Coronally advanced flap in conjunction with platelet-rich fibrin-assisted immediate management of residual gingival defect following surgical excision of recurrent pyogenic granuloma in the maxillary esthetic segment.

Exophytic gingival lesions are more frequently encountered intraorally, out of which few are reactive in nature. Pyogenic granuloma (PG) is one of the commonly occurring reactive benign mucocutaneous lesions; exact etiopathogenesis remains unclear. Although surgical excision is the treatment of choice, sometimes it may induce residual soft defect formation which further creates an esthetic problem, root sensitivity, etc., The present case report not only describes the diagnosis and treatment of PG but also the immediate successful management of residual gingival defect in the esthetic area (which was originated as a sequel of the excisional biopsy of recurrent PG) by utilizing platelet-rich fibrin in conjunction with coronally advanced flap in single-stage surgery. Clinical healing was uneventful and satisfactory at 2 weeks, and excellent coverage of residual mucogingival defect with gingival esthetic and normal sulcus depth was observed at 3 and 6 months postoperatively without any sign of a complication.

Diode Laser and Periodontal Regeneration-Assisted Management of Implant Complications in Anterior Maxilla.

Dental implant is being considered successful if the patient is pleased with both of its functional and esthetic outcome. As implant complications (such as peri-implantitis, inappropriate implant position, wrong angulation, and implant location too close to anatomical structures) have been frequently encountered in dental practice, therefore, thorough knowledge to manage such complications is the key prerequisite to prevent the failure of implant. The present case report discussed the etiology, diagnosis of early peri-implantitis, and periodontal abscess with their successful management through periodontal regeneration and diode laser-assisted therapy.

Investigating the structural integrity of Bovine serum albumin in presence of newly synthesized metallosurfactants.

Bovine Serum Albumin is major transport protein and is often used as a drug carrier in body organs. Knowledge of its binding with metallosurfactant can significantly influence the biodistribution of metallodrugs. Current work demonstrated a facile method to prepare four different double chained metallosurfactants containing Fe, Co, Ni and Cu as part of their counter ion. The as-synthesized metallosurfactants were characterized using FTIR, AAS, TGA and XRD in solid form. The aggregation of these metallosurfactants in aqueous medium was investigated through conductivity, surface tension and SAXS. Further, we have investigated their binding with BSA through different analytical methods The effect of concentration of metallosurfactants on the primary and secondary structure of BSA was further examined by SDS-PAGE and Circular dichroism, respetively. It is found that at premicellar concentration, the primary structure of BSA was not affected but the secondary structure i.e. α-helical structure of BSA was altered as shown by circular dichroism. Interestingly, post micellar concentration of metallosurfactants shows the pronounced effect on the primary and secondary structure of BSA. SAXS study also supports the fact of unfolding of protein and its wrapping around the micelles. Zeta potential describes the electrical charge and stability of the protein in the presence of different concentration of metallosurfactant. Along with, it was found that presence of protein delays the aggregation behavior of metallosurfactant, as a sign of binding of BSA with metallosurfactant.

Drug repurposing for aging research using model organisms.

Many increasingly prevalent diseases share a common risk factor: age. However, little is known about pharmaceutical interventions against aging, despite many genes and pathways shown to be important in the aging process and numerous studies demonstrating that genetic interventions can lead to a healthier aging phenotype. An important challenge is to assess the potential to repurpose existing drugs for initial testing on model organisms, where such experiments are possible. To this end, we present a new approach to rank drug-like compounds with known mammalian targets according to their likelihood to modulate aging in the invertebrates Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila. Our approach combines information on genetic effects on aging, orthology relationships and sequence conservation, 3D protein structures, drug binding and bioavailability. Overall, we rank 743 different drug-like compounds for their likelihood to modulate aging. We provide various lines of evidence for the successful enrichment of our ranking for compounds modulating aging, despite sparse public data suitable for validation. The top ranked compounds are thus prime candidates for in vivo testing of their effects on lifespan in C. elegans or Drosophila. As such, these compounds are promising as research tools and ultimately a step towards identifying drugs for a healthier human aging.

Changes in the neuropeptide content of Biomphalaria ganglia nervous system following Schistosoma infection.

