ABSTRACT
An efficient, dual-polarization silicon waveguide array with low insertion losses and negligible crosstalks for both TE and TM polarizations has been reported using S-shaped adiabatically bent waveguides. Simulation results for a single S-shaped bend show an insertion loss (IL) of ≤ 0.03 dB and ≤ 0.1 dB for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively, and TE and TM crosstalk values in the first neighboring waveguides at either side of the input waveguide are lower than -39 dB and -24 dB, respectively, over the wavelength range of 1.24 µm to 1.38 µm. The bent waveguide arrays exhibit a measured average TE IL of ≈ 0.1 dB, measured TE crosstalks in the first neighboring waveguides are ≤ -35 dB, at the 1310 nm communication wavelength. The proposed bent array can be made by using multiple cascaded S-shaped bends to transmit signals to all optical components in integrated chips.
ABSTRACT
Aiming to obtain hybrid magneto-plasmonic nanostructures, we have developed multisegmented and core/shell structured Fe-Au nanorods using template assisted electrochemical deposition. A facile method of tuning the growth pattern of multisegmented nanorods into core/shell structured is demonstrated. With a precise control of current density and deposition time, a brick-stacked wire like growth led to the formation of hollow nanotubes that could be further tuned to multilayered hollow nanotubes and core/shell structured nanorods. TEM imaging and STEM-EELS technique were used to explore the morphology, microstructure and the distribution of Au and Fe in the nanorods. The easy magnetization direction was found to be perpendicular to the nanorods' growth direction in the segmented nanorods. On the other hand, core/shell nanorods exhibited isotropic behavior. Our findings provide deeper insights into the fabrication of hybrid nanorods and the opportunity to tune the fabrication method to vary their morphology accordingly. Such studies will benefit design of hybrid nanorods with specific morphologies and physical properties and hence their integration into sensing, spintronics and other potential biomedical and technological applications.
ABSTRACT
A compact, ultra-broadband and high-performance silicon TE-pass polarizer is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. It is based on partially-etched (ridge) waveguide adiabatic S-bends, input/output tapers and side gratings on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. A compact footprint and weak back reflections are obtained due to the bent waveguide and the tapers, respectively. An extremely high extinction ratio is achieved by scattering the undesired light in the slab section using the side gratings. The 3D FDTD simulations show a TE loss less than 0.3 dB and an extinction ratio greater than 30 dB over a 500 nm wavelength range (1200 nm to 1700 nm). Measured results show a high TM loss (> 35 dB) and a low TE insertion loss (< 1.5 dB), over a 200 nm wavelength range (1450 nm to 1650 nm). The measured TE loss is < 0.6 dB at a communication wavelength of 1550 nm. The footprint of the optimized design is 65 µm × 20 µm.
ABSTRACT
Drug repositioning is one of the most effective approaches towards drug discovery and development. It involves the identification of new therapeutic indications of existing drugs. The present study evaluated several drugs for their ability to modulate activity of the p8 subunit of TFIIH complex. Negative modulation of p8 subunit activity disrupts protein-protein interactions (PPIs) among the subunits of TFIIH complex, and thereby the TFIIH-associated functions. TFIIH complex has key role in the transcription and nucleotide excision repair activity in cancerous cells. TFIIH complex has emerged as a privileged drug target in anticancer research. Out of 60 drugs, amlopipine (13), diltiazem (16), gemfibrozil (19), levocitrizine dihydrochloride (20), losartan potassium (22), clorthalidone (24), and escitalopram (28) showed interactions with subunit p8 in the ligand-protein binding and chemical shift perturbation studies. The Kd values were found to be between 0.25 and 1 mM. These drugs also caused thermal destabilization of the subunit p8 by negatively shifting the melting temperature by ≥ 2 °C. Molecular docking studies indicated the interaction of these drugs with important residues of p8-p52 complex, such as Glu48, Lys51, Glu496, and Glu455 via non-covalent interactions. This study has thereby identified 7 drugs that can be investigated further as potential anticancer drugs.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents , Drug Repositioning , Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Molecular Docking Simulation , Protein Subunits/chemistry , Transcription Factor TFIIH/chemistry , Transcription Factor TFIIH/genetics , Transcription Factor TFIIH/metabolism , Transcription, GeneticABSTRACT
Biology-Oriented Drug Synthesis (BIODS) deals with the simple chemical transformations on the commercially available drugs in order to enhance their new and diversified pharmacological profile. It opens new avenues for the rapid development of drug candidates for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Leishmaniasis is one of the NTDs which spread by the bite of sandflies (plebotomine). It ranges from cutaneous self-healing leishmaniasis to life threatening visceral leishmaniasis, known as kala-azar. The current treatment options include the use of pentamidine, miltefosine, and amphotericin B drugs. Unfortunately, all currently available drugs are associated with adverse effects, such as severe nephron- and cardiotoxicity, pancreatitis, and hepatotoxicity. This warrants the development of new drugs against leishmaniasis. Moreover, emergence of resistance against the current medications further worsens the conditions. With this objective, new N, N'-disubstituted benzylamine derivatives of ampyrone (4-aminoantipyrine) were synthesized by using ultrasonication, and microwave assistance. All derivatives were found to be new, except 1, 4, and 11. All the compounds were evaluated for their anti-leishmanial activity, and cellular cytotoxicity. Among them, compounds 4, 5, 8, and 9 showed a significant anti-leishmanial activity in vitro, in comparison to standard drug, miltefosine (IC50 = 25.78 ± 0.2 µM). These compounds were also docked against various metabolic enzymes to predict their interactions and mechanism of action, and were found to act via targeting important enzymes of various metabolic pathways.
Subject(s)
Antiprotozoal Agents , Leishmania donovani , Leishmaniasis, Visceral , Leishmaniasis , Ampyrone , Antiprotozoal Agents/chemistry , Benzylamines/pharmacology , Biology , Humans , Leishmaniasis/drug therapy , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/drug therapy , MicrowavesABSTRACT
α-Glucosidase inhibition is a valid approach for controlling hyperglycemia in diabetes. In the current study, new molecules as a hybrid of isoxazole and dibenzazepine scaffolds were designed, based on their literature as antidiabetic agents. For this, a series of dibenzazepine-linked isoxazoles (33-54) was prepared using Nitrile oxide-Alkyne cycloaddition (NOAC) reaction, and evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activities to explore new hits for treatment of diabetes. Most of the compounds showed potent inhibitory potency against α-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20) enzyme (IC50 = 35.62 ± 1.48 to 333.30 ± 1.67 µM) using acarbose as a reference drug (IC50 = 875.75 ± 2.08 µM). Structure-activity relationship, kinetics and molecular docking studies of active isoxazoles were also determined to study enzyme-inhibitor interactions. Compounds 33, 40, 41, 46, 48-50, and 54 showed binding interactions with critical amino acid residues of α-glucosidase enzyme, such as Lys156, Ser157, Asp242, and Gln353.
