Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Review of “Phog”- Calligonum polygonoides L.

Calligonum polygonoides (Phog) belongs to family Polygonaceae. It is a geographically widely distributed shrub seen from the arctic to the tropics. This endangered plant (included in Red data book of IUCN) is morphologically having stem with nodes and internodes, white flowers in spike inflorescence and needle like leaves. It is traditionally used to stabilize sand dunes, as fuel, and in treatment of heat-stroke by mixing with curd or “Rayata”. It is also reported as antidote for opium poisoning. Various phyto-chemicals present include butanolides- calligonolides A and B, various flavanoids like kaempferol, quercetin and their derivatives. Various steroidal compounds are reported in roots. Pharmacologicallly, its cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal and biosorbent potentials are reported by various researchers. Therefore, an attempt has been made to accumulate properties of this potential herb. Keywords: Calligonum, Phog, biosorbent, heat-stroke, calligonolides, kaempfero

Chemotaxis of Cell Populations through Confined Spaces at Single-Cell Resolution

Cell migration is crucial for both physiological and pathological processes. Current in vitro cell motility assays suffer from various drawbacks, including insufficient temporal and/or optical resolution, or the failure to include a controlled chemotactic stimulus. Here, we address these limitations with a migration chamber that utilizes a self-sustaining chemotactic gradient to induce locomotion through confined environments that emulate physiological settings. Dynamic real-time analysis of both population-scale and single-cell movement are achieved at high resolution. Interior surfaces can be functionalized through adsorption of extracellular matrix components, and pharmacological agents can be administered to cells directly, or indirectly through the chemotactic reservoir. Direct comparison of multiple cell types can be achieved in a single enclosed system to compare inherent migratory potentials. Our novel microfluidic design is therefore a powerful tool for the study of cellular chemotaxis, and is suitable for a wide range of biological and biomedical applications

Application of sebomics for the analysis of residual skin surface components to detect potential biomarkers of type-1 diabetes mellitus

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Metabolic imbalance in chronic diseases such as type-1 diabetes may lead to detectable perturbations in the molecular composition of residual skin surface components (RSSC). This study compared the accumulation rate and the composition of RSSC in type-1 diabetic patients with those in matched controls in order to identify potential biomarkers of the disease. Samples of RSSC were collected from the foreheads of type-1 diabetic (n = 55) and non-diabetic (n = 58) volunteers. Samples were subsequently analysed to identify individual components (sebomic analysis). There was no significant difference in the rate of accumulation of RSSC between type-1 diabetics and controls. In terms of molecular composition, 171 RSSC components were common to both groups, 27 were more common in non-diabetics and 18 were more common in type-1 diabetic patients. Statistically significant (P < 0.05) differences between diabetic and non-diabetic volunteers were observed in the recovered amounts of one diacylglyceride (m/z 594), six triacylglycerides (m/z 726-860) and six free fatty acids (m/z 271-345). These findings indicate that sebomic analysis can identify differences in the molecular composition of RSSC components between type-1 diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Further work is required to determine the practical utility and identity of these potential biomarkers.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’ surface is essential. During this process, the original coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove the generic character, different functional groups were introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as well as human plasma and serum was investigated to allow implementation in biomedical and sensing applications.status: publishe