Bharathiar University

About: Bharathiar University is a education organization based out in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Adsorption. The organization has 5812 authors who have published 8628 publications receiving 143934 citations. The organization is also known as: BU.

Colorimetric determination of sulfide using chitosan-capped silver nanoparticles

Abstract: The article describes a simple method for the rapid photometric and visual detection of sulfide in water samples. Silver nanoparticles were capped with chitosan (chit-AgNPs) and then characterized by absorption spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and zeta potential measurements. Chit-AgNPs exhibit a strong surface plasmon resonance band at 404 nm which disappears in the presence of increasing concentrations of sulfide. This is accompanied by color change from yellow to colorless and attributed to the formation of silver sulfide on the surface of the chit-AgNPs. This was corroborated by HR-TEM and zeta potential measurements. The method is fairly selective for sulfide even in the presence of 100-fold higher concentrations of interferents such as common anions and thiol containing molecules. The method can be applied to quantify sulfide in the 0.80 to 6.40 × 10−6 mol dm−3 concentration range with a 0.35 × 10−6 mol dm−3 detection limit (at an S/N ratio of 3).

Emodin suppresses migration and invasion through the modulation of CXCR4 expression in an orthotopic model of human hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract: Accumulating evidence(s) indicate that CXCL12-CXCR4 signaling cascade plays an important role in the process of invasion and metastasis that accounts for more than 80% of deaths in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Thus, identification of novel agents that can downregulate CXCR4 expression and its associated functions have a great potential in the treatment of metastatic HCC. In the present report, we investigated an anthraquinone derivative, emodin for its ability to affect CXCR4 expression as well as function in HCC cells. We observed that emodin downregulated the expression of CXCR4 in a dose-and time-dependent manner in HCC cells. Treatment with pharmacological proteasome and lysosomal inhibitors did not have substantial effect on emodin-induced decrease in CXCR4 expression. When investigated for the molecular mechanism(s), it was observed that the suppression of CXCR4 expression was due to downregulation of mRNA expression, inhibition of NF-κB activation, and abrogation of chromatin immunoprecipitation activity. Inhibition of CXCR4 expression by emodin further correlated with the suppression of CXCL12-induced migration and invasion in HCC cell lines. In addition, emodin treatment significantly suppressed metastasis to the lungs in an orthotopic HCC mice model and CXCR4 expression in tumor tissues. Overall, our results show that emodin exerts its anti-metastatic effect through the downregulation of CXCR4 expression and thus has the potential for the treatment of HCC.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors for Alzheimer's Disease: Multitargeting Strategy Based on Anti-Alzheimer's Drugs Repositioning.

Abstract: In the brain, acetylcholine (ACh) is regarded as one of the major neurotransmitters. During the advancement of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cholinergic deficits occur and this can lead to extensive cognitive dysfunction and decline. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) remains a highly feasible target for the symptomatic improvement of AD. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) remains a highly viable target for the symptomatic improvement in AD because cholinergic deficit is a consistent and early finding in AD. The treatment approach of inhibiting peripheral AChE for myasthenia gravis had effectively proven that AChE inhibition was a reachable therapeutic target. Subsequently tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine were developed and approved for the symptomatic treatment of AD. Since then, multiple cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) have been continued to be developed. These include newer ChEIs, naturally derived ChEIs, hybrids, and synthetic analogues. In this paper, we summarize the different types of ChEIs which are under development and their respective mechanisms of actions.