Skp2-Cyclin A Interaction Is Necessary for Mitotic Entry and Maintenance of Diploidy.

Skp2, the substrate recognition component of the SCFSkp2 ubiquitin ligase, has been implicated in the targeted destruction of a number of key cell cycle regulators and the promotion of S-phase. One of its critical targets is the Cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p27, and indeed the overexpression of Skp2 in a number of cancers is directly correlated with the premature degradation of p27. Skp2 was first identified as a protein that interacts with Cyclin A in transformed cells, but its role in this complex has remained unclear. In this paper, we demonstrate that Skp2 interacts with Cyclin A in Drosophila and is required to maintain Cyclin A levels and permit mitotic entry. Failure of mitotic entry in Skp2 mutant cells results in polyploidy. If these cells enter mitosis again they are unable to properly segregate their chromosomes, leading to checkpoint dependent cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Thus, Skp2 is required for mitosis and for maintaining diploidy and genome stability.

Endogenous PTEN acts as the key determinant for mTOR inhibitor sensitivity by inducing the stress-sensitized PTEN-mediated death axis in KSHV-associated malignant cells.

As a part of viral cancer evolution, KSHV-infected human endothelial cells exert a unique transcriptional program via upregulated mTORC1 signaling. This event makes them sensitive to mTOR inhibitors. Master transcriptional regulator PTEN acts as the prime regulator of mTOR and determining factor for mTOR inhibitory drug resistance and sensitivity. PTEN is post-translationally modified in KSHV-associated cell lines and infected tissues. Our current study is an attempt to understand the functional role of upstream modulator PTEN in determining the sensitivity of mTOR inhibitors against KSHV-infected cells in an in vitro stress-responsive model. Our analysis shows that, despite phosphorylation, endogenous levels of intact PTEN in different KSHV-infected cells compared to normal and non-infected cells are quite high. Genetic overexpression of intact PTEN showed functional integrity of this gene in the infected cells in terms of induction of a synchronized cell death process via cell cycle regulation and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. PTEN overexpression enhanced the mTOR inhibitory drug activity, the silencing of which hampers the process against KSHV-infected cells. Additionally, we have shown that endogenous PTEN acts as a stress balancer molecule inside KSHV-infected cells and can induce stress-sensitized death program post mTOR inhibitor treatment, lined up in the ATM-chk2-p53 axis. Moreover, autophagic regulation was found as a major regulator in mTOR inhibitor-induced PTEN-mediated death axis from our study. The current work critically intersected the PTEN-mediated stress balancing mechanism where autophagy has been utilized as a part of the KSHV stress management system and is specifically fitted and switched toward autophagy-mediated apoptosis directing toward a therapeutic perspective.

Oxidation of biological molecules with age and induced oxidative stress in different growth phases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

One of the mechanistic approaches for explaining ageing is the oxidative stress theory of ageing. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used as a model to study ageing due to many factors. We have attempted to investigate if the differential ability to withstand oxidative stress can be correlated with their lifespans. In all the four strains studied (AP22, 699, 8C, and SP4), there was no age-associated increases in lipid peroxidation levels measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Under induced oxidative stress conditions, there was an increased TBARS level in both the ages assessed with a quantum-fold increase in the stationary phase cells of AP22. In contrast, the late stationary phase cells of 8C exhibited the least susceptibility to induced oxidative stress. The level of TBARS in both exponential and late stationary phase cells of 699 was overall more than that in the other three strains. Protein carbonylation increased with age in 8C and 699. Induced stress increased carbonylation in the exponential cells of SP4 and 699 and the stationary phase cells of all four strains. Protein carbonylation data indicate that the AP22 cells exhibit decreased protein carbonylation vis-à-vis the other strains. Induced stress data showed that while the exponential cells of 699 are susceptible, the late stationary phase cells of 699 are most resistant. Western blotting analysis using anti-HNE antibodies showed two proteins of molecular mass ~ 56 and ~ 84 kDa that were selectively modified with age in all the strains. Under induced stress conditions, an additional protein of ~ 69 kDa was oxidized. Our investigation shows that the difference in lifespan between the four strains of S. cerevisiae may be regulated by oxidative stress. Knowledge of the identity of the oxidized proteins will significantly facilitate a better understanding of the effect of oxidative stress conditions on the cells of S. cerevisiae.

Lifestyle, Epstein-Barr virus infection, and other factors could impede nasopharyngeal cancer survivorship: a five-year cross-sectional study in North Eastern India.

Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) is one of the leading cancers in India's north-eastern (NE) region affecting a section of the population each year. A proportion of the NPC cases are observed to recur even after therapy, indicating the involvement of other factors. We aimed to explore the NPC and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) burden in the NE region and investigate the prognostic factors for the NPC patients' poor survival and recurrence. NPC patients' information was obtained from different state hospitals between 2014 and 2019. PCR and Sanger sequencing were performed to detect EBV types. Statistical analysis, including forest plot analysis, Kaplan-Mayer survival plot, Log-rank test, cox hazard regression, and Aalen's additive regression model, were performed to determine prognostic factors for the NPC patients' lower survival and recurrence. We observed an increased incidence of NPC and EBV infection in the past five years. Step-wise statistical analyses pointed out that variable such as non-professionals (B = 1.02, HR = 2.8, 95%CI = 1.5,4.9) workers (B = 0.92, HR = 2.5, 95%CI = 1.4,4.4), kitchen cum bedroom (B = 0.61, HR = 1.8, 95%CI = 1.2,2.8), mosquito repellent (B = 0.60, HR = 1.7, 95%CI = 1.1,2.7), nasal congestion (B = 0.60, HR = 1.8, 95%CI = 1.2,2.8), lower haemoglobin level (B = 0.92, HR = 2.5, 95%CI = 1.3,4.9), tumor stage IV (B = 2.8, HR = 1.8, 95%CI = 1.6,14.3), N2 (B = 1.4, HR = 4.0, 95%CI = 1.8,9.1), N3 (B = 1.9, HR = 6.4, 95%CI = 2.8,15.3), and M+ (B = 2.02, HR = 7.5, 95%CI = 4.1,13.7) revealed significant correlation with NPC patients' poor prognosis (p < 0.05). The presence of viral factors also showed a significant association with NPC patients' decreased survival. We concluded that factors related to day-to-day life with EBV infection could be the individual predictor for NPC incidence, lower survival, and disease recurrence. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13337-022-00789-5.

Biologia Futura: treatment of wastewater and water using tannin-based coagulants.

Industrialization and urbanization are mainly responsible for environmental pollution generating enormous amount of wastewater which needs to be treated. Wastewaters from various sources are toxic to humans and livestock, as well as posing environmental risks. Various treatment approaches have been used for the elimination of contaminants from water and wastewater. Coagulation/flocculation processes are the most commonly used techniques in water treatment for improving the condition of turbid water and removing suspended particles by destabilization and the creation of larger, heavier flocs that aid in sedimentation. Flocculants, both organic and inorganic, have long been used in wastewater treatment. The use of natural coagulants/flocculants for water and wastewater treatment has become essential due to the health risks associated with chemical flocculants. Tannin, a natural coagulant, has been suggested as substitute of chemical coagulants. Tannins are present in the leaves, fruits, barks, roots, and wood of trees as a secondary metabolite. Tannin-based coagulants derived from a variety of plant sources have been successfully used in the treatment of water and wastewater. This review summarises the current status and strategies on applications of tannin-based coagulants exploiting the eco-friendly green materials in water and wastewater remediation for the sake of pollution free environment.

Host and viral non-coding RNAs in dengue pathogenesis.

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes frequent outbreaks in tropical countries. Due to the four different serotypes and ever-mutating RNA genome, it is challenging to develop efficient therapeutics. Early diagnosis is crucial to prevent the severe form of dengue, leading to mortality. In the past decade, rapid advancement in the high throughput sequencing technologies has shed light on the crucial regulating role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), also known as the "dark matter" of the genome, in various pathological processes. In addition to the human host ncRNAs like microRNAs and circular RNAs, DENV also produces ncRNAs such as subgenomic flaviviral RNAs that can modulate the virus life cycle and regulate disease outcomes. This review outlines the advances in understanding the interplay between the human host and DENV ncRNAs, their regulation of the innate immune system of the host, and the prospects of the ncRNAs in clinical applications such as dengue diagnosis and promising therapeutics.

