Polymeric nanomaterials-based theranostic platforms for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment.

Breast cancer, the second leading global cause of death, affects 2.1 million women annually, with an alarming 15 percent mortality rate. Among its diverse forms, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) emerges as the deadliest, characterized by the absence of hormone receptors. This article underscores the urgent need for innovative treatment approaches in tackling TNBC, emphasizing the transformative potential of polymeric nanomaterials (PNMs). Evolved through nanotechnology, PNMs offer versatile biomedical applications, particularly in addressing the intricate challenges of TNBC. The synthesis methods of PNMs, explored within the tumor microenvironment using cellular models, showcase their dynamic nature in cancer treatment. The article anticipates the future of TNBC therapeutics through the optimization of PNMs-based strategies, integrating them into photothermal (PT), photodynamic (PT), and hyperthermia therapy (HTT), drug delivery, and active tumor targeting strategies. Advancements in synthetic methods, coupled with a nuanced understanding of the tumor microenvironment, hold promise for personalized interventions. Comparative investigations of therapeutic models and a thorough exploration of polymeric nanoplatforms toxicological perspectives become imperative for ensuring efficacy and safety. We have explored the interdisciplinary collaboration between nanotechnology, oncology, and molecular biology as pivotal in translating PNMs innovations into tangible benefits for TNBC patients.

Antimycotic effect of 3-phenyllactic acid produced by probiotic bacterial isolates against Covid-19 associated mucormycosis causing fungi.

The Covid-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) is an emerging disease affecting immunocompromised patients. Prevention of such infections using probiotics and their metabolites persist as effective therapeutic agents. Therefore, the present study emphasizes on assessment of their efficacy and safety. Samples from different sources like human milk, honey bee intestine, toddy, and dairy milk were collected, screened and characterized for potential probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their metabolites to be used as effective antimicrobial agents to curtail CAM. Three isolates were selected based on probiotic properties and characterized as Lactobacillus pentosus BMOBR013, Lactobacillus pentosus BMOBR061 and Pediococcus acidilactici BMOBR041 by 16S rRNA sequencing and MALDI TOF-MS. The antimicrobial activity against standard bacterial pathogens showed ˃9 mm zone of inhibition. Furthermore, the antifungal activity of three isolates was tested against Aspergillus flavus MTCC 2788, Fusarium oxysporum, Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis where the results showed significant inhibition of each fungal strain. Further studies were carried out on lethal fungal pathogens like Rhizopus sp. and two Mucor sp. which are associated with post Covid-19 infection in immunosuppressed diabetic patients. Our studies on CAM inhibitory effect of LAB revealed the efficient inhibition against Rhizopus sp. and two Mucor sp. The cell free supernatants of three LAB showed varied inhibitory activity against these fungi. Following the antimicrobial activity, the antagonistic metabolite 3-Phenyllactic acid (PLA) in culture supernatant was quantified and characterized by HPLC and LC-MS using standard PLA (Sigma Aldrich). The isolate L. pentosus BMOBR013 produced highest PLA (0.441 g/L), followed by P. acidilactici BMOBR041 (0.294 g/L) and L. pentosus BMOBR061 (0.165 g/L). The minimum inhibitory concentration of HPLC eluted PLA on the Rhizopus sp. and two Mucor sp. was found to be 180 mg/ml which was further confirmed by inhibition of total mycelia under live cell imaging microscope.

Antimicrobial and anticancer potential of low molecular weight polypeptides extracted and characterized from leaves of Azadirachta indica.

Low molecular weight antimicrobial polypeptides were extracted and purified from the young fresh leaves of Azadirachta indica (neem). The total protein extracted was precipitated with 15% TCA-Acetone. The total purified proteins yielded from the two extraction methods were 122.33±2.21 and 115.09±1.88mg/g of the total fresh weight. The SDS-PAGE analysis identified the presence of eight low molecular weight polypeptide bands. The antimicrobial activity of the resolved bands was detected by Polyacrylamide gel-Agar overlay diffusion assay (PAG-ADA). Their broad-spectrum bactericidal activity was confirmed using the same technique and found three low molecular weight bands from 11 to 14kDa collectively exhibiting superior bactericidal activities against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermis, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungicidal activity against Candida tropicalis. The FTIR spectrum of the protein bands depicted the presence of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups in the protein bands. These polypeptides were characterized by MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis. Further, the purified protein extract was found to be active against HELA, BT-549 and Neuro-2a cell lines with IC50 value of 74.03±2.31, 64.82±1.64, 238.32±2.12 and 109.94±2.96, 59.61±0.75 for 24h and 48h, respectively. The results of present study indicate that these polypeptides exhibit broad spectrum antimicrobial and anticancer activity and can therefore be explored for their therapeutic potential.

Improved physicochemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw for bioethanol production by yeast fermentation.

Lignocellulosic biomass such as agricultural and forest residues are considered as an alternative, inexpensive, renewable, and abundant source for fuel ethanol production. In the present study, three different pretreatment methods for rice straw were carried out to investigate the maximum lignin removal for subsequent bioethanol fermentation. The chemical pretreatments of rice straw were optimized under different pretreatment severity conditions in the range of 1.79-2.26. Steam explosion of rice straw at 170 °C for 10 min, sequentially treated with 2% (w/v) KOH (SEKOH) in autoclave at 121 °C for 30 min, resulted in 85 ± 2% delignification with minimum sugar loss. Combined pretreatment of steam explosion and KOH at severity factor (SF 3.10) showed improved cellulose fraction of biomass. Furthermore, enzymatic hydrolysis at 30 FPU/g enzyme loading resulted in 664.0 ± 5.39 mg/g sugar yield with 82.60 ± 1.7% saccharification efficiency. Consequently, the hydrolysate of SEKOH with 58.70 ± 1.52 g/L sugars when fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae OBC14 showed 26.12 ± 1.24 g/L ethanol, 0.44 g/g ethanol yield with 87.03 ± 1.6% fermentation efficiency.

An analysis of horseradish peroxidase enzyme for effluent treatment.

The present study explains computational methods to design thermostable horseradish peroxidase enzyme using the crystal structure available from Protein Data Bank (PDB ID: 6ATJ). Multiple mutations were introduced to the original enzyme and developed a model by using Modeler9.14. After designing the model functional effect was confirmed in terms of protein ligand binding by molecular docking using Autodock 4.2. The implementation of modeling steps is demonstrated in the context of performing mutations for particular amino acid residue on the ligand pocket of the horseradish peroxidase, to derive the desired ligand binding properties. The docking investigation of modelled HRP with Quercetindihydroxide using Autodock 4.2 software that six amino acid residues, P139, H42, A31, L174, A38, and G169 are involved in hydrogen bonding. More importantly, it provides insight into understanding and properly interpreting the data produced by these methods. The 3D model was docked with Quercetindihydroxide (a known horseradish modulator) to understand molecular interactions at the active site region.