DETERMINATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS OF BARLERIA COURTALLICA NEES (ACANTHACEAE) BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY–MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS

Objective: The present investigation was carried out to determine the possible bioactive components of stem, root, and leaf of Barleria courtallica Nees using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS).Methods: The phytocomponents of the ethanol extracts of stem, root, and leaf of B. courtallica were investigated using PerkinElmer GC-MS, while the mass spectra of the compounds found in the extracts were matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology version II library. Results: 25, 23, and 28 compounds were identified in the ethanol extracts of stem, root, and leaf of B. courtallica, respectively. The prevailing compounds of stem were β-sitosterol (20.27%), stigmasterol (17.07%), eicosane, 7-hexyl- (6.64%), 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecan-1-ol (5.97%), and tetracosane, 11-decyl- (5.91%). The major constituents recorded from root extract of B. courtallica were β-sitosterol (22.94%), stigmasterol (20.17%), urs-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-hydroxy-, methyl ester, (3β)- (18.42%), and eiosane, 7-hexyl- (7.06%). The prevailing compounds of leaf were 3,7,11,15- tetramethyl-2-hexadecan-1-ol (34.42%), phytol (14.18%), β-sitosterol (12.71%), squalene (11.25%), stigmasterol (8.15%), phytol acetate (6.53%). Conclusions: From the results, it is evident that B. courtallica contains various bioactive compounds and is recommended as a plant of phytopharmaceutical importance

Knowledge, anxiety levels and attitudes of infertile couples towards COVID-19 and its impact on self-funded fertility treatment : a cross-sectional questionnaire survey

Acknowledgement We thank the couples who were willing to participate in the study. Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Characterizing the normal proteome of human ciliary body

BACKGROUND: The ciliary body is the circumferential muscular tissue located just behind the iris in the anterior chamber of the eye. It plays a pivotal role in the production of aqueous humor, maintenance of the lens zonules and accommodation by changing the shape of the crystalline lens. The ciliary body is the major target of drugs against glaucoma as its inhibition leads to a drop in intraocular pressure. A molecular study of the ciliary body could provide a better understanding about the pathophysiological processes that occur in glaucoma. Thus far, no large-scale proteomic investigation has been reported for the human ciliary body. RESULTS: In this study, we have carried out an in-depth LC-MS/MS-based proteomic analysis of normal human ciliary body and have identified 2,815 proteins. We identified a number of proteins that were previously not described in the ciliary body including importin 5 (IPO5), atlastin-2 (ATL2), B-cell receptor associated protein 29 (BCAP29), basigin (BSG), calpain-1 (CAPN1), copine 6 (CPNE6), fibulin 1 (FBLN1) and galectin 1 (LGALS1). We compared the plasma proteome with the ciliary body proteome and found that the large majority of proteins in the ciliary body were also detectable in the plasma while 896 proteins were unique to the ciliary body. We also classified proteins using pathway enrichment analysis and found most of proteins associated with ubiquitin pathway, EIF2 signaling, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. CONCLUSIONS: More than 95% of the identified proteins have not been previously described in the ciliary body proteome. This is the largest catalogue of proteins reported thus far in the ciliary body that should provide new insights into our understanding of the factors involved in maintaining the secretion of aqueous humor. The identification of these proteins will aid in understanding various eye diseases of the anterior segment such as glaucoma and presbyopia

Human protein reference database—2006 update

Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) () was developed to serve as a comprehensive collection of protein features, post-translational modifications (PTMs) and protein–protein interactions. Since the original report, this database has increased to >20 000 proteins entries and has become the largest database for literature-derived protein–protein interactions (>30 000) and PTMs (>8000) for human proteins. We have also introduced several new features in HPRD including: (i) protein isoforms, (ii) enhanced search options, (iii) linking of pathway annotations and (iv) integration of a novel browser, GenProt Viewer (), developed by us that allows integration of genomic and proteomic information. With the continued support and active participation by the biomedical community, we expect HPRD to become a unique source of curated information for the human proteome and spur biomedical discoveries based on integration of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data

A comprehensive curated resource for follicle stimulating hormone signaling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is an important hormone responsible for growth, maturation and function of the human reproductive system. FSH regulates the synthesis of steroid hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, proliferation and maturation of follicles in the ovary and spermatogenesis in the testes. FSH is a glycoprotein heterodimer that binds and acts through the FSH receptor, a G-protein coupled receptor. Although online pathway repositories provide information about G-protein coupled receptor mediated signal transduction, the signaling events initiated specifically by FSH are not cataloged in any public database in a detailed fashion.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We performed comprehensive curation of the published literature to identify the components of FSH signaling pathway and the molecular interactions that occur upon FSH receptor activation. Our effort yielded 64 reactions comprising 35 enzyme-substrate reactions, 11 molecular association events, 11 activation events and 7 protein translocation events that occur in response to FSH receptor activation. We also cataloged 265 genes, which were differentially expressed upon FSH stimulation in normal human reproductive tissues.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We anticipate that the information provided in this resource will provide better insights into the physiological role of FSH in reproductive biology, its signaling mediators and aid in further research in this area. The curated FSH pathway data is freely available through NetPath (<url>http://www.netpath.org</url>), a pathway resource developed previously by our group.</p

NetPath: a public resource of curated signal transduction pathways

NetPath, a novel community resource of curated human signaling pathways is presented and its utility demonstrated using immune signaling data

Segmental contributions to the ground reaction force in the single support phase of gait

An inverse dynamics model for the single support (SS) phase of gait is developed to study segmental contributions to the ground reaction force (GRF). With segmental orientations as the generalized degrees of freedom (DOF), the acceleration of the body's center-of-mass is expressed analytically as the summation of the weighted kinematics of individual segments. The weighting functions are constants that are functions of the segment masses and center-of-mass distances. Using kinematic and anthropometric data from literature as inputs, and using the roll-over-shape (ROS) to model the foot-ground interaction, GRF obtained from the inverse model are compared with measured GRF data from literature. The choice of the generalized coordinates and mathematical form of the model provides a means to weigh individual segment contributions, simplify models and choose more kinetically accurate inverse dynamics models. For the kinematic data used, an anthropomorphic model that includes the frontal plane rotation of the pelvis in addition to the sagittal DOF of the thigh and shank most accurately captures the vertical component of the GRF in the SS phase of walking. Of the two ROS used, the ankle-foot roll-over shape provides a better approximation of the kinetics in the SS phase. The method presented here can be used with additional experimental studies to confirm these results

Subcutaneous Zygomycosis : Current Indian Scenario With A Review

Zygomycosis broadly consists of mucormycosis and subcutaneous zygomycosis. Subcutaneous zygomycosis can further be subdivided into conidiobolomycosis and basidiobolomycosis. We have done retrospective analysis of data of cases of subcutaneous zygomycosis (basidiobolomycosis), diagnosis based on clinical features, histopathology and/or culture. The cases were treated in Dermatology and STD department of Jawaharlal Institute of postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry between 1990 to 2002. Case reported in India has been summarized and relevant literature on this entity has been reviewed