Oxymatrine ameliorates epithelial mesenchymal transition in IgA nephropathy induced rats.

In this study, we investigated the efficacy of oxymatrine, a phytochemical alkaloid, in reducing inflammation and fibrosis in a rat model of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) through modulation of the TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway. Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into control, IgAN, and treatment groups, the latter receiving oxymatrine postinduction of IgAN. Induced by bovine serum albumin, carbon tetrachloride, and lipopolysaccharides, the disease model was validated by immunofluorescence and histopathological analyses, confirming significant renal deposition of IgA and increased fibrosis markers (IL-6, TGF-β, SMAD 3, and α-SMA).

From experimental studies to computational approaches: recent trends in designing novel therapeutics for amyloidogenesis.

Amyloidosis is a condition marked by misfolded proteins that build up in tissues and eventually destroy organs. It has been connected to a number of fatal illnesses, including non-neuropathic and neurodegenerative conditions, which in turn have a significant influence on the worldwide health sector. The inability to identify the underlying etiology of amyloidosis has hampered efforts to find a treatment for the condition.

Leveraging bacterial laccases to facilitate the decomposition of xenobiotic compounds: a review.

Xenobiotic compounds are artificial substances that are essential in our lives. These substances have a negative impact on the environment because they are long-lasting and biodegrade slowly or not at all in ecosystems. When xenobiotics leak into the ecosystem, they enter the food chain and negatively impact animals' and people's health across all trophic levels.

Histone deacetylase 8 in focus: Decoding structural prerequisites for innovative epigenetic intervention beyond hydroxamates.

Histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) inhibitors play a pivotal role in epigenetic regulation. Numerous HDAC8 inhibitors (HDAC8is), that are non-hydroxamates have been identified to date, and a few of them exhibit antiproliferative activity that is on par with hydroxamates. While many non-hydroxamate-based HDAC8is have demonstrated selectivity, hydroxamate-based HDAC8is, like Vorinostat and TSA, have a tendency of non-specificity among the different HDAC isoforms.

Molecular origin of the differential stabilities of the protofilaments in different polymorphs: molecular dynamics simulation and deep learning.

Fragments of α-synuclein, an intrinsically disordered protein, whose misfolding and aggregation are responsible for diseases like Parkinson's disease and others, can co-exist in different polymorphs like 'rod' and 'twister'. Their apparently stable structures have different degrees of tolerance to perturbations like point mutations. The molecular basis of this is investigated using molecular dynamics-based conformational sampling.

MACI: A machine learning-based approach to identify drug classes of antibiotic resistance genes from metagenomic data.

Novel methodologies are now essential for identification of antibiotic resistant pathogens in order to resist them. Here, we are presenting a model, MACI (Machine learning-based Antibiotic resistance gene-specific drug Class Identification) that can take metagenomic fragments as input and predict the drug class of antibiotic resistant genes. In our study, we trained a model using the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database, containing 5138 representative sequences across 134 drug classes.

Biological and Biophysical Methods for Evaluation of Inhibitors of Sortase A in Staphylococcus aureus: An Overview.

Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most notorious pathogens, develops antibiotic resistance by the formation of a thick layer of exopolysaccharides known as biofilms. Sortase A, a transpeptidase responsible for biofilm formation and attachment to the host surface, has emerged as an important drug target for development of anti-virulence agents. A number of sortase A inhibitors, both peptide and non-peptides are reported which involved the use of several experiments which may provide insights regarding binding affinity, specificity, safety, and efficacy of ligands.

Glut3 promotes cellular O-GlcNAcylation as a distinctive tumor-supportive feature in Treg cells.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) establish dominant immune tolerance but obstruct tumor immune surveillance, warranting context-specific mechanistic insights into the functions of tumor-infiltrating Tregs (TIL-Tregs). We show that enhanced posttranslational O-linked N-acetylglucosamine modification (O-GlcNAcylation) of cellular factors is a molecular feature that promotes a tumor-specific gene expression signature and distinguishes TIL-Tregs from their systemic counterparts. We found that altered glucose utilization through the glucose transporter Glut3 is a major facilitator of this process.

TiAlV Implants with Dense-Trabecular Bilayer Morphology for Bone Ingrowth: Synergy of Green Net Shaping and Sacrificial Templating.

Stress shielding in dental and orthopedic implants is a long-standing hurdle, and trabecular porous architecture to improve bone ingrowth is deemed to be a potential solution. Fabricating TiAlV components with dense-porous bilayer structures is complicated with limited lab-scale and commercial success. Here, a green dough-forming technique with metal powders is successfully explored to develop heterogeneous structures with a monolith-like dense-porous interface.

Exploring molecular fragments for fraction unbound in human plasma of chemicals: a fragment-based cheminformatics approach.

Fraction unbound in plasma () of drugs is an significant factor for drug delivery and other biological incidences related to the pharmacokinetic behaviours of drugs. Exploration of different molecular fragments for of different small molecules/agents can facilitate in identification of suitable candidates in the preliminary stage of drug discovery. Different researchers have implemented strategies to build several prediction models for of different drugs.

