Indian Herb-Derived Phytoconstituent-Based Antiviral, Antimicrobial and Antifungal Formulation: An Oral Rinse Candidate for Oral Hygiene and the Potential Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreaks.

Outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases continue to challenge human health. Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a global coronavirus pandemic, known as COVID-19. Multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus are circulating, thus raising questions with respect to the effectiveness of different lines of treatment, such as vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Effectiveness of antenatal screening of asymptomatic bacteriuria in reduction of prematurity and low birth weight: Evaluating a point-of-care rapid test in a pragmatic randomized controlled study.

Background: Premature babies suffer higher mortality and life-long disabilities. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is postulated to induce preterm labor. Routine antenatal screening for ASB using urine culture is not feasible in most developing countries due to long turn-around time, user-unfriendliness, and lack of resources.

Demystifying Excess Immune Response in COVID-19 to Reposition an Orphan Drug for Down-Regulation of NF-κB: A Systematic Review.

The immunological findings from autopsies, biopsies, and various studies in COVID-19 patients show that the major cause of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 is excess immune response resulting in hyper-inflammation. With the objective to review various mechanisms of excess immune response in adult COVID-19 patients, Pubmed was searched for free full articles not related to therapeutics or co-morbid sub-groups, published in English until 27.10.

Age and Tumor Differentiation-Associated Gene Expression Based Analysis of Non-Familial Prostate Cancers.

Prostate cancer incidence in young men has increased. Patients diagnosed at an earlier age are likely to have aggressive prostate cancer and treatment decisions are continuing to be weighted by patient age and life expectancy. Identification of age-associated gene-expression signatures hold great potential to augment current and future treatment modalities.

Gene Isoforms: A Potential Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Prostate Cancer.

The identification of prostate transmembrane protein androgen induced 1 (), an androgen responsive gene, came initially from the studies of androgen regulatory gene networks in prostate cancer. It was soon followed by the documentation of the expression and functional analysis of transmembrane prostate androgen-induced protein ()/ in other solid tumors including renal, colon, breast, lung, and ovarian cancers. Further elucidation of gene expression and sequence analysis revealed the presence of five isoforms with distinct extracellular domains (isoforms , , , , and ).

Reversal of Increase in Intestinal Permeability by Seed Kernel Extract in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Obesity and hyper-intestinal permeability are interconnected. This study is designed to evaluate the ability of seed kernel extract (MESK) in restoring the intestinal barrier and preventing obesity and associated metabolic complications in a high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Four groups of Swiss albino mice: (1) normal diet (ND), (2) high-fat diet (HFD), (3) HFD + Orlistat (100 µg/kg), and (4) HFD + MESK (75 µg/kg), were used to monitor various biochemical parameters associated with metabolic syndrome (glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides) and body weight in an eight-week-long study.

Characterization of unique gene splice variants (isoforms and ) from RNA Seq profiling provides novel insights into prognostic evaluation of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is a disease with heterogeneity of multiple gene transcriptomes and biological signaling pathways involved in tumor development. The prostate transmembrane protein, androgen induced 1 (), a multifunctional protein played critical roles in prostate tumorigenesis. The pleiotropic nature of in modulating androgen and TGF-β signaling as well as splice variants mechanisms for functional regulations of cancer-associated genes prompted us to investigate the biological roles of isoforms in prostate cancer.

Analysis of Isoforms ( and ) as Selective Inhibitors of Androgen and TGF-β Signaling Reveals Distinct Biological and Prognostic Features in Prostate Cancer.

Dysfunctions of androgen/TGF-β signaling play important roles in prostate tumorigenesis. Prostate Transmembrane Protein Androgen Induced 1 () inhibits androgen and TGF-β signaling via a negative feedback loop. The loss of confers resistance to androgen signaling inhibitors and promotes bone metastasis.

Clinical Validation of Innovative Optical-Sensor-Based, Low-Cost, Rapid Diagnostic Test to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance.

The antibiotic susceptibility test determines the most effective antibiotic treatment for bacterial infection. Antimicrobial stewardship is advocated for the rational use of antibiotics to preserve their efficacy in the long term and provide empirical therapy for disease management. Therefore, rapid diagnostic tests can play a pivotal role in efficient and timely treatment.

Curcumin-Gene Expression Response in Hormone Dependent and Independent Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cells.

The androgen receptor is one of the key targets for prostate cancer treatment. Despite its less satisfactory effects, chemotherapy is the most common treatment option for metastatic and/or castration-resistant patients. There are constant needs for novel anti-prostate cancer therapeutic/prevention agents.

Role of Ionizing Radiation in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Ionizing radiation (IR) from terrestrial sources is continually an unprotected peril to human beings. However, the medical radiation and global radiation background are main contributors to human exposure and causes of radiation sickness. At high-dose exposures acute radiation sickness occurs, whereas chronic effects may persist for a number of years.

Erratum: ETS Related Gene mediated Androgen Receptor Aggregation and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Prostate Cancer Development.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

ETS Related Gene mediated Androgen Receptor Aggregation and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Prostate Cancer Development.

