Publications by authors named "Bakht M"

This study explores a sustainable method for synthesizing quinazoline derivatives through visible light-driven photocatalysis using curcumin-sensitized titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles. A one-pot, three-component reaction involving aldehydes, urea/thiourea, and dimedone was utilized to efficiently produce quinazoline compounds. The photocatalytic performance of curcumin-sensitized TiO (Cur-TiO) was compared to pure TiO (P-TiO), with Cur-TiO showing significantly enhanced activity.

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Overcoming resistance to therapy is a major challenge in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Lineage plasticity towards a neuroendocrine phenotype enables CRPC to adapt and survive targeted therapies. However, the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic reprogramming during this process are still poorly understood.

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Background: Nosocomial infections are a global problem in hospitals all around the world. It is considered a major health problem, especially in developing countries. The increase in the patient's stay in hospitals has increased the mortality rate, and consequently, the costs drastically increase.

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is a normal gut inhabitantthat can cause various diseases ,such as intestinal, urinary tract, bladder infections and systemic infections in humans and animals. The alarming increase in profiles for extended-spectrum β-lactamase-  and carbapenemase-producing isolates is a serious problem throughout the world. Colistin is known as a lastresort agent for the treatment of Gram-negative bacterial infections.

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Patients with diabetes mellitus frequently experience urinary tract infections (UTIs). In the present study, we looked at how glycemic control affects diabetic patients' rates of UTI, the causing pathogens, the presence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant organisms, and the infections' relation to diabetes. Diabetes patients' midstream urine samples were included, after collecting and identifying the organisms, disc diffusion antibiotic sensitivity tests were conducted.

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Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a histone methyltransferase and emerging therapeutic target that is overexpressed in most castration-resistant prostate cancers and implicated as a driver of disease progression and resistance to hormonal therapies. Here we define the lineage-specific action and differential activity of EZH2 in both prostate adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) subtypes of advanced prostate cancer to better understand the role of EZH2 in modulating differentiation, lineage plasticity, and to identify mediators of response and resistance to EZH2 inhibitor therapy. Mechanistically, EZH2 modulates bivalent genes that results in upregulation of NEPC-associated transcriptional drivers (e.

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Notch signaling can have either an oncogenic or tumor-suppressive function in cancer depending on the cancer type and cellular context. While Notch can be oncogenic in early prostate cancer, we identified significant downregulation of the Notch pathway during prostate cancer progression from adenocarcinoma to neuroendocrine (NE) prostate cancer, where it functions as a tumor suppressor. Activation of Notch in NE and Rb1/Trp53-deficient prostate cancer models led to phenotypic conversion toward a more indolent, non-NE state with glandular features and expression of luminal lineage markers.

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Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an important cell-surface imaging biomarker and therapeutic target in prostate cancer. The PSMA-targeted theranostic Lu-PSMA-617 was approved in 2022 for men with PSMA-PET-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, not all patients respond to PSMA-radioligand therapy, in part owing to the heterogeneity of PSMA expression in the tumour.

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Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a histone methyltransferase and emerging therapeutic target that is overexpressed in most castration-resistant prostate cancers and implicated as a driver of disease progression and resistance to hormonal therapies. Here we define the lineage-specific action and differential activity of EZH2 in both prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) subtypes of advanced prostate cancer to better understand the role of EZH2 in modulating differentiation, lineage plasticity, and to identify mediators of response and resistance to EZH2 inhibitor therapy. Mechanistically, EZH2 modulates bivalent genes that results in upregulation of NEPC-associated transcriptional drivers (e.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on the trypanothione reductase (LmTr) enzyme in Leishmania, which helps the parasite evade immune responses by neutralizing reactive oxygen species in macrophages, making it a potential target for leishmaniasis treatments.
  • - Researchers utilized the I-TASSER server to create a 3D model of LmTr and performed virtual screening of compounds from the ZINC database using Autodock vina, identifying the top seven molecules with high binding affinities that could inhibit LmTr's activity.
  • - The findings suggest that targeting LmTr and its interactions within the pathogenesis network could lead to new, effective, and less toxic anti-Leishmania drugs, with promising candidates
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This study presents a novel method for the photocatalytic synthesis of 4-aryl-6-(3-coumarinyl) pyrimidin-2 (1H)-ones (a coumarin derivative) using strawberry dye-sensitized TiO (SD-TiO) under visible light. The synthesis of 4-aryl-6-(3-coumarinyl) pyrimidin-2 (1H)-ones was achieved through a three-component, one-pot condensation reaction involving 3-acetyl coumarin, aldehydes, and urea, utilizing SD-TiO as a reusable and innovative photocatalyst at room temperature. The resulting SD-TiO photocatalyst was thoroughly characterized using FT-IR, XPS, XRD, SEM, and BET.

