Molecular Advances to Combat Different Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.): A Comprehensive Review

Flax, or linseed, is considered a "superfood", which means that it is a food with diverse health benefits and potentially useful bioactive ingredients. It is a multi-purpose crop that is prized for its seed oil, fibre, nutraceutical, and probiotic qualities. It is suited to various habitats and agro-ecological conditions. Numerous abiotic and biotic stressors that can either have a direct or indirect impact on plant health are experienced by flax plants as a result of changing environmental circumstances. Research on the impact of various stresses and their possible ameliorators is prompted by such expectations. By inducing the loss of specific alleles and using a limited number of selected varieties, modern breeding techniques have decreased the overall genetic variability required for climate-smart agriculture. However, gene banks have well-managed collectionns of landraces, wild linseed accessions, and auxiliary Linum species that serve as an important source of novel alleles. In the past, flax-breeding techniques were prioritised, preserving high yield with other essential traits. Applications of molecular markers in modern breeding have made it easy to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for various agronomic characteristics. The genetic diversity of linseed species and the evaluation of their tolerance to abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, heavy metal tolerance, and temperature, as well as resistance to biotic stress factors, viz., rust, wilt, powdery mildew, and alternaria blight, despite addressing various morphotypes and the value of linseed as a supplement, are the primary topics of this review.

Genotypic Diversity of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Types and Its Prevalence With Cervical Cancer (CC) in Central India

Background The high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) is linked with cervical cancer (CC), and the distinct proportional impact of each genotype on the prevalence of the disease depends on the area. Therefore, to find out the prevalence of HPV types in women with cervical lesions from central India, the current study was performed. Methodology Age, prior history of cervical disease, changes in lifestyle characteristics, menopausal status, and HPV vaccination status were all carefully gathered at enrollment for the 736 women (aged 21 to 60) screened in this cross-sectional study who were referred for regular screening of cervical during the study period. Cervix was examined for lesions by visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) screening and HPV genotypes were identified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Result Among 736 women 215 (29.2%) were in the 21-30 age group, 321 (43.6%) in the 31-40 age group, 132 (17.9%) in the 41-50 age group, and 68 (9.3%) cases in >50 age group. According to education, there were 398 (54.1 %) with primary and below education, 115 (15.6%) with secondary education, and 223 (30.3%) with college and above education. HPV-16, 18, 31, and 45 each had a prevalence of 29.6%, 11.1%, 12.9%, and 9.2%, respectively, while the overall prevalence of hr-HP) was present in populations at 7.3% in individuals and 37.0% in combinations. Hr-HPV infection and prevalence were provocatively more (79.6%) in the VIA-positivity rate with CC. Conclusion Individual hr-HPV genotype prevalence was shown to be lower than with combinations (HPV-16, 18, 31, and 45). The HPV-16 genotype was identified to have a higher prevalence than HPV-18, 31, and 45. However, more awareness programs are needed for a better understanding of CC and HPV testing in central India.

Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Review of “Phog”- Calligonum polygonoides L

Calligonum polygonoides (Phog) belongs to family Polygonaceae. It is a geographically widely distributed shrub seen from the arctic to the tropics. This endangered plant (included in Red data book of IUCN) is morphologically having stem with nodes and internodes, white flowers in spike inflorescence and needle like leaves. It is traditionally used to stabilize sand dunes, as fuel, and in treatment of heat-stroke by mixing with curd or “Rayata”. It is also reported as antidote for opium poisoning. Various phyto-chemicals present include butanolides- calligonolides A and B, various flavanoids like kaempferol, quercetin and their derivatives. Various steroidal compounds are reported in roots. Pharmacologicallly, its cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal and biosorbent potentials are reported by various researchers. Therefore, an attempt has been made to accumulate properties of this potential herb. Keywords: Calligonum, Phog, biosorbent, heat-stroke, calligonolides, kaempferol

In silico ligand based design of indolylpiperidinyl derivatives as novel histamine H(1) receptor antagonists

Histamine H(1) receptor antagonists play a vital role in the first line treatment of a broad range of allergic diseases. Frequent dosing of the antagonist results in side effects like sedation and cardiovascular toxicity. The present study highlights the important structural requirement and mechanistic interpretation of novel indolylpiperidinyl derivatives as H(1) receptor antagonists so as to facilitate the design of newer antihistaminics with increased duration of action and comparatively reduced side effects. The significance of the developed quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models were evaluated on the basis of statistical values of square of correlation coefficient (r(2)); (multiple linear regression (MLR), 0.86; and partial least squares (PLS), 0.85). The predictive ability of the resulting QSAR models was evaluated with cross-validated correlation coefficient (r(2)cv) values (MLR, 0.82; PLS, 0.82) generated for the training set and r(2) values (MLR, 0.763; PLS, 0.855) derived for test set. The final models comprised of multidimensional steric (verloop length, verloop B(3)), electronic (total dipole moment) and steric (KAlpha1 index) descriptors. The study indicates that antihistaminic activity is largely explained by steric and electronic parameters. In line with parameters entered in the model some indolylpiperidines derivatives were designed with good antihistaminic properties and pharmacokinetic profiles.

