Identification of molecular targets and small drug candidates for Huntington's disease via bioinformatics and a network-based screening approach.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a gradually severe neurodegenerative ailment characterised by an increase of a specific trinucleotide repeat sequence (cytosine-adenine-guanine, CAG). It is passed down as a dominant characteristic that worsens over time, creating a significant risk. Despite being monogenetic, the underlying mechanisms as well as biomarkers remain poorly understood. Furthermore, early detection of HD is challenging, and the available diagnostic procedures have low precision and accuracy. The research was conducted to provide knowledge of the biomarkers, pathways and therapeutic targets involved in the molecular processes of HD using informatic based analysis and applying network-based systems biology approaches. The gene expression profile datasets GSE97100 and GSE74201 relevant to HD were studied. As a consequence, 46 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. 10 hub genes (TPM1, EIF2S3, CCN2, ACTN1, ACTG2, CCN1, CSRP1, EIF1AX, BEX2 and TCEAL5) were further differentiated in the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. These hub genes were typically down-regulated. Additionally, DEGs-transcription factors (TFs) connections (e.g. GATA2, YY1 and FOXC1), DEG-microRNA (miRNA) interactions (e.g. hsa-miR-124-3p and has-miR-26b-5p) were also comprehensively forecast. Additionally, related gene ontology concepts (e.g. sequence-specific DNA binding and TF activity) connected to DEGs in HD were identified using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Finally, in silico drug design was employed to find candidate drugs for the treatment HD, and while the possible modest therapeutic compounds (e.g. cortistatin A, 13,16-Epoxy-25-hydroxy-17-cheilanthen-19,25-olide, Hecogenin) against HD were expected. Consequently, the results from this study may give researchers useful resources for the experimental validation of Huntington's diagnosis and therapeutic approaches.

YRNA and tRNA fragments can differentiate benign from malignant canine mammary gland tumors.

Mammary gland tumors (MGT) are the most common tumors in sexually intact female dogs. The functional regulation of miRNAs, a type of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), in canine MGT has been extensively investigated. However, the expression of other ncRNAs, such as YRNAs and transfer RNA-derived fragments (tRFs) in canine MGT is unknown. We investigated ncRNAs other than miRNAs from our small RNA project (PRJNA716131) in different canine MGT histologic subtypes. This study included benign tumors (benign mixed tumor, complex adenoma) and malignant tumors (carcinoma in benign tumor and carcinoma with metastasis) samples. Aberrantly expressed ncRNAs were examined by comparisons among MGT subtypes. The relative expression trends were validated in canine MGT tissues, plasma, extracellular vesicles, and MGT cell lines using quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Three aberrantly expressed ncRNAs were identified by comparisons among MGT subtypes. YRNA and tRNA-Gly-GCC distinguished benign mixed tumor from other MGT histologic subtypes, while tRNA-Val differentiated complex adenoma, carcinoma in benign tumors, and carcinoma with metastasis. The ROC curve of the three ncRNAs showed they might be potential biomarkers to discriminate malignant from benign MGT. YRNA and tRFs expression levels were decreased in metastatic compared with primary canine MGT cell lines. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of YRNA and tRFs in canine MGT. The three identified ncRNAs may be biomarkers for differentiating MGT histologic subtypes. Suggested Reviewers: Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporatio.

Investigating the potent TOPO IIα inhibitors in breast cancer through the study of computational drug discovery research approaches.

