function. The present study aims to enhance the cardiomyogenic efficiency of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) to develop into large populations of cardiomyocytes by intrinsic activation of cardio-specific differentiation factors (Gata4, Mef2c, Nkx2-5, Hand2, and Tnnt2) by a CRISPR/dCas9 assisted transcriptional enhancement system. Methods Exhaustive screening was performed to identify the specific sequences in endogenous regulatory regions (enhancers and promoters) responsible for transcriptional activation of the target genes, via a CRISPR/dCas9 system fused with transcriptional activator VP64 (CRISPR-dCas9-VP64). In a rat model of acute myocardial infarction, we compared the regenerative potential and functional benefits of CDCs with or without transcriptional activation. Results We identified a panel of specific CRISPR RNA targeting the enhancers and promoters, which demonstrated significantly higher expression of differentiation factors of Gata4, Hand2, and Tnnt2. The group of CDCs with transcriptional activator VP64 (CDC with VP64) showed significant improvement in the left ventricular ejection fraction (61.9% vs 52.5% and 44.1% in the CDC without transcriptional activation group and control) and decreased scar area in the heart. Conclusions We have identified endogenous regulatory regions responsible for an intrinsic activation of cardio-specific differentiation factors assisted via a CRISPR/dCas9 gene transcriptional system. The CRISPR/dCas9 system may provide an efficient and effective means of regulating Tnnt2 gene activation within stem cells. Subsequently, this system can be used to enhance transplanted CDCs differentiation potential within ischemic myocardia to better therapeutic outcomes of patients with ischemic heart disease.

Background Alterations in GABAnergic system are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Available antipsychotics that target GABA receptor form a desirable therapeutic strategy in the treatment regimen of schizophrenia, unfortunately, suffer serious setback due to their prolonged side effects. The present investigation focuses on developing QSAR models from the biological activity of herbal compounds and their derivatives that promise to be alternative candidates to GABA uptake inhibitors. Methods Three sets of compounds were undertaken in the study to develop QSAR models. The first set consisted of nine compounds which included Magnolol, Honokiol and other GABA acting established compounds. The second set consisted of 16 derivatives of N-diarylalkenylpiperidinecarboxylic acid. The third QSAR dataset was made up of thirty two compounds which were Magnolol and Honokiol derivatives. Multiple linear regressions (MLR) and support vector machine (SVM) supervised quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models were developed to predict the biological activity of these three sets. The purpose of taking three QSAR sets of diverse chemical structures but identical in their GABA targeting and pharmacological action was to identify common chemical structure features responsible for structure-activity relationship (SAR). Results Linear and non-linear QSAR models confirmed that the three sets shared common structural descriptors derived from WHIM (Weighted Holistic Invariant Molecular descriptors), 3D-MoRSE and Eigenvalue classes. Conclusion It was concluded that properties like electro negativity and polarizability play a crucial role in controlling the activity of herbal compounds against GABA receptor.

Background: A subset of asthmatics shows refractoriness to Salbutamol owing to ADRB2 gene C T polymorphism (rs 1800888) that substitutes Thr to Ile at the position 164 in the β2 adrenergic receptor leading to sub-optimal binding of Salbutamol. The present study aims to associate the Salbutamol (200 mcg) refractoriness with the polymorphism and select the best existing agonist with optimal binding affinity against wild and mutated receptor and further identify high affinity compound, irrespectively targeting wild and mutated receptor through virtual screening methods. Methods: Responders to Salbutamol were categorized, if percentage reversibility was greater than or equal to 12% in them, while those showing reversibility less than 12% were non-responders. The genotyping for polymorphism was performed by ARMS PCR method. Established agonists with consistent binding affinity against wild and mutated receptors formed query compound to identify high affinity molecule from Phase database through 7 point pharmacophore based screening. Results: Polymorphism was significantly associated with non-responders (p= < 0.05) demonstrating it as a major factor of Salbutamol refractoriness. Results from Glide Docking showed that Fenoterol had highest affinity for mutated receptor and stood as second best (after Salbutamol) high affinity agonist for wild receptor among the established β2 agonists. Therefore Fenoterol formed a query molecule (7 point pharmacophore) in identification of high affinity compound for virtual screening process. Conclusion: Compound CACPD2011a-0001278239 identified through virtual screening against 4 million compounds in phase database was shown to irrespectively target both wild and mutated β2 adrenergic receptor with high and consistent affinity which was par greater than established β2agonists.

Background: Dysregulation of HDACs has been associated with tumour development and therefore inhibiting HDAC’s have surfaced as promising therapeutic strategy in malignancy. Methods: Vorinostat analogues with different biological activities were investigated for underlying structure-activity relationship. Results: Out of six activities and their multiple QSAR models, HDAC1 and HDAC8 produced statistically fit, stable and predictive linear (MLR) and non-linear (SVM) QSAR models. In case of HDAC1 activity as end point, linear (R2=0.8089, R2 CV=0.7343) and non-linear (R2=0.9801, R2 CV=0.8952) QSAR models turned reliable to investigate SAR. Similarly, HDAC8 activity based linear (R2=0.9454, R2 CV=0.9049) and non-linear (R2=0.9899, R2 CV=0.9232) QSAR models produced statistically improved and stable models. Conclusion: Molecular descriptors derived from 3-D Morse and Radial Distribution Function indices were found to be selective in all the models. These molecular descriptors which encode common SAR among Vorinostat derivatives were evaluated for their potent HDAC inhibition activity.

