Anti-cancer activity of C. cainito leaves explained using its compounds docked with p53.

Extensive research on the mutant P53 protein has identified its pivotal role in anti-apoptosis mechanisms, drug resistance, and cancer progression in OSCC. The mass spectrum revealed the pharmacologically significant bioactive compounds reported for the first time in C cainito. Molecular docking investigation has identified four potential new P53 inhibitors compared with the standard P53 inhibitors. Hence, this analysis reinforces the likelihood of anti-cancer activities in C. cainito leaves.

In Vitro Detoxification Studies of p-Cresol by Intestinal Bacteria Isolated from Human Feces.

p-Cresol is a neurotoxic and nephrotoxic carcinogenic aromatic substance produced as a result of microbial fermentation in the intestine. The derivatives of p-cresol (p-cresyl sulphate or p-cresyl glucuronide) have a deleterious effect on renal failure patients undergoing hemodialysis. Human gut seems to be inhabited with a diverse microbial population capable of detoxifying many aromatic compounds. However, the knowledge on the role of gut microbes in metabolizing p-cresol is limited. Hence, the present study aims to investigate p-cresol detoxification by intestinal bacteria isolated from human feces. Three potential p-cresol tolerant isolates were selected and identified as Enterococcus faecalis strains (UTD-1, UTD-2 and UTD-3) by 16SrRNA gene sequencing. All three E. faecalis isolates decreased the p-cresol concentration (30 µg/ml) at a higher rate with extracellular extracts (2.58-9.53 µg/ml) as compared to intracellular (0.55-5.28 µg/ml) extract. These three potential isolates also exhibited tolerance to gastrointestinal conditions for up to 60 min. Added to its potential, the expression of virulent genes (esp, gelE, and cyl) was found to be suppressed when subjected to bile stress under in vitro conditions. HPLC analysis displayed transformed products from extracellular extract treated samples were comparable to the metabolite standard of the p-cresol degradation pathway. Infrared spectral analysis too showed the spectrum similarity with metabolite standard. Thus, conclusively, intestinal isolates E. faecalis (UTD-1, UTD-2 and UTD-3) might be a promising candidate for mitigating p-cresol detoxification in uremic patients.

Microbial (Enzymatic) Degradation of Cyanide to Produce Pterins as Cofactors.

Cyanide is one of the most poisonous substances in the environment, which may have originated from natural and anthropogenic sources. There are many enzymes produced by microorganisms which can degrade and utilize cyanide. The major byproducts of cyanide degradation are alanine, glutamic acid, alpha-amino-butyric acid, beta-cyanoalanine, pterin etc. These products have many pharmaceutical and medicinal applications. For the degradation of cyanide, microbes produce necessary cofactors which catalyze the degradation pathways. Pterin is one of the cofactors for cyanide degradation. There are many pathways involved for the degradation of cyanide, cyanate, and thiocyanate. Some of the microorganisms possess resistance to cyanide, since they have developed adaptive alternative pathways for the production of ATP by utilization of cyanide as carbon and nitrogen sources. In this review, we summarized different enzymes, their mechanisms, and corresponding pathways for the degradation of cyanide and production of pterins during cyanide degradation. We aim to enlighten different types of pterin, its classification, and biological significance through this literature review.