Preparation and in Vitro Evaluation of Tamoxifen-Conjugated, Eco-Friendly, Agar-Based Hybrid Magnetic Nanoparticles for Their Potential Use in Breast Cancer Treatment.

Tamoxifen is the drug of choice as hormonal therapy for hormone receptor-positive breast cancers and can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence. However, oral tamoxifen has a low bioavailability due to liver and intestinal metabolic passes. To overcome this problem and utilize the potential of this drug to its maximum, inorganic nanoparticle carriers have been exploited and tested to increase its bioavailability. Biocompatibility and unique magnetic properties make iron oxide nanoparticles an excellent choice as a drug delivery system. In this study, we developed and tested a "green synthesis" approach to synthesize iron nanoparticles from green tea extract and coated them with agar for longer stability (AG-INPs). Later, these hybrid nanoparticles were conjugated with tamoxifen (TMX). By using this approach, we synthesized stable agar-coated tamoxifen-conjugated iron nanoparticles (TMX-AG-INPs) and characterized them with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The average particle size of AG-INPs was 26.8 nm, while the average particle size of tamoxifen-loaded iron nanoparticles, TMX-AG-INPs, was 32.1 nm, as measured by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The entrapment efficiency of TMX-AG-INPs obtained by the drug release profile was 88%, with a drug loading capacity of 43.5%. TMX-AG-INPs were significantly (p < 0.001) efficient in killing breast cancer cells when tested in vitro on the established breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by cell viability assay, indicating their potential to control cell proliferation.

Genome-wide analysis of heavy metal ATPases (HMAs) in Poaceae species and their potential role against copper stress in Triticum aestivum.

Plants require copper for normal growth and development and have evolved an efficient system for copper management based on transport proteins such as P1B-ATPases, also known as heavy metal ATPases (HMAs). Here, we report HMAs in eleven different Poaceae species, including wheat. Furthermore, the possible role of wheat HMAs in copper stress was investigated. BlastP searches identified 27 HMAs in wheat, and phylogenetic analysis based on the Maximum Likelihood method demonstrated a separation into four distinct clades. Conserved motif analysis, domain identification, gene structure, and transmembrane helices number were also identified for wheat HMAs using computational tools. Wheat seedlings grown hydroponically were subjected to elevated copper and demonstrated toxicity symptoms with effects on fresh weight and changes in expression of selected HMAs TaHMA7, TaHMA8, and TaHMA9 were upregulated in response to elevated copper, suggesting a role in wheat copper homeostasis. Further investigations on these heavy metal pumps can provide insight into strategies for enhancing crop heavy metal tolerance in the face of heavy metal pollution.

Molecular investigation of possible relationships concerning bovine leukemia virus and breast cancer.

Worldwide, breast cancer has an eminent morbidity and mortality rate, as it is a neoplastic disease among females. The query of the prospective danger of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) to humans is an old but exceedingly topical focus of scientific debate. The objective of the current study was to determine the possible relationship between BLV and breast cancer. A total of 2710 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) breast cancer samples were selected regardless of the age, ethnicity, or municipality origin of the subjects. The presence of BLV in human breast cancer was determined through nested PCR by amplifying tax and gag genes followed by partial sequencing. Homology was confirmed by using the online BLAST Tool. BLV genes were found to be positive in 26.8% (728/2710) of the samples from breast cancer patients and 10% (10/80) of the samples without cancer (negative control). The results indicated a correlation between the presence of the BLV gene and breast cancer (odds ratio = 0.3889; confidence interval = 1,18; p = 0.0029). The current findings suggest a possible link between BLV and human breast carcinoma. Therefore, screening cattle herds and milk products is suggested to reduce the viral transmission risk to humans.

Genome-wide analysis of bZIP, BBR, and BZR transcription factors in Triticum aestivum.

Transcription factors are regulatory proteins known to modulate gene expression. These are the critical component of signaling pathways and help in mitigating various developmental and stress responses. Among them, bZIP, BBR, and BZR transcription factor families are well known to play a crucial role in regulating growth, development, and defense responses. However, limited data is available on these transcription factors in Triticum aestivum. In this study, bZIP, BBR, and BZR sequences from Brachypodium distachyon, Oryza sativa, Oryza barthii, Oryza brachyantha, T. aestivum, Triticum urartu, Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays were retrieved, and dendrograms were constructed to analyze the evolutionary relatedness among them. The sequences clustered into one group indicated a degree of evolutionary correlation highlighting the common lineage of cereal grains. This analysis also exhibited that these genes were highly conserved among studied monocots emphasizing their common ancestry. Furthermore, these transcription factor genes were evaluated for envisaging conserved motifs, gene structure, and subcellular localization in T. aestivum. This comprehensive computational analysis has provided an insight into transcription factor evolution that can also be useful in developing approaches for future functional characterization of these genes in T. aestivum. Furthermore, the data generated can be beneficial in future for genetic manipulation of economically important plants.

