Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 54 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Leptospirosis: Molecular trial path and immunopathogenesis correlated with dengue, malaria and mimetic hemorrhagic infections
    Priya SP, Sakinah S, Sharmilah K, Hamat RA, Sekawi Z, Higuchi A, et al.
    Acta Trop, 2017 Dec;176:206-223.
    PMID: 28823908 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.08.007
    Immuno-pathogenesis of leptospirosis can be recounted well by following its trail path from entry to exit, while inducing disastrous damages in various tissues of the host. Dysregulated, inappropriate and excessive immune responses are unanimously blamed in fatal leptospirosis. The inherent abilities of the pathogen and inabilities of the host were debated targeting the severity of the disease. Hemorrhagic manifestation through various mechanisms leading to a fatal end is observed when this disease is unattended. The similar vascular destructions and hemorrhage manifestations are noted in infections with different microbes in endemic areas. The simultaneous infection in a host with more than one pathogen or parasite is referred as the coinfection. Notably, common endemic infections such as leptospirosis, dengue, chikungunya, and malaria, harbor favorable environments to flourish in similar climates, which is aggregated with stagnated water and aggravated with the poor personal and environmental hygiene of the inhabitants. These factors aid the spread of pathogens and parasites to humans and potential vectors, eventually leading to outbreaks of public health relevance. Malaria, dengue and chikungunya need mosquitoes as vectors, in contrast with leptospirosis, which directly invades human, although the environmental bacterial load is maintained through other mammals, such as rodents. The more complicating issue is that infections by different pathogens exhibiting similar symptoms but require different treatment management. The current review explores different pathogens expressing specific surface proteins and their ability to bind with array of host proteins with or without immune response to enter into the host tissues and their ability to evade the host immune responses to invade and their affinity to certain tissues leading to the common squeal of hemorrhage. Furthermore, at the host level, the increased susceptibility and inability of the host to arrest the pathogens' and parasites' spread in different tissues, various cytokines accumulated to eradicate the microorganisms and their cellular interactions, the antibody dependent defense and the susceptibility of individual organs bringing the manifestation of the diseases were explored. Lastly, we provided a discussion on the immune trail path of pathogenesis from entry to exit to narrate the similarities and dissimilarities among various hemorrhagic fevers mentioned above, in order to outline future possibilities of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of coinfections, with special reference to endemic areas.
  2. 3D modelling of the pathogenic Leptospira protein LipL32: A bioinformatics approach
    Kumaran SK, Bakar MFA, Mohd-Padil H, Mat-Sharani S, Sakinah S, Poorani K, et al.
    Acta Trop, 2017 Dec;176:433-439.
    PMID: 28941729 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.09.011
    Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira species (Leptospiraceae). LipL32 is an abundant lipoprotein from the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) group, highly conserved among pathogenic and intermediate Leptospira species. Several studies used LipL32 as a specific gene to identify the presence of leptospires. This research was aimed to study the characteristics of LipL32 protein gene code, to fill the knowledge gap concerning the most appropriate gene that can be used as antigen to detect the Leptospira. Here, we investigated the features of LipL32 in fourteen Leptospira pathogenic strains based on comparative analyses of their primary, secondary structures and 3D modeling using a bioinformatics approach. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of LipL32 in different strains were studied, shedding light on the identity of signal peptides, as well as on the secondary and tertiary structure of the LipL32 protein, supported by 3D modelling assays. The results showed that the LipL32 gene was present in all the fourteen pathogenic Leptospira strains used in this study, with limited diversity in terms of sequence conservation, hydrophobic group, hydrophilic group and number of turns (random coil). Overall, these results add basic knowledge to the characteristics of LipL32 protein, contributing to the identification of potential antigen candidates in future research, in order to ensure prompt and reliable detection of pathogenic Leptospira species.
  3. Bone breaking infections - A focus on bacterial and mosquito-borne viral infections
    Cui YC, Wu Q, Teh SW, Peli A, Bu G, Qiu YS, et al.
    Microb Pathog, 2018 Sep;122:130-136.
