Conventional cancer therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, have significantly advanced cancer treatment. However, these modalities often face limitations such as systemic toxicity, lack of specificity, and the emergence of resistance. Recent advancements in genetic engineering and synthetic biology have rekindled interest in using bacteria as a novel therapeutic approach in oncology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDr. Gagandeep Kang is a towering personality in the field of microbiology and is known for her groundbreaking work globally. She made seminal discoveries in areas of enteric infections, vaccine development, and public health that have created a sea of change in scientific understanding and healthcare, probably beyond the borders of India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKikuchi-Fujimoto disease is a very rare disease, basically involving young adults and ubiquitously distributed. It is characterized by fever and benign lymph node swelling. The distinguishing features of this disease are cervical lymphadenopathy, constitutional symptoms resembling tuberculosis, and its penchant to affect young people of Oriental or Asian descent, especially women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor people with diabetes, diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a serious condition that can result in amputations, among other dire consequences. This case report details the clinical course and management of a 40-year-old male with type II diabetes mellitus presenting with recurrent DFUs and blackening of the toes. Despite initial surgical intervention and aggressive antimicrobial therapy, the patient experienced persistent infection and graft failure, necessitating multiple treatments and ongoing care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters host cells by first engaging its cellular receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to induce conformational changes in the virus-encoded spike protein and fusion between the viral and target cell membranes. Here, we report that certain monoclonal neutralizing antibodies against distinct epitopic regions of the receptor-binding domain of the spike can replace ACE2 to serve as a receptor and efficiently support membrane fusion and viral infectivity in vitro. These receptor-like antibodies can function in the form of a complex of their soluble immunoglobulin G with Fc-gamma receptor I, a chimera of their antigen-binding fragment with the transmembrane domain of ACE2 or a membrane-bound B cell receptor, indicating that ACE2 and its specific interaction with the spike protein are dispensable for SARS-CoV-2 entry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most prevalent kind of alopecia, androgenetic alopecia, commonly known as male or female pattern hair loss, affects both men and women, with the frequency rising with advancing years. Even though practicing dermatologists and hair experts frequently encounter it, it might be one of the most challenging disorders to treat since choosing a course of action frequently requires a comprehensive analysis of several variables and moral judgment. Effectiveness, side effect profiles, practicability, promoting compliance, and treatment cost are the most important factors to take into account, especially given the chronic nature of androgenetic alopecia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, which first appeared in the Chinese province of Hubei city of Wuhan, has been spreading internationally since December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus illness from 2019 to be a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Patients hospitalised with severe coronavirus or comorbid conditions (like cardiovascular disease and obesity) are linked to a worse prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProfessionals who work in perinatal care must understand the advantages and disadvantages of perinatal autopsy since they are an essential tool for determining fetal and neonatal mortality. Perinatal is the period five months before one month after birth, while prenatal is before birth. The traditional prenatal autopsy is still the gold standard for establishing the cause of death and providing an accurate report, notwithstanding the development of new technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBirth order has a significant impact on perinatal and long-term outcomes. Preterm birth rates, ranging from 5% to 18%, are regrettably still high in industrialized and developing countries, making them the main contributor to infant mortality and morbidity. Infection, cervical pathology, uterine overdistension, progesterone deficiency, stress on the mother and fetus, allograft reaction, allergic phenomena, and likely more unknown factors are just a few of the causes of preterm birth syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA significant obstacle to avoiding chronic illnesses in people worldwide is the increasing development of obesity. They are supported by economic expansion, mechanized transportation, a rise in sedentary behavior, and a switch from a wholesome, healthy diet to processed foods and high-calorie meals, including fast food and sugary drinks. Many developed or emerging countries have seen the prevalence of obesity in their populations increase twice over.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShort tandem repeat (STR) markers for autosomal STR are used in forensic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing to track down the missing, verify family connections, and potentially connect suspects to crime sites. It is well acknowledged that forensically relevant genetic markers cannot predict phenotype. There is no evidence to support the claim that directly using forensic STR variations causes or indicates illness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Available therapeutics for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly parasitic infection, are usually associated with inadequate efficacy and adverse aftereffects. Further, the primary site of Leishmania parasite are host macrophages resulting in compromised immunity; ensuing marked T-cell immunosuppression. Such settings emphasize the exploration of chemo-immunotherapeutic strategies for improvising the infected person's immune status with better resolution of infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKey features of immune memory are greater and faster antigen-specific antibody responses to repeat infection. In the setting of immune-evading viral evolution, it is important to understand how far antibody memory recognition stretches across viral variants when memory cells are recalled to action by repeat invasions. It is also important to understand how immune recall influences longevity of secreted antibody responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe existence of constantly evolving dynamic interactions between the host and the pathogen determines their fate in this continuous arms race. Hence, identifying the molecular basis of processes that reinforce host defensive strategies to eliminate intracellular pathogens is of utmost significance. Pathogenic intrusion activates autophagy and phagocytic pathways that culminate in the lysosome, a vital organelle responsible for pathogen clearance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA series of new benzimidazole-1,2,3-triazole hybrid derivatives have been synthesized 'click' reaction and evaluated for their cytotoxicity as well as DNA binding affinity. MTT assay showed that all the six compounds are cytotoxic to PC3 and B16-F10 cancer cell lines. Though all the compounds showed moderate interaction with G4, c-Myc promoter DNA and dsDNA, exhibited selective interaction with G-quadruplex DNA over duplex DNA as demonstrated by spectroscopic experiments like UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, CD spectroscopy, thermal melting and fluorescence lifetime experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough there has been an extensive research on vaccine development over the last decade and some vaccines have been commercialized for canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), but as yet no effective vaccine is available for anthroponotic VL which may partly be due to the absence of an appropriate adjuvant system. Vaccines alone yield poor immunity hence requiring an adjuvant which can boost the immunosuppressed state of VL infected individuals by eliciting adaptive immune responses to achieve required immunological enhancement. Recent studies have documented the continuous efforts that are being made in the field of adjuvants research in an attempt to render vaccines more effective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn effective therapeutic vaccination strategy is required for controlling visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a fatal systemic disease, through boosting the immunosuppressed state in Leishmania-infected individuals, as the majority of them living in the endemic regions exhibit either subclinical or asymptomatic infection which further often develops into a full-blown disease. Previously in our laboratory, several Th1 stimulatory recombinant proteins were successfully cloned, purified and assessed for their prophylactic efficacy against Leishmania challenge. Due to their immunostimulatory property, these proteins are needed to be evaluated for their immunotherapeutic potential in Leishmania-infected hamsters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA thermostable β-glucosidase was effectively immobilized on alginate by the method of gel entrapment. After optimization of immobilized conditions, recovered enzyme activity was 60%. Optimum pH, temperature, kinetic parameters, thermal and pH stability, reusability, and storage stability were investigated.
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