Aldose reductase (ALR2) inhibitors provide a viable mode to fight against diabetic complications. ALR2 exhibit plasticity in the active site vicinities and possible shifts in the nearby two supporting alpha helices. Therefore, a novel series of amino acid conjugates of chromene-3-imidazoles (13–15) were designed and synthesized based on natural isoflavonoids. The compounds were identified on the basis of spectral (1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS) data and tested in vitro for ALR2 inhibitory activity with an IC50 value ranges from 0.031 ± 0.082 μM to 4.29 ± 0.55 μM. Our in silico and biochemical studies confirmed that 15e has the best inhibition activity among the synthesized compounds with a high selective index against the Aldehyde reductase (ALR1). Supplementation of 15e to STZ induced rats decreased the blood glucose levels and delayed the progression of cataract in a dose-dependent manner. The present study thus provides novel series of compounds with a promising inhibitor to prevent or delay the cataract progression.

Display Omitted A synthesis of novel intermediate salt of N-cyclohexyl-N-(cyclohexylcarbamoyl)-4-(trifluoromethyl) benzamide is reported.Structures established on the basis of IR, 1H, 13C NMR Spectra and X-ray diffraction analysis.Computational study on molecular docking and binding of the compound suggest, as the best potassium channel blocker in Blood Brain Barrier.Resulting analogues have good oxygen enriching capacity. The narrow therapeutic range and limited pharmacokinetics of available Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have raised serious concerns in the proper management of epilepsy. To overcome this, the present study attempts to identify a candidate molecule targeting voltage gated potassium channels anticipated to have superior pharmacological than existing potassium channel blockers. The compound was synthesized by reacting (S)-(+)-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo2,1-c1,4 benzodiazepine5,11(10H,11aH)-dione with 4-(Trifluoromethyl) benzoic acid (C8H5F3O2) in DMF and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) which lead to the formation of an intermediate salt of N-cyclohexyl-N-(cyclohexylcarbamoyl)-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide with a perfect crystalline structure. The structure of the compound was characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR analysis. The crystal structure is confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) studies revealed that substituent of fluoro or trifluoromethyl moiety into the compound had a great effect on the biological activity in comparison to clinically used drugs. Employing computational approaches the compound was further tested for its affinity against potassium protein structure by molecular docking in addition, bioactivity and ADMET properties were predicted through computer aided programs.

Thr164Ile polymorphism in the ADRB2 gene encoding β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) has its functional consequence in declining ligand-receptor interactions and depressed coupling of β2AR to adenylcyclase. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the possible association of Thr164Ile polymorphism with asthma susceptibility, pharmacogenetic response to Salbutamol and varying degrees of severity.Three hundred and ninety eight clinically diagnosed patients and four hundred and fifty six healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Patients were classified into severity classes according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines. To assess bronchodilator response, spirometry was performed before and 15min after Salbutamol (200μg) delivery. Responders to Salbutamol were categorized if percentage reversibility was greater than or equal to 12% in them, while those showing reversibility12% were classified as non-responders. Further, responding phenotypes were stratified into severity groups. Genotyping was carried out by ARMS-PCR technique. Statistical methods were applied to test the significance of the results.In the present study, polymorphism was not associated with disease susceptibility however; there was significant association with non-responding asthmatics. In case of severity subsets, the polymorphism was not associated with milder subtypes; although, notable association was observed with moderate and severe asthma subtypes. In addition, the polymorphism was significantly associated with non-responding patients with severe asthma.In south Indian population, the ADRB2 Thr164Ile polymorphism may not form susceptible variant to develop asthma, however, it can form a predictive maker for bronchodilator (Salbutamol) response in severe asthmatics.

Introduction. The present investigation is pursued to study the possible association of –463G>A and –129G>A polymorphism in MPO gene and assessment of plasma MPO levels with the risk of developing coronary artery disease. Material and methods. A total of 200 angiographically documented CAD patients and 200 age, gender ethnicity matched healthy controls were recruited for the study. Plasma MPO levels were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP technique. Results. The MPO levels were found to be significantly increased in CAD patients when compared with controls (p A gene polymorphism on MPO levels. A significant association of –463G>A polymorphism was observed with coronary artery disease. The frequency of recessive genotype “AA” at –463 promoter site was considerably lesser in patients (4%) relative to controls (11%) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3371, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1463–0.7766, p = 0.012). However we did not find significant association of –129G>A polymorphism with CAD. Additionally, haplotype analysis revealed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) 1 of AA genotype and SNP 2 of GG genotype showed significant protective effect with disease (OR = 0.64; 95% CI [0.42–0.96], p = 0.032). Conclusion. The results revealed that –463G>A polymorphism in the MPO gene lowers the CAD related condition in patients by down regulating serum MPO concentration, which is known to aggravate the atherosclerotic events observed in CAD.

Inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clp 2 protease has emerged as an attractive therapeutic option for treatment. Acyldepsipeptides (ADEPs) is known as an inhibitor for Clp 2 protease. Therefore, it is of interest to document its affinity, enzyme activity and ADME profiles. We report the predicted binding affinity of all known Clp 2 inhibitors like IDR-10001 and IDR-10011 against Clp2 protease using MolDock algorithm aided molecular docking. The predicted activity (using Molinspiration server) and ADMET properties (AdmetSAR server) were estimated for these compounds. This data suggest ADEP2 having improved binding features with Mtb Clp 2 having acceptable ADMET properties. This is in agreement with known in vitro data for ADEP2 inhibition with Mtb Clp 2 protease.

Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) interaction with Receptor for AGEs (RAGE) activates downstream signaling and evokes inflammatory responses in vascular cells. Therefore, it is of interest to design a novel series of molecules with a library of 352 compounds based on natural Isoflavone and Argpyrimidine moities. The compounds screened against the optimized structure of RAGE (PDB code: 3CJJ) using MolDock aided with molecular docking algorithm. This exercise identified compound number 62 with appreciable ADME properties having no toxicity and pharmacophore features. Therefore, compound 62 identified as a RAGE inhibitor is proposed for further validation in the context of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and vascular complications.