Breast cancer (BC) is the second-leading cause of cancer after lung cancer. The disease has affected millions of people and resulted in many deaths. In the metastasis of breast cancer cells, Topoisomerase IIα plays a vital role. Therefore, this investigation aims to identify potential flavonoid compounds against BC by inhibiting this enzyme at an early stage. Based on previous studies, we selected and screened several plant-derived flavonoid compounds with potential anti-breast cancer activity using PyRx 0.8 and Schrodinger applications for preliminary molecular docking: the highest docking scores of Myricetin (-11.6 kcal/mol) and Quercetin (-10.0 kcal/mol). Next, we evaluated the top four compounds on the Way2Drug server to complete the cytotoxicity evaluation, which demonstrated anti-cancer and anti-breast cancer activity in various cell lines. According to pharmacokinetics studies, four compounds exhibited outstanding values and functioned similar to drug-like molecules. Moreover, Myricetin, Quercetin, and Morin displayed the highest number of hydrogen bonds, with the corresponding receptor forming residues asn120, thr147, and lys168. The protein-ligand complexes were validated using the Desmond simulator, and their data were compared to the anti-breast cancer drug Doxorubicin. In the simulation analysis, various parameters were evaluated, including RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, MolSA, PSA, and hydrogen bond interaction. Finally, validated our dynamic simulation result with MM-GBSA operation, and Myricetin and Quercetin had the greatest score of -72.74344651, -66.66771823 kcal/mol, which is outstanding than the control drug. Hence, the computational research approach determined that Myricetin, Quercetin, and Morin could be industrially developed for the alternative treatment of breast cancer following additional confirmation from animal and cell line studies.

Crotalaria quinquefolia L. Revealed as a Potential Source of Neuropharmacophore in Both Experimental and Computational Studies.

Herbal remedies have shown great promise for improving human health. The plant Crotalaria quinquefolia is used in folk medicine to cure different diseases, including scabies, fever, discomfort, and lung infections. The present research was designed to explore bioactive compounds and evaluate the neuropharmacological effects of C. quinquefolia through in vivo and in silico approaches. Different secondary metabolites as well as the antioxidant activity were measured. Furthermore, chemical compounds were identified by HPLC and GCMS analysis. The neuropharmacological activity was examined by hole cross, hole board, open field, Y-maze, elevated plus maze, and thiopental sodium induced sleeping time tests in mice at doses of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg body weight. Besides, an in-silico study was performed on proteins related to Alzheimer disease. The extract showed a significant content of secondary metabolites and antioxidant potential. The in-silico analysis showed that myricetin, quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol have good binding affinity with studied proteins, and QSAR studies revealed potential benefits for treating dementia, age-related macular degeneration, and more. The findings of the present neurological activity collectively imply that the extract has strong CNS depressant and anxiolytic activity. Therefore, C. quinquefolia can be a potential source of secondary metabolites to treat Alzheimer disease.

microRNAs Are Abundant and Stable in Platelet-Rich Fibrin and Other Autologous Blood Products of Canines.

Various microRNAs (miRNAs) present in autologous blood products of canines have not been studied recently. We aimed to elucidate the existence of miRNAs in platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and the stability of canine autologous blood products under various storage conditions. Total RNAs were isolated from PRF and other autologous blood products following newly adapted protocols used in commercial kits for plasma and tissue samples. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis (qPCR) was used to detect miRNAs in autologous blood products. The miR-16, miR-21, miR-155, and miR-146a were abundant in PRF and other autologous blood products of canines. Furthermore, we found they could maintain stability under protracted freezing temperatures of -30 °C for at least one month. Our findings revealed that PRF might be a stable resource for various canine miRNAs.

Study of MDM2 as Prognostic Biomarker in Brain-LGG Cancer and Bioactive Phytochemicals Inhibit the p53-MDM2 Pathway: A Computational Drug Development Approach.

An evaluation of the expression and predictive significance of the MDM2 gene in brain lower-grade glioma (LGG) cancer was carried out using onco-informatics pipelines. Several transcriptome servers were used to measure the differential expression of the targeted MDM2 gene and search mutations and copy number variations. GENT2, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, Onco-Lnc, and PrognoScan were used to figure out the survival rate of LGG cancer patients. The protein-protein interaction networks between MDM2 gene and its co-expressed genes were constructed by Gene-MANIA tool. Identified bioactive phytochemicals were evaluated through molecular docking using Schrödinger Suite Software, with the MDM2 (PDB ID: 1RV1) target. Protein-ligand interactions were observed with key residues of the macromolecular target. A molecular dynamics simulation of the novel bioactive compounds with the targeted protein was performed. Phytochemicals targeting MDM2 protein, such as Taxifolin and (-)-Epicatechin, have been shown with more highly stable results as compared to the control drug, and hence, concluded that phytochemicals with bioactive potential might be alternative therapeutic options for the management of LGG patients. Our once informatics-based designed pipeline has indicated that the MDM2 gene may have been a predictive biomarker for LGG cancer and selected phytochemicals possessed outstanding interaction results within the macromolecular target's active site after utilizing in silico approaches. In vitro and in vivo experiments are recommended to confirm these outcomes.