Subject(s)
Dibenzazepines/chemistry , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemistry , Hypoglycemic Agents/chemistry , Isoxazoles/chemistry , 3T3 Cells , Animals , Cycloaddition Reaction , Dibenzazepines/chemical synthesis , Dibenzazepines/toxicity , Enzyme Assays , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/toxicity , Hypoglycemic Agents/chemical synthesis , Hypoglycemic Agents/toxicity , Isoxazoles/chemical synthesis , Isoxazoles/toxicity , Kinetics , Mice , Molecular Docking Simulation , Molecular Structure , Oligo-1,6-Glucosidase/metabolism , Protein Binding , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzymology , Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins/metabolism , Structure-Activity RelationshipABSTRACT
The identification of molecules, which could modulate protein-protein interactions (PPIs), is of primary interest to medicinal chemists. Using biophysical methods during the current study, we have screened 76 compounds (grouped into 16 mixtures) against the p8 subunit of the general transcription factor (TFIIH), which has recently been validated as an anti-cancer drug target. 10% of the tested compounds showed interactions with p8 protein in STD-NMR experiments. These results were further validated by molecular docking studies where interactions between compounds and important amino acid residues were identified, including Lys20 in the hydrophobic core of p8, and Asp42 and 43 in the ß3 strand. Moreover, these compounds were able to destabilize the p8 protein by negatively shifting the Tm (≥2 °C) in thermal shift assay. Thus, this study has identified 8 compounds which are likely negative modulators of p8 protein stability, and could be further considered as potential anticancer agents.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry , Small Molecule Libraries/chemistry , Transcription Factor TFIIH/antagonists & inhibitors , Antineoplastic Agents/metabolism , Antineoplastic Agents/toxicity , Cell Line , Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor , Humans , Hydrogen Bonding , Molecular Docking Simulation , Protein Binding , Small Molecule Libraries/metabolism , Small Molecule Libraries/toxicity , Static Electricity , Transcription Factor TFIIH/chemistry , Transcription Factor TFIIH/metabolismABSTRACT
Celebrex (1), commonly used as an anti-inflammatory drug, was functionalized (compounds 2-9) to identify new α-glucosidase inhibitors. Initially, all the synthesized derivatives were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity but none was found to be active. Subsequently a random biological screening was carried out. Interestingly many of them were found to be potent α-glucosidase inhibitors in vitro. All the structures of synthesized derivatives were deduced through 1H NMR, FAB-MS, HR-MS, FT-IR analysis. The single-crystal X-ray structures of compounds 1, and 5 further confirmed the assigned structures. Compounds exhibited a potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 92.32 ± 1.530-445.20 ± 1.04 µM) against tested standard acarbose (IC50 = 875.75 ± 2.08 µM), except compounds 2 and 4, which appeared as inactive. Among them, compound 9 (IC50 = 92.32 ± 1.530 µM) was the most potent inhibitor of α-glucosidase enzyme. Molecular docking studies revealed that compounds 6, and 9 interacted with the key amino acid residues of α-glucosidase via H-bonding, and π-π stacking interactions. α-Glucosidase is a key target for the anti-diabetic drug development, and its inhibitors are known to exert anti hyperglycemic effect and help in lowering of post-prandial blood glucose levels.
Subject(s)
Celecoxib/pharmacology , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Molecular Docking Simulation , alpha-Glucosidases/metabolism , Celecoxib/chemical synthesis , Celecoxib/chemistry , Crystallography, X-Ray , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemistry , Humans , Molecular Structure , Structure-Activity RelationshipABSTRACT
A high performance compact silicon photonics polarization splitter is proposed and demonstrated. The splitter is based on an asymmetric directional coupler. High extinction ratios at the through and drop ports of the polarization splitter are achieved by using an on-chip TE-pass polarizer and a TM-pass polarizer, respectively. The splitter, implemented on a silicon-on-insulator platform with a 220 nm-thick silicon device layer, has a measured insertion loss lower than 1 dB (for both TE and TM modes) and extinction ratio greater than 25 dB (for TM mode) and greater than 36 dB (for TE mode), in the wavelength range from 1.5 µm to 1.6 µm. The footprint of the device is 12 µm × 15 µm.
