Systems Network Analysis of Protein Interaction Network (PIN) for deducing molecular mechanistic action of BaP induced carcinogenesis

Background: Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, has been placed in group 1 by IARC which indicates that it is a potential carcinogen to human beings. It has shown tumorigenic properties in approximately all animal model systems. In the current study, we have tried to identify the most probable biomolecular targets of BaP using systems biology approach. Method: All the proteins that interact with BaP were extracted from T3DB. STRING-db was used to generate the Protein- protein interaction network (PPIN). Various apps of cytoscape software were used for network analysis, modulation and GO enrichment analysis. By developing biokinetic models, we then tried to find the impact of BaP on the top three most probable biomolecular targets and how whole of the cell cycle is getting perturbed which may ultimately lead to carcinogenesis. Apart from this, in this study we have also tried to propose a hypothesis of removing BaP from the cell vicinity by exploiting the scavenging properties of carbon based nanoparticles using in silico approach. Result: 4000 genes were extracted from T3DB for which network was generated. On network analysis, 2058 nodes were obtained that were connected by 13850 edges. MCODE created 65 clusters which had 411 seed proteins and enrichment analysis showed that most of the proteins present in the network participate in cell cycle regulatory pathways. On molecular docking analysis QSOX1, PTGS2 and NOS2 emerged out to be top three most probable biomolecular targets of BaP out of which PTGS2 is directly involved in cell cycle regulatory pathways. Biomolecular kinetics showed that when PTGS2 gets hampered by BaP, cell cycle regulation gets disturbed and cell may become cancerous. On in silico analysis of the scavenging potential of carbon based nanoparticles, BaP showed higher binding efficiencies for SWCNT and MWCNT as compared with QSOX1. Conclusion: Based on the in silico docking results we can hypothesize that carbon based nanoparticles can be used to scavenge BaP molecules from the cell vicinity

On the Variation of Fourier Parameters for Galactic and LMC Cepheids at Optical, Near-Infrared and Mid-Infrared Wavelengths

We present a light curve analysis of fundamental-mode Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheids based on the Fourier decomposition technique. We have compiled light curve data for Galactic and LMC Cepheids in optical ({\it VI}), near-infrared ({\it JHK}$_s$) and mid-infrared (3.6 $\&$ 4.5-$\mu$m) bands from the literature and determined the variation of their Fourier parameters as a function of period and wavelength. We observed a decrease in Fourier amplitude parameters and an increase in Fourier phase parameters with increasing wavelengths at a given period. We also found a decrease in the skewness and acuteness parameters as a function of wavelength at a fixed period. We applied a binning method to analyze the progression of the mean Fourier parameters with period and wavelength. We found that for periods longer than about 20 days, the values of the Fourier amplitude parameters increase sharply for shorter wavelengths as compared to wavelengths longer than the $J$-band. We observed the variation of the Hertzsprung progression with wavelength. The central period of the Hertzsprung progression was found to increase with wavelength in the case of the Fourier amplitude parameters and decrease with increasing wavelength in the case of phase parameters. We also observed a small variation of the central period of the progression between the Galaxy and LMC, presumably related to metallicity effects. These results will provide useful constraints for stellar pulsation codes that incorporate stellar atmosphere models to produce Cepheid light curves in various bands.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Main Journa

Cognitive deficits in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder: State or trait marker?

Cognitive deficits have been demonstrated in people in the euthymic phase of bipolar disorder. This cross-sectional study compared euthymic bipolar disorder patients (N=30) with never psychiatrically ill controls (N=30) on a neuropsychological test battery containing tasks of executive function, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), attention and working memory, Digits Forward and Backward, and speed of information processing, Digit Symbol. Scores on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Vocabulary Test did not differ between the groups. The bipolar group were significantly impaired compared to controls on various indices of executive function on the Wisconsin Card Sort Test and on the Digit tests. The impaired performance on the Digit tests, but not the WCST, was significantly associated with medication status, notably prescribed benzodiazepines. There was no significant effect of severity or course of illness on performance. The findings support the hypothesis that impairments in executive function are present between illness episodes in bipolar disorder, and so are not simply state markers