Department Of Botany

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    Marine macroalga Caulerpa: role of its metabolites in modulating cancer signaling
    (Springer, 2019) Mehra, R; Bhushan, S; Bast, Felix; Singh, S.
    Cancer, the leading causes of death worldwide, causes multiple metabolic and physiological alterations, leading to an unregulated proliferation of cells. The existing anticancer therapies are usually nonspecific with side effects and or are extremely expensive, thus hunt for better therapeutics is still on, specially efforts are made to look for naturally occurring molecules. Sea harbors several organisms which are unexplored for their biological potentials. Green macroalga genus, Caulerpa, is one such invaluable repository of bioactive metabolites like alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids and tannins with reported bioactivities against many diseases including cancer. Anti-cancerous metabolites of Caulerpa like caulerpenyne (Cyn), caulerpin, caulersin, and racemosin C, possess unique structural moieties and are known to exhibit distinct effects on cancer cells. Theses metabolites are reported to affect microtubule dynamics, unfolded protein response, mitochondrial health, cell cycle progression, metabolic and stress pathways by their cross-talk with signalling proteins like AMPK, GRP78, GADD153, Bid, Bax, AIF, Bcl2, P21, cyclin D, cyclin E, caspase 9, and PTP1B. Targeting of multiple cancer hallmarks by Caulerpa metabolites, with concomitant modulations of multiple signalling cascades, displays its multifactorial approach against cancer. Evaluation of anti-cancer properties of this genus is particularly important as Caulerpa species are widely edible and utilized in several delicacies in the coastal countries. This is the first review article providing a consolidated information about the role of Caulerpa in cancer with major contributing metabolites and plausible modulations in cancer signaling and prospects. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V.
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    Natural products as multidrug resistance modulators in cancer
    (Elsevier, 2019) Kumar, Amit; Jaitak, Vikas
    Cancer is a prominent cause of death globally. Currently, many drugs that are in clinical practice are having a high prevalence of side effect and multidrug resistance. Risk of tumors acquiring resistance to chemotherapy (multidrug resistance) remains a significant hurdle to the successful treatment of various types of cancer. Membrane-embedded drug transporters, generally overexpressed in cancer, are the leading cause among multiple mechanisms of multidrug resistance (MDR). P-glycoprotein (P-gp) also MDR1/ABCB1, multidrug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1), MRP2 and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2) are considered to be a prime factor for induction of MDR. To date, several chemical substances have been tested in a number of clinical trials for their MDR modulatory activity which are not having devoid of any side effects that necessitates to find newer and safer way to tackle the current problem of multidrug resistance in cancer. The present study systematically discusses the various classes of natural products i.e flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, coumarins (from plants, marine, and microorganisms) as potential MDR modulators and/or as a source of promising lead compounds. Recently a bisbenzyl isoquinoline alkaloid namely tetrandrine, isolated from Chinese herb Stephania tetrandra (Han-Fang-Chi) is in clinical trials for its MDR reversal activity. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS
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    Caulerpa taxifolia inhibits cell proliferation and induces oxidative stress in breast cancer cells
    (Springer, 2018) Mehra, Richa; Bhushan, Satej; Yadav, Umesh Prasad; Bast, Felix; Singh, Sandeep
    Caulerpa taxifolia (M. Vahl) C. Agardh or killer alga is known to possess several bioactive secondary metabolites with unique structural modifications. We investigated anti-oxidant and anti-proliferative activity of C. taxifolia extract (CTE) on breast and lung cancer cells, along with possible effects on mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cell cycle progression. The results revealed up to 6-folds increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), 2-folds increase in glutathione reductase (GR) activity, 1.7-fold increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and 1.8-fold change in catalase activity w.r.t. untreated cells i.e. 10.72 to 21.44 nmol/min/mL, 2.0 to 3.49 U/mL and 37.51 to 69.26 U/min/g FW, respectively, in MDA-MB-cells. Likewise, selective anti-proliferative activity with IC50 0.19 + 0.1, 0.27 + 0.1, and 0.43 + 0.1 μg/μL, was recorded in MDA-MB-231, T-47D, and H1299 cells. In addition, dose-dependent increase in MMP of up to 40% and G1/S phase mitotic arrest was documented by CTE treatment in MDA-MB-231 cells. The results suggest an anti-proliferative and oxidative stress inducing activity of CTE. Changes in MMP and cell cycle arrest further support the anti-cancer effects of CTE. It is believed that C. taxifolia may be considered as a potent source of anti-cancer drugs, subject to further validations.