    PMID: 29909241 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2018.06.021
    The recent global resurgence of arthritogenic alphaviruses, including Ross River, chikungunya, and dengue, highlights an urgency for the development of therapeutic strategies. Currently, dengue represents the most rapidly transmitting mosquito-borne viral disease worldwide. By contracting bone breaking diseases, patients experience devastating clinical manifestations involving muscle pain and bone loss. The bone self-repair and regeneration mechanisms can be damaged by the presence of viruses and bacteria. The rapid establishment of dengue epidemic and the severity of bacterial and viral infections affecting the bone stress the urgent need of developing effective interventions. Herein, we review current knowledge on bone breaking infections, covering both bacterial and mosquito-borne viral ones. The mechanisms exploited by these diseases to significantly affect the bone, including interferences with self-repair and regeneration routes, were discussed. In the final section, challenges for future research aimed to treat and prevent bacterial and mosquito-borne bone-breaking infections have been outlined.
  4. Pharmacological insights into antioxidants against colorectal cancer: A detailed review of the possible mechanisms
    Gothai S, Muniandy K, Gnanaraj C, Ibrahim IAA, Shahzad N, Al-Ghamdi SS, et al.
    Biomed Pharmacother, 2018 Nov;107:1514-1522.
    PMID: 30257369 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.08.112
    Colorectal cancer (CRC) is ranked as the fourth most lethal and commonly diagnosed cancer in the world according to the National Cancer Institute's latest report. Treatment methods for CRC are constantly being studied for advancement, which leads for more clinically effective cancer curing strategy. Patients with prolonged chronic inflammation caused by ulcerative colitis or similar inflammatory bowel disease are known to have high risks of developing CRC. But at a molecular level, oxidative stress due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an important trigger for cancer. Hence, in recent years, exogenous antioxidants have been immensely experimented in pre-clinical and clinical trials, considering it as a potential cure for CRC. Significantly, potential antioxidant compounds especially derivatives of medicinal plants have received great attention in the current research trend for CRC treatment. Though antioxidant compounds seem to have beneficial properties for the treatment of CRC, there are also limitations for pure compounds to be tested clinically. Therefore, this review aims to delineate the pharmacological awareness among researchers on using antioxidant compounds to treat CRC and the measures taken to prove the effectiveness of such compounds as impending drug candidates for CRC treatment in modern medication.
  5. Fulltext Cisplatin-Loaded Graphene Oxide/Chitosan/Hydroxyapatite Composite as a Promising Tool for Osteosarcoma-Affected Bone Regeneration
    Sumathra M, Sadasivuni KK, Kumar SS, Rajan M
    ACS Omega, 2018 Nov 30;3(11):14620-14633.
    PMID: 30555982 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b02090
    Presently, tissue engineering approaches have been focused toward finding new potential scaffolds with osteoconductivity on bone-disease-affected cells. This work focused on the cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded graphene oxide (GO)/hydroxyapatite (HAP)/chitosan (CS) composite for enhancing the growth of osteoblast cells and prevent the development of osteosarcoma cells. The prepared composites were characterized for the confirmation of composite formation using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques. A flowerlike morphology was observed for the GO/HAP/CS-3/CDDP composite. UV-vis spectroscopy was used to observe the controlled release of CDDP from the GO/HAP/CS-3/CDDP composite, and 67.34% of CDDP was released from the composite over a time period of 10 days. The GO/HAP/CS-3/CDDP nanocomposites showed higher viability in comparison with GO/HAP/CS-3 on MG63 osteoblast-like cells and higher cytotoxicity against cancer cells (A549). The synthesized composite was found to show enhanced proliferative, adhesive, and osteoinductive effects on the alkaline phosphatase activity of osteoblast-like cells. Our results suggested that the CDDP-loaded GO/HAP/CS-3 nanocomposite has an immense prospective as a bone tissue replacement in the bone-cancer-affected tissues.
  6. Fulltext In Vitro Wound Healing Potential of Stem Extract of Alternanthera sessilis
    Muniandy K, Gothai S, Tan WS, Kumar SS, Mohd Esa N, Chandramohan G, et al.
    Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2018;2018:3142073.
