Experimental and computational approaches to reveal the potential of Ficus deltoidea leaves extract as α-amylase inhibitor.

Ficus deltoidea leaves extract are known to have good therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic. We showed that 50% ethanol-water extract of F. deltoidea leaves and its pungent compounds vitexin and isovitexin exhibited significant (p < 0.05) α-amylase inhibition with IC50 (vitexin: 4.6 µM [0.02 µg/mL]; isovitexin: 0.06 µg/mL [13.8 µM] and DPPH scavenging with IC50 (vitexin: 92.5 µM [0.4 µg/mL]; isovitexin: 0.5 µg/mL [115.4 µM]). Additionally, molecular docking analysis confirmed that vitexin has a higher binding affinity (-7.54 kcal/mol) towards α-amylase compared to isovitexin (-5.61 kcal/mol). On the other hand, the molecular dynamics findings showed that vitexin-α-amylase complex is more stable during the simulation of 20 ns when compared to the isovitexin-α-amylase complex. Our results suggest that vitexin is more potent and stable against α-amylase enzyme, thus it could develop as a therapeutic drug for the treatment of diabetes.

Transcriptome landscape of human primary monocytes at different sequencing depth.

Differential gene and transcript expression pattern of human primary monocytes from healthy young subjects were profiled under different sequencing depths (50M, 100M, and 200M reads). The raw data consisted of 1.3 billion reads generated from RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) experiments. A total of 17,657 genes and 75,392 transcripts were obtained at sequencing depth of 200M. Total splice junction reads showed an even more significant increase. Comparative analysis of the expression patterns of immune-related genes revealed a total of 217 differentially expressed (DE) protein-coding genes and 50 DE novel transcripts, in which 40 DE protein-coding genes were related to the immune system. At higher sequencing depth, more genes, known and novel transcripts were identified and larger proportion of reads were allowed to map across splice junctions. The results also showed that increase in sequencing depth has no effect on the sequence alignment.

Draft Genome Sequence of a Biosurfactant-Producing Bacillus subtilis UMX-103 Isolated from Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil in Terengganu, Malaysia.

The draft genome here presents the sequence of Bacillus subtilis UMX-103. The bacterial strain was isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated soil from Terengganu, Malaysia. The whole genome of the bacterium was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing platform. The genome was assembled using de novo approach. The genome size of UMX-103 is 4,234,627 bp with 4399 genes comprising 4301 protein-coding genes and 98 RNA genes. The analysis of assembled genes revealed the presence of 25 genes involved in biosurfactant production, where 14 of the genes are related to biosynthesis and 11 of the genes are in the regulation of biosurfactant productions. This draft genome will provide insights into the genetic bases of its biosurfactant-producing capabilities.

Toward a Reference Gene Catalog of Human Primary Monocytes.

Transcriptome analyses based on high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) provide powerful and quantitative characterization of cell types and in-depth understanding of biological systems in health and disease. In this study, we present a comprehensive transcriptome profile of human primary monocytes, a crucial component of the innate immune system. We performed deep RNA-Seq of monocytes from six healthy subjects and integrated our data with 10 other publicly available RNA-Seq datasets of human monocytes. A total of 1.9 billion reads were generated, which allowed us to capture most of the genes transcribed in human monocytes, including 11,994 protein-coding genes, 5558 noncoding genes (including long noncoding RNAs, precursor miRNAs, and others), 2819 pseudogenes, and 7034 putative novel transcripts. In addition, we profiled the expression pattern of 1155 transcription factors (TFs) in human monocytes, which are the main molecules in controlling the gene transcription. An interaction network was constructed among the top expressed TFs and their targeted genes, which revealed the potential key regulatory genes in biological function of human monocytes. The gene catalog of human primary monocytes provided in this study offers significant promise and future potential clinical applications in the fields of precision medicine, systems diagnostics, immunogenomics, and the development of innovative biomarkers and therapeutic monitoring strategies.