Aspect based sentiment analysis using multi-criteria decision-making and deep learning under COVID-19 pandemic in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the global economy and health. While the pandemic continues to cause casualties in millions, many countries have gone under lockdown. During this period, people have to stay within walls and become more addicted towards social networks. They express their emotions and sympathy via these online platforms. Thus, popular social media (Twitter and Facebook) have become rich sources of information for Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis on COVID-19-related issues. We have used Aspect Based Sentiment Analysis to anticipate the polarity of public opinion underlying different aspects from Twitter during lockdown and stepwise unlock phases. The goal of this study is to find the feelings of Indians about the lockdown initiative taken by the Government of India to stop the spread of Coronavirus. India-specific COVID-19 tweets have been annotated, for analysing the sentiment of common public. To classify the Twitter data set a deep learning model has been proposed which has achieved accuracies of 82.35% for Lockdown and 83.33% for Unlock data set. The suggested method outperforms many of the contemporary approaches (long short-term memory, Bi-directional long short-term memory, Gated Recurrent Unit etc.). This study highlights the public sentiment on lockdown and stepwise unlocks, imposed by the Indian Government on various aspects during the Corona outburst.

BAX -248 G>A and BCL2 -938 C>A Variant Lowers the Survival in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and Could be Associated with Tissue-Specific Malignancies: A Multi-Method Approach.

BACKGROUND: The association of BAX -248 G>A and BCL2 -938 C>A with different cancers created conflicts.  We studied the correlation and the effect of these polymorphisms in patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC).  Methods: PCR-RFLP and Sanger sequencing were used to detect polymorphisms. Statistical analysis including forest plot and Kaplan-Meier Log-rank test was conducted to investigate the association and effect of these SNPs on the NPC patients' survival. The computational study was performed to investigate the possible regulatory role between these polymorphisms and the poor survival of NPC patients. Meta-analysis was executed to check the tissue-specific association of these polymorphisms in the context of global cancer prognosis. RESULTS: We observed an increased and significant association of BAX -248 G>A [GA:OR=5.29, 95%CI=1.67,16.67, P=0.004; GA+AA:OR=5.71, 95%CI=1.82,17.90, P =0.002; A:OR=5.33, 95%CI=1.76,16.13, P=0.003], and BCL2 -938 C>A [CA:OR=2.26, 95%CI=1.03,4.96, P=0.04; AA:OR=3.56, 95%CI=0.97,13.05, P=0.05; CA+AA:OR=3.10, 95%CI=1.51,6.35, P=0.002; A:OR=2.90, 95% CI=1.59,5.29, P=0.0005] with the risk of NPC. Also, these SNPs were strongly correlated with poor survival in NPC patients (lower estimated survival mean, lower estimated proportion surviving at 5 years with p <0.05). The computational study showed that these SNPs altered the binding affinity of transcription factors HIF1, SP1, PAX3, PAX9 and CREB towards promoter (Lower p indicates strong affinity). The meta-analysis revealed the tissue-specific association of these polymorphisms. BAX -248 G>A showed a significant correlation with carcinomas [A vs G:OR=1.60, 95%CI=1.09,2.34, P=0.01; AA vs GG:OR=2.61, 95%CI=1.68,4.06, p <0.001; AA+GA vs GG:OR=1.53,95%CI=1.04,2.25, P=0.02); AA vs GG+GA:OR=2.53, 95%CI=1.65,3.87, p <0.001], and BCL2 -938 C>A with other malignancies [A vs C:OR=1.45, 95%CI=1.26,1.66, p <0.001; AA vs CC:OR=2.07, 95%CI: 1.15,3.72, P=0.01; AA+CA vs CC:OR=1.42, 95%CI=1.18,1.72, p <0.001; AA vs CC+CA:OR=1.89, 95%CI=1.02,3.50, P=0.04]. CONCLUSIONS: BAX -248 G>A and BCL2 -938 C>A was associated with poor survival in NPC patients. It may increase cancer susceptibility through transcriptional regulation. Moreover, these SNPs' effects could be tissue-specific.
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Wastewater treatment using plant-derived bioflocculants: green chemistry approach for safe environment.

The rapid expansion of global trade and human activities has resulted in a massive increase in wastewater pollution into the atmosphere. Suspended solids, organic and inorganic particles, dissolved solids, heavy metals, dyes, and other impurities contained in wastewater from various sources are toxic to the atmosphere and pose serious health risks to humans and animals. Coagulation-flocculation technology is commonly used in wastewater treatment to remove cell debris, colloids, and contaminants in a comfortable and effective manner. Flocculants, both organic and inorganic, have long been used in wastewater treatment. However, because of their low performance, non-biodegradability, and associated health risks, their use has been limited. The use of eco-friendly bioflocculants in wastewater treatment has become essential due to the health implications of chemical flocculants. Because of their availability, biodegradability, and protection, plant-derived coagulants/flocculants and plant-based grafted bioflocculants have recently made significant progress in wastewater treatment. This study will undoubtedly provide a clearer understanding of the current state, challenges, and solutions for bioflocculation in wastewater remediation using green materials for the sake of a cleaner climate.

