Antiplasmodial Activity and Toxicological Assessment of Curcumin PLGA-Encapsulated Nanoparticles.

Curcumin is a polyphenolic pigment isolated from the rhizomes of (turmeric), a medicinal plant widely used in the ancient Indian and Chinese medicine. The antiplasmodial activity of curcumin is often hampered by its fast metabolism and poor water solubility, thus its incorporation into a delivery system could circumvent this problem. This study aimed to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity and the toxicity assessment of curcumin incorporated into poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles.

Analyses of Subtype Specific HIV-1 Tat-TAR RNA Interaction Reveals the Structural Determinants for Viral Activity.

HIV-1 Tat transactivates viral genes through strong interaction with TAR RNA. The stem-loop bulged region of TAR consisting of three nucleotides at the position 23-25 and the loop region consisting of six nucleotides at the position 30-35 are essential for viral transactivation. The arginine motif of Tat (five arginine residues on subtype TatC) is critically important for TAR interaction.