3D printing of bacterial cellulose for potential wound healing applications: Current trends and prospects.

Several advances in skin tissue engineering have been made to restore skin damage, facilitating wound healing. Bacterial cellulose (BC), a naturally occurring polymer, has gained attention as a potential material in wound healing due to its unique physical and biological properties. In recent years, with the advent of 3D bio-printing technology, new avenues have opened for fabricating customized wound dressings and scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes.

Promising ferroelectric and piezoelectric response of Cr-doped ZnO nanofiller-incorporated PVDF flexible and laminated nanocomposite system.

Cr-doped ZnO (CZ) nanoparticles are prepared using hydrothermal and co-precipitation techniques. The desired crystallographic phase of the nanoparticles is confirmed using X-ray diffraction study. Rod-shaped and spherical morphologies of CZ nanoparticles prepared using hydrothermal and co-precipitation techniques were confirmed through FESEM observation.

Smart Multi-Responsive Biomaterials and Their Applications for 4D Bioprinting.

The emergence of 4D printing has become a pivotal tool to produce complex structures in biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This chapter provides a concise overview of the current state of the field and its immense potential to better understand the involved technologies to build sophisticated 4D-printed structures. These structures have the capability to sense and respond to a diverse range of stimuli, which include changes in temperature, humidity, or electricity/magnetics.

Epigenetic orchestration of the DNA damage response: Insights into the regulatory mechanisms.

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a critical cellular mechanism that safeguards genome integrity and prevents the accumulation of harmful DNA lesions. Increasing evidence highlights the intersection between DDR signaling and epigenetic regulation, offering profound insights into various aspects of cellular function including oncogenesis. This comprehensive review explores the intricate relationship between the epigenetic modifications and DDR activation, with a specific focus on the impact of viral infections.

Escaping the ESKAPE pathogens: A review on antibiofilm potential of nanoparticles.

ESKAPE pathogens, a notorious consortium comprising Enterococcusfaecium, Staphylococcusaureus, Klebsiellapneumoniae, Acinetobacterbaumannii, Pseudomonasaeruginosa, and Enterobacter species, pose formidable challenges in healthcare settings due to their multidrug-resistant nature. The increasing global cases of antimicrobial-resistant ESKAPE pathogens are closely related to their remarkable ability to form biofilms. Thus, understanding the unique mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of ESKAPE pathogens and the innate resilience of biofilms against traditional antimicrobial agents is important for developing innovative strategies to establish effective control methods against them.

Rutin reduces inflammation and fibrosis via TGF-β/SMAD pathways in IgA nephropathy induced rats.

Aim: Rutin is a flavonoid glycoside obtained from the plant Ruta graveolens. It was known to have immunosuppressant activities. This study was focused on effect of rutin against immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy.

Fragment-based QSAR study to explore the structural requirements of DPP-4 inhibitors: a stepping stone towards better type 2 diabetes mellitus management.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors belong to a prominent group of pharmaceutical agents that are used in the governance of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). They exert their antidiabetic effects by inhibiting the incretin hormones like glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide which, play a pivotal role in the regulation of blood glucose homoeostasis in our body. DPP-4 inhibitors have emerged as an important class of oral antidiabetic drugs for the treatment of T2DM.

Anticancer potential and structure activity studies of purine and pyrimidine derivatives: an updated review.

Cancer is the world's leading cause of death impacting millions of lives globally. The increasing research over the past several decades has focused on the development of new anticancer drugs, but still cancer continues to be a global health challenge. Thus, several new alternative therapeutic strategies have been tried for the drug design and discovery.

Encapsulation of Alpinia leaf essential oil in nanophytosome-embedded gel as novel strategy to treat periodontal infections: evaluation of antimicrobial effectiveness, pharmacokinetic, in vitro-ex vivo correlation and in silico studies.

Aim: The work reports a novel nanophytosomal gel encapsulating (L.) Willd leaf essential oil to treat periodontal infections.

Methods: Alpinia oil-loaded nanophytosomes (ANPs) were formulated by lipid layer hydration technique and were evaluated by FESEM, cryo-TEM, loading efficiency, zeta potential, particle size, release profile etc.

Unraveling HDAC11: Epigenetic orchestra in different diseases and structural insights for inhibitor design.

Histone deacetylase 11 (HDAC11), a member of the HDAC family, has emerged as a critical regulator in numerous physiological as well as pathological processes. Due to its diverse roles, HDAC11 has been a focal point of research in recent times. Different non-selective inhibitors are already approved, and research is going on to find selective HDAC11 inhibitors.

Anticancer Potential of the S-Heterocyclic Ring Containing Drugs and its Bioactivation to Reactive Metabolites.

Sulfur-containing heterocyclic derivatives have been disclosed for binding with a wide range of cancer-specific protein targets. Various interesting derivatives of sulfur-containing heterocyclics such as benzothiazole, thiazole, thiophene, thiazolidinedione, benzothiophene, and phenothiazine, etc have been shown to inhibit diverse signaling pathways implicated in cancer. Significant progress has also been made in molecular targeted therapy against specific enzymes such as kinase receptors due to potential binding interactions inside the ATP pocket.