Alteration of the acetylation status of chromatin and other non-histone proteins by HDAC inhibitors has evolved as an excellent epigenetic strategy in treatment of cancers. The present study was sought to identify compounds with positive pharmacological profiles targeting HDAC1. Analogues of Vorinostat synthesized by Cai et al, 2015 formed the test compounds for the present pharmacological evaluation. Hydroxamte analogue 6H showed superior pharmacological profile in comparison to all the compounds in the analogue dataset owing to its better electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding patterns. In order to identify compounds with even better high affinity and pharmacological profile than 6H and Vorinostat, virtual screening was performed. A total of 83 compounds similar to Vorinostat and 154 compounds akin to analogue 6H were retrieved. SCHEMBL15675695 (PubCid: 15739209) and AKOS019005527 (PubCid: 80442147) similar to Vorinostat and 6H, were the best docked compounds among the virtually screened compounds. However, in spite of having good affinity, none of the virtually screened compounds had better affinity than that of 6H. In addition SCHEMBL15675695 was predicted to be a carcinogen while AKOS019005527 is Ames toxic. From, our extensive analysis involving binding affinity analysis, ADMET properties predictions and pharmacophoric mappings, we report Vorinostat hydroxamate analogue 6H to be a potential candidate for HDAC inhibition in treatment of cancers through an epigenetic strategy.

Southwestern Japan suffered its worst rains in 2018 causing floods and mudslides, claiming 225 lives and forcing millions for evacuations. Referred as “Heisei san-jū-nenshichi-gatsugōu”, the disaster was the result of incessant precipitation caused by the interaction of typhoon “Prapiroon” with the seasonal rain front "Baiu". The present epidemiological study aims to investigate disaster-induced health issues in 728 residents of Innoshima island in the Hiroshima Prefecture by comparing their clinical data in pre-disaster (2017) and disaster-hit (2018) years which was obtained from annual health screening. Comparison of data showed a significant increase in the urine protein concentration in victims following the disaster. Probing further into the household conditions, showed that a total of 59,844 households were affected with water outage during the heavy rains, which was accompanied by severe damage of sewerage pipelines with complete recovery process taking two weeks. This two weeks of the crisis forced victims to refrain from using restrooms which in turn led to infrequent urination, thereby explaining the increased urine protein concentration in victims following the disaster. The present study addresses the acute health implications caused by the water crisis and serves as a precautionary measure for disaster management council to provide enhanced aftercare services in victims in further events of natural disasters., Epidemiology; Occupational health; Public health; Quality of life; Japan heavy Rain, Water outage, Health impact, Urinary protein, Health checkup

Clinical evidence shows that dual inhibition of kinases as well angiogenesis provides ideal therapeutic option in the treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) than inhibiting either of these with the events separately. Although treatment with dual inhibitors has shown good clinical responses in patients with MTC, it has been associated with serious side effects. Some inhibitors are active agents for both angiogenesis or kinase activity. Owing to narrow therapeutic window of established inhibitors, the present study aims to identify high affinity dual inhibitors targeting RET and VEGFR2 respectively for kinase and angiogenesis activity. Established inhibitors like Vandetanib, Cabozantinib, Motesanib, PP121, RAF265 and Sunitinib served as query parent compounds for identification of structurally similar compounds by Tanimoto-based similarity searching with a threshold of 95% against the PubChem database. All the parent inhibitors and respective similar compounds were docked against RET and VEGFR2 in order to retrieve high affinity compounds with these two proteins. AGN-PC-0CUK9P PubCID: 59320403 a compound related to PPI21 showed almost equal affinity for RET and VEGFR2 and unlike other screened compounds with no apparent bias for either of the receptors. Further, AGN- PC-0CUK9P demonstrated appreciable interaction with both RET and VEGFR2 and superior kinase activity in addition to showed optimal ADMET properties and pharmacophore features. From our in silico investigation we suggest AGN-PC-0CUK9P as a superior dual inhibitor targeting RET and VEGFR2 with high efficacy which should be proposed for pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies for improved treatment of MTC.

The present AChE inhibitors have been successful in the treatment of Alzheimer׳s Diseases however suffers serious side effects. Therefore in this view, the present study was sought to identify compounds with appreciable pharmacological profile targeting AChE. Analogue of Rivastigmine and Fluoxetine hybrid synthesized by Toda et al, 2003 (dataset1), and Coumarin−Tacrine hybrids synthesized by Qi Sun et al (dataset2) formed the test compounds for the present pharmacological evaluation. p-cholorophenyl substituted Rivastigmine and Fluoxetine hybrid compound (26d) from dataset 1 and −OCH3 substitute Coumarin−Tacrine hybrids (1h) from dataset 2 demonstrated superior pharmacological profile. 26 d showed superior pharmacological profile comparison to the entire compounds in either dataset owing to its better electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding patterns. In order to identify still better compound with pharmacological profile than 26 d and 1h, virtual screening was performed. The best docked compound (PubCId: PubCid: 68874404) showed better affinity than its parent 26 d, however showed poor ADME profile and AMES toxicity. CHEMBL2391475 (PubCid: 71699632) similar to 1h had reduced affinity in comparison to its parent compound 1h. From, our extensive analysis involving binding affinity analysis, ADMET properties predictions and pharmacophoric mappings, we report p-cholorophenyl substituted rivastigmine and fluoxetine hybrid (26d) to be a potential candidate for AcHE inhibition which in addition can overcome narrow therapeutic window of present AChE inhibitors in clinical treatment of Alzheimer׳s disease. Abbreviations AD - Alzheimer׳s Disease, AChE - Acetyl Choline Estarase, OPLS - Optimized Potentials for Liquid Simulations, PDB - Protein Data Bank.

