Showing papers by "Rama Shanker Verma published in 2021"

Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) Using Cissus quadrangularis: Characterization, Antimicrobial and Anticancer Studies

Abstract: In the present study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized using the stem aqueous extracts of Cissus quadrangularis (Cq) and characterized using UV, FTIR, XRD, TEM, SAED and EDAX. The synthesized Cq-ZnO NPs showed its optical absorbance at 378 nm and observed as spherical particles with a size of about ~ 75 to 90 nm. The potential antibacterial activity of Cq-ZnO NPs showed an effective inhibition of M. smegmatis at 50 µg/ml when compared to other bacterial species. The antiproliferative effect was observed at 100 μg/ml on MIA PaCa-2 cell lines with IC50 value of 7.02 ± 0.02 µg/ml at 24 h. The synthesized Cq-ZnO NPs was found potential activity against bacterial pathogens and cancer cells. Therefore, they may possibly be employed as useful antibacterial and antiproliferative agents.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration: from Differentiation to Cell Delivery.

Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are so far the most widely researched stem cells in clinics and used as an experimental cellular therapy module, particularly in cardiac regeneration and repair. Ever since the discovery of cardiomyogenesis induction in MSCs, a wide variety of differentiation protocols have been extensively used in preclinical models. However, pre differentiated MSC-derived cardiomyocytes have not been used in clinical trials; highlighting discrepancies and limitations in its use as a source of derived cardiomyocytes for transplantation to improve the damaged heart function. Therefore, this review article focuses on the strategies used to derive cardiomyocytes-like cells from MSCs isolated from three widely used tissue sources and their differentiation efficiencies. We have further discussed the role of MSCs in inducing angiogenesis as a cellular precursor to endothelial cells and its secretory aspects including exosomes. We have then discussed the strategies used for delivering cells in the damaged heart and how its retention plays a critical role in the overall outcome of the therapy. We have also conversed about the scope of the local and systemic modes of delivery of MSCs and the application of biomaterials to improve the overall delivery efficacy and function. We have finally discussed the advantages and limitations of cell delivery to the heart and the future scope of MSCs in cardiac regenerative therapy.

Cardiac Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Impact of Biological and Chemical Inducers.

Abstract: Cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) are the leading cause of global death, widely occurs due to irreparable loss of the functional cardiomyocytes. Stem cell-based therapeutic approaches, particularly the use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) is an emerging strategy to regenerate myocardium and thereby improving the cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI). Most of the current approaches often employ the use of various biological and chemical factors as cues to trigger and modulate the differentiation of MSCs into the cardiac lineage. However, the recent advanced methods of using specific epigenetic modifiers and exosomes to manipulate the epigenome and molecular pathways of MSCs to modify the cardiac gene expression yield better profiled cardiomyocyte like cells in vitro. Hitherto, the role of cardiac specific inducers triggering cardiac differentiation at the cellular and molecular level is not well understood. Therefore, the current review highlights the impact and recent trends in employing biological and chemical inducers on cardiac differentiation of MSCs. Thereby, deciphering the interactions between the cellular microenvironment and the cardiac inducers will help us to understand cardiomyogenesis of MSCs. Additionally, the review also provides an insight on skeptical roles of the cell free biological factors and extracellular scaffold assisted mode for manipulation of native and transplanted stem cells towards translational cardiac research.

5FU encapsulated polyglycerol sebacate nanoparticles as anti-cancer drug carriers

Abstract: The majority of anti-cancer drugs fail to reach clinical trials due to their low water solubility. A biocompatible drug delivery system that encapsulates and efficiently delivers hydrophobic drugs to the target site is the need of the hour. This study addresses the issue by focusing on a polymeric polyglycerol sebacate (PGS) nanoparticles loaded with 5-fluorouracil (5FU), a primary line chemotherapy drug for many types of cancers. The generated nanoparticle (PGS-NP) was biocompatible and had minimal cytotoxicity against the MDA-MB-231 and A549 cell lines, even at a high concentration of 100 μg mL−1. The cell viability post treatment with PGS nanoparticles encapsulated with 5FU (PGS-5FU) decreased to as low as around 40% whereas, in the case of treatment with 5FU, the viability percentage increased. The nanoparticles also showed controlled drug release when encapsulated with 5FU. This striking observation suggested that these nanoparticles can improve the efficacy of drug delivery to tumor sites. Apoptosis assay and caspase-3 activity quantification supported these data wherein PGS-5FU treatment showed almost three times caspase-3 activity as compared to control cells. Additionally, throughout all the experiments, MDA-MB-231 cells were more sensitive to PGS-5FU than A549 cells, indicating that these nanoparticles are ideal for breast cancer treatment. In summary, 5FU encapsulated PGS nanoparticles are a potential drug carrier to deliver 5FU efficiently to cancer cells.

Importance of Interkingdom Interactions Among Oral Microbiome Towards Caries Development – A Review

Abstract: The human microbiome plays a crucial role in health and disease conditions. These microbiomes constitute a structured, coordinated microbial network throughout the human body. The oral cavity harbors one of the extensively diverse bacteria in the human system. Although many studies emphasize bacteriome and its interaction with the host system, very little attention is given to candidate phyla radiation (CPR), fungal components, and its interkingdom interaction in the oral microecology even with advanced techniques. The interkingdom interactions among caries causing microbes trigger the pathogenesis of bacterial diseases and cause ecological shifts and affect the host system. Studying the complex relations among the diverse oral microbiome and its host, especially CPR phyla and fungi, would give a holistic view of the caries etiology. This review provides evidence on the interkingdom interaction that establishes a complex community that could help predict future oral and systemic diseases. Importance of Interkingdom Interactions Among Oral Microbiome Towards Caries Development – A Review Kalpana Balakrishnan1,4, Divya Sivanesan1, Gaanappriya Mohan4, Sachin S Gunthe2,3, Rama S Verma1* 1Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 3Laboratory of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 4Department of Biotechnology, K. S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Namakkal Tamil Nadu, India

Effect of salinomycin on EMT and stemness pathways in 5-FU-resistant breast cancer

Abstract: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) present in tumours are the primary cause of cancer recurrence and mediates resistance against therapeutic intervention. CSC properties like epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stemness lead to metastasis, quiescence and clonogenicity. Thus, there is a need for drug targeting CSCs; salinomycin is an efficient compound to achieve the same. Here, we report the effect of salinomycin on EMT and stemness pathway in chemoresistant breast cancer cells. Multiple treatments of breast cancer cells with 5-FU resulted in chemoresistant cells exhibiting a significant increase of cancer stemness and EMT markers like snail, zeb1, sox2. These cells had profound migratory and clonogenic features. A single dosage of salinomycin was sufficient to reduce the observed EMT and stemness markers associated with drug resistance. Further, the salinomycin treatment arrested the cell cycle at G2/M phase. Thus, our results demonstrated that salinomycin potentially eliminates breast CSCs.