Anu Manhas

Bio: Anu Manhas is an academic researcher from Central University of Gujarat. The author has contributed to research in topics: Pharmacophore & Chemistry. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 22 publications receiving 156 citations. Previous affiliations of Anu Manhas include Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University & Lovely Professional University.

Designing, syntheses, characterization, computational study and biological activities of silver-phenothiazine metal complex

Abstract: A noble biologically active compound Ag(I)-PTZ metal complex (1) with spherical morphology was synthesized first time. Entire characterization tool (spectral, elemental, mass and thermal analysis) was supported a distorted tetrahedral structure, where two water compounds were coordinated with Ag(I) including one phenothiazine and one nitrate group. For the better insight, obtained spectral/structural results were supported by 3D molecular modeling. Compound 1 had shown excellent activities against the Salmonella typhimurium and Aspergillus fumigatus with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value 20 mg/L and 25 mg/L. The observed antioxidant radical scavenging activity (in %) of compound 1 (62.74%) was more than control ascorbic acid (28.58%). The observed protein (BSA) binding constant of 1 was 8.86 × 104 M−1, which is similar to binding constant of salicylic acid with BSA protein. Initial studies have revealed that synthesized compound 1 may act as multipurpose drug analogue in future.

Bioremediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon by using Pseudomonas Species Isolated from Petroleum Contaminated Soil

Abstract: A newly isolated strain Pseudomonas fluorescens (Accession number KF 2790421) have potential in diesel degradation and can be recommended for bioremediation of sites that are contaminated with diesel This bacterium was characterized on the basis of microbiological, biochemical and molecular analysis Bacterial growth optimization was studied based on carbon source, nitrogen source, pH and temperature The strain was selected based on its ability to show growth in medium containing diesel In addition, optimum temperature and pH for increased growth by the isolate were found to be 37 o C and pH 80 indicating the maximum utilization of diesel At the same time, production of protease and urease enzymes during the utilization of diesel was also assayed following the standard procedures

Identification of InhA inhibitors: A combination of virtual screening, molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical studies.

Abstract: In the present work, multiple pharmacophore-based virtual screening of the SPECS natural product database was carried out to identify novel inhibitors of the validated biological target, InhA. The ...

Complexation of trichlorosalicylic acid with alkaline and first row transition metals as a switch for their antibacterial activity

Abstract: Although, 3,5,6-Trichlorosalicylic acid (TCSA) does not show good antibacterial activity, but its metal complexes have shown better activity for the selected bacterial strains with good degree of selectivity. Amongst the eight synthesized essential metal complexes of TCSA, Mn(II)-TCSA and Ni(II)-TCSA have been found to be more effective with MIC range of 20–50 µg/L as compared to control (chloramphenicol). The activity of an individual complex against different microbes was not identical, indicating the usage of an individual metal chelate against a targeted bacterial strain. Besides, the protein (BSA) binding constant of TCSA and its metal complexes were determined and ordered as Ca(II)-TCSA > Cu(II)-TCSA > Mg(II)-TCSA ≫ Mn(II)-TCSA ≫ Zn(II)-TCSA >>> Ni(II)-TCSA >>> Co(II)-TCSA > Fe(II)-TCSA > TCSA. The present study has confirmed enhanced antibacterial activity and binding constants for the metal chelates of TCSA in comparison to free TCSA, which seems directly related with the antioxidant activity of these complexes. Further, bearing the ambiguity related to the structural characterization of the metal complexed with TCSA ligand, DFT calculations have been employed as the tool to unravel the right environment around the metals, studying basically the relative stability of square planar and octahedral metal complexes of TCSA.

Multicomplex-based pharmacophore modeling coupled with molecular dynamics simulations: An efficient strategy for the identification of novel inhibitors of PfDHODH.

Abstract: Enormous efforts have been made in the past to identify novel scaffolds against the potential therapeutic target, Plasmodium falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (PfDHODH). Fourteen different organic molecules have been crystallized to understand the structural basis of the inhibition. However, the pharmacophoric studies carried out so far, have not exploited all the structural information simultaneously to identify the novel inhibitors. Therefore, an attempt was made to construct the pharmacophore hypotheses from the available PfDHODH structural proteome. Among the generated hypotheses, a representative hypothesis was employed as a primary filter to list the molecules with complimentary features accountable for inhibition. Moreover, the auxiliary evaluations of the filtered molecules were accomplished via docking and drug-likeness studies. Subsequently, the stability of the protein-ligand complex was evaluated by using molecular dynamics simulations (MDs). The molecular details of binding interactions of the potential hits were compared with the highly active experimental structure (5FI8) to seek the more potent candidates that can be targeted against PfDHODH. Overall, the combination of screening and stability procedures resulted in the identification of three potent candidates. The drug-likeness of these molecules lie within the acceptable range and consequently increased the opportunities for their development to new anti-malarials.

