ASSESSMENT OF DEPRESSION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN BHOPAL, INDIA

ABSTRACT Introduction: Medical students repeatedly experience different stresses which render them more vulnerable to psychological problems that may affect their emotional, psychosocial and physical health. Objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of depression and associated factors leading to depression among medical students at People's University

Novel Gemcitabine Conjugated Albumin Nanoparticles: a Potential Strategy to Enhance Drug Efficacy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Purpose: The present study reports a novel conjugate of gemcitabine (GEM) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and thereof nanoparticles (GEM-BSA NPs) to potentiate the therapeutic efficacy by altering physicochemical properties, improving cellular uptake and stability of GEM. Methods: The synthesized GEM-BSA conjugate was extensively characterized by NMR, FTIR, MALDI-TOF and elemental analysis. Conjugation mediated changes in structural conformation and physicochemical properties were analysed by fluorescence, Raman and CD spectroscopy, DSC and contact angle analysis. Further, BSA nanoparticles were developed from BSA-GEM conjugate and extensively evaluated against in-vitro pancreatic cancer cell lines to explore cellular uptake pathways and therapeutic efficacy. Results: Various characterization techniques confirmed covalent conjugation of GEM with BSA. GEM-BSA conjugate was then transformed into NPs via high pressure homogenization technique with particle size 147.2 ± 7.3, PDI 0.16 ± 0.06 and ZP -19.2 ± 1.4. The morphological analysis by SEM and AFM revealed the formation of smooth surface spherical nanoparticles. Cellular uptake studies in MIA PaCa-2 (GEM sensitive) and PANC-1 (GEM resistant) pancreatic cell lines confirmed energy dependent clathrin internalization/endocytosis as a primary mechanism of NPs uptake. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies confirmed the hNTs independent transport of GEM in MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cells. Moreover, DNA damage and annexin-V assay revealed significantly higher apoptosis level in case of cells treated with GEM-BSA NPs as compared to free GEM. Conclusions: GEM-BSA NPs were found to potentiate the therapeutic efficacy by altering physicochemical properties, improving cellular uptake and stability of GEM and thus demonstrated promising therapeutic potential over free drug

Multidrug efflux pumps:structure, function and regulation

Infections arising from multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria are spreading rapidly throughout the world and threaten to become untreatable. The origins of resistance are numerous and complex, but one underlying factor is the capacity of bacteria to rapidly export drugs through the intrinsic activity of efflux pumps. In this Review, we describe recent advances that have increased our understanding of the structures and molecular mechanisms of multidrug efflux pumps in bacteria. Clinical and laboratory data indicate that efflux pumps function not only in the drug extrusion process but also in virulence and the adaptive responses that contribute to antimicrobial resistance during infection. The emerging picture of the structure, function and regulation of efflux pumps suggests opportunities for countering their activities

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Not AvailableMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, tiny RNA molecules that sit at the heart of regulating gene expression in numerous developmental and signaling pathways. Recent investigations have revealed that abiotic stresses encourage nontypical expression patterns of several miRNAs, accordingly proposing miRNAs as potent and novel targets for enhancement plant tolerance against abiotic factors. The stress driven miRNA-response is dependent on types of miRNA, stress, tissues or organs as well as plant genotype. The stress responsive miRNAs act either as negative-regulatory entities by down regulating negative regulators for stress tolerance or as positive-regulatory entities approving amassing of positive regulators. The current scenario on miRNA-based research vastly focus on the identification and target prediction/ validation of stress-responsive miRNAs along with their functional expression under stress conditions. It has predominately been accomplished with the advent of high throughput sequencing technologies coupled with online databases and tools. However, there is an urge of epigenomics, functional characterization, and expression-pattern studies to illuminate the communal regulatory pathways by miRNAs that trigger abiotic stress tolerance in major crops. The short tandem target mimic (STTM) and genome editing technologies can be exploited for efficient utilization of miRNAs for traits improvement. Beside the classical pathways, non canonical pathways and novel loci of miRNAs origin and their possible role in abiotic stress response need to be deciphered for their effective utilization. Through this review, we are presenting herein a current understanding about plant miRNAs, their biogenesis and involvement in stress-responses and modulation, various tools and databases used for prediction/identification of plant miRNAs and their targets. A perspective analysis on use of miRNAs as potent targets to engineer abiotic stress tolerance in plants has been presented with emphasis on recent developments, challenges and future perspectives.Not Availabl