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    Vitex negundo and its medicinal value
    (Springer, 2018) Gill, Balraj Singh; Mehra, Richa; Navget; Kumar, Sanjeev
    Natural products are rich in several potent bioactive compounds, targeting complex network of proteins involved in various diseases. Vitex negundo (VN), commonly known as “chaste tree”, is an ethnobotanically important plant with enormous medicinal properties. Different species of Vitex vary in chemical composition, thus producing different phytochemicals. Several bioactive compounds have been extracted from leaves, seeds, roots in form of volatile oils, flavonoids, lignans, iridoids, terpenes, and steroids. These bioactive compounds exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, antimicrobial. VN is typically known for its role in the modulation of cellular events like apoptosis, cell cycle, motility of sperms, polycystic ovary disease, and menstrual cycle. VN, reportedly, perturbs many cancer-signaling pathways involving p-p38, p-ERK1/2, and p-JNK in LPS-elicited cells, N-terminal kinase (JNK), COX-1 pathways, MAPK, NF-κB, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), Akt, mTOR, vascular endothelial growth factor, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α). Several bioactive compounds obtained from VN have been commercialized and others are under investigation. This is the first review presenting up-to-date information about the VN, its bioactive constituents and their mode of action.
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    Antioxidant potential of ganoderic acid in Notch-1 protein in neuroblastoma
    (Springer, 2018) Gill, Balraj Singh; Navgeet; Kuamr, Sanjeev
    Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumor arising from developing a sympathetic nervous system and causes around 10% of pediatric tumors. Despite advancement in the use of sophisticated techniques in molecular biology, neuroblastoma patient's survivability rate is very less. Notch pathway is significant in upholding cell maintenance and developmental process of organs. Notch-1 proteins are a ligand-activated transmembrane receptor which decides the fate of the cell. Notch signaling leads to transcription of genes which indulged in numerous diseases including tumor progression. Ganoderic acid, a lanosterol triterpene, isolated from fungus Ganoderma lucidum with a wide range of medicinal values. In the present study, various isoforms of the ganoderic acid and natural inhibitors were docked by molecular docking using Maestro 9 in the Notch-1 signaling pathway. The receptor-based molecular docking exposed the best binding interaction of Notch-1 with ganoderic acid A with GScore (- 8.088), kcal/mol, Lipophilic EvdW (- 1.74), Electro (- 1.18), Glide emodel (- 89.944) with the active participation of Arg 189, Arg 199, Glu 232 residues. On the other hand natural inhibitor, curcumin has GScore (- 7.644), kcal/mol, Lipophilic EvdW (- 2.19), Electro (- 0.73), Glide emodel (- 70.957) with Arg 75 residues involved in docking. The ligand binding affinity of ganoderic acid A in Notch-1 is calculated using MM-GBSA (- 76.782), whereas curcumin has (- 72.815) kcal/mol. The QikProp analyzed the various drug-likeness parameters such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME/T) and isoforms of ganoderic acid require some modification to fall under Lipinski rule. The ganoderic acid A and curcumin were the best-docked among different compounds and exhibits downregulation in Notch-1 mRNA expression and inhibits proliferation, viability, and ROS activity in IMR-32 cells.
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    Impact of mitochondrial transplantation on cancer cells
    (Central University of Punjab, 2014) Aggarwal, Alza; Bhardwaj, Pankaj
    Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, are small granular or filamentous bodies associated significantly with cellular respiration and are the main sources of energy, due to which they are present in maximum number in the organs that require large amounts of energy for doing their function like muscle cells, neural cells, etc. In case of any dysfunction of mitochondria, these organs are most affected culminating in a number of serious multi organs diseases, irrespective of age such as neurogenic weakness with ataxia and retinitis pigmentosa (NARP), or Leigh syndrome (LS), Cancer, etc. Although mutations in mitochondrial genes are common in cancer cells, they do not inactivate mitochondrial energy metabolism, but rather alter the mitochondrial bioenergetics and biosynthetic state. Literature survey also revealed that owing to mitochondrial dysfunction the clinical trial of many anticancer drugs has failed in patients. This study is focused on the impact of mitochondrial transplantation on cancer cells and their drug sensitivity against four human cancer cell lines HCT116 (WT & P53mutated), HepG2 and MCF7. The normal cell's Mitochondria was transplanted into cancer cells and then evaluated the Impact of transplantation of mitochondria from healthy cells into cancer cell upon their growth, ROS production and their drug sensitivity. The results of this study revealed that the healthy mitochondria transplanted to cancer cells decrease carcinogenesis and have drug sensitivity. So, it may be used as futuristic cancer remedy.