    PMID: 29670658 DOI: 10.1155/2018/3142073
    Impaired wound healing is one of the serious problems among the diabetic patients. Currently, available treatments are limited due to side effects and cost effectiveness. In line with that, we attempted to use a natural source to study its potential towards the wound healing process. Therefore, Alternanthera sessilis (A. sessilis), an edible and medicinal plant, was chosen as the target sample for the study. During this investigation, the wound closure properties using stem extract of A. sessilis were analyzed. Accordingly, we analyzed the extract on free radical scavenging capacity and the cell migration of two most prominent cell types on the skin, human dermal fibroblast (NHDF), keratinocytes (HaCaT), and diabetic human dermal fibroblast (HDF-D) to mimic the wound healing in diabetic patients. The bioactive compounds were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). We discovered that the analysis exhibited a remarkable antioxidant, proliferative, and migratory rate in NHDF, HaCaT, and HDF-D in dose-dependent manner, which supports wound healing process, due to the presence of wound healing associated phytocompounds such as Hexadecanoic acid. This study suggested that the stem extract of A. sessilis might be a potential therapeutic agent for skin wound healing, supporting its traditional medicinal uses.
  7. Mini Review: Wound healing potential of edible plants
    Muniandy K, Gothai S, Arulselvan P, Kumar SS, Norhaizan ME, Umamaheswari A, et al.
    Pak J Pharm Sci, 2019 Mar;32(2):703-707.
    PMID: 31081786
    Wound healing is a natural intricate cascade process involving cellular, biochemical and molecular mechanism to restore the injured or wounded tissue. Malaysia's multi-ethnic social fabric is reflected in its different traditional folk cuisines with different nutritional important ingredients. Despite these differences, there are some commonly used pantry ingredients among Malaysians and these ingredients may possess some healing power for acute and chronic wounds. These essential nutritional ingredients are included Amla (Ribes uva-crispa), Cinnamon (Cinnamomun venum), Curry Leaves (Murraya koenigii), Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), Garlic (Allium indica), Onion (Allium cepa) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). This article provides a review of the remedies with confirmed wound healing activities from previous experiments conducted by various researchers. Most of the researchers have focused only on the preliminary studies through appropriate model; hence detailed investigations which including pharmacological and pre-clinical studies are needed to discover its molecular mechanisms. In this review article, we have discussed about the wound healing potential of few commonly used edible plants and their known mechanism.
  8. Retinal degeneration rat model: A study on the structural and functional changes in the retina following injection of sodium iodate
    Koh AE, Alsaeedi HA, Rashid MBA, Lam C, Harun MHN, Saleh MFBM, et al.
    J. Photochem. Photobiol. B, Biol., 2019 Jul;196:111514.
    PMID: 31154277 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2019.111514
    Retinal disorders account for a large proportion of ocular disorders that can lead to visual impairment or blindness, and yet our limited knowledge in the pathogenesis and choice of appropriate animal models for new treatment modalities may contribute to ineffective therapies. Although genetic in vivo models are favored, the variable expressivity and penetrance of these heterogeneous disorders can cause difficulties in assessing potential treatments against retinal degeneration. Hence, an attractive alternative is to develop a chemically-induced model that is both cost-friendly and standardizable. Sodium iodate is an oxidative chemical that is used to simulate late stage retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. In this study, retinal degeneration was induced through systemic administration of sodium iodate (NaIO3) at varying doses up to 80 mg/kg in Sprague-Dawley rats. An analysis on the visual response of the rats by electroretinography (ERG) showed a decrease in photoreceptor function with NaIO3 administration at a dose of 40 mg/kg or greater. The results correlated with the TUNEL assay, which revealed signs of DNA damage throughout the retina. Histomorphological analysis also revealed extensive structural lesions throughout the outer retina and parts of the inner retina. Our results provided a detailed view of NaIO3-induced retinal degeneration, and showed that the administration of 40 mg/kg NaIO3 was sufficient to generate disturbances in retinal function. The pathological findings in this model reveal a degenerating retina, and can be further utilized to develop effective therapies for RPE, photoreceptor, and bipolar cell regeneration.