Purified Essential Oil from Ocimum sanctum Linn. Triggers the Apoptotic Mechanism in Human Breast Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND: Essential oil of Ocimum sanctum Linn. exhibited various pharmacological activities including antifungal and antimicrobial activities. In this study, we analyzed the anticancer and apoptosis mechanisms of Ocimum sanctum essential oil (OSEO). OBJECTIVE: To trigger the apoptosis mechanism in human breast cancer cells using OSEO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: OSEO was extracted using hydrodistillation of the leaves. Cell proliferation was determined using different concentrations of OSEO. Apoptosis studies were carried out in human breast cancer cells using propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst staining. RESULTS: We found that OSEO inhibited proliferation (IC50 = 170 µg/ml) of Michigan cancer foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells in a dose-dependent manner. The OSEO also induced apoptosis as evidenced by the increasing number of PI-stained apoptotic nucleic of MCF-7 cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that treatment with OSEO (50-500 µg/ml) increased the apoptotic cells population (16-84%) dose dependently compared to the control. OSEO has the ability to up-regulate the apoptotic genes p53 and Bid and as well as elevates the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that OSEO has the ability as proapoptotic inducer and it could be developed as an anticancer agent. SUMMARY: OSEO inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 cells with an IC50 of 170 µg/mLOSEO at 500 µg/mL increased the population of apoptotic cells by 84%OSEO up-regulated the expression of apoptotic genes and as well increased the Bax/Bcl2 ratio. Abbreviations used: BAX: BAX BCL2-associated X protein; BCL2: B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2; BID: BH3 Interacting domain death agonist; OSEO: Ocimum sanctum essential oil; DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide; DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium; MCF-7: Michigan cancer foundation-7; RT-PCR: Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Antimetastatic and anti-inflammatory potentials of essential oil from edible Ocimum sanctum leaves.

Antimetastatic and anti-inflammatory activities of Ocimum sanctum essential oil (OSEO) have been assessed in this study. OSEO at the concentration of 250 µg/mL and above showed a significant ((*) P < 0.05) decrease in the number of migrated cancer cells. In addition, OSEO at concentration of 250 µg/mL and above suppressed MMP-9 activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammatory cells. A dose-dependent downregulation of MMP-9 expression was observed with the treatment of OSEO compared to the control. Our findings indicate that OSEO has both antimetastatic and anti-inflammatory potentials, advocating further investigation for clinical applications in the treatment of inflammation associated cancer.

In vivo toxicity evaluation of a standardized extract of Syzygium aqueum leaf.

In this study, the acute and subchronic toxicity effect of the Syzygium aqueum leaf extract (SA) was evaluated. For the acute toxicity study, a single dose of 2000 mg/kg of the SA was given by oral-gavage to male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The rats were observed for mortality and toxicity signs for 14 days. In the subchronic toxicity study the SA was administered orally at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg per day for 28 days to male SD rats. The animals were sacrificed at the end of the experiment. The parameters measured including food and water intake, body weight, absolute and relative organ weight, blood biochemical tests and histopathology observation. In both the acute and subchronic toxicity studies, SA did not show any visible signs of toxicity. There were also no significant differences between the control and SA treated rats in terms of their food and water intake, body weight, absolute and relative organ weight, biochemical parameters or gross and microscopic appearance of the organs. There were no acute or subchronic toxicity observed and our results indicate that this extract could be devoid of any toxic risk. This is the first in vivo study reported the safety and toxicity of SA.

Syzygium aqueum leaf extract and its bioactive compounds enhances pre-adipocyte differentiation and 2-NBDG uptake in 3T3-L1 cells.

The insulin-like and/or insulin-sensitising effects of Syzygium aqueum leaf extract and its six bioactive compounds; 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside, europetin-3-O-rhamnoside, phloretin, myrigalone-G and myrigalone-B were investigated in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We observed that, S. aqueum leaf extract (0.04-5 µg/ml) and its six bioactive compounds (0.08-10 µM) at non-cytotoxic concentrations were effectively enhance adipogenesis, stimulate glucose uptake and increase adiponectin secretion in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Clearly, the compounds myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside and europetin-3-O-rhamnoside showed insulin-like and insulin-sensitising effects on adipocytes from a concentration of 0.08 µM. These compounds were far better than rosiglitazone and the other isolated compounds in enhancing adipogenesis, stimulating 2-NBDG uptake and increasing adiponectin secretion at all the concentrations tested. These suggest the antidiabetic potential of S. aqueum leaf extract and its six bioactive compounds. However, further molecular interaction studies to explain the mechanisms of action are highly warranted.

Tropical plant extracts as potential antihyperglycemic agents.

Preliminary investigations on 14 plant extracts (obtained by ethanolic and aqueous extraction) identified those having high antioxidant and a significant total phenolic content. Antihyperglycemic, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activities were also observed. A correlation between the antihyperglycemic activity, total phenolic content and antioxidant (DPPH scavenging) activity was established. To further substantiate these findings, the possibility of tannins binding non-specifically to enzymes and thus contributing to the antihyperglycemic activity was also investigated. Our study clearly indicated that the antihyperglycemic activity observed in the plant extracts was indeed not due to non-specific tannin absorption.