ABSTRACT
The end of 2019 marked the start of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic from China, which went on to envelope more than 190 countries and territories across the globe. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), from a group of betacoronaviruses, is responsible for COVID-19. The virulent factors include the presence of envelope and spike proteins having receptor bonding domains (RBD). Clinical manifestations can range from mild respiratory infections to fatal outcomes. The viability of virus ranges from 3 to 72 hours. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the diagnostic test of choice in this pandemic situation. Due to the absence of specific antivirals and vaccine, adoption of preventive option can help to combat the specific life-threatening outcomes.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Animals , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , COVID-19 Vaccines , Chiroptera , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Viral VaccinesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Feedback brings a fresh perspective and improvement in any organization. Health professionals (HPs) lose insight of the gaps in medical care. The views of student nurses can help improve systems. The objective of this study was to assess the views of our student nurses and how they perceive the way the doctors and HPs work in our hospital and comment on training, attitudes, care pathways, teamwork, and what needed to be improved. METHODS: A proforma based qualitative study was carried out at the Nurses' Training Centre of PAF Hospital and Fazaia Medical College, Islamabad, from January to March 2020. After approval, a semi-structured proforma with open and closed ended questions was administered, in English and Urdu. The results were analyzed by comparative numbers and percentages for each question and descriptive responses were grouped in recurring themes and analyzed for content and their constructive value. RESULTS: Out of 85 nursing cadets, the proforma could be administered to 61(M=38(62.3%) and F=23(37.7%). Most were FSc with 26% graduates. Majority of the female students' main reason for joining was to serve humanity, unlike most males. According to gender many responses were interestingly different. Majority of females thought male doctors were better (86%). Only 36% said the doctors were sincere in care of patients. Most thought that we needed to improve patient counseling. Most thought the seniors treated them unfairly, but bullying was negligible. They wanted the senior HPs to improve their attitudes and ensure adequate equipment in the wards. They were worried about personal security from patients and relatives. Dedicated mental health services to deal with stress of witnessing every day misery and death was suggested. CONCLUSIONS: Doctors need to improve their counseling skills and should talk more to the patients and their relatives. They should acknowledge the nursing students and improve teamwork. Belittling them in front of others harms their self-efficacy. Simple corrections like punctuality, ownership of their patients and improvement of equipment and systems can improve patient care.
ABSTRACT
A series of benzamide derivatives 1-12 with various functional groups (-H, -Br, -F, -OCH3, -OC2H5, and -NO2) was synthesized using an economic, and facile Microwave-Assisted Organic Synthesis, and evaluated for acetylcholinesterase (ACHE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE) activity in vitro. Structure-activity relationship showed that the substitution of -Br group influenced the inhibitory activity against BCHE enzyme. Synthesized compounds were found to be selective inhibitors of BCHE. In addition, all compounds 1-12 were found to be non-cytotoxic, as compared to the standard cycloheximide (IC50â¯=â¯0.8⯱â¯0.2⯵M). Among them, compound 3 revealed the most potent BCHE inhibitory activity (IC50â¯=â¯0.8⯱â¯0.6⯵M) when compared with the standard galantamine hydrobromide (IC50â¯=â¯40.83⯱â¯0.37⯵M). Enzyme kinetic studies indicated that compounds 1, 3-4, and 7-8 showed a mixed mode of inhibition against BCHE, while compounds 2, 5-6 and 9 exhibited an uncompetitive pattern of inhibition. Molecular docking studies further highlighted the interaction of these inhibitors with catalytically important amino acid residues, such as Glu197, Hip438, Phe329, and many others.
Subject(s)
Benzamides/therapeutic use , Cholinesterase Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Molecular Docking Simulation/methods , Benzamides/pharmacology , Cholinesterase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Humans , Kinetics , Molecular Structure , Structure-Activity RelationshipABSTRACT
A high-performance integrated silicon TE-pass polarizer is proposed and demonstrated. The polarizer uses a series of adiabatic waveguide bends that yield high extinction ratio for the TM polarization and low insertion loss for the TE polarization, and does not require special materials or complex fabrication steps. The polarizer, implemented on a silicon-on-insulator platform with a 220 nm silicon thickness, is measured to have insertion loss ≤ 0.37 dB (average 0.12 dB) and extinction ratio ≥ 27.6 dB (average 36.0 dB) over a 1.5 µm to 1.6 µm wavelength range, with a footprint of 63 µm × 9.5 µm. The trade-off between the footprint of the polarizer and its performance is established. While the analysis was done for a silicon-on-insulator platform, the concept is applicable to other waveguide geometries and integrated photonic platforms.
ABSTRACT
5-Aryl-1H-tetrazoles (1-24) were synthesized and screened for their xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity using allopurinol as standard inhibitor (IC50â¯=â¯2.0⯱â¯0.01⯵M). Six compounds 3, 4, 5, 9, 21, and 24 exhibited significant to weak activities with IC50 values in the range of 7.4-174.2⯵M. Active compounds were further subjected to kinetic and molecular docking studies to deduce their modes of inhibition, and to study their interactions with the protein (XO) at atomic level, respectively. Interestingly, all these compounds showed a competitive mode of inhibition. Docking studies identified several important interactions between the ligand and the receptor protein (XO). Some of these interactions were similar to that exhibited by clinical inhibitors of XO (allopurinol, and febuxostat). This study identifies 5-aryl-1H-tetrazoles as a new class of xanthine oxidase inhibitors, which deserves to be further, investigated for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout.
