Evaluation of antiangiogenic activity through tubulin interaction of chloroform fraction of the feather star, <i style="">Lamprometra palmata palmata</i>

28-37 Tubulin binding agents have received considerable interest as potential tumour-selective angiogenesis-targeting drugs. The present study elucidates that chloroform fraction (CC) isolated from methanol extract of the feather star Lamprometra palmata palmata has a tubulin binding property. With the quantification of chick chorioallantoic (CAM) assay, we further demonstrate that CC significantly and dose-dependently inhibits proliferation, migration of endothelial cells and exhibits antiangiogenic effect with ID50 10ng/10ml. It showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC50 192 mg/ml. In addition, CC arrested onion root tip cells at prometaphase phase. We demonstrate that these effects of CC are attributable to its property to inhibit polymerization of tubulin. These findings show that CC is a candidate antiangiogenic agent and needs further purification for the specific compound, which is responsible for all these activities. </smarttagtype

Mosquito larvicidal potential of some extracts obtained from the marine organisms prawn and sea cucumber

303-306The larvicidal potential of two marine organisms was investigated by testing their non-polar to polar organic extracts against mosquito Culex pipens fatigans. In the present investigation the non-polar petroleum ether extract of prawn Nematopalaemon. tenuipes, Hendersen and polar methanol extract of sea cucumber Holothuria scabra, Jaeger body wall were found to be effective against mosquito larvae. The preliminary chemical analysis showed the presence of steroids in the active extract of prawns, whereas the presence of saponins in the active extract of sea cucumber body wall. In this context, the observed mosquito larvicidal activity could be attributed to the presence of steroids and saponins. In summary, this investigation explores the importance of marine organisms as a valuable resource for the discovery of novel insecticidal molecules

Effect of Bombay high crude oil and its water-soluble fraction on growth and metabolism of diatom Thalassiosira sp.

251-255Effect of Bombay high crude oil (BHC) and its water-soluble fraction (WSF) on growth and metabolism of the phytoplankton, Thalassiosira sp. was assessed. The study revealed the signs of acute toxicity at higher concentrations of crude oil (0.5%) and WSF (40%), while stimulatory effect was observed at lower concentrations (0.01 and 0.1% of BHC and 5, 10% of WSF). WSF at higher concentrations (20 and 40%) caused reduction in DNA and RNA of the diatom. At lower concentrations it caused increase in protein and RNA content indicating increased metabolism. High concentrations of oil and its fraction had inhibitory effect on growth, protein content and nucleic acid content. This indicates that biosynthesis of these molecules may be probable targets for toxicity of oil

Spinal polyostotic fibrous dysplasia in two adults: Does only biopsy unravel the mystery?

Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia is a rare non-inheritable genetic disease due to mutation in GNAS gene. Here we present two adults who were accidentally detected lytic lesions in spine and after extensive evaluation for malignancies; was diagnosed on biopsy. Current concept of the disease and management is discussed

Clinical spectrum of hypopituitarism in India: A single center experience

Objectives: There is paucity of information regarding clinical profile of hypopituitarism from India. We report the clinical profile of hypopituitarism from a tertiary center in North India. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in patients attending our endocrine center between January 2010 and December 2011. All new patients were studied prospectively and those registered before January 2010 retrospectively. Relevant clinical, hormonal, and imaging data were collected. Dynamic testing for pituitary functions was carried out as necessary. Hormonal deficiencies were defined as per prevailing recommendations. Results: This study included 113 subjects. The mean age was 38.6 ± 17.8 years (range, 4 - 76 years). There were 78 (69%) males and 35 females (31%). There were 22 subjects aged ≤18 years (childhood and adolescence) and 91 adults (>18 years). Visual disturbances were the most common presenting complaint (33%), though headache was the most common symptom (81%). Fifteen percent presented with pituitary apoplexy. Tumors comprised of 84% of cases. Hypogonadism (97%) was the most common abnormality seen followed by hypothyroidism (83.2%), hypoadrenalism (79.6%), growth hormone deficiency (88.1% of the 42 patients tested), and diabetes insipidus (13.3%). Panhypopituitarism was seen in 104 (92%) patients. There were no cases of hypopituitarism secondary to traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, central nervous system infections, or cranial irradiation to extrasellar tumors. Conclusion: The most common cause of hypopituitarism at tertiary care center is pituitary tumors and the commonest presenting complaint is visual symptoms. Panhypopituitarism is present in 92% cases

Pituitary oncocytoma presenting as Cushing′s disease

A 19-year-old girl presented with classical features of Cushing′s syndrome. Endocrinal evaluation was consistent with pituitary source of ACTH; but imaging showed normal pituitary. Bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling confirmed the diagnosis. A successful remission was achieved after adenomectomy by transphenoidal route. Histopathological examination was consistent with pituitary oncocytoma and immunohistochemistry was positive for synaptophysin, chromogranin, neuron specific enolase, S-100, ACTH, prolactin, and GH

Outdoor cultivation and metabolomics exploration of Chlamydomonas engineered for bisabolene production

Sawant KR, Sarnaik AP, Singh R, et al. Outdoor cultivation and metabolomics exploration of Chlamydomonas engineered for bisabolene production. Bioresource Technology. 2024: 130513.Demonstrating outdoor cultivation of engineered microalgae at considerable scales is essential for their prospective large-scale deployment. Hence, this study focuses on the outdoor cultivation of an engineered Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain, 3XAgBs-SQs, for bisabolene production under natural dynamic conditions of light and temperature. Our preliminary outdoor experiments showed improved growth, but frequent culture collapses in conventional Tris-acetate-phosphate medium. In contrast, modified high-salt medium (HSM) supported prolonged cell survival, outdoor. However, their subsequent outdoor scale-up from 250 mL to 5 L in HSM was effective with 10 g/L bicarbonate supplementation. Pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry and metabolomic analysis further validated their improved photosynthesis and uncompromised metabolic fluxes towards the biomass and the products (natural carotenoids and engineered bisabolene). These strains could produce 906 mg/L bisabolene and 54 mg/L carotenoids, demonstrating the first successful outdoor photoautotrophic cultivation of engineered C. reinhardtii, establishing it as a one-cell two-wells biorefinery

Awareness and knowledge among paramedical staff about glaucoma surgeries and post-surgery counseling – A questionnaire based study at a tertiary eye care center in Central Rural India

Purpose: To determine the level of awareness and knowledge about glaucoma surgery and post-surgery counseling amongst paramedical staff at a tertiary eye-care hospital. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study included a random sample of 94 hospital personnel: 37 general nurse midwives, 47 ophthalmic assistants, and 10 patient caretakers (PCTs). Participants were administered a questionnaire about glaucoma surgery and post-surgery counseling of patients. Results: The study included 41 (43.6%) females and 53 (56.4%) males. The mean age of the participants was 24.85 ± 4.54 years. All participants were aware of trabeculectomy surgery in glaucoma (100%). A total of 95.7% knew that surgery helps in controlling IOP, of whom 57 (60.6%) participants got information during their course of learning. Overall 53 (56.4%) believed that surgery is done when medication failure occurs, and 58 (61.7%) knew that surgery helps in preserving vision. A total of 63 (67.0%) participants knew to counsel patients to visit an ophthalmologist when called for and take the treatment as advised, whereas 74 (78.7%) correctly said to visit an ophthalmologist immediately if pain/diminution of vision/discharge occurs. Overall, PCTs were found to be having significantly better knowledge (P = 0.01) compared to others and they also reported ophthalmologists as the chief source of information. Conclusion: This study revealed that paramedical staff had an excellent awareness of trabeculectomy surgery. However, the knowledge and counseling parts of the questionnaire revealed less than satisfactory responses. So, there is a need to continuously educate paramedical staff members so that they can help in propagating information about the role of glaucoma surgery and the importance of proper follow-up

PLAS-20k: Extended Dataset of Protein-Ligand Affinities from MD Simulations for Machine Learning Applications

Computing binding affinities is of great importance in drug discovery pipeline and its prediction using advanced machine learning methods still remains a major challenge as the existing datasets and models do not consider the dynamic features of protein-ligand interactions. To this end, we have developed PLAS-20k dataset, an extension of previously developed PLAS-5k, with 97,500 independent simulations on a total of 19,500 different protein-ligand complexes. Our results show good correlation with the available experimental values, performing better than docking scores. This holds true even for a subset of ligands that follows Lipinski’s rule, and for diverse clusters of complex structures, thereby highlighting the importance of PLAS-20k dataset in developing new ML models. Along with this, our dataset is also beneficial in classifying strong and weak binders compared to docking. Further, OnionNet model has been retrained on PLAS-20k dataset and is provided as a baseline for the prediction of binding affinities. We believe that large-scale MD-based datasets along with trajectories will form new synergy, paving the way for accelerating drug discovery