Science Last Fortnight
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NEWS Science Last Fortnight Acid Test for Treatment nancy in India. It is also the cause of the lines. The results also reveal that there is Emperor of Maladies largest estimated cancer deaths world- a small RNA, called Hsa-mir-126-5p, wide. Scientists are now investigating which directs dengue replication in hu- Cancer is one among the top ten causes biological molecules to change the cell man cell lines. This discovery suggests of morbidity and mortality in the world. processes that cause malignancy. that microRNAs might be a potential Conventional chemotherapy for cancer Now, a team of scientists from NIT, target against dengue viruses. has adverse side effects. Scientists have Rourkela and IIT, Kharagpur, India, in This research is evidence enough to been evaluating natural compounds for collaboration with the Virginia Com- support the idea that the RNA interfer- drugs which effectively control cancer monwealth University, have demon- ence machinery of the host acts as an without any side effects. One such com- strated that agglutinins – proteins that antiviral defence mechanism in human pound is boswellic acid, obtained from bind to carbohydrates – from the seeds cell lines. Since host-derived miRNAs the Indian olibanum tree, Boswellia ser- of rati, Abrus precatorius, a medicinal have antiviral activity against many viral rata. plant, is efficient against breast cancer. infections, miRNA-based therapies may Boswellia has been used in traditional The scientists found that it inhibits soon be a part of the treatment for a medicine for various ailments. The gum cancer cell multiplication by generating variety of diseases. resin of this plant (Shallaki) contains cell death proteins. It simultaneously Gene, 586(1), 7–11 boswellic acid. Boswellic acid is known triggers the generation of reactive oxy- for its anti-inflammatory action and has gen species. The protein, thus, destroys Dermal Drug Delivery been used in arthritis. the cancer cells through a two-pronged Deep rooted solution Nand Kishore Roy and his research approach. team from the IIT Guwahati, in collabo- Popping pills is a common way to con- The lectin also inhibits the formation sume medicines. The ingested drug is ration with the Cancer Research Institute of blood capillaries. This stops the can- of Singapore, did clinical trials on bos- absorbed into the bloodstream which cer cells from proliferating into tumor- transports it to the site of infection. But wellic acid to screen for its effect on ous growth. This, in turn, further inhibits symptoms developed due to cancer ther- this strategy is ineffective for deep the ability of the cells to generate new rooted skin infections. Due to low pene- apy. They administered boswellic acid capillary blood vessels. to young people diagnosed with intra- trability, it is extremely difficult to de- Scientists say that abrus agglutinins liver drugs to a site within the skin. cranial tumour. There was no side effect can selectively target human breast can- during the 9 month period of treatment. Scientists are now trying to solve this cer cells. These results would enable problem using nanoparticles that can Five children showed improvement in scientists to adopt a multidimensional their general health status. They found seep into the skin. In the last fortnight, approach for battling breast cancer. Prasad, from the University of Delhi, in that the treatment is useful in reducing Int. J. Cancer, 139(2), 457–466 the oedema associated with brain tu- collaboration with researchers in the University of Berlin, reported creation mours. Dengue Virus microRNAs of one such drug delivery model. They report that a cream containing New therapeutic arsenal boswellic acid is useful to reduce the ra- Prasad and his team made use of diation induced adverse effect on skin in The dengue virus causes widespread amphiphilic branched shells: spherical breast cancer patients. Boswellic acid haemorrhagic fever, morbidity and mor- nanoparticle shells having both hydro- application significantly reduced the tality globally. As many as 400 million phobic and hydrophilic chains. Such oedema in the skin caused by radiation. people are infected yearly. But there is shells have been coupled with a The main constraint in using boswel- no specific treatment for dengue. The branched polyglycerol core in the past to lic acid for treatment is its poor bioavail- virus has a compact genome and this solubilize water insoluble drugs. ability: it gets degraded very quickly. poses a challenge to the scientific com- Branching serves to trap greater amount They suggest two alternative approaches munity in trying to find ways to control of drug. to solve the problem: (1) delivering the the disease. The researchers synthesized two ex- drug through nanoparticles, adjuvants or Kakumani and his team from New tensively branched polymer cores by liposomes and (2) developing structural Delhi and Faridabad started exploring linking polyglycerol with different analogues of boswellic acid to enhance the role of host miRNAs in dengue rep- organic acids. They created three such bioavailability. lication and