The Detection of DNA Adducts (Risk Factors for DNA Damage). A Method for Genomic DNA, the Results and Some Effects of Nutritional Intervention

Green synthesis of curcumin conjugated nanosilver for the applications in nucleic acid sensing and anti-bacterial activity

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are often synthesized by chemical and physical methods. Natural and non-toxic molecules are recently being replaced for nanoparticles preparation. In this paper we have used curcumin, which interacts with Ag+ and subsequently synthesizes silver nanoparticles. Further continuation of the reaction often makes aggregation and forms dark brown/black silver oxide. Presence of glycerol in the reaction mixture gives mono-disperse curcumin conjugated Ag NPs, which can be made stable by capping with polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP). XRD data confirm that curcumin conjugated Ag NPs are crystalline in nature with a mean crystalline size of 13.27 nm. The Ag NPs are spherical and in the range of 10-50 nm though their hydrodynamic radius is found to be higher, ∼294 nm, due to polyvinylpyrolidone capping and aggregation of nanoparticles in solution. The production of curcumin conjugated Ag NPs follows first order kinetics and the effect of curcumin concentration during formation of Ag NPs indicates a linear enhancement in the production of Ag NPs with an increase in concentration of curcumin. These curcumin conjugated silver nanoparticles show anti-bacterial activity and can successfully determine nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) in the concentration range 100-1000 ng/mL with a linear regression coefficient >0.997 using Resonance Rayleigh Scattering spectra.

Tracing environmental markers of autoimmunity: introducing the infectome

We recently introduced the concept of the infectome as a means of studying all infectious factors which contribute to the development of autoimmune disease. It forms the infectious part of the exposome, which collates all environmental factors contributing to the development of disease and studies the sum total of burden which leads to the loss of adaptive mechanisms in the body. These studies complement genome-wide association studies, which establish the genetic predisposition to disease. The infectome is a component which spans the whole life and may begin at the earliest stages right up to the time when the first symptoms manifest, and may thus contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmunity at the prodromal/asymptomatic stages. We provide practical examples and research tools as to how we can investigate disease-specific infectomes, using laboratory approaches employed from projects studying the “immunome” and “microbiome”. It is envisioned that an understanding of the infectome and the environmental factors that affect it will allow for earlier patient-specific intervention by clinicians, through the possible treatment of infectious agents as well as other compounding factors, and hence slowing or preventing disease development.

Infectome: a platform to trace infectious triggers of autoimmunity

The "exposome" is a term recently used to describe all environmental factors, both exogenous and endogenous, which we are exposed to in a lifetime. It represents an important tool in the study of autoimmunity, complementing classical immunological research tools and cutting-edge genome wide association studies (GWAS). Recently, environmental wide association studies (EWAS) investigated the effect of environment in the development of diseases. Environmental triggers are largely subdivided into infectious and non-infectious agents. In this review, we introduce the concept of the "infectome", which is the part of the exposome referring to the collection of an individual's exposures to infectious agents. The infectome directly relates to geoepidemiological, serological and molecular evidence of the co-occurrence of several infectious agents associated with autoimmune diseases that may provide hints for the triggering factors responsible for the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. We discuss the implications that the investigation of the infectome may have for the understanding of microbial/host interactions in autoimmune diseases with long, pre-clinical phases. It may also contribute to the concept of the human body as a superorganism where the microbiome is part of the whole organism, as can be seen with mitochondria which existed as microbes prior to becoming organelles in eukaryotic cells of multicellular organisms over time. A similar argument can now be made in regard to normal intestinal flora, living in symbiosis within the host. We also provide practical examples as to how we can characterise and measure the totality of a disease-specific infectome, based on the experimental approaches employed from the "immunome" and "microbiome" projects.