Nature of barriers determines first passage times in heterogeneous media.

Intuition suggests that passage times across a region increase with the number of barriers along the path. Can this fail depending on the nature of the barrier? To probe this fundamental question, we exactly solve for the first passage time in general -dimensions for diffusive transport through a spatially patterned array of obstacles - either entropic or energetic, depending on the nature of the obstacles. For energetic barriers, we show that first passage times vary non-monotonically with the number of barriers, while for entropic barriers it increases monotonically.

Validation and promise of a TCR mimic antibody for cancer immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Monoclonal antibodies are at the vanguard of the most promising cancer treatments. Whereas traditional therapeutic antibodies have been limited to extracellular antigens, T cell receptor mimic (TCRm) antibodies can target intracellular antigens presented by cell surface major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins. TCRm antibodies can therefore target a repertoire of otherwise undruggable cancer antigens.

Partitioning of anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil in micellar media explored by physicochemical properties and energetics of interactions: Quantitative insights for implications in drug delivery.

Drug delivery vehicles such as micelles, vesicles and other nanoemulsions are necessary for enhanced bioavailability of drugs in the body. We have measured and correlated physicochemical properties of an anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil in the micelles of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate. cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, and non-ionic surfactant triton X-100 with the energetics of interactions.

Targeting cellular microtubule by phytochemical apocynin exhibits autophagy-mediated apoptosis to inhibit lung carcinoma progression and tumorigenesis.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Several targets have been identified for lung cancer therapy, amongst which 'Microtubule' and its dynamics are the most widely studied and used in therapy. Tubulin-microtubule polymer dynamics are highly sought after targets in the field of anti-cancer drug designing.

Correction to: Autophagy inhibition with chloroquine reverts paclitaxel resistance and attenuates metastatic potential in human nonsmall lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells via ROS mediated modulation of β-catenin pathway.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained an error in acknowledgment text. The authors would like to include a statement: "Moumita Dasgupta is supported by Junior Research Fellowship from University Grant Commission, India." in acknowledgment section.

Autophagy inhibition with chloroquine reverts paclitaxel resistance and attenuates metastatic potential in human nonsmall lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells via ROS mediated modulation of β-catenin pathway.

Paclitaxel is one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However acquired resistance to paclitaxel, epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell formation are the major obstacles for successful chemotherapy with this drug. Some of the major reasons behind chemoresistance development include increased ability of the cancer cells to survive under stress conditions by autophagy, increased expression of drug efflux pumps, tubulin mutations etc.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel library of antimitotic C-aroyl/arylimino tryptamine derivatives that are also potent inhibitors of indoleamine-2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO).

A novel library of C-substituted tryptamines (based on diverse C-aroyl/arylimino indoles and indole-diketopiperazine hybrids) possessing antimitotic properties were designed, synthesized and screened for their inhibitory activity against tubulin polymerization, and against proliferation of A549 lung cancer, HeLa cervical cancer, MCF7 breast cancer and HePG2 liver cancer cell lines. The design of molecules were inspired from known antimitotic compounds and natural products. The molecular docking of the designed compounds indicated that they bind to the colchicin binding site of tubulin.

Dynamic Wrinkling and Strengthening of an Elastic Filament in a Viscous Fluid.

We investigate the wrinkling dynamics of an elastic filament immersed in a viscous fluid submitted to compression at a finite rate with experiments and by combining geometric nonlinearities, elasticity, and slender body theory. The drag induces a dynamic lateral reinforcement of the filament leading to growth of wrinkles that coarsen over time. We discover a new dynamical regime characterized by a time scale with a nontrivial dependence on the loading rate, where the growth of the instability is superexponential and the wave number is an increasing function of the loading rate.

Establishing Structure Property Relationship in Drug Partitioning into and Release from Niosomes: Physical Chemistry Insights with Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.

Understanding the physical chemistry underlying interactions of drugs with delivery formulations is extremely important in devising effective drug delivery systems. The partitioning and release kinetics of diclofenac sodium and naproxen from Brij 30 and Triton X-100 niosomal formulations have been addressed based on structural characterization, partitioning energetics, and release kinetics, thus establishing a relationship between structures and observed properties. Both the drugs partition in nonpolar regions of TX-100 niosomes via stacking of aromatic rings.

Selective inhibition of aggregation/fibrillation of bovine serum albumin by osmolytes: Mechanistic and energetics insights.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is an important transport protein of the blood and its aggregation/fibrillation would adversely affect its transport ability leading to metabolic disorder. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of fibrillation/aggregation of BSA and design of suitable inhibitor molecules for stabilizing its native conformation, are of utmost importance. The qualitative and quantitative aspects of the effect of osmolytes (proline, hydroxyproline, glycine betaine, sarcosine and sorbitol) on heat induced aggregation/fibrillation of BSA at physiological pH (pH 7.

Characterization and analysis of binding of Thioflavin T with partially folded and native states of α-lactalbumin protein by calorimetric and spectroscopic techniques.

We have analysed binding of Thioflavin T (ThT) with molten globule (MG) and native (N) states of α-lactalbumin (α-LA) by using calorimetry and spectroscopy. ThT has been widely used for detection of amyloid fibrils from enhancement of its fluorescence emission intensity. Instead of the spectral changes of ThT, we, rather, monitored the changes occurring in the spectral properties of the MG and N states upon interaction with ThT, from fluorescence, absorbance and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy.

Substituent directed selectivity in anion recognition by a new class of simple osmium-pyrazole derived receptors.

The present article deals with the structurally, spectroscopically and electrochemically characterised osmium-bipyridyl derived complexes [(bpy)2Os(II)(HL1)Cl]ClO4 [1]ClO4 and [(bpy)2Os(II)(HL2)Cl]ClO4 [2]ClO4 incorporating neutral and monodentate pyrazole derivatives (HL) with one free NH function (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, HL1 = pyrazole, HL2 = 3,5-dimethylpyrazole). The crystal structures of [1]ClO4 and [2]ClO4 reveal intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between the free NH proton of HL and the equatorially placed Cl(-) ligand (N-HCl) with donor-acceptor distances of 3.114(7) Å and 3.

Speed of a swimming sheet in Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids.

We measure the swimming speed of a cylindrical version of Taylor's swimming sheet in viscoelastic fluids, and find that depending on the rheology, the speed can either increase or decrease relative to the speed in a Newtonian viscous fluid. The swimming stroke of the sheet is a prescribed propagating wave that travels along the sheet in the azimuthal direction. The measurements are performed with the sheet immersed in a fluid inside a cylindrical tank under torque-free conditions.

Suppression and generation of rhythms in conjugately coupled nonlinear systems.

We explore two diametrically opposite phenomena provoked by conjugate coupling in nonlinear systems. The first effect, known as amplitude death, is observed when the two uncoupled systems are located in the oscillatory regime. In the presence of an appropriate coupling term the oscillatory behavior in both the systems vanishes.