Design of Experiments (DoE) Approach to Optimize the Sustained Release Microparticles of Gefitinib.

Background: Gefitinib (GEF), the kinase inhibitor, is presently available as tablets to be taken orally in high doses of 250-500 mg per day due to its poor solubility. The solubility issues affect not only its onset of action but also the bioavailability. These drawbacks foresight the need to have an alternate dosage form, preferably a sustained release formulation.

Pharmacogenomic assessment of herbal drugs in affective disorders.

Anxiety and depression, the most prevalent psychiatric disorders are co-morbid in nature affecting several people across the world. There is an increase in demand for complementary and alternative medicines, specifically herbal botanicals due to various side effects exhibited by conventional drugs. Herbal drugs mentioned in traditional medicines, face acceptance issues by the medical community due to lack of scientific data regarding their neurochemical pathways.

The enhanced lipid productivity of Chlorella minutissima and Chlorella pyrenoidosa by carbon coupling nitrogen manipulation for biodiesel production.

Biodiesel production from microalgae has been researched extensively and attempted to commercialize on a large scale, but there are major hurdles in the production process like harvesting and low lipid content, which should be studied to enhance the process and make it economical. Present study aimed to improve the lipid productivity of Chlorella minutissima and Chlorella pyrenoidosa by modifying the carbon and nitrogen content of the medium. Both organisms were grown in BG11 medium for the first 6 days and thereafter grown in a modified BG11 medium completely deprived of nitrogen for 2 to 10 days.

In-Silico Bioprospecting: Finding Better Enzymes.

Enzymes are essential biological macromolecules, which catalyse chemical reactions and have impacted the human civilization tremendously. The importance of enzymes as biocatalyst was realized more than a century ago by eminent scientists like Kuhne, Buchner, Payen, Sumner, and the last three decades has seen exponential growth in enzyme industry, mainly due to the revolution in tools and techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry and production. This has resulted in high demand of enzymes in various applications like food, agriculture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, environment and research sector.

Effect of Co-Gamma Ionizing Radiation and Desiccation Stress on Protein Profile of Anabaena 7120.

Physiological stress can bring major molecular and cellular change to a living cell which further decide its survival or tolerance to the stress exposure. Cyanobacteria like Anabaena has been shown to tolerate high levels of different stresses like oxidative, desiccation, UV, and gamma radiation. They are able to withstand and recover remarkably without any lethal mutation when exposed to high doses of gamma radiation or prolonged duration of desiccation.

Desiccation and radiation stress tolerance in cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria are among the oldest living organisms on this planet, existing since more than 3 billion years. They are ideal organisms for investigating biological processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, circadian rhythm, photoregulation of gene expression, developmental gene rearrangements, and specialized cell differentiation. They are nearly ubiquitous in distribution, have colonized a wide range of ecosystems including soil, air, dry rock, and aquatic systems, and even occupy extreme niches that are inaccessible to other organisms.

Oviductal glycoprotein 1 (OVGP1) is expressed by endometrial epithelium that regulates receptivity and trophoblast adhesion.

Purpose: To study the regulation and functions of oviductal glycoprotein 1 (OVGP1) in endometrial epithelial cells.

Methods: Expression of OVGP1 in mouse endometrium during pregnancy and in the endometrial epithelial cell line (Ishikawa) was studied by immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and RT-PCR. Regulation of OVGP1 in response to ovarian steroids and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was studied by real-time RT-PCR.

Investigation of HSA as a biocompatible coating material for arsenic trioxide nanoparticles.

The anticancer properties of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) are accompanied by highly cytotoxic effects on normal cells. This necessitates developing modalities towards the targeted delivery of As2O3. Albumins, on account of their large structure and presence of several interacting groups, are ideal for encapsulating or carrying various drugs.

Arsenic trioxide: insights into its evolution to an anticancer agent.

Arsenic and its various forms have been in use in ancient Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years. Arsenicals have gained importance for having remedial effects for various diseases from syphilis to cancer thus highlighting its role as a therapeutic agent even though it has been labelled as a potential 'poison'. The ability of arsenic, specifically arsenic trioxide, to treat acute promyelocytic leukaemia has radically changed the perception of this poison and has been the main factor for the re-emergence of this candidate to Western medicine for the treatment of leukaemia and other solid tumours.

High-Risk Human Papillomavirus in Oral Cancer: Clinical Implications.

Oral cancer is the eleventh most common cancer globally, with well-established major risk factors of tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, and high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) types 16 and 18. HR-HPV16/18 are the etiologic agents of cervical cancers and a proportion of oropharyngeal cancers. HPV-associated oropharyngeal and oral cancers show better prognosis and response to therapy.

OMICS, Oral Cancer Molecular Landscapes, and Clinical Practice.

Molecular pathogenesis of oral cancers continues to be researched by omics systems science biotechnologies. Oral cancers rank as the 13th most common cancer globally. Notably, the burden of oral cancers from the Asian continent is 56.

Whole genome sequencing of clinical strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Mumbai, India: A potential tool for determining drug-resistance and strain lineage.

Amplification of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) and its transmission are significant barriers in controlling tuberculosis (TB) globally. Diagnostic inaccuracies and delays impede appropriate drug administration, which exacerbates primary and secondary drug resistance.