Mechanistic studies of deregulated ERG in prostate cancer and other cancers continue to enhance its role in cancer biology and its utility as a biomarker and therapeutic target. Here, we show that ERG, through its physical interaction with androgen receptor, induces AR aggregation and endoplasmic reticulum stress in the prostate glands of ERG transgenic mice. Histomorphological alterations and the expression of ER stress sensors Atf6, Ire1α, Perk, their downstream effectors Grp78/BiP and eIF2α in ERG transgenic mouse prostate glands indicate the presence of chronic ER stress.

Phytochemicals in Wound Healing.

Traditional therapies, including the use of dietary components for wound healing and skin regeneration, are very common in Asian countries such as China and India. The increasing evidence of health-protective benefits of phytochemicals, components derived from plants is generating a lot of interest, warranting further scientific evaluation and mechanistic studies. Phytochemicals are non-nutritive substances present in plants, and some of them have the potential to provide better tissue remodeling when applied on wounds and to also act as proangiogenic agents during wound healing.

Loss of miR-449a in ERG-associated prostate cancer promotes the invasive phenotype by inducing SIRT1.

Epigenetic regulation by SIRT1, a multifaceted NAD+-dependent protein deacetylase, is one of the most common factors modulating cellular processes in a broad range of diseases, including prostate cancer (CaP). SIRT1 is over-expressed in CaP cells, however the associated mechanism is not well understood. To identify whether specific microRNAs might mediate this linkage, we have screened a miRNA library for differential expression in ERG-associated CaP tissues.

Silencing of PMEPA1 accelerates the growth of prostate cancer cells through AR, NEDD4 and PTEN.

Androgen Receptor (AR) is the male hormone receptor and a nuclear transcription factor which plays a central role in the growth of normal and malignant prostate gland. Our earlier studies defined a mechanistic model for male hormone dependent regulation of AR protein levels in prostate cancer (CaP) cells through a negative feed-back loop between AR and PMEPA1, an androgen induced NEDD4 E3 ubiquitin ligase binding protein. This report focuses on the impact of PMEPA1 silencing on CaP biology.

ERG monoclonal antibody in the diagnosis and biological stratification of prostate cancer: delineation of minimal epitope, critical residues for binding, and molecular basis of specificity.

Recently we reported the development of a highly specific murine monoclonal antibody (ERG MAb 9FY) against the ERG oncoprotein. ERG is expressed in over half of all prostate cancers (CaP) as a result of specific gene fusions involving ERG and the androgen regulated TMPRSS2 promoter. ERG MAb 9FY has been extensively used in the evaluations of CaP.

Methylation of the PMEPA1 gene, a negative regulator of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer.

The prostate transmembrane protein androgen induced 1 (PMEPA1) gene is highly expressed in prostate epithelial cells and is a direct transcriptional target for the androgen receptor (AR). AR protein levels are controlled by the AR-PMEPA1 negative feedback loop through NEDD4-E3 ligase. Reduced expression of PMEPA1 observed in prostate tumors, suggests that loss of PMEPA1 may play critical roles in prostate tumorigenesis.

Skin regenerative potentials of curcumin.

Curcumin, an active constituent of the spice turmeric, is well known for its chemopreventive properties and is found to be beneficial in treating various disorders including skin diseases. Curcumin protects skin by quenching free radicals and reducing inflammation through the inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B. Curcumin also affects other signaling pathways including transforming growth factor-β and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

A facile one-pot green synthesis and antibacterial activity of 2-amino-4H-pyrans and 2-amino-5-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-chromenes.

A facile one-pot expeditious synthesis of 2-amino-4H-pyrans and 2-amino-5-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-chromenes has been described under solvent-free conditions using magnesium oxide as a catalyst in very good yields. The reaction catalyst, magnesium oxide was reused and recycled without any loss of activity and product yield. All the synthesized compounds were screened for in vitro antibacterial activity, and compounds 3a, 3b, 3f, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e and 4g showed complete inhibition of bacterial growth at 128 microg/mL or less and the rest of the compounds exhibited incomplete inhibition.

Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms of CRYGA and CRYGB genes in control population of western Indian origin.

Aim: Polymorphisms in gamma-crystallins ( CRYG ) can serve as markers for lens differentiation and eye disorders leading to cataract. Several investigators have reported the presence of sequence variations within crystallin genes, with or without apparent effects on the function of the proteins both in mice and humans. Delineation of these polymorphic sites may explain the differences observed in the susceptibility to cataract observed among various ethnic groups.

Genetic variation in D7S1875 repeat polymorphism of leptin gene is associated with increased risk for depression: a case-control study from India.

Background: Epidemiologic data suggest an association between obesity and depression, however findings vary considerably across different studies. Both depression and obesity are disabling disorders associated with loss over appetite control, influenced by genetic and environmental factors and are risk factors for diseases like hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, etc. This study attempts to establish a link between the symptoms of depression, metabolic disorders, and obesity, to unravel the underlying association/s.

Correlation of circulatory immunoglobulin levels with Mu opiate receptor allele.

Opiates are known to induce immunosuppression in their users (addicts). Evidences supporting their role in suppressing a variety of immunological end points in addicts have been reported by several investigators. In the present study, we investigated the changes in serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels and their correlation with Mu opiate receptor (MOR) genotypes.