Pre-eclampsia: Re-visiting pathophysiology, role of immune cells, biomarker identification and recent advances in its management.

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a hypertension condition that occurs exclusively during pregnancy and has the potential to impact nearly all organ systems. It is estimated to complicate approximately 2-8% of pregnancies worldwide. PE is a prominent medical disorder that poses a significant risk to pregnant mothers and their infants.

A π-π Bonding-Assisted Molecular-Wiring of Folded-Cytochrome and Naphthoquinone and Its Electron-Relay-Based Bioelectrocatalytic HO Reduction Reaction Visualized by Redox-Competitive Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy.

The electron-transfer (ET) reaction of cytochrome (Cytc) protein with biomolecules is a cutting-edge research area of interest in understanding the functionalities of natural systems. Several electrochemical biomimicking studies based on Cytc-protein-modified electrodes prepared via electrostatic interaction and covalent bonding approaches have been reported. Indeed, natural enzymes involve multiple types of bonding, such as hydrogen, ionic, covalent, and π-π, etc.

Surface refined Au nanoconjugate stimulates dermal cell migration: possible implication in wound healing.

Refining nutraceutical conjugated metal nanoparticles (NPs) and understanding their interactions with the cellular micro-environment is necessary for their application in nanomedicine. In the present experiment, we studied the effect of quercetin functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNP) on skin fibroblast and keratinocyte cell migration. Spherical shaped AuNPs of 47 nm in size were formed due to the interaction of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups of quercetin with Au atoms as revealed by incremental algorithm-based analysis.

Next generation sequencing exome data analysis aids in the discovery of SNP and INDEL patterns in Parkinson's disease.

Whole exome sequencing is an adept method to reveal novel and disease-related SNPs and INDELs as it screen the actionable areas of the genome. We evaluated the exome sequenced datasets of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in South African ethnic origin. The primary focus of this study was to discover the SNPs and INDELs patterns responsible for PD.

Exploring genetic targets of psoriasis using genome wide association studies (GWAS) for drug repurposing.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease causing itching in the body and pain in the joints. Currently, no permanent cure is available at a commercial level for this disease. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) provide a deeper insight that helps in better understanding this disease and further possible cure of this disease.

Small protein-protein interfaces rich in electrostatic are often linked to regulatory function.

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is critical for several biological functions in living cells through the formation of an interface. Therefore, it is of interest to characterize protein-protein interfaces using an updated non-redundant structural dataset of 2557 homo (identical subunits) and 393 hetero (different subunits) dimer protein complexes determined by X-ray crystallography. We analyzed the interfaces using van der Waals (vdW), hydrogen bonding and electrostatic energies.

Molecular docking and simulation studies of phytocompounds against structural and nucleocapsid proteins of white spot syndrome virus.

White spot disease caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a lethal disease for shrimp. Envelope structural proteins play a major role in viral attachment and are believed to be the initial molecules to interact with the host cell. Thus, the envelope proteins have been preferred as a potential molecular target for drug discovery.

Homotypic clustering of OsMYB4 binding site motifs in promoters of the rice genome and cellular-level implications on sheath blight disease resistance.

The promoter regions (1 kb upstream sequences) of 45,836 annotated genes of rice were analyzed for the presence of OsMYB4 binding sites using a Perl program algorithm. Based on the homotypic clustering concept, 113 promoters were found to have more than 4 binding site motifs. Among the downstream genes of these promoters, five genes which are known to have a role in disease resistance were selected and the binding capacity of OsMYB4 protein in the promoter regions was analyzed by docking studies.

Comparative QSAR analysis of cyclo-oxygenase2 inhibiting drugs.

Cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX2) inhibiting drugs were subjected to comparative quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) analysis with an attempt to derive and to understand the relationship between the biological activity and molecular descriptors by multiple regression analysis. The different drugs that inhibit cyclo-oxygenase 2 enzyme were compared instead of subjecting one drug and its derivatives to QSAR analysis. The study was conducted to look for the common structural features between the drugs which confer to a good biological activity.

A HLA-DRB supertype chart with potential overlapping peptide binding function.

HLA-DRB alleles are class II alleles that are associated with CD4+ T-cell immune response. DRB alleles are polymorphic and currently there are about 622 named in the IMGT/HLA sequence database. Each allele binds short peptides with high sensitivity and specificity.

Class II HLA-peptide binding prediction using structural principles.

The precise prediction of class II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) peptide binding finds application in epitope design for the development of vaccines and diagnostics of diseases associated with CD4+ T-cellular immunity. HLA II binding peptides have an extended conformation at the binding groove unlike class I. This increases peptide binding combinations of varying length at the groove, having an eventual effect in the host immune response to infectious agents.