Acridone-pyrimidine hybrids- design, synthesis, cytotoxicity studies in resistant and sensitive cancer cells and molecular docking studies.

Hybrid systems of acridones with substituted pyrimidines were designed with an objective of discovering next generation anticancer agents targeting multiple mechanisms in the cancer cell. Hybrid compounds were synthesized by simple and convenient methods in the lab, characterized by NMR and Mass spectral methods and screened for cytotoxicity against A549 (lung), Hela (cervical), MCF7 (breast) and MDA-MB-231 (breast) cancer cell lines respectively. Evaluation of compounds for cell proliferation identified active compounds 11b, 11d and 11h against MCF7, MDA-MB-231 and A549 cell lines.

Physicochemical investigation and in vivo activity of anti-malarial drugs co-loaded in Tween 80 niosomes.

Drugs used for the treatment and prevention of malaria are often plagued by the problem of development of resistance. This has hampered their therapeutic efficiency and rendered them ineffective for monotherapy. However, if re-packaged and combined properly, many of these neglected anti-malarial drugs can possibly find their way back into the treatment regime.

Anti-inflammatory evaluation and characterization of leaf extract of Ananas comosus.

Ananas comosus (L.) Merr (Pineapple) is a tropical plant with an edible fruit. In the present study, the potential anti-inflammatory activity of A.

Molecular docking prediction and in vitro studies elucidate anti-cancer activity of phytoestrogens.

Aim: The study is aimed at evaluating the chemosensitization and apoptotic effect of aglycone rich extracts of dietary phytoestrogens (derived from soybean and flaxseed) on estrogen receptor positive, MCF-7 and estrogen receptor negative, MDA-MB-231 cells. The extracts show potent activity on both the cell lines, hence, in silico studies have been carried out to find the possible reason for their activity.

Main Methods: MTT assay was carried to assess chemosensitization effect and activated caspase-3/7 activity was studied using flow-cytometry and western blotting.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in an Indian cohort and association of CNTN4, MMP2 and SNTB1 variants with oral cancer.

Oral cancer is a high incidence cancer in India primarily due to the prevalent tobacco/areca nut chewing habits and hence a major health concern. India constitutes 26% of the global oral cancer burden. Besides the well-established risk factors, the genomic constitution of an individual plays a role in oral cancer.

Multiple single nucleotide polymorphism analysis and association of specific genotypes in FHIT, SAMD4A, and ANKRD17 in Indian patients with oral cancer.

Background: Oral cancer has a high incidence primarily because of tobacco chewing habits. However, a small proportion of habitués develop oral cancer, implying a role for genomic variants in its susceptibility.

Methods: Thirteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in an Indian cohort comprising patients with oral cancer (n = 500) and healthy controls (n = 500) were genotyped using allelic discrimination real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

The Inhibitory Effect of C-phycocyanin Containing Protein Extract (C-PC Extract) on Human Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in Hepatocellular Cancer Cell Line (HepG2).

Spirulina platensis :have been studied for several biological activities. In the current study C-phycocyanin containing protein extract (C-PC extract) of Spirulina platensis have been studied for its effect on human matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9) and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2). In the present study, breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB 231) and hepatocellular cancer cell line (HepG2) were examined for inhibition of MMPs at different levels of expression after C-PC extract treatment.

Aglycone rich extracts of phytoestrogens cause ROS-mediated DNA damage in breast carcinoma cells.

Phytoestrogens are known for their physiological role in lowering risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, breast cancer and menopausal symptoms. They are plant derived potent anti-oxidants, but tend to show pro-oxidant effect at higher concentrations. This study has been undertaken to exploit their pro-oxidant effect in the management of cancer.

3D engineered In vitro hepatospheroids for studying drug toxicity and metabolism.

Drug toxicity is one of the reasons for late stage drug attrition, because of hepatotoxicity. Various in vitro liver models like primary human hepatocytes, immortalized human hepatic cell lines, liver slices and microsomes have been used; but limited by viability, hepatic gene expression and function. The 3D-engineered construct of hepatocyte-like-cells (HLCs) differentiated from stem cells, may provide a limitless source of hepatocytes with improved reproducibility.

Procyanidin-rich extract of natural cocoa powder causes ROS-mediated caspase-3 dependent apoptosis and reduction of pro-MMP-2 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines.

Over the last four centuries, cocoa and chocolate have been described as having potential medicinal value. As of today, Theobroma cacao L. (Sterculiaceae) and its products are consumed worldwide.

Comparison of Nanoemulsion and Aqueous Micelle Systems of Paliperidone for Intranasal Delivery.

The objective of the study was to develop and compare the efficiency of nanoemulsion and aqueous micelle system of Paliperidone on intranasal administration. Both the formulations were evaluated for physical parameters such as globule size, pH, viscosity, conductivity and in vitro drug release studies. The reduction in spontaneous motor activity of L-dopa and Carbidopa-treated Swiss Albino mice on intranasal administration of nanoemulsion and micellar system of Paliperidone was compared with plain drug suspension.

Genotypic distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms in oral cancer: global scene.

Globocan 2012 reports the global oral cancer incidence of 300,373 new oral cancer cases annually, contributing to 2.1 % of the world cancer burden. The major well-established risk factors for oral cancer include tobacco, betel/areca nut, alcohol and high-risk oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) 16/18.