Entrapment of ketorolac tromethamine in polymeric vehicle for controlled drug delivery

The most common method for applying a drug in to the eye is to formulate the drug in the form of an eye drop, but this method is not considered ideal for ocular delivery of drug because of poor bioavailability arising from precorneal loss processes, this loss of drug from the precorneal area is a net effect of drainage, tear secretion and noncorneal absorption. Following the above lead we tried to improve the ocular bioavailability by increasing the corneal contact time and the feasible way was to formulate a drug with mucoadhesive/viscosity imparting agents. The adhesive strength of various polymers on corneal surface was studied with the help of self modified Franz diffusion cell and freshly excised goat/bovine cornea. The polymers hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose sodium, Eudragit type E/RL/RS, Carbopol ETD 2020 and Carbopol 934 National Formulary were formulated with drug, ketorolac tromethamine. The adhesive strength of polymers on corneal surface and permeation characteristics of drug through cornea were investigated by using above said formulations. Eudragit type E/RL/RS did not show any improvement in mucoadhesion, but the formulations containing Carbopol ETD 2020 and Carbopol 934 national formulary showed good mucoadhesion on corneal surface in the concentration as low as 0.75%. The mucoadhesive strength was also evaluated using the combination of Carbopol acrylates/C 10-30 alkylacrylate with allylpentaerithrital and preservative benzalkonium chloride, which also resulted in good mucoadhesion with improved corneal permeation. Observations made in this study indicate the potentiality of the ophthalmic formulations containing mucoadhesive/viscosity imparting agents.

Induction of cancer-specific cytotoxicity towards human prostate and skin cells using quercetin and ultrasound

Bioflavonoids, such as quercetin, have recently emerged as a new class of chemotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of various cancer types, but are marred by their low potency and poor selectivity. We report that a short application of low-frequency ultrasound selectively sensitises prostate and skin cancer cells against quercetin. Pretreatment of cells with ultrasound (20 kHz, 2 W cm⁻², 60 s) selectively induced cytotoxicity in skin and prostate cancer cells, while having minimal effect on corresponding normal cell lines. About 90% of the viable skin cancer cell population was lost within 48 h after ultrasound-quercetin (50 μM) treatment. Ultrasound reduced the LC₅₀ of quercetin for skin cancer cells by almost 80-fold, while showing no effect on LC₅₀ for nonmalignant skin cells.

A novel 70-kDa Triton X-114-soluble antigen of Plasmodium falciparum that contains interspecies-conserved epitopes

In order to identify novel conserved integral membrane and other membrane-associated proteins of Plasmodium falciparum, lambda gt11-P. falciparum DNA library phages were immunoscreened with convalescent-phase mouse sera and rabbit antiserum against Triton X-114-soluble proteins of P. falciparum. One recombinant phage clone, L857, reacted with both of the antibody probes. Insert DNA (857 bp long) in L857 was 69% dA+dT rich and hybridized to a fragment of 1800 bp from mung bean nuclease-digested P. falciparum genomic DNA. The cloned parasite DNA did not show notable sequence homology with any known protein gene. The L857-encoded polypeptide, p34 (M(r) 34 kDa) was expressed in bacteria, fused to glutathione S-transferase (GST). The fusion peptide, GST-p34 (M(r) 62 kDa), was recognized by immune serum against Triton X-114-soluble antigens of P. falciparum and was reactive with anti-P. falciparum, anti-Plasmodium yoelii, and anti-GST sera. Rabbit antiserum raised against the fusion peptide recognized a 70-kDa protein from lysates of P. falciparum cells and a putative homologous 100-kDa protein from lysates of P. yoelii. The rabbit serum anti-fusion peptide antibodies bound to acetone-fixed P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes and, in immunofluorescent antibody tests, produced a punctate pattern of fluorescence suggesting that the 70-kDa native protein is associated with an apical organelle of the parasite.

Disulfide bond assignments and secondary structure analysis of human and murine interleukin 10

Interleukin 10 (IL-10), which was first discovered by its ability to inhibit the synthesis of various cytokines, most notably gamma interferon, from Th1 helper cells, displays pleiotropic immunoregulatory properties. Human and murine IL-10 have a high amino acid sequence identity (ca. 73%) which includes the conservation of all four cysteine residues in human IL-10 and the first four out of five cysteine residues for murine IL-10. Chemical analysis was used to determine that both recombinant human and recombinant murine IL-10 contain two disulfide bonds. The disulfide pairs for each were determined by mass spectrometric and reversed-phase HPLC analysis of trypsin-derived polypeptide fragments. The disulfide bond assignments for both species were similar in that the first cysteine residue in the sequence paired with the third and the second paired with the fourth. The fifth cysteine in murine IL-10 was determined by chemical modification to be unpaired. Far-UV circular dichroism analysis indicated that the secondary structure of recombinant human and murine IL-10 are composed of ca. 60% alpha-helix. Reduction of the disulfide bonds structurally destabilized the protein and led to a structure containing only 53% alpha-helix. The reduced protein displayed no in vitro biological activity in a mast cell proliferation assay. These studies indicate that IL-10 is a highly alpha-helical protein containing two disulfide bonds, either one or both of which are critical for its structure and function. In addition, these properties suggest that this interesting cytokine may belong to the alpha helical cytokine class of hematopoietic ligands.

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of solid supported amino groups

A simple and sensitive method for the quantitative determination of free amino groups on solid support is described. This approach is a modification of Ngo's [(1986) J. Biochem. Biophys. Methods 12, 349-354] method reported earlier. The method is based on the reaction of the solid support with an excess of 5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxytrityl)-thymidine-3'-O-(2,4-dinitrophenyl) succinate (DTDS) in the presence of a catalytic amount of 4-dimethylaminopyridine. After removing the excess reagent, solid support is treated with perchloric acid to release 4,4'-dimethoxytrityl cation into the solution. The released 4,4'-dimethoxytrityl cation, which has a strong absorption at 498 nm (epsilon 498 = 70,000), is then determined spectrophotometrically. A comparative study of DTDS, N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate and 4,4-dimethoxytrityl chloride is also included. The method was found to be very useful to determine those amino groups which are available for functionalization of solid supports, especially, monitoring the functionalization of solid supports for affinity chromatography and synthesis of biopolymers.