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Helicobacter pylori infection is a risk factor for the development of gastric cancer (GC), and the role of co-infection with viruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus, in carcinogenesis cannot be ignored. Furthermore, it is now known that genetic factors such as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in many diseases, including GC. On the other side, they can also be used as therapeutic goals.

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Aberrant DNA methylation has been implicated as a key driver of prostate cancer lineage plasticity and histologic transformation to neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) are highly expressed, and global DNA methylation is dysregulated in NEPC. We identified that deletion of DNMT genes decreases expression of neuroendocrine lineage markers and substantially reduced NEPC tumor development and metastasis in vivo.

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The outbreak of a fatal black fungus infection after the resurgence of the cadaverous COVID-19 has exhorted scientists worldwide to develop a nutshell by repurposing or designing new formulations to address the crisis. Patients expressing COVID-19 are more susceptible to Mucormycosis (MCR) and thus fall easy prey to decease accounting for this global threat. Their mortality rates range around 32-70% depending on the organs affected and grow even higher despite the treatment.

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Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is able to cause infections in immunocompromised patients, and the treatment of this opportunistic pathogen is complicated due to its virulence factors, antibiotic resistance, and the ability of the bacteria to produce biofilm. The main goals of this study were to assess the susceptibility of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) isolates to ethanol and EDTA, and evaluating the synergistic effect of these disinfectants, and also survey the effect of exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of ethanol and EDTA on the expression of biofilm-producing smf-1, rpfF genes.

Results: The results showed that EDTA significantly increased the effectiveness of the ethanol and have a synergistic effect.

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We report herein the synthesis, docking studies and biological evaluation of a series of new 4-chloro-2-((5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)amino)phenol analogues (). The new compounds were designed based on the oxadiazole-linked aryl core of tubulin inhibitors of IMC-038525 and IMC-094332, prepared in five steps and further characterized via spectral analyses. The anticancer activity of the compounds was assessed against several cancer cell lines belonging to nine different panels as per National Cancer Institute (NCI US) protocol.

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Background: Severe infections caused by β- lactamase producers, hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (BhvKp) with K2 serotype, highlight emergency need for new therapeutic strategies against this pathogen. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a novel phage, PSKP16, in the treating of pneumonia induced by BhvKp in mice models.

Method: Genome sequences of PSKP16 were analyzed, and associated information can be found in NCBI.

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In this work, four fluorinated α, β-unsaturated ketones named as 3-(3-bromophenyl)-1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (1), 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (2), 3-(3-bromo-5-chloro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (3) and 3-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-1-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (4) were synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt reaction. The synthesized molecules were then characterized through ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), H-NMR, C-NMR, and mass spectrometry. The antioxidant potential, Urease inhibition, and interaction of compounds 1-4 with Salmon sperm DNA were experimentally explored and supported by molecular docking studies.

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Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a re-emerging viral haemorrhagic fever causing outbreaks in Iran in the last 15 years. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the status of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in ticks would be evaluated. PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed original papers published between 2000 and 1 July 2022.

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The chemical industry is one of the main fossil fuel consumers, so its reliance on sustainable and renewable resources such as wind and solar energy should be increased to protect the environment. Accordingly, solar-driven thermocatalytic synthesis of octahydroquinazolinone using polyvinylchloride (PVC)-supported aluminum oxide (AlO) as a catalyst under natural sunlight is proposed in this work. The AlO/PVC catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, BET, XRD, and XPS techniques.

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Tumor expression of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is lost in 15-20% of men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. In androgen receptor (AR)-positive CRPC, we observed lower PSMA expression in liver lesions versus other sites, suggesting a role of the microenvironment in modulating PSMA. PSMA suppression was associated with promoter histone 3 lysine 27 methylation and higher levels of neutral amino acid transporters, correlating with F-fluciclovine uptake on positron emission tomography imaging.

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Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) promotes inflammation via lipid mediators and releases arachidonic acid (AA), and these enzymes have been found to be elevated in a variety of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis, and atherosclerosis. The mobilization of AA by PLA2 and subsequent synthesis of prostaglandins are regarded as critical events in inflammation. Inflammatory processes may be treated with drugs that inhibit PLA2, thereby blocking the COX and LOX pathways in the AA cascade.

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With the advancement in 3D bioprinting technology, cell culture methods can design 3D environments which are both, complex and physiologically relevant. The main component in 3D bioprinting, bioink, can be split into various categories depending on the criterion of categorization. Although the choice of bioink and bioprinting process will vary greatly depending on the application, general features such as material properties, biological interaction, gelation, and viscosity are always important to consider.

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