Essential oils loaded carboxymethylated Cassia fistula gum-based novel hydrogel films for wound healing.

Carboxymethylated Cassia fistula gum (CCFG) and citric acid (CA) based wound healing film, (CCFG-CA) was developed using the solvent casting method. Glycerol was added as a plasticizing agent. The synthesized Carboxymethylated Cassia fistula gum cross-linked citric acid based hydrogel film (CCFG-CA) was evaluated morphologically, thermally, and structurally using FESEM, TGA, XRD and FTIR.

Association of autism spectrum disorder with Waardenburg syndrome in a toddler.

Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic condition with an incidence of 1 in 212 000. The condition is classically associated with distinctive facial features, congenital hearing loss and pigmentary changes of the hair, iris and skin. There is a paucity of literature about the association of neurodevelopmental conditions with this syndrome.

Natural gums and their derivatives based hydrogels: in biomedical, environment, agriculture, and food industry.

The hydrogels based on natural gums and chemically derivatized natural gums have great interest in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics, and environmental remediation, due to their: economic viability, sustainability, nontoxicity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Since these natural gems are from plants, microorganisms, and seaweeds, they offer a great opportunity to chemically derivatize and modify into novel, innovative biomaterials as scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Derivatization improves swelling properties, thereby developing interest in agriculture and separating technologies.

Optogenetic modulation of real-time nanoscale dynamics of HCN channels using photoactivated adenylyl cyclases.

Adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) is a key second messenger that activates several signal transduction pathways in eukaryotic cells. Alteration of basal levels of cAMP is known to activate protein kinases, regulate phosphodiesterases and modulate the activity of ion channels such as Hyper polarization-activated cyclic nucleotide gated channels (HCN). Recent advances in optogenetics have resulted in the availability of novel genetically encoded molecules with the capability to alter cytoplasmic profiles of cAMP with unprecedented spatial and temporal precision.

Biochemical Characterization of the Engineered Soluble Photoactivated Guanylate Cyclases from Microbes Expands Optogenetic Tools.

Cyclic nucleotide, such as cyclic GMP, is a secondary messenger that regulates a wide range of biological process via the diverse signaling cascades. Photoactivated adenylyl cyclases (PACs), constituted of blue light utilizing flavin (BLUF) and cyclase homology domain (CHD), are used as an optogenetic tool to modulate the cyclic AMP (cAMP) level and to study cAMP-mediated signal transduction mechanisms. Here, we have engineered photoactivated adenylyl cyclases (PACs) from microbes to photoactivated guanylyl cyclases (PGCs) via mutagenesis of the substrate binding-specific residues in cyclase homology domain.

Modulation of cyclic nucleotide-mediated cellular signaling and gene expression using photoactivated adenylyl cyclase as an optogenetic tool.

Cyclic nucleotide signaling pathway plays a significant role in various biological processes such as cell growth, transcription, inflammation, in microbial pathogenesis, etc. Modulation of cyclic nucleotide levels by optogenetic tools has overcome certain limitations of studying transduction cascade by pharmacological agents and has allowed several ways to modulate biological processes in a spatiotemporal manner. Here, we have shown the optogenetic modulation of the cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) gene expression and their downstream effector molecule (PGE) in HEK-293T cells and the development process of Dictyostelium discoideum via modulating the cyclic nucleotide (cAMP) signaling pathway utilizing photoactivated adenylyl cyclases (PACs) as an optogenetic tool.

Molecular determinant modulates thermal recovery kinetics and structural integrity of the bacterial BLUF photoreceptor.

BLUF domains are flavin-based photoreceptors which receive the blue light signal and are involved in the sensory transduction. We report a short BLUF photoreceptor (SnfB) in Stenotrophomonas sp. We have investigated photodynamic properties of C terminus truncated and several mutated SnfB proteins.

Photo-dynamics of photoactivated adenylyl cyclase TpPAC from the spirochete bacterium Turneriella parva strain H(T).

The photoactivated adenylyl cyclase TpPAC from the spirochete bacterium Turneriella parva was synthesized and the purified recombinant protein was characterized by biochemical and optical spectroscopic methods. TpPAC consists of a BLUF domain (BLUF = Blue Light sensor Using Flavin) and an adenylyl cyclase homology domain (CHD). A light induced cAMP cyclase activity of ≈ 53.

Bacteriophytochrome controls carotenoid-independent response to photodynamic stress in a non-photosynthetic rhizobacterium, Azospirillum brasilense Sp7.

Ever since the discovery of the role of bacteriophytochrome (BphP) in inducing carotenoid synthesis in Deinococcus radiodurans in response to light the role of BphPs in other non-photosynthetic bacteria is not clear yet. Azospirillum brasilense, a non-photosynthetic rhizobacterium, harbours a pair of BphPs out of which AbBphP1 is a homolog of AtBphP1 of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. By overexpression, purification, biochemical and spectral characterization we have shown that AbBphP1 is a photochromic bacteriophytochrome.