Green Formulation of Microbial Biopolyesteric Nanocarriers Toward In Vitro Drug Delivery and Its Characterization.

In the present study, formulation and characterization of microbial biopolyesteric nanocarrier (MBPNc) was reported for in vitro controlled release of the drugs, viz., amoxicillin and levofloxacin. The synthesis of microbial biopolyester, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) nanoparticle was done by a triple emulsion method and loaded with amoxicillin and levofloxacin to improve its curative bioavailability. The synthesized MBPNc was found to be spherical in shape with a size range of 50-100 nm which was confirmed through Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. The surface topology and physicochemical characteristics were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy. The cell viability % of MBPNc, amoxicillin-loaded MBPNc, and levofloxacin-loaded MBPNc on HEK293 cells at a concentration of 400 µg/ml were found to be 93.43 ± 0.66%, 92.29 ± 0.61%, and 91.53 ± 0.46%, respectively, which confirmed that MBPNc is biocompatible and can be used for biomedical applications without any cytotoxic effect. A significant decrease in the bacterial survival ratio (%) and increase in the zone of inhibition were observed on increasing the concentration of drug-loaded MBPNc against E. coli (ATCC®8739™) and S. aureus (ATCC®23,235™). The in vitro drug delivery study showed controlled release of amoxicillin (99.85 ± 0.15%) and levofloxacin (99.73 ± 0.24%) up to 22 h.

Application of Aloe vera mucilage as bioflocculant for the treatment of textile wastewater: process optimization.

Aloe vera is an important commodity plant which has been traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases. This study investigated the use of extracted bioflocculant from Aloe vera for the treatment of textile wastewater. The bioflocculant was extracted, purified and characterized using GC-MS, FTIR, SEM, AFM, EDX and XRD analysis. It was mainly composed of carbohydrate (19.5%) and protein (6.0%). Box-Behnken design (BBD), using 3 level-3 variables, was employed to enhance the decolorization process by optimizing the effect of various factors. A significant enhancement from 62.50 ± 0.1 to 82.01 ± 0.8% in decolorization of wastewater was observed under optimized conditions viz. bioflocculant dosage (60 mg/L), pH (5.0) and contact time (180 min). A quadratic polynomial model was adequate beside the actual statistics at an R2 value of 0.99 for the response decolorization % and was in good agreement with the predicted value (82.01 ± 0.1%) obtained by the RSM model. The results of the present investigation demonstrated that Aloe vera mucilage can serve as a promising bioflocculant with high removal efficiency for solids, colour and dye from wastewater. To the best of our information, this is the first report on the use of Aloe vera mucilage as a natural bioflocculant for the treatment of dye-bearing wastewater.

Picking up a Fight: Fine Tuning Mitochondrial Innate Immune Defenses Against RNA Viruses.

As the world faces the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become an urgent need of the hour to understand how our immune system sense and respond to RNA viruses that are often life-threatening. While most vaccine strategies for these viruses are developed around a programmed antibody response, relatively less attention is paid to our innate immune defenses that can determine the outcome of a viral infection via the production of antiviral cytokines like Type I Interferons. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that the "cytokine storm" induced by aberrant activation of the innate immune response against a viral pathogen may sometimes offer replicative advantage to the virus thus promoting disease pathogenesis. Thus, it is important to fine tune the responses of the innate immune network that can be achieved via a deeper insight into the candidate molecules involved. Several pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) like the Toll like receptors (TLRs), NOD-like receptors (NLRs), and the retinoic acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I) like receptors (RLRs) recognize cytosolic RNA viruses and mount an antiviral immune response. RLRs recognize invasive viral RNA produced during infection and mediate the induction of Type I Interferons via the mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) molecule. It is an intriguing fact that the mitochondrion, one of the cell's most vital organelle, has evolved to be a central hub in this antiviral defense. However, cytokine responses and interferon signaling via MAVS signalosome at the mitochondria must be tightly regulated to prevent overactivation of the immune responses. This review focuses on our current understanding of the innate immune sensing of the host mitochondria by the RLR-MAVS signalosome and its specificity against some of the emerging/re-emerging RNA viruses like Ebola, Zika, Influenza A virus (IAV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that may expand our understanding for novel pharmaceutical development.

In Vitro Studies on Therapeutic Potential of Probiotic Yeasts Isolated from Various Sources.

The present study investigates the therapeutic properties of probiotic yeasts viz. Yarrowia lipolytica VIT-MN01, Kluyveromyces lactis VIT-MN02, Lipomyces starkeyi VIT-MN03, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera VIT-MN04 and Brettanomyces custersianus VIT-MN05. The antimutagenic activity of probiotic yeasts against the mutagens viz. Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and Sodium azide (SA) was tested. S. fibuligera VIT-MN04 showed highest antimutagenicity (75%). Binding ability on the mutagen acridine orange (AO) was tested and L. starkeyi VIT-MN03 was able to bind AO effectively (88%). The probiotic yeasts were treated with the genotoxins viz. 4-Nitroquinoline 1-Oxide (NQO) and Methylnitronitrosoguanidine (MNNG). The prominent changes in UV shift confirmed the reduction in genotoxic activity of S. fibuligera VIT-MN04 and L. starkeyi VIT-MN03, respectively. Significant viability of probiotic yeasts was noted after being exposed to mutagens and genotoxins. The adhesion capacity and anticancer activity were also assessed using Caco-2 and IEC-6 cell lines. Adhesion ability was found to be more in IEC-6 cells and remarkable antiproliferative activity was noted in Caco-2 cells compared to normal cells. Further, antagonistic activity of probiotic yeasts was investigated against S. typhimurium which was found to be more in S. fibuligera VIT-MN04 and L. starkeyi VIT-MN03. The inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase activity confirmed the antidiabetic activity of probiotic yeasts. Antioxidant activity was also tested using standard assays. Therefore, based on the results, it can be concluded that probiotic yeasts can serve as potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of colon cancer, type 2 diabetes and gastrointestinal infections.

Protein extraction from Saccharomyces cerevisiae at different growth phases.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an established model organism with a well characterized genome. However, this model presents a unique problem due to a very resistant cell wall which develops in the late stationary phase resulting in sub-optimal extraction of proteins from such cells using majority of the cell lysis protocols. In this study, several methods from the literature with modifications thereof for lysis of S. cerevisiae cells were analyzed for their suitability for redox proteomics and biological activity studies of both exponential and late stationary phase cultures. The protocols applied are glass bead lysis, sonication, their combinations, alkali extraction, hot-SDS extraction methods and their modifications. The glass bead lysis method showed low yield but could be convenient in cases where in vitro processing steps post extraction is required or if only hydrophilic proteins are of interest. Hot-SDS and alkali extraction protocols yielded higher amount of proteins and these methods are potentially suitable for Western blotting and redox proteomic studies but allow no post-processing treatment(s) on the extracts which may be required for aging- and oxidative stress-related or other studies.

Nanoencapsulation of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera VIT-MN04 using electrospinning technique for easy gastrointestinal transit.

In this study, probiotic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera (S. fibuligera) VIT-MN04 was encapsulated with wheat bran fibre (WBF) and exopolysaccharide (EPS) along with 5% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using electrospinning technique for easy gastrointestinal transit (GIT). The electrospinning materials viz. WBF (10%), EPS (15%), PVP (5%) and electrospinning parameters viz. applied voltage (10 kV) and tip to collector distance (15 cm) were optimised using response surface methodology to produce fine nanofibres to achieve maximum encapsulation efficiency (100%) and GIT tolerance (97%). The probiotic yeast was successfully encapsulated in nanofibre and investigated for potential properties. The survival of encapsulated S. fibuligera VIT-MN04 was increased compared to the free cells during in vitro digestion. In addition, encapsulated yeast cells retained their viability during storage at 4°C for 56 days. The nanofibres were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, zeta potential analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. This work provides an efficient approach for encapsulation of probiotic yeast with the nanofibres which can also broaden the application of the prebiotic like WBF providing an idea for the efficient preparation of functional synbiotic supplements in the food industry.

Fabrication and characterization of biodegradable PHBV/SiO2 nanocomposite for thermo-mechanical and antibacterial applications in food packaging.

In the present study, biogenic silica nanoparticles (bSNPs) were synthesized from groundnut shells, and thoroughly characterized to understand its phase, and microstructure properties. The biopolymer was synthesized from yeast Wickerhamomyces anomalus and identified as Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) by GC-MS and NMR analysis. The bSNPs were reinforced to fabricate PHBV/SiO2 nanocomposites via solution casting technique. The fabricated PHBV/SiO2 nanocomposites revealed intercalated hybrid interaction between the bSNPs and PHBV matrix through XRD analysis. PHBV/SiO2 nanocomposites showed significant improvement in physical, chemical, thermo-mechanical and biodegradation properties as compared to the bare PHBV. The cell viability study revealed excellent biocompatibility against L929 mouse fibroblast cells. The antibacterial activity of PHBV/SiO2 nanocomposites was found to be progressively improved upon increasing bSNPs concentration against E. coli and S. aureus.