Subject(s)
Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Molecular Docking Simulation , Tetrazoles/pharmacology , Xanthine Oxidase/antagonists & inhibitors , Allopurinol/pharmacology , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Humans , Kinetics , Molecular Structure , Structure-Activity Relationship , Tetrazoles/chemical synthesis , Tetrazoles/chemistry , Xanthine Oxidase/metabolismABSTRACT
Twenty-five derivatives of 5-chloro-2-aryl benzo[d]thiazole (1-25) were synthesized and evaluated for their α-glucosidase (S. cerevisiae EC 3.2.1.20) inhibitory activity in vitro. Among them eight compounds showed potent activity with IC50 values between 22.1⯱â¯0.9 and 136.2⯱â¯5.7⯵M, when compared with standard acarbose (IC50 = 840⯱â¯1.73⯵M). The most potent compounds 4, 9, and 10 showed IC50 values in the range of 22.1⯱â¯0.9 to 25.6⯱â¯1.5⯵M. Compounds 2, 5, 11, and 19 showed IC50 values within the range of 40.2⯱â¯0.5 to 60.9⯱â¯2.0⯵M. Compounds 1 and 3 were also found to be good inhibitors with IC50 values 136.2⯱â¯5.7 and 104.8⯱â¯9.9⯵M, respectively. Their activities were compared with α-glucosidase inhibitor drug acarbose (standard) (IC50â¯=â¯840⯱â¯1.73⯵M). The remaining compounds were inactive. Structure-activity relationships (SAR) have also been established. Kinetics studies indicated compounds 2, 3, 10, 19, and 25 to be non-competitive, while 1, 5, 9, and 11 as competitive inhibitors of α-glucosidase enzyme. All the active compounds (1-5, 9-11, and 19) were also found to be non-cytotoxic, in comparison to the standard drug i.e., doxorubicin (IC50â¯=â¯0.80⯱â¯0.12⯵M) in MTT assay. Furthermore, molecular interactions of active compounds with the enzyme binding sites were predicted through molecular modeling studies.
Subject(s)
Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Thiazoles/pharmacology , alpha-Glucosidases/metabolism , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Glycoside Hydrolase Inhibitors/chemistry , Kinetics , Models, Molecular , Molecular Structure , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzymology , Structure-Activity Relationship , Thiazoles/chemical synthesis , Thiazoles/chemistryABSTRACT
Change in life style and eating habits has led to an increased prevalence of hyperuricemia worldwide. The role of hyperuricemia is no more restricted to gout, but it has a central role in progression of CVD, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and arthritis. Among the different factors involved in regulation of serum uric acid, xanthine oxidase (XO) is the best pharmacological target to control the levels of serum uric acid as it catalyzes the final steps in uric acid production. In the current study, a systemic search for the inhibitors of xanthine oxidase, starting from synthesis to in vitro screening and leading to in vivo studies is presented. Benzylidene nicotino/isonicotinohydrazides (1-54) were synthesized by treating nicotinic/isonicotinic hydrazides with substituted aromatic aldehyde, and characterized by EI-MS and 1H NMR. Elemental analysis was also performed. All synthetic compounds were screened for xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity initially using an in vitro spectroscopic XO inhibition assay. Among them twenty-two derivatives were found to be active with IC50 values between 0.96 and 330.4µM, as compared to standard drug allopurinol IC50=2.00±0.01µM. Kinetic studies of five most active compounds (8, 35, 36, 39, and 45) with low IC50 values between 0.96 and 54.8µM showed a competitive mode of inhibition. Further in silico molecular docking was carried out to study the interactions of these inhibitors with catalytically important amino acid residues in XO. Three compounds 8, 35, and 36 with IC50 values of 10, 12.4, and 0.96µM, respectively, were also found to be non-cytotoxic, and thus selected for in vivo studies. A simple and physiologically relevant animal model was used to analyze the in vivo XO inhibitory activity of these compounds. Among these, two compounds 35, and 36 showed a significant inhibition in male Wistar rats, and identified as potential lead molecules for anti-hyperuricemic drug development.
