Sulfotransferase 1A1 (SULT1A1) Polymorphism and Breast Cancer Risk: A Case-control Study in South India

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Sulfotransferase plays an important role in the formation of estrogen which is usually conferred as a risk factor for breast cancer. The SULT1A1*2 polymorphism is likely to play an important role in the susceptibility to breast cancer. This polymorphism (G638A) in the sulfotransferase 1A1 (SULT1A1) gene may causes Arg213His amino acid change and consequently results in significantly reduced enzyme activity and thermostability.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, we investigated the role of SULT1A1 G638A polymorphism in breast cancer patients. We genotyped 144 patients with breast cancer and 116 healthy control subjects, using a Polymerase chain reaction –Restriction Fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.Results: The frequencies of SULT1A1 G638G, G638A and A638A were 83.5%, 17.8%, and 1.4% in the breast cancer group and 89.5%, 4.0% and 0.0% in the control group. The results of our study indicate that the SULT1A1 G638A genotype showed 4.6 folds increased risk of breast cancer (p = 0.002).Conclusion: In conclusion, our results suggest that, SULT1A1 G638A variant is significantly associated with risk of breast cancer in south Indian women

Cd²⁺ Complex of a Triazole-Based Calix[4]arene Conjugate as a Selective Fluorescent Chemosensor for Cys

An <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-Dimethylamine ethylimino-appended triazole-linked calix[4]­arene conjugate, <b>L</b>, has been synthesized and characterized, and its Cd²⁺ complex has been isolated and characterized. The structure of [Cd<b>L</b>] was established by computational calculation using B3LYP/LANL2DZ. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations were performed to demonstrate the electronic properties of [Cd<b>L</b>]. This highly fluorescing [Cd<b>L</b>] has been used to recognize Cys selectively among the 20 naturally occurring amino acids. [Cd<b>L</b>] exhibits a minimum detection limit of 58 ppb for Cys, with reusability and reversibility being imparted to the system during sensing. Thus, the sensing of Cys was well demonstrated using various techniques, viz., fluorescence, absorption, visual color change, electrospray ionization MS, ¹H NMR, and live cell imaging experiments

Reduced graphene oxide-based hydrogels for the efficient capture of dye pollutants from aqueous solutions

Three dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-based hydrogels were synthesized by the reduction of graphene oxide using sodium ascorbate. During gelation, mono-, bi-, and trilayer graphene nanosheets self-assemble into a well-defined and interconnected 3D porous network through strong van der Waals and pi-pi interactions. The 3D RGO-based hydrogels showed a large surface area, and a uniform pore size distribution. The application of the 3D mesoporous material as an adsorbent for the removal of the organic dyes, methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), from aqueous solutions was investigated. The 3D RGO-based hydrogels showed excellent removal capabilities for MB (similar to 100%) and RhB (similar to 97%) due to adsorption through strong pi-pi stacking and anion-cation interactions. Toxicity tests show that the aqueous solutions purified by 3D RGO-based hydrogels are comparable to control experiments conducted using distilled water.close362

Environmental applications using graphene composites: water remediation and gas adsorption

This review deals with wide-ranging environmental studies of graphene-based materials on the adsorption of hazardous materials and photocatalytic degradation of pollutants for water remediation and the physisorption, chemisorption, reactive adsorption, and separation for gas storage. The environmental and biological toxicity of graphene, which is an important issue if graphene composites are to be applied in environmental remediation, is also addressed.close663