A Comprehensive Analysis and Anti-Cancer Activities of Quercetin in ROS-Mediated Cancer and Cancer Stem Cells.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) induce carcinogenesis by causing genetic mutations, activating oncogenes, and increasing oxidative stress, all of which affect cell proliferation, survival, and apoptosis. When compared to normal cells, cancer cells have higher levels of ROS, and they are responsible for the maintenance of the cancer phenotype; this unique feature in cancer cells may, therefore, be exploited for targeted therapy. Quercetin (QC), a plant-derived bioflavonoid, is known for its ROS scavenging properties and was recently discovered to have various antitumor properties in a variety of solid tumors. Adaptive stress responses may be induced by persistent ROS stress, allowing cancer cells to survive with high levels of ROS while maintaining cellular viability. However, large amounts of ROS make cancer cells extremely susceptible to quercetin, one of the most available dietary flavonoids. Because of the molecular and metabolic distinctions between malignant and normal cells, targeting ROS metabolism might help overcome medication resistance and achieve therapeutic selectivity while having little or no effect on normal cells. The powerful bioactivity and modulatory role of quercetin has prompted extensive research into the chemical, which has identified a number of pathways that potentially work together to prevent cancer, alongside, QC has a great number of evidences to use as a therapeutic agent in cancer stem cells. This current study has broadly demonstrated the function-mechanistic relationship of quercetin and how it regulates ROS generation to kill cancer and cancer stem cells. Here, we have revealed the regulation and production of ROS in normal cells and cancer cells with a certain signaling mechanism. We demonstrated the specific molecular mechanisms of quercetin including MAPK/ERK1/2, p53, JAK/STAT and TRAIL, AMPKα1/ASK1/p38, RAGE/PI3K/AKT/mTOR axis, HMGB1 and NF-κB, Nrf2-induced signaling pathways and certain cell cycle arrest in cancer cell death, and how they regulate the specific cancer signaling pathways as long-searched cancer therapeutics.

Computational Identification of Druggable Bioactive Compounds from Catharanthus roseus and Avicennia marina against Colorectal Cancer by Targeting Thymidylate Synthase.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of death worldwide, affecting approximately 1.9 million individuals in 2020. Therapeutics of the disease are not yet available and discovering a novel anticancer drug candidate against the disease is an urgent need. Thymidylate synthase (TS) is an important enzyme and prime precursor for DNA biosynthesis that catalyzes the methylation of deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP) that has emerged as a novel drug target against the disease. Elevated expression of TS in proliferating cells promotes oncogenesis as well as CRC. Therefore, this study aimed to identify potential natural anticancer agents that can inhibit the activity of the TS protein, subsequently blocking the progression of colorectal cancer. Initially, molecular docking was implied on 63 natural compounds identified from Catharanthus roseus and Avicennia marina to evaluate their binding affinity to the desired protein. Subsequently, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion), toxicity, and quantum chemical-based DFT (density-functional theory) approaches were applied to evaluate the efficacy of the selected compounds. Molecular docking analysis initially identified four compounds (PubChem CID: 5281349, CID: 102004710, CID: 11969465, CID: 198912) that have better binding affinity to the target protein. The ADME and toxicity properties indicated good pharmacokinetics (PK) and toxicity ability of the selected compounds. Additionally, the quantum chemical calculation of the selected molecules found low chemical reactivity indicating the bioactivity of the drug candidate. The global descriptor and HOMO-LUMO energy gap values indicated a satisfactory and remarkable profile of the selected molecules. Furthermore, MD simulations of the compounds identified better binding stability of the compounds to the desired protein. To sum up, the phytoconstituents from two plants showed better anticancer activity against TS protein that can be further developed as an anti-CRC drug.

Can Artemisia herba-alba Be Useful for Managing COVID-19 and Comorbidities?