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    IMPACT OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE IN CANCER
    (Nova Science Publishers, 2017) Singh, Pushpendra; Rani, Alka; Bast, Felix
    Personalized medicine aims to customize therapeutic care based on a person's unique genetic profile. Physicians have tailored care based on individual's health history and the environment. However, the decoding of the human genome in 2003 was an important step towards breakthroughs in personalized medicine, as a clinical care that takes benefits of molecular tools to facilitate highly specific health care based on individual's unique genomic and molecular characteristics. Pharmacogenetics refers to a single gene that influences drug metabolism. However, pharmacogenomics encompasses all genes in the genome that may determine the drug response. Pharmacogenomics enables the improved understanding of disease pathogenesis through genomics research, via identification of new biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics are around to revolutionize the aspect of medicine; yet, many challenges stand in the way. Hike in the cost of genotyping make genetic profiling less attractive and its clinical implementation is also lagging far behind. This book chapter presents an overview of the opportunities and challenges that influence the participation of personalized approach of giving the right drug at the right dose to the right patient. 
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    In Silico and In Vitro Studies Evidenced Anticancer Natural Compounds, a Targeting Chemokine Receptor
    (iMedPub, 2016) Singh, Pushpendra; Bast, Felix
    Chemokines are a family of small chemotactic cytokines, which play a significant role in lymphocyte homing to secondary lymphoid organs in addition to tumor growth and metastasis. Thus, inhibition of chemokine receptor caught attention for anticancer treatment strategy. We studied molecular docking of chemokines receptor CXCR2, CXCR4, and CCR5 against natural and marine compounds. All selected natural and marine compounds were docked with the X-ray crystal structure of CXCR2, CXCR4, and CCR5 retrieved from the PDB by using Maestro 9.6. Molecular docking was executed by the XP (extra precision) mode of GLIDE. On the basis of Gscore and protein-ligand interactions, top-ranking compounds were outlined. The docking study carried out to summarize the various Gscore, hydrophobic, electrostatic bond, hydrogen bond, π-cation and π-π interactions and oversee the protein-ligand interactions. Moreover, effect of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on biological activity such as mRNA expression (CXCR2, CCR5, and Bid), cell proliferation, ROS, and cell-migration was reported after the 48 hrs treatments in MCF-7 cells. The RT-PCR densitometric bands analysis showed that compound EGCG reduced the mRNA expression of CXCR2, CCR5 and increased the Bid at 40 μM and 80 μM concentration. Moreover, EGCG significantly reduced cell proliferation, ROS generation and cell-migration after 48 hours treatments.
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    Multitargeted molecular docking study of plant-derived natural products on phosphoinositide-3 kinase pathway components
    (Springer, 2014) Bast, Felix; Singh, Pushpendra
    Phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway comprises of a cornucopia of protein molecules capable of regulating numerous cellular events, including cell survival, cell cycle regulation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Deregulation of PI3K downstream signaling is a phenomenon commonly seen in various types of cancer and also held responsible for poor prognosis and resistance to chemotherapy. Targeting PI3K signaling pathway has become a new and promising strategy in combating cancer. In the present study, PI3K signaling components PI3K, PDK1, Akt, and mTOR were chosen and 51 natural compounds along with 17 reference compounds were selected as ligand with the aid of PubMed published literature search. Ligands were docked to protein molecules by using Maestro 9.3 (Schrödinger Inc.). It was discovered in this study that compounds myricetin, quercetin, morin, luteolin, and emodin yielded excellent dock score with the proteins concluded with the help of docking free energy. The remarkable feature of these compounds are their various pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic characteristics, many of which are in accordance with the “Lipinski’s Rule of five”. The docking study carried out is an endeavor to portray the docking of these compounds with the proteins, to summarize the various Gscore, hydrogen bond, electrostatic bond, and to chart out various factors that are decisive for and also govern the protein–ligand interactions.
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    Natural Compounds Targeting Transforming Growth Factor-β: In Silico and In Vitro Study
    (ejBio, 2016) Singh, Pushpendra; Bast, Felix; Singh, Ravi Shankar
    Inhibition of the tumor-promoting effects of transforming growth factor beta receptor (TGFβR) in carcinogenesis provides a better therapeutic intervention. Various natural compounds, inhibitors of TGFβR have been used for in vitro and in vivo anticancer study. Although very few TGFβR inhibitors are now intensifying in preclinical studies. In this study our aim to investigate TGFβR1, TGFβR2 and TAK1 inhibitor by using molecular docking and in vitro study. Our result revealed that some compounds have better docking energy. Moreover, the effect of two lead molecules epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and myricetin on the mRNA expression of TGFβR1 was reported after the 48 hrs treatments in HepG2 and PC3 cancer cell lines. The RT-PCR showed that compound EGCG and myricetin reduced the mRNA expression of TGFβR1 at 80 μM concentration. This molecular docking study provides a better understanding of binding of compounds to the active site of proteins and to summarize the various binding energy, hydrophobic, hydrogen, an electrostatic bond that are decisive for the protein-ligand interactions. Further experimental work will be required for validation of our results.