The encapsulation of plant extract in nanomatrices has limitations due to its adhesion to walls, size control, high cost and long durations that results in low yield. Macroscale and microscale level techniques for development of micro/nanoparticles may impact the encapsulation of plant extract. This study aimed to evaluate the relative efficiency of microscale and macroscale techniques for encapsulation of plant extract, which is not compared yet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the present study, we aimed to synthesize (Ag)(GNPs) nanocomposites in variable ratios (25% GNPs-Ag, 50% GNPs-Ag, and 75% GNPs-Ag) via an ex situ approach to investigate the incremental effects of GNPs (graphene nanoparticles) on AgNPs (silver nanoparticles). The prepared nanocomposites were successfully characterized using different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. For the evaluation of morphological aspects, shape, and percentage elemental composition, SEM and EDX analyses were employed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Population diversity is important and rare disease isolates can frequently reveal novel homozygous or biallelic mutations that lead to expanded clinical heterogeneity, with diverse clinical presentations.
Methods: The present study describes two consanguineous families with a total of seven affected individuals suffering from a clinically similar severe syndromic neurological disorder, with abnormal development and central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) abnormalities. Whole exome sequencing (WES) and Sanger sequencing followed by 3D protein modeling was performed to identify the disease-causing gene.
Owing to its prevalent nature, diabetes mellitus has become one of the most serious endocrine illnesses affecting a patient's quality of life due to the manifestation of side effects such as cardiovascular diseases, retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. Curcumin ((1E, 6E) 21, 7-bis (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione), a major compound of turmeric, has been used in conventional medicine because of its safe nature and cost-effectiveness to meliorate diabetes and its comorbidities. These effects have also been observed in rodent models of diabetes resulting in a reduction of glycemia and blood lipids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Contact tracing has been globally adopted in the fight to control the infection rate of COVID-19. To this aim, several mobile apps have been developed. However, there are ever-growing concerns over the working mechanism and performance of these applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe highly evolutionarily conserved transport protein particle (TRAPP) complexes (TRAPP II and III) perform fundamental roles in subcellular trafficking pathways. Here we identified biallelic variants in TRAPPC10, a component of the TRAPP II complex, in individuals with a severe microcephalic neurodevelopmental disorder. Molecular studies revealed a weakened interaction between mutant TRAPPC10 and its putative adaptor protein TRAPPC2L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sucrose synthase (SS) is an important enzyme family which play a vital role in sugar metabolism to improve the fruit quality of the plants. In many plant species, the members of SS family have been investigated but the detailed information is not available in legumes particularly and Glycine max specifically. In the present study, we found thirteen SS members (GmSS1-GmSS13) in G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Carcinogenesis causes much human misery. It is a process involving multistage alterations. Medicinal plants are candidates for beneficial anticancer agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticancer Agents Med Chem
May 2022
Apoptosis is a programmed cell death that occurs due to the production of several catabolic enzymes. During this process, several morphological and biochemical changes occur in mitochondria, the main organelle in the cell that participates in apoptosis and controls apoptotic pathways. During apoptosis, cytochrome c is released from mitochondria, and different proteins activate caspase cascades that carry out the cell towards the death process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study conducted an in-depth analysis combining computational and experimental verifications of the deleterious missense mutations associated with the SLC29A4 protein. The functional annotation of the non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (nsSNPs), followed by structure-function analysis, revealed 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) as the most damaging. Among these, six mutants P429T/S, L144S, M108V, N86H, and V79E, were predicted as structurally and functionally damaging by protein stability analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Coll Physicians Surg Pak
July 2021
Objective: To test the germline oncogenic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients under study, by targeted sequencing of their DNA with next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform.
Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study.
Place And Duration Of Study: Histopathology Department, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Rawalpindi, Pakistan from May to June 2020.