  9. Xeno-free and feeder-free culture and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells on recombinant vitronectin-grafted hydrogels
    Chen LH, Sung TC, Lee HH, Higuchi A, Su HC, Lin KJ, et al.
    Biomater Sci, 2019 Aug 14.
    PMID: 31411209 DOI: 10.1039/c9bm00418a
    Recombinant vitronectin-grafted hydrogels were developed by adjusting surface charge of the hydrogels with grafting of poly-l-lysine for optimal culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) under xeno- and feeder-free culture conditions, with elasticity regulated by crosslinking time (10-30 kPa), in contrast to conventional recombinant vitronectin coating dishes, which have a fixed stiff surface (3 GPa). hESCs proliferated on the hydrogels for over 10 passages and differentiated into the cells derived from three germ layers indicating the maintenance of pluripotency. hESCs on the hydrogels differentiated into cardiomyocytes under xeno-free culture conditions with much higher efficiency (80% of cTnT+ cells) than those on conventional recombinant vitronectin or Matrigel-coating dishes just only after 12 days of induction. It is important to have an optimal design of cell culture biomaterials where biological cues (recombinant vitronectin) and physical cues (optimal elasticity) are combined for high differentiation of hESCs into specific cell lineages, such as cardiomyocytes, under xeno-free and feeder-free culture conditions.
  10. Dental pulp stem cells therapy overcome photoreceptor cell death and protects the retina in a rat model of sodium iodate-induced retinal degeneration
    Alsaeedi HA, Koh AE, Lam C, Rashid MBA, Harun MHN, Saleh MFBM, et al.
    J. Photochem. Photobiol. B, Biol., 2019 Sep;198:111561.
    PMID: 31352000 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2019.111561
    Blindness and vision loss contribute to irreversible retinal degeneration, and cellular therapy for retinal cell replacement has the potential to treat individuals who have lost light sensitive photoreceptors in the retina. Retinal cells are well characterized in function, and are a subject of interest in cellular replacement therapy of photoreceptors and the retinal pigment epithelium. However, retinal cell transplantation is limited by various factors, including the choice of potential stem cell source that can show variability in plasticity as well as host tissue integration. Dental pulp is one such source that contains an abundance of stem cells. In this study we used dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DPSCs) to mitigate sodium iodate (NaIO3) insult in a rat model of retinal degeneration. Sprague-Dawley rats were first given an intravitreal injection of 3 × 105 DPSCs as well as a single systemic administration of NaIO3 (40 mg/kg). Electroretinography (ERG) was performed for the next two months and was followed-up by histological analysis. The ERG recordings showed protection of DPSC-treated retinas within 4 weeks, which was statistically significant (* P ≤ .05) compared to the control. Retinal thickness of the control was also found to be thinner (*** P ≤ .001). The DPSCs were found integrated in the photoreceptor layer through immunohistochemical staining. Our findings showed that DPSCs have the potential to moderate retinal degeneration. In conclusion, DPSCs are a potential source of stem cells in the field of eye stem cell therapy due to its protective effects against retinal degeneration.
  11. Efficient differentiation of human ES and iPS cells into cardiomyocytes on biomaterials under xeno-free conditions
    Sung TC, Liu CH, Huang WL, Lee YC, Kumar SS, Chang Y, et al.
    Biomater Sci, 2019 Oct 28.
    PMID: 31656967 DOI: 10.1039/c9bm00817a
    Current xeno-free and chemically defined methods for the differentiation of hPSCs (human pluripotent stem cells) into cardiomyocytes are not efficient and are sometimes not reproducible. Therefore, it is necessary to develop reliable and efficient methods for the differentiation of hPSCs into cardiomyocytes for future use in cardiovascular research related to drug discovery, cardiotoxicity screening, and disease modeling. We evaluated two representative differentiation methods that were reported previously, and we further developed original, more efficient methods for the differentiation of hPSCs into cardiomyocytes under xeno-free, chemically defined conditions. The developed protocol successively differentiated hPSCs into cardiomyocytes, approximately 90-97% of which expressed the cardiac marker cTnT, with beating speeds and sarcomere lengths that were similar to those of a healthy adult human heart. The optimal cell culture biomaterials for the cardiac differentiation of hPSCs were also evaluated using extracellular matrix-mimetic material-coated dishes. Synthemax II-coated and Laminin-521-coated dishes were found to be the most effective and efficient biomaterials for the cardiac differentiation of hPSCs according to the observation of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes with high survival ratios, high beating colony numbers, a similar beating frequency to that of a healthy adult human heart, high purity levels (high cTnT expression) and longer sarcomere lengths similar to those of a healthy adult human heart.