Subject(s)
Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Nicotine/analogs & derivatives , Nicotine/pharmacology , Xanthine Oxidase/antagonists & inhibitors , Computer Simulation , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , In Vitro Techniques , Kinetics , Nicotine/chemistry , Structure-Activity RelationshipABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of corneal dystrophies on the basis of histopathology in surgically-removed corneas. METHODS: The descriptive study was conducted at Foundation University Medical College, Islamabad, and Al Shifa Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from May to October 2011, and comprised post-keratoplasty corneal specimen irrespective of age and gender. The surgically-removed corneas were processed according to the standard guidelines of histopathological processing. The histopathological sections were examined for various corneal dystrophies. Data was recorded on a proforma and was analysed using SPSS 17. RESULTS: Of the 63 patients in the study, 12(19%) were diagnosed as having corneal dystrophies. In these 12 patients, 6(50%)were diagnosed as stromal corneal dystrophies and 5(42%)had posterior corneal dystrophies, and 1(8%)had anterior corneal dystrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathological examination of corneas is a reliable method to diagnose and classify corneal dystrophies.
Subject(s)
Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary/pathology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Corneal Transplantation , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pakistan , Reproducibility of Results , Young AdultABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Both Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are rapidly spreading in the developing countries. Both of them are blood borne and are transmitted through un-screened blood transfusion, inadequately sterilized needles and equipment. According to WHO's criteria of endemicity, Pakistan has high disease burden of Hepatitis B and C. The present study was planned to determine the frequency and to identify the risk factors of hepatitis B and C virus in the general community of Farash town. METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out in Al Nafees Medical Hospital Lab, from January 2013 to December 2013. Both the genders and all age groups were included in the study. All the patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria had given a written consent. Data was collected through questionnaire and was analyzed on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. RESULTS: Three-hundred and forty five patients were studied. Among these 92 (27%) were males and 253(73%) were female, 33% of them had hepatitis C, 9% had hepatitis B. History of injections was reported in all of the patients. Visit to community barbers was present in 58.6% and 41% cases of hepatitis B and C. History of dental procedures was obtained in 7(24%) and 15(13%) patients of hepatitis B and C. CONCLUSION: Major contributors for Hepatitis B and C in Farash town are use of unsterilized therapeutic injections and visit to community barbers. Education of the barbers regarding sterilization may help in reducing the burden of infection in this community.
ABSTRACT
Ubiquitin-specific protease7 (USP7) regulates the stability of the p53 tumor suppressor protein and several other proteins critical for tumor cell survival. Aberrant expression of USP7 facilitates human malignancies by altering the activity of proto-oncogenes/proteins, and tumor suppressor genes. Therefore, USP7 is a validated anti-cancer drug target. In this study, a drug repurposing approach was used to identify new hits against the USP7 enzyme. It is one of the most strategic approaches to find new uses for drugs in a cost- and time-effective way. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-based screening of 172 drugs identified 11 compounds that bind to the catalytic domain of USP7 with dissociation constant (Kd) values in the range of 0.6-1.49 mM. These 11 compounds could thermally destabilize the USP7 enzyme by decreasing its melting temperature up to 9 °C. Molecular docking and simulation studies provided structural insights into the ligand-protein complexes, suggesting that these compounds bind to the putative substrate binding pocket of USP7, and interact with its catalytically important residues. Among the identified 11 hits, compound 6 (oxybutynin), 7 (ketotifen), 10 (pantoprazole sodium), and 11 (escitalopram) also showed anti-cancer activity with an effect on the expression of proto-oncogenes and tumor-suppressor gene at mRNA level in HCT116 cells. The compounds identified in this study can serve as potential leads for further studies.