Deciphering the interactions of phytochemicals with ovalbumin, the major food allergen from egg white: spectroscopic and computational studies.

Ovalbumin (OVA), the major component of egg white, has been used as a model carrier protein to study the interaction of four bioactive phytochemicals 6-hydroxyflavone, chrysin, naringin, and naringenin. A static quenching mechanism was primarily associated with the complexation of the flavonoids with OVA. Hydrophobic forces play a major part in the stability of the complexes. The structural changes within the protein in response to flavonoid binding revealed a decrease in OVA's α-helical content. The hypothesized binding site for flavonoids in OVA overlaps with one or more immunoglobulin E-binding epitopes that may have some effect in the immunoglobulin E response pathway. The flavonoids remain in the same binding site throughout the simulation time and impart protein stability by forming different noncovalent interactions. This study presents comprehensive information about the interaction of the flavonoids with OVA and the associated structural variations after the binding, which might help researchers better comprehend similar medication pharmacodynamics and provide critical information for future therapeutic development.

Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using an antiepileptic plant extract: in vitro biological and photo-catalytic activities.

Gold nanoparticles are one of the widely used metallic nanoparticle having unique surface plasmon characteristic, offers major utility in biomedical and therapeutic fields. However, chemically synthesized nanoparticle creates toxicity in the living organisms and contradicts the eco-friendly and cost-effective nature. So, developing greener synthetic route for synthesis of gold nanoparticle using natural materials is an enthralling field of research for its effectiveness in synthesizing eco-friendly, non-toxic materials. Moreover, biological components attached as stabilizing agent can exert its own effect along with the advantages of nanoparticle conjugation. In this work, we used for the first time methanolic leaf extract of Moringa oleifera as this fraction of M. oleifera exerts a neuroactive modulation against seizure as evidenced by earlier literature. The green gold nanoparticles synthesized were characterized by different characterization tools, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques etc. Prepared nanoparticles were biologically (antioxidant, antimicrobial and blood cytotoxicity) characterized to screen their further utility in therapeutic strategies. Characteristics and activities of green gold nanoparticles were compared with conventional citrate stabilized gold nanoparticles. It was observed that green gold nanoparticles prepared using M. oleifera show less cytotoxicity and helps in regeneration of neuronal cells in animal model study. It establishes the fact that conjugation of different plant extract fraction for stabilization of gold nanoparticle may be responsible factor for enhancement of bioactive nature of green gold nanoparticle. In addition, the green gold nanoparticle show efficient photo-catalytic efficiency. Development of such bioactive gold nanoparticles will lead to functional materials for biomedical and therapeutic applications.