  12. The design of a thermoresponsive surface for the continuous culture of human pluripotent stem cells
    Sung TC, Yang JS, Yeh CC, Liu YC, Jiang YP, Lu MW, et al.
    Biomaterials, 2019 Nov;221:119411.
    PMID: 31419657 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119411
    Commonly, stem cell culture is based on batch-type culture, which is laborious and expensive. We continuously cultured human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) on thermoresponsive dish surfaces, where hPSCs were partially detached on the same thermoresponsive dish by decreasing the temperature of the thermoresponsive dish to be below the lower critical solution temperature for only 30 min. Then, the remaining cells were continuously cultured in fresh culture medium, and the detached stem cells were harvested in the exchanged culture medium. hPSCs were continuously cultured for ten cycles on the thermoresponsive dish surface, which was prepared by coating the surface with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-styrene) and oligovitronectin-grafted poly(acrylic acid-co-styrene) or recombinant vitronectin for hPSC binding sites to maintain hPSC pluripotency. After ten cycles of continuous culture on the thermoresponsive dish surface, the detached cells expressed pluripotency proteins and had the ability to differentiate into cells derived from the three germ layers in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the detached cells differentiated into specific cell lineages, such as cardiomyocytes, with high efficiency.
  13. Purification, characterization and utilization of polysaccharide of Araucaria heterophylla gum for the synthesis of curcumin loaded nanocarrier
    Samrot AV, Angalene JLA, Roshini SM, Stefi SM, Preethi R, Raji P, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2019 Nov 01;140:393-400.
    PMID: 31425761 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.08.121
    In this study, gum of Araucaria heterophylla was collected. The collected gum was subjected for extraction of polysaccharide using solvent extraction system. Thus, extracted polysaccharide was further purified using solvent method and was characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Phenol sulfuric acid assay, FTIR, TGA, TLC and GC-MS. The gum derived polysaccharide was found to have the following sugars Rhamnose, Allose, Glucosinolate, Threose, Idosan, Galactose and Arabinose. The extracted polysaccharide was tested for various in-vitro bioactive studies such as antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity and anticancer activity. The polysaccharide was found to have antioxidant and anticancer activity. Further, the polysaccharide was subjected for carboxymethylation to favor the nanocarrier synthesis, where it was chelated using Sodium Tri Meta Phosphate (STMP) to form nanocarriers. The nanocarriers so formed were loaded with curcumin and were characterized using FTIR, SEM, EDX and AFM. Both the loaded and unloaded nanocarriers were studied for its in-vitro cytotoxic effect against the MCF7 human breast cancer cell lines. The nanocarriers were found to deliver the drug efficiently against the cancer cell line used in this study.
  14. Enhanced biogas production from municipal solid waste via co-digestion with sewage sludge and metabolic pathway analysis
    Ghosh P, Kumar M, Kapoor R, Kumar SS, Singh L, Vijay V, et al.
    Bioresour Technol, 2020 Jan;296:122275.
    PMID: 31683109 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122275
    The present study intends to evaluate the potential of co-digestion for utilizing Organic fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) and sewage sludge (SS) for enhanced biogas production. Metagenomic analysis was performed to identify the dominant bacteria, archaea and fungi, changes in their communities with time and their functional roles during the course of anaerobic digestion (AD). The cumulative biogas yield of 586.2 mL biogas/gVS with the highest methane concentration of 69.5% was observed under an optimum ratio of OFMSW:SS (40:60 w/w). Bacteria and fungi were found to be majorly involved in hydrolysis and initial stages of AD. Probably, the most common archaea Methanosarsina sp. primarily followed the acetoclastic pathway. The hydrogenotrophic pathway was less followed as indicated by the reduction in abundance of syntrophic acetate oxidizers. An adequate understanding of microbial communities is important to manipulate and inoculate the specific microbial consortia to maximize CH4 production through AD.