The focus of this roadmap is to evaluate the possible efficacy of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. (Asteraceae) for the treatment of COVID-19 and some of its symptoms and several comorbidities using a combination of in silico (molecular docking) studies, reported ethnic uses, and pharmacological activity studies of this plant. In this exploratory study, we show that various phytochemicals from Artemisia herba-alba can be useful against COVID-19 (in silico studies) and for its associated comorbidities. COVID-19 is a new disease, so reports of any therapeutic treatments against it (traditional or conventional) are scanty. On the other hand, we demonstrate, using Artemisia herba-alba as an example, that through a proper search and identification of medicinal plant(s) and their phytochemicals identification using secondary data (published reports) on the plant's ethnic uses, phytochemical constituents, and pharmacological activities against COVID-19 comorbidities and symptoms coupled with the use of primary data obtained from in silico (molecular docking and molecular dynamics) studies on the binding of the selected plant's phytochemicals (such as: rutin, 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and schaftoside) with various vital components of SARS-CoV-2, it may be possible to rapidly identify plants that are suitable for further research regarding therapeutic use against COVID-19 and its associated symptoms and comorbidities.

Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Pathogenic Potential of Enterotoxigenic and Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Associated with Acute Diarrheal Patients in Tangail, Bangladesh.

In this study, the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) were investigated. Altogether 100 stool samples were collected from diarrheal patients attending the Sheikh Hasina Medical College and Hospital, Tangail, Bangladesh, during the period from March 1 to May 30, 2018. In vivo pathogenic potential of ETEC and EPEC using a Caenorhabditis elegans infection model was investigated. Among 100 diarrheal patients, 31% were positive for both ETEC and EPEC strains, 23% were lt positive for ETEC strains, and 8% were bfpA positive for EPEC strains. It was detected that 82.60%, 65.21%, 73.91%, 78.26%, 47.82%, 60.86%, and 47.82% of ETEC strains were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMC), tetracycline (TE), nalidixic acid (NA), azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin (AMP), and erythromycin (E), respectively. Whereas it was detected that 87.5% strains were resistant to AMC, AMP, and E, 75% were resistant to TE and NA, respectively. Both strains developed multidrug resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics. EPEC showed higher pathogenicity than ETEC as 67.75% and 60% of C. elegans died after 18 h postinfection with EPEC and ETEC, respectively. The high rate of antimicrobial resistance of EPEC and ETEC highlights the necessity for the prudent use of antimicrobials in Bangladesh.

Beam pen lithography based on focused laser diode beam with single microlens fabricated by excimer laser.

A method is proposed to minimize the focused spot size of an elliptically-diverging laser diode beam by means of a circular aperture and a single plano-convex aspherical microlens. The proposed microlens is fabricated using an excimer laser dragging method and has two different profiles in the x- and y-axis directions. The focused spot size of the beam is examined both numerically and experimentally. The feasibility of the proposed approach for beam pen lithography applications is demonstrated by patterning dotted, straight-line and spiral features on a photo resist layer followed by thin gold layer deposition and metal lift-off. The minimum feature size for dotted pattern is around 2.57 µm, while the minimum line-widths for straight-line and spiral pattern are 3.05 µm and 4.35 µm, respectively. Thus, the technique can be applied to write any arbitrary pattern for high-resolution lithography.

Hypoxia-related Y RNA fragments as a novel potential biomarker for distinguishing metastatic oral melanoma from non-metastatic oral melanoma in dogs.

