Illuminating the Anticancerous Efficacy of a New Fungal Chassis for Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis

Biogenic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have supple platforms designed for biomedical and therapeutic intervention. Utilization of Ag NPs are preferred in the field of biomedicines and material science research because of their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancerous activity along with their eco-friendly, biocompatible, and cost-effective nature. Here we present a novel fungus Piriformospora indica as an excellent source for obtaining facile and reliable Ag NPs with a high degree of consistent morphology. We demonstrated their cytotoxic property, coupled with their intrinsic characteristic that make these biogenic nanoparticles suitable for the anticancerous activity. In vitro cytotoxicity of biologically synthesized Ag NPs (BSNPs) and chemically synthesized Ag NPs (SNPs) was screened on various cancer cell lines, such as Human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), Human cervical carcinoma (HeLa), Human liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines and embryonic kidney cell line (HEK-293) as normal cell lines. The antiproliferative outcome revealed that the BSNPs exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 followed by HeLa and HepG2 cell lines as compared to SNPs. The blend of cytotoxic properties, together with green and cost-effective characteristics make up these biogenic nanoparticles for their potential applications in cancer nanomedicine and fabrication coating of ambulatory and non-ambulatory medical devices.

Ovalbumin self-assembles into amyloid nanosheets that elicit immune responses and facilitate sustained drug release

Amyloids are associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, motivating investigations into their structure and function. Although not linked to a specific disease, albumins have been reported to form many structural aggregates. We were interested in investigating host immune responses to amyloid fibrils assembled from the model protein ovalbumin. Surprisingly, upon subjecting ovalbumin to standard denaturing conditions, we encountered giant protein nanosheets harboring amyloid-like features and hypothesized that these nanosheets might have potential in clinical or therapeutic applications. We found that the nanosheets, without the administration of any additional adjuvant, evoked a strong antibody response in mice that was higher than that observed for native ovalbumin. This suggests that amyloid nanosheets have a self-adjuvanting property. The nanosheet-induced immune response was helper T cell 2 (Th2) biased and negligibly inflammatory. While testing whether the nanosheets might form depots for the sustained release of precursor proteins, we did observe release of ovalbumin that mimicked the conformation of native protein. Moreover, the nanosheets could load the anticancer drug doxorubicin and release it in a slow and sustained manner. Taken together, our results suggest that amyloid nanosheets should be further investigated as either an antigen delivery vehicle or a multifunctional antigen and drug co-delivery system, with potential applications in simultaneous immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Pharmacophore hybrid approach of new modulated bis-diimine Cu(II)/Zn(II) complexes based on 5-chloro Isatin Schiff base derivatives: Synthesis, spectral studies and comparative biological assessment

Novel bioactive 5-chloro isatin based Schiff base ligands, (N,N'E,N,N'Z)-N,N'-(5-chloroindoline-2,3-diylidene)bis(5-nitrobenzo [d]thiazol-2-amine), L(1) and (N,N'E,N,N'Z)-N,N'-(5-chloroindoline-2,3-diylidene)bis(5-nitrothiazol-2-amine), L(2) derived from 2-amino 5-nitrobenzothiazole and 2-amino 5-nitrothiazole and their metal complexes, [Cu(L(1))2]Cl2;1, [Zn(L(1))2(H2O)2]Cl2;2, [Cu(L(2))2]Cl2;3 and [Zn(L(2))2(H2O)2]Cl2;4 have been synthesized. The composition, stoichiometry and geometry of the proposed ligands and their complexes have been envisaged by the results of elemental analyses and spectroscopic data (FT-IR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR, Mass and EPR). The molar conductivity values of the metal complexes revealed their ionic nature. The thermal stability of metal complexes was demonstrated by TGA/DTA studies while the crystalline nature of the complexes has been ascertained by XRD. Furthermore, a comparative account of in vitro antibacterial study against different bacterial strains with respect to standard antibiotic and scavenging activity against standard control at different concenterations unfolded pronounced antibacterial and radical scavenging potencies of the metal complexes as compared to free ligands. In addition, in vitro cytotoxicity of ligands and its metal complexes was also screened on MCF7 (Human breast adenocarcinoma), HeLa (Human cervical carcinoma) and HepG2 (Human Hepatocellular carcinoma), cell lines and normal cells (PBMC). The antiproliferative outcomes revealed that metal complexes exhibit superior activity in general as compared to free ligands (L(1) and L(2)) where metal complexes (1 and 2) of 5-chloro isatin linked benzothiazole motif (L(1)) are found to have better prospect of acting as chemotherapeutic agents which can be explained in terms of greater biopotency, planarity and conjugation against all the tested cancer cell lines with IC50<2.80 μM.

Synthesis and characterization of steroidal heterocyclic compounds, DNA condensation and molecular docking studies and their in vitro anticancer and acetylcholinesterase inhibition activities

A facile and efficient approach for the synthesis of steroidal heterocyclic compounds (4–12) has been performed. Furthermore, these newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their various biological activities.

Amyloid form of ovalbumin evokes native antigen-specific immune response in the host: prospective immuno-prophylactic potential

Amyloids are highly organized protein aggregates that arise from inappropriately folded versions of proteins or polypeptides under both physiological as well as simulated ambiences. Once thought to be irreversible assemblies, amyloids have begun to expose their more dynamic and reversible attributes depending upon the intrinsic properties of the precursor protein/peptide and experimental conditions such as temperature, pressure, structural modifications in proteins, or presence of chemicals in the reaction mixture. It has been repeatedly proposed that amyloids undergo transformation to the bioactive peptide/protein forms under specific conditions. In the present study, amyloids assembled from the model protein ovalbumin (OVA) were found to release the precursor protein in a slow and steady manner over an extended time period. Interestingly, the released OVA from amyloid depot was found to exhibit biophysical characteristics of native protein and reacted with native-OVA specific monoclonal as well as polyclonal antibodies. Moreover, antibodies generated upon immunization of OVA amyloidal aggregates or fibrils were found to recognize the native form of OVA. The study suggests that amyloids may act as depots for the native form of the protein and therefore can be exploited as vaccine candidates, where slow antigen release over extended time periods is a pre-requisite for the development of desired immune response.