Role of Catalase in Oxidative Stress- and Age-Associated Degenerative Diseases.

Reactive species produced in the cell during normal cellular metabolism can chemically react with cellular biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids, thereby causing their oxidative modifications leading to alterations in their compositions and potential damage to their cellular activities. Fortunately, cells have evolved several antioxidant defense mechanisms (as metabolites, vitamins, and enzymes) to neutralize or mitigate the harmful effect of reactive species and/or their byproducts. Any perturbation in the balance in the level of antioxidants and the reactive species results in a physiological condition called "oxidative stress." A catalase is one of the crucial antioxidant enzymes that mitigates oxidative stress to a considerable extent by destroying cellular hydrogen peroxide to produce water and oxygen. Deficiency or malfunction of catalase is postulated to be related to the pathogenesis of many age-associated degenerative diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, anemia, vitiligo, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder, cancer, and schizophrenia. Therefore, efforts are being undertaken in many laboratories to explore its use as a potential drug for the treatment of such diseases. This paper describes the direct and indirect involvement of deficiency and/or modification of catalase in the pathogenesis of some important diseases such as diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, vitiligo, and acatalasemia. Details on the efforts exploring the potential treatment of these diseases using a catalase as a protein therapeutic agent have also been described.

An overview of cephalosporin antibiotics as emerging contaminants: a serious environmental concern.

Antibiotics have been categorized as emerging pollutants due to their indiscriminate usage, continuous input and persistence in various environmental matrices even at lower concentrations. Cephalosporins are the broad-spectrum antibiotics of ß-lactam family. Owing to its enormous production and consumption, it is reported as the second most prescribed antibiotic classes in Europe. The cephalosporin wastewater contains toxic organic compounds, inorganic salts, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) which pose a potential threat to the organisms in the environment. Therefore, removal of cephalosporin antibiotics from the environment has become mandatory as it contributes to increase in the level of chemical oxygen demand (COD), causing toxicity of the effluent and production of cephalosporin-resistant microbes. So far, several processes have been reported for degradation/removal of cephalosporins from the environment. A number of individual studies have been published within the last decade covering the various aspects of antibiotics. However, a detailed compilation on cephalosporin antibiotics as an emerging environmental contaminant is still lacking. Hence, the present review intends to highlight the current ecological scenario with respect to distribution, toxicity, degradation, various remediation technologies, and the regulatory aspects concerning cephalosporins. The latest successful technologies for cephalosporin degradation/removal discussed in this review will help researchers for a better understanding of the nature and persistence of cephalosporins in the environment along with the risks associated with their existence. The research thrust discussed in this review will also evoke new technologies to be attempted by the future researchers to develop sustainable options to remediate cephalosporin-contaminated environments.

Enhanced degradation of indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene using Candida tropicalis NN4 in presence of iron nanoparticles and produced biosurfactant: a statistical approach.

Seven yeast isolates were screened for the remediation of indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (InP) using biosynthesized iron nanoparticles and produced biosurfactant in growth medium. Four yeast isolates showed positive response to produce biosurfactant which was confirmed by drop collapse test, emulsification index, methylene blue agar plate method, oil displacement test and lipase activity. The yeast strain showing maximum potential for InP degradation and biosurfactant production was identified as Candida tropicalis NN4. The produced biosurfactant was characterized as sophorolipid type through TLC and FTIR analysis. Iron nanoparticles were biosynthesized using mint leaf extract and characterized by various instrumental analysis. Response surface methodology (RSM), three-level five-variable Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to optimize the factors, viz., pH (7), temperature (30 °C), salt concentration (1.5 g L-1), incubation time (15 days) and iron nanoparticles concentration (0.02 g L-1) for maximum InP degradation (90.68 ± 0.7%) using C. tropicalis NN4. It was well in close agreement with the predicted value which was obtained by RSM model (90.68 ± 0.4%) indicating the validity of the model. InP degradation was confirmed through FTIR and GC-MS analysis. A kinetic study demonstrated that InP degradation fitted first-order kinetic model. This is the first report on yeast-mediated nanobioremediation of InP and optimization of the whole process using RSM.