Improved bioavailability of targeted Curcumin delivery efficiently regressed cardiac hypertrophy by modulating apoptotic load within cardiac microenvironment.

Cardiomyocyte apoptosis acts as a prime modulator of cardiac hypertrophy leading to heart failure, a major cause of human mortality worldwide. Recent therapeutic interventions have focussed on translational applications of diverse pharmaceutical regimes among which, Curcumin (from Curcuma longa) is known to have an anti-hypertrophic potential but with limited pharmacological efficacies due to low aqueous solubility and poor bioavailability. In this study, Curcumin encapsulated by carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) nanoparticle conjugated to a myocyte specific homing peptide was successfully delivered in bioactive form to pathological myocardium for effective regression of cardiac hypertrophy in a rat (Rattus norvegicus) model. Targeted nanotization showed higher cardiac bioavailability of Curcumin at a low dose of 5 mg/kg body weight compared to free Curcumin at 35 mg/kg body weight. Moreover, Curcumin/CMC-peptide treatment during hypertrophy significantly improved cardiac function by downregulating expression of hypertrophy marker genes (ANF, ß-MHC), apoptotic mediators (Bax, Cytochrome-c) and activity of apoptotic markers (Caspase 3 and PARP); whereas free Curcumin in much higher dose showed minimal improvement during compromised cardiac function. Targeted Curcumin treatment significantly lowered p53 expression and activation in diseased myocardium via inhibited interaction of p53 with p300-HAT. Thus attenuated acetylation of p53 facilitated p53 ubiquitination and reduced the apoptotic load in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes; thereby limiting cardiomyocytes' need to enter the regeneration cycle during hypertrophy. This study elucidates for the first time an efficient targeted delivery regimen for Curcumin and also attributes towards probable mechanistic insight into its therapeutic potential as a cardio-protective agent for regression of cardiac hypertrophy.

Antiviral activity of baicalin against influenza virus H1N1-pdm09 is due to modulation of NS1-mediated cellular innate immune responses.

OBJECTIVES: Baicalin, a flavonoid, has been shown to have antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities, although the mechanism of action has been unknown. Therefore, attempts were made to analyse the mechanism behind the antiviral effects of baicalin using an influenza A virus (IAV) model in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: Baicalin's anti-influenza activity was elucidated (in vitro and in vivo) utilizing pandemic influenza strain A/H1N1/Eastern India/66/pdm09 (H1N1-pdm09). Anti-influenza activity was measured by plaque inhibition, fluorescent focus-forming units (ffu) and quantifying viral transcripts using quantitative real-time PCR following treatment with baicalin in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The role of the IAV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) gene in modulating host responses was measured by immunoblotting, co-immunoprecipitation and molecular docking. RESULTS: Baicalin treatment following IAV infection revealed up-regulation of interferon (IFN)-induced antiviral signalling and decreased phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt (PI3K/Akt) activation compared with infected, untreated controls. Baicalin exerts its antiviral effects by modulating the function of the IAV-encoded NS1 protein. NS1 has been shown to counteract cellular antiviral responses by down-regulating IFN induction and up-regulating PI3K/Akt signalling. Baicalin disrupted NS1-p85ß binding. Molecular docking predicted the binding site of baicalin in the RNA binding domain (RBD) of NS1. Site-directed mutagenesis within the RBD region of NS1 and the difference in the fluorescence quenching pattern of full-length NS1 and mutant NS1 proteins in the presence of baicalin confirmed the interaction of baicalin with the NS1 RBD. Amino acid residues 39-43 of the NS1 RBD were found to be crucial for the baicalin-NS1 interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study highlights that baicalin exerts its anti-influenza virus activity by modulating viral protein NS1, resulting in up-regulation of IFN-induced antiviral signalling and a decrease in PI3K/Akt signalling in cells.

Differential and conditional activation of PKC-isoforms dictates cardiac adaptation during physiological to pathological hypertrophy.

A cardiac hypertrophy is defined as an increase in heart mass which may either be beneficial (physiological hypertrophy) or detrimental (pathological hypertrophy). This study was undertaken to establish the role of different protein kinase-C (PKC) isoforms in the regulation of cardiac adaptation during two types of cardiac hypertrophy. Phosphorylation of specific PKC-isoforms and expression of their downstream proteins were studied during physiological and pathological hypertrophy in 24 week male Balb/c mice (Mus musculus) models, by reverse transcriptase-PCR, western blot analysis and M-mode echocardiography for cardiac function analysis. PKC-δ was significantly induced during pathological hypertrophy while PKC-α was exclusively activated during physiological hypertrophy in our study. PKC-δ activation during pathological hypertrophy resulted in cardiomyocyte apoptosis leading to compromised cardiac function and on the other hand, activation of PKC-α during physiological hypertrophy promoted cardiomyocyte growth but down regulated cellular apoptotic load resulting in improved cardiac function. Reversal in PKC-isoform with induced activation of PKC-δ and simultaneous inhibition of phospho-PKC-α resulted in an efficient myocardium to deteriorate considerably resulting in compromised cardiac function during physiological hypertrophy via augmentation of apoptotic and fibrotic load. This is the first report where PKC-α and -δ have been shown to play crucial role in cardiac adaptation during physiological and pathological hypertrophy respectively thereby rendering compromised cardiac function to an otherwise efficient heart by conditional reversal of their activation.