Investigations on Anti-Diabetic Medicinal Plants Used by Tribal Inhabitants of Nalamankadai, Chitteri Reserve Forest, Dharmapuri, India

An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to collect information about medicinal plants used for the treatment of diabetics and associated complications by tribals in Nalamankadai village of Chitteri Hills, Dharmapuri District. The indigenous knowledge of local traditional healers and native plants used for the treatment of diabetics related health disorders were collected through questionnaire and personal interviews. A total of 10 informants with in the age group of 50 to 68 were interviewed, among them two were tribal practitioners. The investigation revealed that, the traditional healers and the inhabitants use 29 species of plants distributed in 28 genera belonging to 22 families to treat diabetics and related complications. Results depict that fresh plant materials were invariably preferred for the treatment of long term complications associated with diabetics. Anti-diabetic medicinal plants used by Malayali’s in Chitteri have been listed along with plant parts used

The Carbohydrate-Binding Site in Galectin-3 Is Preorganized To Recognize a Sugarlike Framework of Oxygens: Ultra-High-Resolution Structures and Water Dynamics

The recognition of carbohydrates by proteins is a fundamental aspect of communication within and between living cells. Understanding the molecular basis of carbohydrate-protein interactions is a prerequisite for the rational design of synthetic ligands. Here we report the high- to ultrahigh-resolution crystal structures of the carbohydrate recognition domain of galectin-3 (Gal3C) in the ligand-free state (1.08 angstrom at 100 K, 1.25 angstrom at 298 K) and in complex with lactose (0.86 angstrom) or glycerol (0.9 angstrom). These structures reveal striking similarities in the positions of water and carbohydrate oxygen atoms in all three states, indicating that the binding site of Gal3C is preorganized to coordinate oxygen atoms in an arrangement that is nearly optimal for the recognition of beta-galactosides. Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation dispersion experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that all water molecules in the lactose-binding site exchange with bulk water on a time scale of nanoseconds or shorter. Nevertheless, molecular dynamics simulations identify transient water binding at sites that agree well with those observed by crystallography, indicating that the energy landscape of the binding site is maintained in solution. All heavy atoms of glycerol are positioned like the corresponding atoms of lactose in the Gal3C complexes. However, binding of glycerol to Gal3C is insignificant in solution at room temperature, as monitored by NMR spectroscopy or isothermal titration calorimetry under conditions where lactose binding is readily detected. These observations make a case for protein cryo-crystallography as a valuable screening method in fragment-based drug discovery and further suggest that identification of water sites might inform inhibitor design

Polymer reaction engineering tools to tailor smart and superabsorbent hydrogels

Experimental and theoretical tools to describe and tailor polymer network formation processes are here addressed. Although a special emphasis is given to the synthesis, characterization, and applications of smart and superabsorbent polymers, other networks with higher cross-linker contents are also prospected. Purely synthetic and cellulose-based hydrogels are both considered in this research. The reactor type (e.g., batch or continuous flow micro-reactor), polymerization process (e.g., bulk, inverse suspension, or precipitation polymerization), and polymerization mechanism (e.g., classic free radical polymerization or reversible deactivation radical polymerization RDRP) are highlighted as possible tools to change the morphology and the molecular architecture of polymer networks and hydrogels. The tailoring of cellulose-synthetic hybrid materials is also addressed through the use of RAFT-mediated polymer grafting. Case studies showing the applications of the synthesized materials are presented, namely, molecularly imprinted hydrogel particles for retention of aminopyridines, molecularly imprinted polymers for polyphenols, caffeine or 5-fluorouracil selective uptake/ release, as well as modified cellulose adsorbents for polyphenol retention. Cellulose-based hydrogels are also considered as possible vehicles for polyphenol-controlled release. The mechanisms of liberation of polyphenols from these materials are analyzed, namely, when supercritical CO2 is used in the hydrogel impregnation processParts of this work are a result of project “AIProcMat@N2020 – Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020,” with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000006, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programa (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and of Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 – Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM funded by ERDF through COMPETE2020 (Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)) – and by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia). We also acknowledge the contribution of the master student Gayane Sadoyan in the framework of the thesis “Development of amphiphilic adsorbents for the stimulated uptake and release of polyphenols.”info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio