Functional and Probiotic Attributes of an Indigenous Isolate of Lactobacillus plantarum

BACKGROUND:Probiotic microorganisms favorably alter the intestinal microflora balance, promote intestinal integrity and mobility, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria and increase resistance to infection. Probiotics are increasingly used in nutraceuticals, functional foods or in microbial interference treatment. However, the effectiveness of probiotic organism is considered to be population-specific due to variation in gut microflora, food habits and specific host-microbial interactions. Most of the probiotic strains available in the market are of western or European origin, and a strong need for exploring new indigenous probiotic organisms is felt. METHODS AND FINDINGS:An indigenous isolate Lp9 identified as Lactobacillus plantarum by molecular-typing methods was studied extensively for its functional and probiotic attributes, viz., acid and bile salt tolerance, cell surface hydrophobicity, autoaggregation and Caco-2 cell-binding as well as antibacterial and antioxidative activities. Lp9 isolate could survive 2 h incubation at pH 1.5-2.0 and toxicity of 1.5-2.0% oxgall bile. Lp9 could deconjugate major bile salts like glycocholate and deoxytaurocholate, indicating its potential to cause hypocholesterolemia. The isolate exhibited cell-surface hydrophobicity of approximately 37% and autoaggregation of approximately 31%. Presence of putative probiotic marker genes like mucus-binding protein (mub), fibronectin-binding protein (fbp) and bile salt hydrolase (bsh) were confirmed by PCR. Presence of these genes suggested the possibility of specific interaction and colonization potential of Lp9 isolate in the gut, which was also suggested by a good adhesion ratio of 7.4+/-1.3% with Caco-2 cell line. The isolate demonstrated higher free radical scavenging activity than standard probiotics L. johnsonii LA1 and L. acidophilus LA7. Lp9 also exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. typhi, S. aureus and B. cereus. CONCLUSION:The indigenous Lactobacillus plantarum Lp9 exhibited high resistance against low pH and bile and possessed antibacterial, antioxidative and cholesterol lowering properties with a potential for exploitation in the development of indigenous functional food or nutraceuticals

Macromolecular design of folic acid functionalized amylopectin- albumin core-shell nanogels for improved physiological stability and colon cancer cell targeted delivery of curcumin

Nanogels have potential for encapsulating cancer therapeutics, yet their susceptibility to physiological degradation and lack of cellular specificity hinder their use as effective oral delivery vehicles. Herein, we engineered novel albumin-core with folic acid functionalized hyperbranched amylopectin shell-type nanogels, prepared through a two-step reaction and loaded with curcumin while the proteinaceous core was undergoing thermal gelation. The nanogels had a mean hydrodynamic diameter of ca. 90 nm and ζ-potential of ca. -24 mV. Encapsulation of curcumin within the nanogels was restored, up to ca. 0.05 mg mL-1, beyond which, a gradual increase in size and a decrease in ζ-potential was observed. The core-shell structures were resilient to in vitro physiological oral-gastrointestinal digestion owing to a liquid crystalline B- and V-type polymorphism in the polysaccharide shell, the latter being driven by the shell functionalization with folic acid. Additionally, these biocompatible nanogels restored stability of the encapsulated curcumin and exhibited augmented cellular uptake and retention specifically in folate receptor-positive HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells, inducing early-stage apoptosis. Novel insights from this study represent a promising platform for rational designing of future oral delivery systems that can surmount physiological barriers for delivering cancer therapeutics to colon cancer cells with improved stability and specificity

Rheology, microstructure and diffusion in soft gelatin nanocomposites packed with anionic nanogels

The colloidal stability of therapeutic nanoparticles for improving human health is a significant challenge, owing to aggregation and sedimentation. To overcome such limitations, gelatin-based nanocomposites are designed with increasing concentration of anionic nanogels. Complementary steady-state and oscillatory rheology revealed that the pre-yielding viscosity of nanocomposites scales with nanogel packing density, η̃0∼ φc0.5. Upon shearing, nanocomposites transform into a shear gel, which exhibits a power law shear-thinning behaviour. Nanogel loading also increases the G′, increases the sol-gel transition temperatures and decreases the characteristic mesh size of the nanocomposites. We postulate that electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions between nanogels and gelatin play a synergistic role in the observed structural, micromechanical and rheological behaviour. Fluorescent nanogel-labelling combined with centrifugation, revealed that ca. 60 % of nanogels precipitate together with gelatin, indicating the extent of nanogel-gelatin interactions. These interactions are probed using molecular modelling, temperature dependence of G′ and time-temperature superimposition principle combined with the Arrhenius model. The remaining nanogels (ca. 40 %) demonstrate diffusive mobility (5.51 × 10−10 m2s-1) and are located in the bulk solvent existing in the pores and channels of the nanocomposites. Taking advantage of nanogels’ diffusive mobility, bioresponsive release under conditions of swallowing is simulated via computational fluid dynamics

Amelioration of Colitis in Mouse Model by Exploring Antioxidative Potentials of an Indigenous Probiotic Strain of Lactobacillus fermentum Lf1

Based on the preliminary screening of eight indigenous putative probiotic Lactobacilli, Lactobacillus fermentum Lf1 was selected for assessing its antioxidative efficacy in DSS colitis mouse model based on its ability to enhance the expression of “Nrf2” by 6.43-fold and malondialdehyde (MDA) inhibition by 78.1  ±  0.24% in HT-29 cells under H2O2 stress. The Disease Activity Index and histological scores of Lf1-treated mice were lower than the control group. However, expression of “Nrf2” was not observed in Lf1-treated mice. A significant increase in the expression of antioxidative enzymes such as SOD2 and TrxR-1 was recorded in both of the groups. The expression of SOD2 was significantly downregulated in colitis-induced mice by −100.00-fold relative to control group, and the downregulation was considerably reduced to −37.04-fold in colitis Lf1 treatment group. Almost, a similar trend was recorded in case of “thioredoxin” expression, though “CAT” was refractile to expression. The Lf1-treated group had decreased malondialdehyde level as compared to colitis control (37.92  ±  6.31 versus 91.13  ±  5.76 μM/g). These results point towards Lf1-induced activation of the antioxidant enzyme system in the mouse model and its prospects to be explored as a new strategy for IBD management

<span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-US">Phosphate solubilizing ability of <i><span style="mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-GB">Emericella nidulans </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-GB">strain V1 isolated from vermicompost <span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:HI;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US"> </span></span></span>

840-848Phosphorus is one of the key factors that regulate soil fertility. Its deficiencies in soil are largely replenished by chemical fertilizers. The present study was aimed to isolate efficient phosphate solubilizing fungal strains from Eisenia fetida vermicompost. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Out of total 30 fungal strains the most efficient phosphate solubilizing one was Emericella (Aspergillus) nidulans V1 (MTCC 11044), identified by custom sequencing of β-tubulin gene and BLAST analysis. This strain solubilized 13 to 36% phosphate from four different rock phosphates. After three days of incubation of isolated culture with black Mussorie phosphate rock, the highest percentage of phosphate solubilization was 35.5±1.01 <span style="color:black;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">with a pH drop of 4.2±0.09<span style="color:black;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">. Kinetics of solubilization and acid production showed a linear relationship until day five of incubation. Interestingly, from zero to tenth day of incubation, solubility of soil phosphate increased gradually from 4.31±1.57 to 13.65±1.82 (mg kg-1) recording a maximum of 21.23±0.54 on day 45 in respect of the V1 isolate. Further, enhanced phosphorus uptake by Phaseolus plants with significant pod yield due to soil inoculation of Emericella nidulans V1 (MTCC 11044), demonstrated its prospect as an effective biofertilizer for plant growth. </span

Nucleic acid vaccination strategies for ovarian cancer

High grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is one of the most lethal ovarian cancers that is characterised by asymptomatic tumour growth, insufficient knowledge of malignant cell origin and sub-optimal detection. HGSC has been recently shown to originate in the fallopian tube and not in the ovaries. Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery depend upon the stage of the disease and have resulted in higher rates of relapse. Hence, there is a need for alternative treatments. Differential antigen expression levels have been utilised for early detection of the cancer and could be employed in vaccination strategies using nucleic acids. In this review the different vaccination strategies in Ovarian cancer are discussed and reviewed. Nucleic acid vaccination strategies have been proven to produce a higher CD8(+) CTL response alongside CD4(+) T-cell response when compared to other vaccination strategies and thus provide a good arena for antitumour immune therapy. DNA and mRNA need to be delivered into the intracellular matrix. To overcome ineffective naked delivery of the nucleic acid cargo, a suitable delivery system is required. This review also considers the suitability of cell penetrating peptides as a tool for nucleic acid vaccine delivery in ovarian cancer