  15. Effect of cell culture biomaterials for completely xeno-free generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells
    Sung TC, Li HF, Higuchi A, Kumar SS, Ling QD, Wu YW, et al.
    Biomaterials, 2020 02;230:119638.
    PMID: 31810728 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119638
    Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) were generated on several biomaterials from human amniotic fluid in completely xeno-free and feeder-free conditions via the transfection of pluripotent genes using a nonintegrating RNA Sendai virus vector. The effect of xeno-free culture medium on the efficiency of the establishment of human amniotic fluid stem cells from amniotic fluid was evaluated. Subsequently, the effect of cell culture biomaterials on the reprogramming efficiency was investigated during the reprogramming of human amniotic fluid stem cells into hiPSCs. Cells cultured in laminin-511, laminin-521, and Synthemax II-coated dishes and hydrogels having optimal elasticity that were engrafted with specific oligopeptides derived from vitronectin could be reprogrammed into hiPSCs with high efficiency. The reprogrammed cells expressed pluripotency proteins and had the capability to differentiate into cells derived from all three germ layers in vitro and in vivo. Human iPSCs could be generated successfully and at high efficiency (0.15-0.25%) in completely xeno-free conditions from the selection of optimal cell culture biomaterials.
  16. Fulltext Potential Factors Influencing Repeated SARS Outbreaks in China
    Sun Z, Thilakavathy K, Kumar SS, He G, Liu SV
    Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020 Mar 03;17(5).
    PMID: 32138266 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17051633
    Within last 17 years two widespread epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in China, which were caused by related coronaviruses (CoVs): SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Although the origin(s) of these viruses are still unknown and their occurrences in nature are mysterious, some general patterns of their pathogenesis and epidemics are noticeable. Both viruses utilize the same receptor-angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-for invading human bodies. Both epidemics occurred in cold dry winter seasons celebrated with major holidays, and started in regions where dietary consumption of wildlife is a fashion. Thus, if bats were the natural hosts of SARS-CoVs, cold temperature and low humidity in these times might provide conducive environmental conditions for prolonged viral survival in these regions concentrated with bats. The widespread existence of these bat-carried or -released viruses might have an easier time in breaking through human defenses when harsh winter makes human bodies more vulnerable. Once succeeding in making some initial human infections, spreading of the disease was made convenient with increased social gathering and holiday travel. These natural and social factors influenced the general progression and trajectory of the SARS epidemiology. However, some unique factors might also contribute to the origination of SARS in Wuhan. These factors are discussed in different scenarios in order to promote more research for achieving final validation.
  17. Utilization of gum polysaccharide of Araucaria heterophylla and Azadirachta indica for encapsulation of cyfluthrin loaded super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for mosquito larvicidal activity
    Samrot AV, Bhavya KS, Angalene JLA, Roshini SM, Preethi R, Steffi SM, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2020 Jun 15;153:1024-1034.
    PMID: 31751703 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.10.232
    Surface engineering of super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) favor the tagging of any molecule or compound onto it, encapsulating them with a biopolymer make them biocompatible and favor slow release of loaded molecules. Recovery of SPIONs is easier as they obey to external magnetic field. In this study, SPIONS were used for mosquito larvicidal activity after surface engineered with oleic acid to favor the tagging of Cyfluthrin (mosquito larvicidal agent), it was then encapsulated with gum polysaccharide derived from Azadirachta indica and Araucaria heterophylla. Every stage of coreshell formation was microscopically and spectroscopically characterized. The coreshell SPIONs produced using Azadirachta indica and Araucaria heterophylla gum derived polysaccharide encapsulation were found to be the size around 80 nm. Thus, prepared coreshell SPIONs was subjected for mosquito larvicidal activity against Culex sp. The coreshell SPIONs was efficiently killing the mosquito larva and its impact was studied by percentage mortality studies.