16S rDNA sequencing which has gained wide popularity amongst microbiologists for the molecular characterization and identification of newly discovered isolates provides accurate identification of isolates down to the level of sub-species (strain). It's most important advantage over the traditional biochemical characterization methods are that it can provide an accurate identification of strains with atypical phenotypic characters as well. The following work is an application of 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach to identify a novel species of Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus. The sample was collected from pond water samples of rural and urban areas of Krishna District, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Subsequently the sample was serially diluted and the aliquots were incubated for a suitable time period following which the suspected colony was subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing. The sequence aligned against other species were concluded to be a novel, Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria, further which were named Lactobacillus acidophilus strain EMBS081EMBS082. After the sequence characterization, the isolate was deposited in GenBank Database, maintained by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information NCBI. The sequence can also be retrieve from EMBL and DDBJ repositories with accession numbers JX255677 and KC150145.

UNLABELLED The present antipsychotic drugs have known to show serious concerns like extra pyramidal side effects therefore, pursuit for novel antipsychotic GABAnergic drugs has lately focused on the folkloric medicine from plant derivatives as better treatment option of schizophrenia. The present study centers to identify potential inhibitors of plant origin for GABA receptor through in silico approaches. Three compound datasets were undertaken in the study. The first set consisted of seven compounds which included Magnolol, Honokiol and other plant derivatives. The second set consisted of 16 derivatives of N-diarylalkenyl-piperidinecarboxylic acid synthesized by Zheng et al., 2006. The third dataset had thirty two compounds which were Magnolol and Honokiol analogues synthesized by Fuchs et al., 2014. All the compounds were docked at the allosteric site of the GABA (A) receptor. The compounds were further tested for ADMET and biological activity. We observed Honokiol and its derivatives demonstrated superior druglike properties than any compound undertaken in the study. Further, compound 61 [2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-propylphenol] of dataset three - a synthetic derivative of honokiol had better profile than its parent compound. In a possible attempt to identify compound with even better efficacious compound than 61, virtual screening was performed, 135 compounds akin to compound 61 were retrieved. Interestingly none of the 135 compounds showed better druggable properties than compound 61. Our in silico pharmacological profiling of compounds is in coherence and is complemented by the findings of Fuchs et al, which also revealed compound 61 to be the good potentiator of GABA receptor. ABBREVIATIONS GABA (A) R - Gamma Amino Butyric Acid Receptor, subtype A, GPCR - G Protein Coupled Receptor, OPLS - Optimized Potentials for Liquid Simulations, PDB - Protein Data Bank, PLP - Piece wise Linear Potential, T.E.S.T - Toxicity Estimation Software Tool, TCM - Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator of cell growth, proliferation and angiogenesis. mTOR signaling is frequently hyper activated in a broad spectrum of human cancers thereby making it a potential drug target. The current drugs available have been successful in inhibiting the mTOR signaling, nevertheless, show low oral bioavailability and suboptimal solubility. Considering the narrow therapeutic window of the available inhibitors, through computational approaches, the present study pursues to identify a compound with optimal oral bioavailability and better solubility properties in addition ensuing high affinity between FKBP12 and FRB domain of mTOR. Current mTOR inhibitors; Everolimus, Temsirolimus Deforolimus and Echinomycin served as parent molecules for similarity search with a threshold of 95%. The query molecules and respective similar molecules were docked at the binding cleft of FKBP12 protein. Aided by MolDock algorithm, high affinity compounds against FKBP12 were retrieved. Patch Dock supervised protein-protein interactions were established between FRB domain of mTOR and ligand (query and similar) bound and free states of FKBP12. All the similar compounds thus retrieved showed better solubility properties and enabled better complex formation of mTOR and FKBP12. In particular Everolimus similar compound PubChem ID: 57284959 showed appreciable drugs like properties bestowed with better solubility higher oral bioavailability. In addition this compound brought about enhanced interaction between FKBP12 and FRB domain of mTOR. In the study, we report Everolimus similar compound PubChem ID: 57284959 to be potential inhibitor for mTOR pathway which can overcome the affinity and solubility concerns of current mTOR drugs. Abbreviations mTOR - Mammalian Target of Rapamycin, FRB domain - FKBP12-rapamycin associated protein, FKBP12 - FK506-binding protein 12, OPLS - Optimized Potentials for Liquid Simulations, Akt - RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase, PI3K - phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases.

UNLABELLED Phenytoin (PHT) and Carbamazepine (CBZ) are excellent sodium channel blockers administered in clinical treatment of epileptic seizures. However, the narrow therapeutic range and limited pharmacokinetics of these drugs have raised serious concerns in the proper management of epilepsy. To overcome this, the present study attempts to identify a candidate molecule with superior pharmacological profile than PHT and CBZ through In silico approaches. PHT and CBZ served as query small molecules for Tanimoto based similarity search with a threshold of 95% against PubChem database. Aided by MolDock algorithm, high affinity similar compound against each query was retrieved. PHT and CBZ and their respective similar were further tested for toxicity profiles, LC 50 values and biological activity. Compounds, NSC403438 and AGN-PC-0BPCBP respectively similar to PHT and CBZ demonstrated higher affinity to sodium channel protein than their respective leads. Of particular relevance, NSC403438 demonstrated highest binding affinity bestowed with least toxicity, better LC 50 values and optimal bioactivity. NSC403438 was further mapped for its structure based pharmacophoric features. In the study, we report NSC403438 as potential sodium channel blocker as a better candidate than PHT and CBZ which can be put forth for pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies. ABBREVIATIONS AEDs - Antiepileptic drugs, BLAST - Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, CBZ - Carbamazepine, GEFS+ - Generalized Epilepsy with Febrile Seizures Plus, GPCR - G Protein Coupled Receptor, Nav - Sodium channel with specific voltage conduction, PDB - Protein Data Bank, PHT - Phenytoin, PIR - Protein Information resources, SAVES - Structural Analysis and Verification Server, VGSC - Voltage-gated Sodium channels.