Toxicity, degradation and analysis of the herbicide atrazine

Abstract: Excessive use of pesticides and herbicides is a major environmental and health concern worldwide. Atrazine, a synthetic triazine herbicide commonly used to control grassy and broadleaf weeds in crops, is a major pollutant of soil and water ecosystems. Atrazine modifies the growth, enzymatic processes and photosynthesis in plants. Atrazine exerts mutagenicity, genotoxicity, defective cell division, erroneous lipid synthesis and hormonal imbalance in aquatic fauna and nontarget animals. It has threatened the sustainability of agricultural soils due to detrimental effects on resident soil microbial communities. The detection of atrazine in soil and reservoir sites is usually made by IR spectroscopy, ELISA, HPLC, UPLC, LC–MS and GC–MS techniques. HPLC/LC–MS and GC–MS techniques are considered the most effective tools, having detection limits up to ppb levels in different matrices. Biodegradation of atrazine by microbial species is increasingly being recognized as an eco-friendly, economically feasible and sustainable bioremediation strategy. This review presents the toxicity, analytical techniques, abiotic degradation and microbial metabolism of atrazine.

Applications of Nanoparticles in Wastewater Treatment

Abstract: High-quality water is the most sought-after resource for human survival. Various natural and anthropogenic activities have contributed to groundwater pollution and have affected the quality of drinking water in the past few decades. Release of toxic effluents from the industrial sector is a major source of groundwater pollution. Different conventional methods used for purification of water involve use of adsorbents, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, and electrostatic precipitation, with the disadvantages of high cost, poor recyclability, and low efficiency. Despite progress made in the development of sustainable technologies, their use has been limited, largely because of the limitations of the materials’ properties, including their costs. Use of nanoparticles would help to solve this problem and would address the consequences of the presence of pesticides and heavy metals in water. Nanoparticles possess useful characteristics such as a direct bandgap, a high optical absorption coefficient, a layered structure, tunable band edges for optimized catalysis, low cost, and low toxicity. This review addresses different properties of nanoparticles contributing to water treatment and nanoadsorbents used for removal of numerous pollutants in groundwater purification.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of Holoptelea integrifolia and preliminary investigation of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antibacterial activities

Abstract: In present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized from the aqueous extract of Holoptelea integrifolia (HI) leaves and characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scan electron microscopy (FESEM), electron disperse X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. UV–vis study confirmed the formation of AgNPs. FTIR studies confirmed the presence of OH and NH functional groups of secondary molecules of HI capped on the AgNPs surface. FESEM studies revealed the formation of aggregates of spherical shape of size 32–38 nm. Presence of elemental silver was confirmed by EDX studies. Face centred cubic (FCC) crystal structure of biosynthesized AgNPs was governed by the XRD analysis. The biosynthesized AgNPs exhibited significant antioxidant activities (51.49 ± 3.33, 41.18 ± 2.27, and 74.59 ± 3.08% for the DPPH, metal chelating, and nitric oxide assay). Remarkable anti-diabetic (86.66 ± 5.03%), anti-inflammatory (binding constant 2.60 ± 0.05 × 10−4) and antibacterial (MIC from 75 to 150 μl) activities were noticed for biosynthesized AgNPs. This is the first report on the biosynthesis of AgNPs using leaves extract of HI. Results of present study could contribute to synthesize new and cost effective drugs from HI by using green approach.

Glyphosate uptake, translocation, resistance emergence in crops, analytical monitoring, toxicity and degradation: a review

Abstract: The herbicide glyphosate is widely used to control weeds in grain crops. The overuse of glyphosate has induced issues such as contamination of surface water, decreased soils fertility, adverse effects on soil microbiota and possible incorporation in food chains. Here we review biochemical, agricultural, microbiological and analytical aspects of glyphosate. We discuss uptake, translocation, toxicity, degradation, complexation behaviour, analytical monitoring techniques and resistance emergence in crops. We provide data of glyphosate toxicity on different ecosystems. Experiments reveal that excessive glyphosate use induces stress on crops and on non-target plants, and is toxic for mammalians, microorganisms and invertebrates. The long half-life period of glyphosate and its metabolites under different environmental conditions is a major concern. Development of analytical methods for the detection of glyphosate is important because glyphosate has no chromophoric or fluorophoric groups.

Unexpected formation of N'-phenyl-thiophosphorohydrazidic acid O,S-dimethyl ester from acephate: chemical, biotechnical and computational study.

Abstract: By the nucleophilic attack of phenylhydrazine on acephate in aqueous medium, a stable product N′-phenyl-thiophosphorohydrazidic acid O,S-dimethyl ester (1) was obtained and characterized by elemental, spectral and thermal analysis. Thermodynamic parameters, Ea, ΔH°, ΔS° and ΔG°, have found to be 62.15, −67.95, −0.068 and −20.05 kJ mol−1 according to the Coats–Redfern equation. Analysis of interaction of 1 with BSA protein was done by using the UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopic methods. The observed binding constants was 1.12 (±0.09) × 104 M−1. The biological effect of 1 was checked on different plant growth-promoting (PGPR) strains such as Rhizobium leguminosarum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Arthrobacter citreus, Bacillus brevis and Salmonella typhimurium and compared with parent molecule acephate where 1 has shown less toxicity against PGPRs as compared to acephate. The experimental results for geometric parameters and values of peak position in IR spectra have found to match excellently with the computational studies performed by GAMESS software package. Theoretically, twelve new analogs of 1 were prepared and their comparative reactivity (HOMO–LUMO energy) and biodecomposition (on the basis of polarizability) is discussed.