Ellis-van Creveld (EvC) syndrome is an autosomal recessive disease, characterized by ectodermal, skeletal, and cardiac anomalies. We report intrafamilial phenotypic variability in three new EvC syndrome cases. Affected males in this study showed only ectodermal abnormalities, whereas an affected female showed the classical presentation of EvC Syndrome, including bilateral postaxial polydactyly of hands and feet, and congenital heart defects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pathogenic germline mutations in BRCA1/2 constitute the majority of hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancers worldwide. Incidence and mortality rate of breast and ovarian cancers in Pakistani women is high. Thus, to establish the diagnosis for targeted therapy in Pakistan, we conducted Next-generation sequencing-based germline testing for the detection of BRCA1/2 oncogenic variants associated with breast and ovarian cancer subtype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemotherapy is one of the main methods for cancer treatment. However, despite many advances in the design of anticancer drugs, their efficiency is limited due to their high toxicity and resistance of cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. In order to improve the cancer therapy, it is essential to use the compounds that can overcome drug resistance and increase treatment efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a hereditary lysosomal storage disease with progressive brain neurodegeneration. Mutations in ceroid lipofuscinosis neuronal protein 5 (CLN5) cause CLN5 disease, a severe condition characterized by seizures, visual failure, motor decline, and progressive cognitive deterioration. This study aimed to identify causative gene variants in Pakistani consanguineous families diagnosed with NCL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neurological disorders are a common cause of morbidity and mortality within Pakistani populations. It is one of the most important challenges in healthcare, with significant life-long socio-economic burden.
Methods: We investigated the cause of disease in three Pakistani families in individuals with unexplained autosomal recessive neurological conditions, using both genome-wide SNP mapping and whole exome sequencing (WES) of affected individuals.
Background: Consanguine families display a high degree of homozygosity which increases the risk of family members suffering from autosomal recessive disorders. Thus, homozygous mutations in monogenic obesity genes may be a more frequent cause of childhood obesity in a consanguineous population.
Methods: We identified 23 probands from 23 Pakistani families displaying autosomal recessive obesity.
Background: Inherited palmoplantar keratodermas (PPKs) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous and phenotypically diverse group of genodermatoses characterized by hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles. More than 20 genes have been reported to be associated with PPKs including desmoglein 1 (DSG1) a key molecular component for epidermal adhesion and differentiation. Mal de Meleda (MDM) is a rare inherited autosomal recessive genodermatosis characterized by transgrediens PPK, associated with mutations in the secreted LY6/PLAUR domain containing 1 (SLURP1) gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCiliopathies are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders often exhibiting phenotypic overlap and caused by abnormalities in the structure or function of cellular cilia. As such, a precise molecular diagnosis is important for guiding clinical management and genetic counseling. In the present study, two Pakistani families comprising individuals with overlapping clinical features suggestive of a ciliopathy syndrome, including intellectual disability, obesity, congenital retinal dystrophy, and hypogonadism (in males), were investigated clinically and genetically.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory infections, especially those of the lower respiratory tract, remain a foremost cause of mortality and morbidity of children greater than 5 years in developing countries including Pakistan. Ignoring these acute-level infections may lead to complications. Particularly in Pakistan, respiratory infections account for 20% to 30% of all deaths of children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mutations in the genes encoding leptin (LEP), the leptin receptor (LEPR), and the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) are known to cause severe early-onset childhood obesity. The aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence of damaging LEP, LEPR, and MC4R mutations in Pakistani families having a recessive heritance of early-onset obesity.
Methods: Using targeted resequencing, the presence of rare mutations in LEP, LEPR, and MC4R, was investigated in individuals from 25 families suspected of having autosomal recessive early-onset obesity.
Combining multiple classifiers, known as ensemble methods, can give substantial improvement in prediction performance of learning algorithms especially in the presence of non-informative features in the data sets. We propose an ensemble of subset of NN classifiers, ESNN, for classification task in two steps. Firstly, we choose classifiers based upon their individual performance using the out-of-sample accuracy.
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