Apoptosis is a general phenomenon of all multicellular organisms and caspases form a group of important proteins central to suicide of cells. Pathologies like cancer, Myocardial infarction, Stroke, Sepsis, Alzheimer's, Psoriasis, Parkinson and Huntington diseases are often associated with change in caspase 3 mediated apoptosis and therefore, caspases may serve as potential inhibitory targets for drug development. In the present study, two series of synthetic acetylated tetrapeptides containing aldehyde and fluromethyl keto groups respectively at the C terminus were proposed. All these compounds were evaluated for binding affinity against caspase 3 structure. In series 1 compound Ac-DEHD-CHO demonstrated appreciable and high binding affinity (Rerank Score: -138.899) against caspase 3. While in series 2 it was Ac-WEVD-FMK which showed higher binding affinity (Rerank Score: -139.317). Further these two compounds met ADMET properties and demonstrated to be non- toxic.

Inappropriate activation of the Hh signaling pathway has been implicated in the development of several types of cancers including prostate, lung, pancreas, breast, brain and skin. Present study identified the binding affinities of eight established inhibitors viz., Cyclopamine, Saridegib, Itraconazole, LDE-225, TAK-441, BMS-833923 (XL139), PF-04449913 and Vismodegib targeting SMO receptor - a candidate protein involved in hedgehog pathway and sought to identify the best amongst the established inhibitors through by molecular docking. Exelxis® BMS 833923 (XL 139) demonstrated superior binding affinity aided by MolDock scoring docking algorithm. Further BMS 833923 (XL 139) was evaluated for pharmacophoric features which revealed appreciable ligand receptor interactions.

Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases of the skin. The Wnt pathways have been documented to play essential role in stem cell self-renewal and keratinocyte differentiation in the skin. Antagonizing the Wnt5a protein would emerge as a novel therapeutics in psoriasis treatment. In this view, we have developed and characterized series of compounds by attaching varied tertiary alkyloxy carbonyl groups at the N-terminal end of the hexapeptide (Met-Asp-Gly-Cys-Glu-Leu) bestowed to inhibit Wnt/Ca2+ signaling in psoriasis. Hexapeptide compound with 1,1-diphenylethoxy carbonyl group attached to N-terminal end of hexapeptide demonstrated highest binding affinity amongst all the evaluated compounds. The compound identified in the study can be subjected further for in vitro and in vivo studies for ADMET properties.

Background: Deficits in cholinergic neurotransmission due to the degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the brain are believed to be one of the major causes of the memory impairments associated with AD. Targeting acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) surfaced as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The present study is pursued to develop quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models to determine chemical descriptors responsible for AChE activity. Methods: Two different sets of AChE inhibitors, dataset-I (30 compounds) and dataset-II (20 compounds) were investigated through MLR aided linear and SVM aided non-linear QSAR models. Results: The obtained QSAR models were found statistically fit, stable and predictive on validation scales. These QSAR models were further investigated for their common structure-activity relationship in terms of overlapping molecular descriptors selection. Atomic mass weighted 3D Morse descriptors (MATS5m) and Radial Distribution Function (RDF045m) descriptors were found in common SAR for both the datasets. Electronegativity weighted (MATS5e, HATSe, and Mor17e) descriptors have also been identified in regulative roles towards endpoint values of dataset-I and dataset-II. Conclusion: The common SAR identified in these linear and non-linear QSAR models could be utilized to design novel inhibitors of AChE with improved biological activity.

Background Mutation in the B RAF at V600E has been well implicated in the carcinogenesis that makes it as an attractive therapeutictarget. In the present study, we sought to identify the basis of V600E mutation at functional and structural grounds. The study also endeavors in identification of small molecule as a potential candidate with considerable pharmacological profile than available BRAF inhibitors through computational approaches. Methods The functional effects of V600E mutation was predicted using SIFT and Polyphen servers. Protein structural alterations werepredicted using SDM server and RMSD calculations. Virtual screening was performed considering existing BRAF inhibitors viz., Vemurafenib, Sorafenib, Dabrfenib, Trametinibthat formed query compounds for shape similarity search by Tanimoto similarity indices with a threshold of 95%. Compound with high affinity as similar to query compound was retrieved and screened for its ADMET properties. Results The SNP was shown to be highly vulnerable to malfunction and have damaging effects. Mutated protein showed that the secondary structure was irregular and side chain hydrogen bonds were unsaturated. The superimposition of wild onto mutated V600E BRAF revealed helix-coil transition occurring wherein residues Val 502, Leu 505, Arg506, Lys 507 assumed coiled conformation in the mutated BRAF. Virtual screening led to identification of SCHEMBL298689 akin to Vemurafenib as high affinity B-Raf inhibitors; with least toxicity and optimal bioactivity. Conclusion In the present investigation, we put forth the structural and functional basis of B RAF V600E mutation showing helix coil transitions. In addition identified high affinity compound targeting V600E B RAF through virtual screening.

Calcineurin, a serine/threonine phosphatase is a calcium dependent protein which on activation triggers transcriptional up regulation of inflammatory genes associated with inflammation in the arteries and progressive formation of plaques in CAD. The present investigation is aimed to study the possible association of Calcineurin encoding gene PPP3R1 (CnB 5I/5D) polymorphism in correlation with serum levels of calcineurin in coronary artery disease (CAD). A total of 300 angiographically documented CAD patients and 300 age, gender ethnicity matched healthy controls were recruited for the study. Serum Calcineurin levels were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and genotypes were determined based on PCR-RFLP. The CnB 5I/5D variation was found to be significantly associated with CAD (p0.03), correlated to elevated serum calcineurin levels encoded by (0.01) 5I/5D allele authenticated by Insilco analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis also confirmed these findings [adjusted OR for DD genotype was 3.19 (95% CI 1.40-7.24) and p=0.001]. The results suggest that 5-base pair deletion results in increased serum calcineurin levels and may trigger up regulation of calcineurin which mediates vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis in CAD.