  18. Efficient differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cardiomyocytes on cell sorting thermoresponsive surface
    Sung TC, Su HC, Ling QD, Kumar SS, Chang Y, Hsu ST, et al.
    Biomaterials, 2020 09;253:120060.
    PMID: 32450407 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120060
    The current differentiation process of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into cardiomyocytes to enhance the purity of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes requires some purification processes, which are laborious processes. We developed cell sorting plates, which are prepared from coating thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and extracellular matrix proteins. After hPSCs were induced into cardiomyocytes on the thermoresponsive surface coated with laminin-521 for 15 days, the temperature of the cell culture plates was decreased to 8-9 °C to detach the cells partially from the thermoresponsive surface. The detached cells exhibited a higher cardiomyocyte marker of cTnT than the remaining cells on the thermoresponsive surface as well as the cardiomyocytes after purification using conventional cell selection. The detached cells expressed several cardiomyocyte markers, such as α-actinin, MLC2a and NKX2.5. This study suggested that the purification of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes using cell sorting plates with the thermoresponsive surface is a promising method for the purification of hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes without conventional laborious processes.
  19. Thermoresponsive surfaces designed for the proliferation and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells
    Higuchi A, Hirad AH, Kumar SS, Munusamy MA, Alarfaj AA
    Acta Biomater, 2020 10 15;116:162-173.
    PMID: 32911107 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2020.09.010
    Thermoresponsive surfaces enable the detachment of cells or cell sheets by decreasing the temperature of the surface when harvesting the cells. However, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, cannot be directly cultured on a thermoresponsive surface; hPSCs need a specific extracellular matrix to bind to the integrin receptors on their surfaces. We prepared a thermoresponsive surface by using poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-butylacrylate) and recombinant vitronectin to provide an optimal coating concentration for the hPSC culture. hPSCs can be cultured on the same thermoresponsive surface for 5 passages by partial detachment of the cells from the surface by decreasing the temperature for 30 min; then, the remaining hPSCs were subsequently cultured on the same dishes following the addition of new cultivation media. The detached cells, even after continual culture for five passages, showed high pluripotency, the ability to differentiate into cells derived from the 3 germ layers and the ability to undergo cardiac differentiation.
  20. Antibacterial and anticancer potential of Brassica oleracea var acephala using biosynthesised copper nanoparticles
    Sundaram CS, Kumar JS, Kumar SS, Ramesh PLN, Zin T, Rao USM
    Med J Malaysia, 2020 11;75(6):677-684.
    PMID: 33219177
    INTRODUCTION: Brassica oleracea var acephala was studied for preliminary phytochemical screening. The results showed that the ethanolic crude extract of the leaf contain high phytochemical activity hence B.oleracea var acephala is rich in flavonoids, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and phytosterols.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ethanolic extract was used to synthesise copper nanoparticles. The copper nanoparticles were successfully synthesised from copper sulphate solution which was identified by the colour change from dark green colour of the extract. Thus the B.oleracea var acephala is a good source to synthesis copper nanoparticles. The synthesised copper nanoparticles were characterised using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. The SEM image displayed the high-density nanoparticles synthesised by leaf extracts and that the nanoparticles were crystals in shape.

    RESULTS: The copper nanoparticles (CNP) bind to the leaf extract. B.oleracea var acephala also has shown the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. A comparative study was done between ethanolic its crude extract and nanoparticles. Both extracts exhibited zone of inhibition and better antioxidant potential but the CuNPs shows major zone of inhibition and showed more antioxidant activity. Anticancer activity of B.oleracea var acephala against Cervical HeLa cell line was confirmed using ethanolic crude extract and CNP. The results showed that HeLa cells proliferation was inhibited with increasing concentration of ethanolic crude extract and copper nanoparticles. From the results, it was seen that percentage viability of the cancer cells decreased with increased concentration of the samples whereas cytotoxicity against HeLa cell lines increased with the increased concentration of the samples.

    CONCLUSION: Thus B.oleracea var acephala possesses anticancer activity against HeLa cell lines.

Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links