Rapid and label-free A2 peptide epitope decorated CoFe2O4-C60 nanocomposite-based electrochemical immunosensor for detecting Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis is challenging due to the shared clinical features with malaria, typhoid, and tuberculosis. A CoFe2O4-C60 nanocomposite-based immunosensor decorated with a sensitive A2 peptide antigen was fabricated to detect anti-A2 antibodies for application in visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis. The flame-synthesised nanocomposite was characterised using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. N terminated specific A2 peptide epitope antigen (NH2-QSVGPLSVGP-OH) was synthesised and characterised by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). Using EDC/NHS, A2 peptide antigen (Apg) was immobilised on the CoFe2O4-C60-modified electrode. The performance of the immunosensor, Apg-CoFe2O4-C60NP/GCE, was evaluated by testing its ability to detect varying concentrations of anti-A2 antibody solution in PBS and spiked serum with 1 mM [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- in 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4) as supporting electrolyte. using differential pulse voltammetry. The immunosensor showed excellent reproducibility and a linear range of 10-10-10-1 µg/mL, with an experimental detection limit of 30.34 fg/mL. These results suggest that the fabricated sensor has great potential as a tool for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis.

Isoflavonoid and Furanochromone Natural Products as Potential DNA Gyrase Inhibitors: Computational, Spectral, and Antimycobacterial Studies.

In pursuit of new antitubercular agents, we here report the antimycobacterial (H37Rv) and DNA gyrase inhibitory potential of daidzein and khellin natural products (NPs). We procured a total of 16 NPs based on their pharmacophoric similarities with known antimycobacterial compounds. The H37Rv strain of M. tuberculosis was found to be susceptible to only two out of the 16 NPs procured; specifically, daidzein and khellin each exhibited an MIC of 25 µg/mL. Moreover, daidzein and khellin inhibited the DNA gyrase enzyme with IC50 values of 0.042 and 0.822 µg/mL, respectively, compared to ciprofloxacin with an IC50 value of 0.018 µg/mL. Daidzein and khellin were found to have lower toxicity toward the vero cell line, with IC50 values of 160.81 and 300.23 µg/mL, respectively. Further, molecular docking study and MD simulation of daidzein indicated that it remained stable inside the cavity of DNA GyrB domain for 100 ns.