Shotgun metagenomics and computational profiling of the plastisphere microbiome: unveiling the potential of enzymatic production and plastic degradation.

Plastic pollution is one of the most resilient types of pollution and is considered a global environmental threat, particularly in the marine environment. This study aimed to identify plastic-degrading bacteria from the plastisphere and their pharmaceutical and therapeutic potential. We collected samples from soil and aquatic plastisphere to identify the bacterial communities using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic tools.

Naturally Isolated Sesquiterpene Lactone and Hydroxyanthraquinone Induce Apoptosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, especially in Asian countries. The emergence of its drug resistance and its side effects demands alternatives, to improve prognosis. Since the majority of cancer drugs are derived from natural sources, it provides a window to look for more biocompatible alternatives.

Evaluation of the combination therapy of hydroxyurea and thalidomide in β-thalassemia.

Transfusion-related complications and lack of resources in low-to-middle-income countries have led to a search for novel therapies to reduce the need for blood transfusions in patients with β-thalassemia. Hydroxyurea (HU) has demonstrated promising outcomes; additionally, thalidomide has also shown improvement in hemoglobin (Hb) levels for patients with β-thalassemia in some studies. This study presents the findings of a single-arm nonrandomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of combination therapy of HU and thalidomide in children with β-thalassemia.

Phytochemicals from with potent cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities.

Six natural products () were isolated from the fresh leaves of including ursolic acid (, ursolic acid-γ-lactone (, 27----coumaroyl ursolic acid (, 23-hydroxy ursolic acid (, uvaol ( and ursolic aldehyde (. Their structure elucidation was done by modern spectroscopic techniques including H-NMR, C-NMR and comparison with reported data. All compounds were known, while were isolated for the first time from the genus .

Novel ursane-type triterpene from the fresh leaves of and evaluation of cytotoxicity.

One novel ursolic acid derivative sabiracin 11,25-epoxy-3-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid was isolated from the leaves of , together with five known compounds hydroxy benzaldehyde (), ursolic acid (), carissin (), 22-hydroxyursolic acid () and sitosterol-3-O--D-glucopyranoside (). Compounds and were isolated for the first time from this genus. Structure elucidation was done by the help of spectroscopic techniques.