A Review on the Effect of Plant Extract on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation.

Stem cell has immense potential in regenerative cellular therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can become a potential attractive candidate for therapy due to its remarkable ability of self-renewal and differentiation into three lineages, i.e., ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Stem cell holds tremendous promises in the field of tissue regeneration and transplantation for disease treatments. Globally, medicinal plants are being used for the treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases. Phytochemicals like naringin, icariin, genistein, and resveratrol obtained from plants have been extensively used in traditional medicine for centuries. Certain bioactive compounds from plants increase the rate of tissue regeneration, differentiation, and immunomodulation. Several studies show that bioactive compounds from plants have a specific role (bioactive mediator) in regulating the rate of cell division and differentiation through complex signal pathways like BMP2, Runx2, and Wnt. The use of plant bioactive phytochemicals may also become promising in treating diseases like osteoporosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and other tissue degenerative disorders. Thus, the present review article is aimed at highlighting the roles and consequences of plant extracts on MSCs proliferation and desired lineage differentiations.

Novel cycloartane triterpenoids from the Nepal native plant Caragana sukiensis.

A phytochemical study on the arial part of Caragana sukiensis resulted in the isolation of three new cycloartane triterpenoids 1-3 and their structures were fully established on the basis of detailed spectroscopic (especially 2D NMR and Mass) analysis. These new compounds possessed hemiacetal fused tetrahydropyran rings at C-15/C-16, while 2 and 3 also contains d-xylose moiety.

Evaluation of antibacterial activity of some traditionally used medicinal plants against human pathogenic bacteria.

The worldwide increase of multidrug resistance in both community- and health-care associated bacterial infections has impaired the current antimicrobial therapy, warranting the search for other alternatives. We aimed to find the in vitro antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of 16 different traditionally used medicinal plants of Nepal against 13 clinical and 2 reference bacterial species using microbroth dilution method. The evaluated plants species were found to exert a range of in vitro growth inhibitory action against the tested bacterial species, and Cynodon dactylon was found to exhibit moderate inhibitory action against 13 bacterial species including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhi, and S. typhimurium. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of tested ethanolic extracts were found from 31 to >25,000 µg/mL. Notably, ethanolic extracts of Cinnamomum camphora, Curculigo orchioides, and Curcuma longa exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against S. pyogenes with a MIC of 49, 49, and 195 µg/mL, respectively; whereas chloroform fraction of Cynodon dactylon exhibited best antibacterial activity against S. aureus with a MIC of 31 µg/mL. Among all, C. dactylon, C. camphora, C. orchioides, and C. longa plant extracts displayed a potential antibacterial activity of MIC < 100 µg/mL.

Biotechnological production of inducible defense-related proteins in edible radish (raphanus sativus) found in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Fungal infection in plant leads to use of many hazardous antifungal chemicals. Alternative to these chemicals, defense related antifungal proteins can be used in case of fungal diseases. AIMS: An experiment was done in two varieties of edible radish (Raphanus sativus var. Pyuthane Raato and Raphanus sativus var. all season) with aims to produce defense protein within the plant, to identify and perform molecular characterization of those antifungal proteins. The next aim was to compare the antifungal property of those proteins with commercially available synthetic pesticides. METHODS: Both varieties of radish were infected with fungi (Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum). Protein samples were isolated from leaves following the standard protocol as described for ß-glucuronidase (GUS) assay and were run along with the standard protein marker of 10-250kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to identify and molecularly characterize them. RESULTS: An additional band in the range of 37-50kDa was observed in the fungal infected samples, which was not seen on uninfected samples. The antifungal assay was carried out for every sample in 96 wells microtitre plate. The extracted protein samples from fungal inoculated plants showed the significant inhibition of fungal growth compared to other samples. On the basis of molecular weight and their antifungal properties, the protein samples from the fungal infected plant were found to be PR2 (Glucanase) and PR3 (Chitinase). CONCLUSION: Defense related proteins were successfully produced in two varieties of radish found in Nepal. The use of such biologically produced proteins may reduce the use of biologically harmful synthetic pesticides.