Hypoxia may promote tumor progression, and hypoxically altered noncoding RNA (ncRNA) expression may play a role in metastasis. Canine oral melanoma (COM) frequently metastasizes, and ncRNA expression under hypoxia may be clinically significant. We aimed to elucidate ncRNA fragments whose expression is altered by hypoxia in COM-derived primary KMeC and metastatic LMeC cell lines using next-generation sequencing to validate these results in qRT-PCR, and then compare expression between metastatic and non-metastatic COM. The NGS analysis and subsequent qRT-PCR validation were performed using hypoxic and normoxic KMeC and LMeC cells, and clinical samples [tumor tissue, plasma, and plasma-derived extracellular vesicles] obtained from dogs with metastatic or non-metastatic melanoma were analyzed with qRT-PCR. Y RNA was significantly decreased in metastatic LMeC cells versus primary KMeC cells in hypoxic and normoxic conditions. The expression of Y RNA was decreased in dogs with metastatic melanoma versus those with non-metastatic melanoma for all clinical sample types, reflecting the pattern found with hypoxia. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that Y RNA level is a promising biomarker for discriminating metastatic from non-metastatic melanoma in plasma [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.993, p < 0.0001] and plasma-derived extracellular vesicles (AUC = 0.981, p = 0.0002). Overall, Y RNA may be more resistant to hypoxic stress in the metastatic than the non-metastatic state for COM. However, further investigation is required to elucidate the biological functions of Y RNA under hypoxic conditions.

Upregulation and functional roles of miR-450b in canine oral melanoma.

Canine oral melanoma (COM) is a common and highly aggressive disease with the potential to model human melanomas. Dysregulated microRNAs represent an interesting line of research for COM because they are implicated in tumor progression. One example is miR-450b, which has been investigated for its molecular mechanisms and biological functions in multiple human cancers, but not human or canine melanoma. Here, we aimed to investigate miR-450b as a potential diagnostic biomarker of COM and its functional roles in metastatic and non-metastatic forms of the disease. We investigated the expression of miR-450b and its target mRNA genes in clinical (tumor tissue and plasma) samples and metastatic and primary-tumor cell lines. Knockdown and overexpression experiments were performed to determine the influence of miR-450b on cell proliferation, migration, colony formation, and apoptosis. miR-450b was significantly upregulated in COM and differentiated between metastatic and non-metastatic tumors, and its potential as a biomarker of metastatic and non-metastatic COM was further confirmed in ROC analysis. miR-450b knockdown promoted cell proliferation, migration, and clonogenicity and inhibited apoptosis, whereas its overexpression yielded the reverse pattern. miR-450b directly binds 3' UTR of PAX9 mRNA and modulates its function leading to BMP4 downregulation and MMP9 upregulation at the transcript level. Furthermore, we surmised that miR-450b activates the Wnt signaling pathway based on gene ontology and enrichment analyses. We concluded that miR-450b has the potential as a diagnostic biomarker and could be a target candidate for COM treatment.

Elevated expression of miR-301a and its functional roles in canine oral melanoma.

miR-301a is one of numerous dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in canine oral melanoma (COM), one of which is miR-301a (upregulated). Its biological role has been described in various human cancer types, including malignant melanoma, but not in COM. Accordingly, in this study, we investigated miR-301a expression in COM in greater detail to ascertain whether it could serve as a diagnostic biomarker, elucidate its functional roles in this cancer, and predict the possible pathways by which it exerts its effects. Relative expression of miR-301a was investigated in clinical oral tissue and plasma samples and COM cell (KMeC and LMeC) lines using qRT-PCR. Knockdown of miR-301a was also validated for KMeC and LMeC cells using qRT-PCR. We performed CCK-8 assays to assess cell proliferation, monolayer wound-healing, and transwell migration assays to assess cell migration, a colony-formation assay to assess clonogenicity, a TUNEL assay and flow cytometry to assess apoptosis-related effects, and gene enrichment analyses to predict possible related pathways. miR-301a was markedly upregulated in COM oral tissue and plasma clinically, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic biomarker for COM diagnosis. In vitro assays demonstrated that miR-301 significantly inhibited apoptosis in COM cells while promoting cell migration, proliferation, and clonogenicity. We also predicted that miR-301 exerts cancer-promoting effects through the Wnt signalling pathway for COM. Our findings suggest that miR-301a is a COM oncomiR that regulates several oncogenic phenotypes with the potential to be a diagnostic biomarker.

Alfin-like (AL) transcription factor family in Oryza sativa L.: Genome-wide analysis and expression profiling under different stresses.