BACKGROUND: Molluscs, including snails, are prone to parasite infection, which can lead to massive physiological and behavioural changes, yet many of the molecular components involved remain unresolved. Central to this point is the neural system that in snails consists of several ganglia that regulate the animals' physiology and behaviour patterns. The availability of a genomic resource for the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata provides a mean towards the high throughput analysis of changes in the central nervous system (CNS) following infection with Schistosoma miracidia. RESULTS: In this study, we performed a proteomic analysis of the B. glabrata CNS at pre-patent infection, providing a list of proteins that were further used within a protein-protein interaction (PPI) framework against S. mansoni proteins. A hub with most connections for both non-infected and infected Biomphalaria includes leucine aminopeptidase 2 (LAP2), which interacts with numerous miracidia proteins that together belong to the immunoglobulin family of cell adhesion related molecules. We additionally reveal the presence of at least 165 neuropeptides derived from the precursors of buccalin, enterin, FMRF, FVRI, pedal peptide 1, 2, 3 and 4, RYamide, RFamide, pleurin and others. Many of these were present at significantly reduced levels in the snail's CNS post-infection, such as the egg laying hormone, a neuropeptide required to initiate egg laying in gastropod molluscs. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates that LAP2 may be a key component that regulates parasite infection physiology, as well as establishing that parasite-induced reproductive castration may be facilitated by significant reductions in reproduction-associated neuropeptides. This work helps in our understanding of molluscan neuropeptides and further stimulates advances in parasite-host interactions.

Steroid Androgen Exposure during Development Has No Effect on Reproductive Physiology of Biomphalaria glabrata.

Gastropod mollusks have been proposed as alternative models for male reproductive toxicity testing, due to similarities in their reproductive anatomy compared to mammals, together with evidence that endocrine disrupting chemicals can cause effects in some mollusks analogous to those seen in mammals. To test this hypothesis, we used the freshwater pulmonate snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, for which various genetic tools and a draft genome have recently become available, to investigate the effects of two steroid androgens on the development of mollusk secondary sexual organs. Here we present the results of exposures to two potent androgens, the vertebrate steroid; 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and the pharmaceutical anabolic steroid; 17α-methyltestosterone (MT), under continuous flow-through conditions throughout embryonic development and up to sexual maturity. Secondary sexual gland morphology, histopathology and differential gene expression analysis were used to determine whether steroid androgens stimulated or inhibited organ development. No significant differences between tissues from control and exposed snails were identified, suggesting that these androgens elicited no biologically detectable response normally associated with exposure to androgens in vertebrate model systems. Identifying no effect of androgens in this mollusk is significant, not only in the context of the suitability of mollusks as alternative model organisms for testing vertebrate androgen receptor agonists but also, if applicable to other similar mollusks, in terms of the likely impacts of androgens and anti-androgenic pollutants present in the aquatic environment.

The nuclear receptors of Biomphalaria glabrata and Lottia gigantea: implications for developing new model organisms.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are transcription regulators involved in an array of diverse physiological functions including key roles in endocrine and metabolic function. The aim of this study was to identify nuclear receptors in the fully sequenced genome of the gastropod snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host for Schistosoma mansoni and compare these to known vertebrate NRs, with a view to assessing the snail's potential as a invertebrate model organism for endocrine function, both as a prospective new test organism and to elucidate the fundamental genetic and mechanistic causes of disease. For comparative purposes, the genome of a second gastropod, the owl limpet, Lottia gigantea was also investigated for nuclear receptors. Thirty-nine and thirty-three putative NRs were identified from the B. glabrata and L. gigantea genomes respectively, based on the presence of a conserved DNA-binding domain and/or ligand-binding domain. Nuclear receptor transcript expression was confirmed and sequences were subjected to a comparative phylogenetic analysis, which demonstrated that these molluscs have representatives of all the major NR subfamilies (1-6). Many of the identified NRs are conserved between vertebrates and invertebrates, however differences exist, most notably, the absence of receptors of Group 3C, which includes some of the vertebrate endocrine hormone targets. The mollusc genomes also contain NR homologues that are present in insects and nematodes but not in vertebrates, such as Group 1J (HR48/DAF12/HR96). The identification of many shared receptors between humans and molluscs indicates the potential for molluscs as model organisms; however the absence of several steroid hormone receptors indicates snail endocrine systems are fundamentally different.