CML originates due to reciprocal translocation in Philadelphia chromosome leading to the formation of fusion product BCR-ABL which constitutively activates tyrosine kinase signaling pathways eventually leading to abnormal proliferation of granulocytic cells. As a therapeutic strategy, BCR-ABL inhibitors have been clinically approved which terminates its phosphorylation activity and retards cancer progression. However, a number of patients develop resistance to inhibitors which demand for the discovery of new inhibitors. Given the drawbacks of present inhibitors, by high throughput virtual screening approaches, present study pursues to identify high affinity compounds targeting BCR-ABL1 anticipated to have safer pharmacological profiles. Five established BCR-ABL inhibitors formed the query compounds for identification of structurally similar compounds by Tanimoto coefficient based linear fingerprint search with a threshold of 95% against PubChemdatabase. Assisted by MolDock algorithm all compounds were docked against BCR-ABL protein in order to retrieve high affinity compounds. The parents and similars were further tested for their ADMET propertiesand bioactivity. Rebastinib formed higher affinity inhibitor than rest of the four established compound investigated in the study. Interestingly, Rebastinib similar compound with Pubchem ID: 67254402 was also shown to have highest affinity than other similars including the similars of respective five parents. In terms of ADMET properties Pubchem ID: 67254402 had appreciable ADMET profile and bioactivity. However, Rebastinib still stood as the best inhibitor in terms of binding affinity and ADMET properties than Pubchem ID: 67254402. Nevertheless, owing to the similar pharmacological properties with Rebastinib, Pubchem ID: 67254402 can be expected to form potential BCR-ABL inhibitor.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) is a multifunctional cytokine that plays a pivotal role in airway remodeling observed in the asthmatic airways. C to T base substitution at -509 promoter position in the TGF-β1 gene leads to its increased expression which contributes to airway remodeling in bronchial asthma. We sought to evaluate the association of TGF-β1 -509 C/T promoter variant with clinical asthma and varying degrees of disease severity. Three hundred and eighty-two clinically diagnosed asthma patients and 410 healthy controls were enrolled for the study. Patients were classified into severity classes according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines. TGF-β1 -509 C/T genotyping was carried out by amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) technique. In the present study, we found significantly higher frequency of TT genotype in asthma patients compared to controls (for TT vs. CC, p = 0.020). In addition, a significant difference was observed in the frequency of C and T allele in patients and controls (for T vs. C, p = 0.029). The heterozygous "CT" genotype was higher in moderate and severe asthmatics compared to mild subset of patients (for mild vs. moderate, p = 0.037). However, there was no significant distribution and association of variant allele with the severity subsets.

Montelukast and Zafirlukast are known leukotriene receptor antagonists prescribed in asthma treatment. However, these fall short as mono therapy and are frequently used in combination with inhaled glucocorticosteroids with or without long acting beta 2 agonists. Therefore, it is of interest to apply ligand and structure based virtual screening strategies to identify compounds akin to lead compounds Montelukast and Zafirlukast. Hence, compounds with structures having 95% similarity to these compounds were retrieved from NCBI׳s PubChem database. Compounds similar to lead were grouped and docked at the antagonist binding site of cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1. This exercise identified compounds UNII 70RV86E50Q (Pub Cid 71587778) and Sure CN 9587085 (Pub Cid 19793614) with higher predicted binding compared to Montelukast and Zafirlukast. It is shown that the compound Sure CN 9587085 showed appreciable ligand receptor interaction compared to UNII 70RV86E50Q. Thus, the compound Sure CN 9587085 is selected as a potent antagonist to cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 for further consideration in vitro and in vivo validation.

The HIV-1 protein Vif is essential for in vivo viral replication that targets the human DNA-editing enzyme, APOBEC3G (A3G), which inhibits replication of retroviruses. The Vif-A3G interactions are believed to be important targets for antiviral drug development. Since the interactions of A3G and Vif evade the ubiquitination pathways in human host, the viral replication precedes which otherwise spreads infection. In this study, two potent Vif inhibitors RN 18 and VEC5 have been evaluated for their inhibitory potential employing ligand receptor and protein-protein interactions studies. VEC 5 showed better interaction with Vif than RN18. Predicted data show that VEC5 bound Vif and RN18 bound Vif showed diminished interaction to A3G compared to inhibitor unbound Vif. However, this should be further validated using in vitro studies.

Indiscriminate application of pesticides like chlorpyrifos, diazinon, or malathion contaminate the soil in addition has being unsafe often it has raised severe health concerns. Conversely, microorganisms like Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Bacteria like Rhizobium Bacillus, Azotobacter, Flavobacterium etc have evolved that are endowed with degradation of pesticides aforementioned to non-toxic products. The current study pitches into identification of a novel species of Flavobacterium bacteria capable to degrade the Organophosphorous pesticides. The bacterium was isolated from agricultural soil collected from Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India. The samples were serially diluted and the aliquots were incubated for a suitable time following which the suspected colony was subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing. The sequence thus obtained was aligned pairwise against Flavobacterium species, which resulted in identification of novel specie of Flavobacterium later named as EMBS0145, the sequence of which was deposited in in GenBank with accession number JN794045.

β2 agonists and anticholinergics are two major classes of bronchodilators which form first line of drugs recommended in symptomatic treatment of asthma and COPD. Combinational therapy involving β agonists and anticholinergics prove more effective in treating airway disease than use of either agent alone. In present investigation, binding modes of Muscarinic Antagonism and β 2 Agonism (MABA) conjugates designed by Lyn et al. were revealed on structural grounds adopting molecular docking techniques. The conjugates tether β 2 motif onto M3 motif which makes it a single molecule that acts as both β 2 agonist and antimuscarinic agent. Series of conjugates were docked against β 2 adrenergic receptor and modeled M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and pharmacophoric features were identified. Upon screening the conjugates on the basis of receptor ligand free energy, hydrogen bonding and internal electrostatic interaction, conjugate 11 demonstrated superior interactions with the receptors compared to remaining conjugates in the series. While, in vitro results and in silico outcomes are in agreement to reveal that conjugate 11 to possess best pharmacological profile, binding modes obtained in docking can be utilized to design new conjugates with improved biological activity. A close study of receptor residues in binding site and atoms, groups and substructures of conjugates may be used to develop favourable secondary valence forces towards receptor-ligand interactions.

Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting HER 2 receptors have emerged as an important therapeutic approach in inhibition of downstream proliferation and survival signals for the treatment of breast cancers. Recent drug discovery efforts have demonstrated that naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds like delphinidin have potential to inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of breast cancer cells by targeting HER2 receptors. While delphinidin may thus reduce tumour size, it is associated with serious side effects like dysphonia. Owing to the narrow therapeutic window of delphinidin, the present study aimed to identify high affinity compounds targeting HER2 with safer pharmacological profiles than delphinidin through virtual screening approaches. Delphinidin served as the query parent for identification of structurally similar compounds by Tanimoto-based similarity searching with a threshold of 95% against the PubChem database. The compounds retrieved were further subjected to Lipinski and Verber's filters to obtain drug like agents, then further filtered by diversity based screens with a cut off of 0.6. The compound with Pubchem ID: 91596862 was identified to have higher affinity than its parent. In addition it also proved to be non-toxic with a better ADMET profile and higher kinase activity. The compound identified in the study can be put to further in vitro drug testing to complement the present study.

A subset of asthmatics shows refractoriness to Salbutamol owing to ADRB2 gene C.T polymorphism (rs 1800888) that substitutes Thr to Ile at the position 164 in the β2 adrenergic receptor leading to sub-optimal binding of Salbutamol. The present study aims to associate the Salbutamol (200 mcg) refractoriness with the polymorphism and select the best existing agonist with optimal binding affinity against wild and mutated receptor and further identify high affinity compound, irrespectively targeting wild and mutated receptor through virtual screening methods.Responders to Salbutamol were categorized, if percentage reversibility was greater than or equal to 12% in them, while those showing reversibility less than 12% were non-responders. The genotyping for polymorphism was performed by ARMS PCR method. Established agonists with consistent binding affinity against wild and mutated receptors formed query compound to identify high affinity molecule from Phase database through 7 point pharmacophore based screening.Polymorphism was significantly associated with non-responders (p=0.05) demonstrating it as a major factor of Salbutamol refractoriness. Results from Glide Docking showed that Fenoterol had highest affinity for mutated receptor and stood as second best (after Salbutamol) high affinity agonist for wild receptor among the established β2 agonists. Therefore Fenoterol formed a query molecule (7 point pharmacophore) in identification of high affinity compound for virtual screening process.Compound CACPD2011a-0001278239 identified through virtual screening against 4 million compounds in phase database was shown to irrespectively target both wild and mutated β2 adrenergic receptor with high and consistent affinity which was par greater than established β2agonists.

Inhibition of EGFR-EGF interactions forms an important therapeutic rationale in treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma. Established inhibitors have been successful in reducing proliferative processes observed in NSCLC, however patients suffer serious side effects. Considering the narrow therapeutic window of present EGFR inhibitors, the present study centred on identifying high efficacy EGFR inhibitors through structure based virtual screening strategies. Established inhibitors - Afatinib, Dacomitinib, Erlotinib, Lapatinib, Rociletinib formed parent compounds to retrieve similar compounds by linear fingerprint based tanimoto search with a threshold of 90%. The compounds (parents and respective similars) were docked at the EGF binding cleft of EGFR. Patch dock supervised protein-protein interactions were established between EGF and ligand (query and similar) bound and free states of EGFR. Compounds ADS103317, AKOS024836912, AGN-PC-0MXVWT, GNF-Pf-3539, SCHEMBL15205939 were retrieved respectively similar to Afatinib, Dacomitinib, Erlotinib, Lapatinib, Rociletinib. Compound- AGN-PC-0MXVWT akin to Erlotinib showed highest affinity against EGFR amongst all the compounds (parent and similar) assessed in the study. Further, AGN-PC-0MXVWT brought about significant blocking of EGFR-EGF interactions in addition showed appreciable ADMET properties and pharmacophoric features. In the study, we report AGN-PC-0MXVWT to be an efficient and high efficacy inhibitor of EGFR-EGF interactions identified through computational approaches.

Hub proteins in interaction networks involved in signaling pathways are known to have more disordered residues than non-hubs. Since the signaling mechanisms involving PPI are regulated by phosphorylation, disordered interfaces could be thought to be extremely phosphorylated. In the present study we sought to map the phosphorylated sites onto disordered regions on interacting proteins-Interactomes and non-interacting proteins-Negatomes. Dataset of non-interacting protein included 784 proteins retrieved from Negatome database 2.0. 2252 interacting proteins were retrieved from “GeneMania”. Intrinsically disordered regions were predicted with “Disopred” program. The binding interfaces were defined by “PDBePISA” server, while, phosphorylation sites were derived from “NetPhos” program. All phosphorylation sites were mapped onto protein structures using alignments calculated by the MUSCLE program. As anticipated, the extent of phosphorylation in interactomes were significantly higher in disordered regions to its ordered counter parts (p=0.04). Insights revealed that the disordered regions in negatome were sparse in comparison to those in interactomes (p

β2-Adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) plays a crucial role in asthma pathophysiology by regulating, processes of the lung function, and clinical response to bronchodilators. The +46G>A- Gly16Arg polymorphism in the gene encoding β2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) has been associated with receptor non-responsiveness after β2-agonist exposure. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the possible association of Gly16Arg polymorphism with asthma susceptibility, pharmacogenetic response to Salbutamol, and varying degrees of disease severity. Three hundred ninety-eight clinically diagnosed patients and 456 healthy controls were enrolled for the study. Patients were classified into severity classes according to Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines. To assess bronchodilator response, spirometry was performed before and 15 min after Salbutamol (200 μg) delivery. Responders to Salbutamol were categorized if percentage reversibility was greater than or equal to 12% in them, while those showing reversibility less than 12% were classified as non-responders. Genotyping was carried out by ARMS-PCR technique. Statistical methods were applied to test for the significance of the results. In the present study, there was lack of significant association of polymorphism with disease susceptibility as well as with bronchodilator response. The polymorphism was not associated with mild and moderate asthma subtypes; however, there was a notable association with severe asthma subtype. In addition, the polymorphism was associated with severe asthma compared to subtypes of mild and moderate asthma combined. In a South Indian population, the ADRB2 Arg/Gly may not form a susceptible variant to develop asthma nor can be a standard predictive marker to bronchodilator response; nevertheless, the patterns in asthma severity can be predicted by analyzing this variant.