Oryza sativa L. is the world's most essential and economically important food crop. Climate change and ecological imbalances make rice plants vulnerable to abiotic and biotic stresses, threatening global food security. The Alfin-like (AL) transcription factor family plays a crucial role in plant development and stress responses. This study comprehensively analyzed this gene family and their expression profiles in rice, revealing nine AL genes, classifying them into three distinct groups based on phylogenetic analysis and identifying four segmental duplication events. RNA-seq data analysis revealed high expression levels of OsALs in different tissues, growth stages, and their responsiveness to stresses. RT-qPCR data showed significant expression of OsALs in different abiotic stresses. Identification of potential cis-regulatory elements in promoter regions has also unveiled their involvement. Tertiary structures of the proteins were predicted. These findings would lay the groundwork for future research to reveal their molecular mechanism in stress tolerance and plant development.

Nutritional and biofunctional characterizations of four novel edible aquatic plants of Bangladesh.

Aquatic plants are a cheap and renewable biomass rich in bioactive and biofunctional compounds, holding valorization prospects for use in food and pharmaceuticals. Four commonly found edible aquatic plants in Bangladesh, namely red water lily (Nymphaea nouchali), white water lily (Nympheae alba), malancha (Alternanthera philoxeroides), and red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata), were compared in terms of proximate composition, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, mineral and heavy metal contents, and amino acid composition. The crude protein content was the highest in A. philoxeroids (26.96 %), followed by G. tenuistipitata (25.21 %), N. nouchali (25.14 %), and N. alba (23.54 %). The sequence of crude lipid content of four aquatic plants was A. philoxeroids (4.8 %) > N. nouchali (4.0 %) > G. tenuistipitata (3.4 %) > N. alba (2.4 %). The aquatic plants were rich in carbohydrates, with G. tenuistipitata having 37.02 %, significantly (P < 0.05) lower than N. alba (46.12 %), N. nouchali (45.73 %), and A. philoxeroids (42.88 %). The ash content in the studied plants varied between 14.63 % and 24.97 %. Substantial numbers of bioactive compounds were identified in these plants: 42 in N. alba, 41 in N. nouchali, 40 in A. philoxeroides, and 36 in G. tenuistipitata, as determined by GC-MS analysis. G. tenuistipitata showed the highest amount of total phenolic (121.05 ± 2.43 mg gallic acid equivalent/g) and flavonoid (128.03 ± 0.79 mg quercetin equivalent/g) content. The DPPH, hydrogen peroxide, and ferric reducing power assays showed the free radical scavenging ability increased in a dose dependent manner. These aquatic plants contained substantial amounts of minerals, namely Ca ranging from 42.05 ± 2.34 to 441.65 ± 4.67 mg/kg, K ranging from 80.15 ± 1.82 to 97.81 ± 1.74 mg/kg, and Na ranging from 41.16 ± 1.32 to 53.37 ± 1.64 mg/kg. The heavy metal contents of Cu, Ni, and Pb were 0.93 ± 0.06 to 1.25 ± 0.09 mg/kg, 0.44 ± 0.02 to 3.86 ± 0.56 mg/kg, and 0.22 ± 0.02 to 0.67 ± 0.05 mg/kg, respectively. Thirteen different amino acids were identified, with leucine, glycine, alanine, lysine, and phenylalanine dominating, and their contents varying by species. Therefore, regular consumption of these aquatic plants might be a healthy approach to addressing malnutrition and enhancing biofunctional activities.

The experimental significance of isorhamnetin as an effective therapeutic option for cancer: A comprehensive analysis.

Isorhamnetin (C16H12O7), a 3'-O-methylated derivative of quercetin from the class of flavonoids, is predominantly present in the leaves and fruits of several plants, many of which have traditionally been employed as remedies due to its diverse therapeutic activities. The objective of this in-depth analysis is to concentrate on Isorhamnetin by addressing its molecular insights as an effective anticancer compound and its synergistic activity with other anticancer drugs. The main contributors to Isorhamnetin's anti-malignant activities at the molecular level have been identified as alterations of a variety of signal transduction processes and transcriptional agents. These include ROS-mediated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, inhibition of mTOR and P13K pathway, suppression of MEK1, PI3K, NF-κB, and Akt/ERK pathways, and inhibition of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF)-1α expression. A significant number of in vitro and in vivo research studies have confirmed that it destroys cancerous cells by arresting cell cycle at the G2/M phase and S-phase, down-regulating COX-2 protein expression, PI3K, Akt, mTOR, MEK1, ERKs, and PI3K signaling pathways, and up-regulating apoptosis-induced genes (Casp3, Casp9, and Apaf1), Bax, Caspase-3, P53 gene expression and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis pathway. Its ability to suppress malignant cells, evidence of synergistic effects, and design of drugs based on nanomedicine are also well supported to treat cancer patients effectively. Together, our findings establish a crucial foundation for understanding Isorhamnetin's underlying anti-cancer mechanism in cancer cells and reinforce the case for the requirement to assess more exact molecular signaling pathways relating to specific cancer and in vivo anti-cancer activities.