Phytochemical, in-vitro biological and chemo-preventive profiling of Arisaema jacquemontii Blume tuber extracts.

BACKGROUND: Arisaema jacquemontii is traditionally used in treatment of different diseases. In this study, phytochemical, in vitro biological and chemo-preventive screening of A. jacquemontii was carried out to explore its pharmacological potential. METHODS: The dried tuber of A. jacquemontii was extracted in 11 organic solvent mixture of different polarity. The extracts were screened for phytochemical assays (phenolics and flavonoids), antioxidants potential (free radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity, reducing power), biological activities (antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antileishmanial, protein kinase inhibition), and chemopreventive activities using different cell lines through standard protocols. RESULTS: Significant amount phenolic contents were determined in EtOH and MeOH extracts (210.3 ± 3.05 and 193.2 ± 3.15 µg GAE/mg, respectively). Maximum flavonoid content was determined in MeOH extract (22.4 ± 4.04 µg QE/mg). Noteworthy, DPPH scavenging activity was also recorded for MeOH extract (87.66%) followed by MeOH+EtOAc extract (85.11%). Considerable antioxidant capacity (7.8 ± 0.12 µg AAE/mg) and reducing power (3.1 ± 0.15 µg AAE/mg) was observed in extract of MeOH. The LC50 against brine shrimp and leishmanial parasite was found 9.01 and 12.87 µg/mL for n-Hex and CHCl3 extracts, respectively. The highest zone of inhibition against Streptomyces hyphae formation (12.5 ± 1.77 mm) by n-Hex extract. Growth zone of inhibition 13.8 ± 1.08 mm was recorded for EtOAc and MeOH extracts, respectively against Micrococcus luteus while 10.0 ± 0.11 mm for MeOH extract against Aspergillus flavus. In-vitro cytotoxic assay showed that n-Hex extract had higher cytotoxicity against DU-145 prostate cancer and HL-60 cancer cell lines. NF-kB and MTP potential showed 34.01 and 44.87 µg/mL for n-Hex and CHCl3 extracts, respectively in chemo-preventive potential. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that Arisaema jacquemontii bears significant phytochemical activity and pharmacological activities, this plant can be further explored for isolation of active component against a number of aliments.

Genome-wide analysis of wheat calcium ATPases and potential role of selected ACAs and ECAs in calcium stress.

BACKGROUND: P2- type calcium ATPases (ACAs-auto inhibited calcium ATPases and ECAs-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPases) belong to the P- type ATPase family of active membrane transporters and are significantly involved in maintaining accurate levels of Ca2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ in the cytosol as well as playing a very important role in stress signaling, stomatal opening and closing and pollen tube growth. Here we report the identification and possible role of some of these ATPases from wheat. RESULTS: In this study, ACA and ECA sequences of six species (belonging to Poaceae) were retrieved from different databases and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. A high degree of evolutionary relatedness was observed among P2 sequences characterized in this study. Members of the respective groups from different plant species were observed to fall under the same clade. This pattern highlights the common ancestry of P2- type calcium ATPases. Furthermore, qRT-PCR was used to analyse the expression of selected ACAs and ECAs from Triticum aestivum (wheat) under calcium toxicity and calcium deficiency. The data indicated that expression of ECAs is enhanced under calcium stress, suggesting possible roles of these ATPases in calcium homeostasis in wheat. Similarly, the expression of ACAs was significantly different in plants grown under calcium stress as compared to plants grown under control conditions. This gives clues to the role of ACAs in signal transduction during calcium stress in wheat. CONCLUSION: Here we concluded that wheat genome consists of nine P2B and three P2A -type calcium ATPases. Moreover, gene loss events in wheat ancestors lead to the loss of a particular homoeolog of a gene in wheat. To elaborate the role of these wheat ATPases, qRT-PCR was performed. The results indicated that when plants are exposed to calcium stress, both P2A and P2B gene expression get enhanced. This further gives clues about the possible role of these ATPases in wheat in calcium management. These findings can be useful in future for genetic manipulations as well as in wheat genome annotation process.