Background: Approaches in disruption of MDM2-p53 interactions have now emerged as an important therapeutic strategy in resurrecting wild type p53 functional status. The present study highlights virtual screening strategies in identification of high affinity small molecule non-peptidic inhibitors. Nutlin3A and RG7112 belonging to compound class of Cis-imidazoline, MI219 of Spiro-oxindole class and Benzodiazepine derived TDP 665759 served as query small molecules for similarity search with a threshold of 95%. The query molecules and the similar molecules corresponding to each query were docked at the transactivation binding cleft of MDM2 protein. Aided by MolDock algorithm, high affinity compound against MDM2 was retrieved. Patch Dock supervised Protein-Protein interactions were established between MDM2 and ligand (query and similar) bound and free states of p53. Compounds with PubCid 68870345, 77819398, 71132874, and 11952782 respectively structurally similar to Nutlin3A, RG7112, Mi219 and TDP 665759 demonstrated higher affinity to MDM2 in comparison to their parent compounds. Evident from the protein-protein interaction studies, all the similar compounds except for 77819398 (similar to RG 7112) showed appreciable inhibitory potential. Of particular relevance, compound 68870345 akin to Nutlin 3A had highest inhibitory potential that respectively showed 1.3, 1.2, 1.16 and 1.26 folds higher inhibitory potential than Nutilin 3A, MI 219, RG 7112 and TDP 1665759. Compound 68870345 was further mapped for structure based pharamacophoric features. In the study, we report Cis-imidazoline derivative compound; Pubcid: 68870345 to have highest inhibitory potential in blocking MDM2-p53 interactions hitherto discovered.

Since the discovery of Hsp90, a decade ago, it has surfaced as a potential target in breast cancer therapy along with other cancers. In present study, we have selected seven established Hsp inhibitors viz., PU3, CCT-018159, CNF-2024, SNX-5422, NVP (AUY-922), EGCG and IPI-504 used in the treatment of cancer. Considering these seven inhibitors as a parent compound, ligand based search was carried out with 90% similarity in Pubchem database (31 million compounds). All the similar molecules belonging to respective parent compound along with similar compound were subjected to virtual screening using MolDock and PLP algorithm aided molecular docking. Compounds with highest docking rerank scores were selected and filtered through Lipinski’s drug-likeness filters and toxicity parameters. New candidate (Pubchem CID: 11363378) qualified to demonstrate considerable affinity towards Hsp90. The selected compound was further pharmcophorically incited for receptor- ligand interactions like H-bond, electrostatic, hydrophobic interactions etc.

Salbutamol forms an important and widely administered β2 agonist prescribed in the symptomatic treatment of bronchial asthma. Unfortunately, a subset of patients show refractoriness to it owing to ADRB2 gene variant (rs 1800888). The variant substitutes Thr to Ile at the position 164 in the β2 adrenergic receptor leading to sub-optimal binding of agonists. The present study aims to associate the Salbutamol response with the variant and select the bioactive conformer of Sabutamol with optimal binding affinity against mutated receptor by in silico approaches. To assess bronchodilator response spirometry was performed before and 15 min after Salbutamol (200 mcg) inhalation. Responders to Salbutamol were categorized if percentage reversibility was greater than or equal to 12%, while those showing FEV1 reversibility less than 12% were classified as non-responders. Among the 344 subjects screened, 238 were responders and 106 were non-responders. The frequency of mutant allele “T” was significantly higher in case of non-responders (p < 0.05). In silico process involved generation of Salbutamol conformer ensembles supported by systematic search algorithm. 4369 conformers were generated of which only 1882 were considered bioactive conformers (threshold RMSD≤1 in reference to normalized structure of salbutamol). All the bioactive conformers were evaluated for the binding affinity against (Thr164 Ile) receptor through MolDock aided docking algorithm. One of the bioactive conformer (P.E. = -57.0038, RMSD = 0.6) demonstrated 1.54 folds greater affinity than the normal Salbutamol in the mutated receptor. The conformer identified in the present study may be put to pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies in future ahead.

β2 agonists and anticholinergics are two major classes of bronchodilators which form first line of drugs recommended in symptomatic treatment of asthma and COPD. Combinational therapy involving β agonists and anticholinergics prove more effective in treating airway disease than use of either agent alone. In present investigation, binding modes of Muscarinic Antagonism and β 2 Agonism (MABA) conjugates designed by Lyn et al. were revealed on structural grounds adopting molecular docking techniques. The conjugates tether β 2 motif onto M3 motif which makes it a single molecule that acts as both β 2 agonist and antimuscarinic agent. Series of conjugates were docked against β 2 adrenergic receptor and modeled M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and pharmacophoric features were identified. Upon screening the conjugates on the basis of receptor ligand free energy, hydrogen bonding and internal electrostatic interaction, conjugate 11 demonstrated superior interactions with the receptors compared to remaining conjugates in the series. While, in vitro results and in silico outcomes are in agreement to reveal that conjugate 11 to possess best pharmacological profile, binding modes obtained in docking can be utilized to design new conjugates with improved biological activity. A close study of receptor residues in binding site and atoms, groups and substructures of conjugates may be used to develop favourable secondary valence forces towards receptor-ligand interactions.