Mixed-Input Deep Learning Approach to Sleep/Wake State Classification by Using EEG Signals.

Sleep stage classification plays a pivotal role in predicting and diagnosing numerous health issues from human sleep data. Manual sleep staging requires human expertise, which is occasionally prone to error and variation. In recent times, availability of polysomnography data has aided progress in automatic sleep-stage classification. In this paper, a hybrid deep learning model is proposed for classifying sleep and wake states based on a single-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. The model combines an artificial neural network (ANN) and a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained using mixed-input features. The ANN makes use of statistical features calculated from EEG epochs, and the CNN operates on Hilbert spectrum images generated during each epoch. The proposed method is assessed using single-channel Pz-Oz EEG signals from the Sleep-EDF database Expanded. The classification performance on four randomly selected individuals shows that the proposed model can achieve accuracy of around 96% in classifying between sleep and wake states from EEG recordings.

Landscape of In Silico Tools for Modeling Covalent Modification of Proteins: A Review on Computational Covalent Drug Discovery.

Covalent drug discovery has been a challenging research area given the struggle of finding a sweet balance between selectivity and reactivity for these drugs, the lack of which often leads to off-target activities and hence undesirable side effects. However, there has been a resurgence in covalent drug design following the success of several covalent drugs such as boceprevir (2011), ibrutinib (2013), neratinib (2017), dacomitinib (2018), zanubrutinib (2019), and many others. Design of covalent drugs includes many crucial factors, where "evaluation of the binding affinity" and "a detailed mechanistic understanding on covalent inhibition" are at the top of the list. Well-defined experimental techniques are available to elucidate these factors; however, often they are expensive and/or time-consuming and hence not suitable for high throughput screens. Recent developments in in silico methods provide promise in this direction. In this report, we review a set of recent publications that focused on developing and/or implementing novel in silico techniques in "Computational Covalent Drug Discovery (CCDD)". We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches along with what improvements are required to make it a great tool in medicinal chemistry in the near future.

Novel Y RNA-Derived Fragments Can Differentiate Canine Hepatocellular Carcinoma from Hepatocellular Adenoma.

Hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) are common tumors, whereas hepatocellular adenomas (HCA) are rare, benign tumors in dogs. The aberrant expression of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) plays a pivotal role in HCC tumorigenesis and progression. Among ncRNAs, micro RNAs have been widely researched in human HCC, but much less widely in canine HCC. However, Y RNA-derived fragments have yet to be investigated in canine HCC and HCA. This study targeted canine HCC and HCA patients. We used qRT-PCR to determine Y RNA expression in clinical tissues, plasma, and plasma extracellular vesicles, and two HCC cell lines (95-1044 and AZACH). Y RNA was significantly decreased in tissue, plasma, and plasma extracellular vesicles for canine HCC versus canine HCA and healthy controls. Y RNA was decreased in 95-1044 and AZACH cells versus normal liver tissue and in AZACH versus 95-1044 cells. In plasma samples, Y RNA levels were decreased in HCC versus HCA and Healthy controls and increased in HCA versus Healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that Y RNA could be a promising biomarker for distinguishing HCC from HCA and healthy controls. Overall, the dysregulated expression of Y RNA can distinguish canine HCC from HCA. However, further research is necessary to elucidate the underlying Y RNA-related molecular mechanisms in hepatocellular neoplastic diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the relative expression of Y RNA in canine HCC and HCA.