pathogenesis. The research- drug delivery systems which were tested Cancer Letters, 377(1), 74–86 ers succeeded in identifying a factor, for drug entrapment, skin penetration Glucose Regulated Protein, which is in- and toxicity. Abrus – A Hope for Breast Cancer volved in the processing of the small The core multi-shell systems are 11 RNAs. Silencing of this protein in hu- times more efficient in penetrating skin With changing lifestyles, women are be- man cell lines results in accumulation of compared to a base cream formulation coming increasingly vulnerable to breast dengue viral RNA. Thus the protein re- and exhibit negligible toxicity at a low cancer. It is the most diagnosed malig- stricts dengue replication in human cell concentration. Scientists are confident 244 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 111, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2016 NEWS that efficient drug entrapment and combination of chitosan, polyethylene To become more sustainable, textile minimal toxicity will make their model glycol and polyvinyl pyrrolidone gel, industries started using plant and micro- commercially viable. smeared on cotton fabric. There is bial based eco-friendly dyes to reduce doi: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.04.074 enough evidence in the literature about pollution. Microbial based dyes are easy the use of chitosan in treating inflamma- to handle, more easily biodegradable. Ion Passage Restricted tion and obesity. Polyethylene glycol, a They are also more efficient and inex- pH gating of toxic pores water soluble polymer, has good absorp- pensive. Moreover, large-scale produc- Bacteria have an assortment of tricks for tion properties and polyvinyl pyrroli- tion of these dyes is not difficult. attacking the human body. One particu- done is a major component of butadiene. In the last fortnight, Priya and her larly interesting strategy is the release of The composite has a porous structure team from the Central Leather Research toxins that self-assemble to form pores. enabling easy air passage and could ab- Institute, Chennai, reported developing These integrate with the plasma mem- sorb water. an eco-friendly protein dye using re- brane of the target cell and disturb the The ‘wound dresser’ was tested for combinant technology. The team cloned osmotic balance leading to cell death. A drug release potential. The drug, tetracy- the genes responsible for the green fluo- group of scientists from the Indian Insti- cline, was released within 48 hours and rescent protein from a jellyfish. tute of Science, Bengaluru, headed by maintained an antibacterial action over The protein-based fluorescent pig- Maiti, has devised a strategy to block an extended period. It was effective ment of the jellyfish has biochemical these pores by introducing protonated against Staphylococcus aureus, an infec- characters similar to microbial dye. gates. tious bacteria. Wound healing properties Three adjacent amino acids are respon- Maiti’s team tested dendrimers a class were effective for 21 days with minimal sible for the green fluorescent colour. It of hyperbranched polymers, as pore scarring. Thus, the discovery may enable is also possible to alter the colour by blockers. They used molecular dynamic effective scar free wound healing and mutation. The fluorescent protein is very simulations to study the efficiency of aid cosmetic surgeries. stable to heat, extreme pH and chemical polyamido-amine dendrimers as pore Int. J. Pharmaceutics, 508(1–2), 92–101 denaturants. blockers for Cytolysin A – a toxin re- Two variants of the green fluorescent Waste Cooking Oil as Biodiesel! leased by E. coli. protein obtained from the recombinant Scientists observe that protonation Scientists from the Indian Institute of technology showed more than 85% dye- could cause extensive branching be- Technology, Kanpur and the Korea Ad- ing efficiency. Optimum level of dyeing tween the dendrimer and the negatively vanced Institute of Science and Tech- is observed in 4 hours with 5 M protein charged pore walls which retard its ap- nology, are now suggesting use of waste concentration. The intensity of dyeing, proach into the pore lumen. The posi- cooking oil as a fuel. They conducted colour difference values and characteris- tively charged protonated dendrimers experiments for a comprehensive inves- tics of leather coated with the fluores- also disturb the potassium ion gradient. tigation of the spray and combustion cent proteins show that they can be used While both non-protonated and proto- characteristics of waste oil. as an environment-friendly dye. nated dendrimers can block the passage Technically, waste oil exhibits a lar- Green fluorescent proteins will go a of water to a similar extent, protonated ger injection delay and higher injection long way in making future leather indus- dendrimers are 3 times more effective rate peak than diesel, possibly because tries cleaner and greener! J. Cleaner Production, 126, 698–706 than non-protonated dendrimers in of its higher fuel viscosity and density. blocking ion transport and can inhibit A decrease in flame intensity and visible Corrigendum more than 90% of ions from being flame was observed.