Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Department of Biotechnology

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to analyze the antiproliferative activity of Acacia nilotica (L.) leaf ethanolic extract against cancer KB cells and to determine the mode of cancer cytotoxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis were done to confirm the presence of ethyl gallate as a major bioactive phenolic in the leaf ethanolic extract of A. nilotica, further dose-dependent (0-120 μg/mL) antiproliferative effect was investigated in human carcinoma cell line KB. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential loss, DNA damage, and apoptosis were evaluated. RESULTS: A. nilotica leaf ethanolic extract (ANLEE) showed effective concentration (EC50) of 40 μg/mL. Interference of growth was significantly (P &lt; 0.05) high in KB cells treated with ANLEE when compared to untreated control, but less when compared to the reference drug paclitaxel. In addition, the in vivo acute toxicity study demonstrated the safe limit of administration of 2000 mg/kg body weight ANLEE by the histological analysis in rats. The results from the present study indicate that mitochondria and DNA of KB cells are severely affected leading to apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: ANLEE is a prospective source for cancer therapy and therefore should be highlighted to explore on its wide range of safety in rats and efficacy against human carcinoma cell line KB. © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

School of Bio Sciences and Technology

Vellore Campus

World University root node

Indian Journal of Pharmacology

Antiproliferative effect of Acacia nilotica (L.) leaf extract rich in ethyl gallate against human carcinoma cell line KB

Psoriasis is a chronic immune mediated disorder of the skin. There is growing evidence that the Src family tyrosine kinases (SFK) are highly upregulated in psoriasis. The SFK are the key components of the signaling pathways triggering cell growth and differentiation in addition to the immune cascades. In the current work, the interactions between SFK and selective phyto-compounds were studied using molecular docking approach. Based on the results of docking and binding energy calculations quercetin was identified as potential lead compound. To get a deeper insight into the binding of quercetin with the SFK, a combined molecular dynamics and binding free energy calculations were performed. The binding of quercetin disrupted the intra-molecular contacts making the SFK compact except Src kinase. The MM/PBSA free energy decomposition analysis highlighted the significance of hydrophobic and polar residues which are involved in the binding of quercetin. An experimental validation was carried out against the activated forms of Fyn, Lyn and Src kinases, the top three proteins which showed high preference for quercetin. The flow cytometry analysis showed that the expression levels of Fyn, Lyn and Src kinases were dramatically increased in HaCaT cells. However, the treatment of quercetin at the concentration of 51.65 µM for 24 h markedly decreased their expression in HaCaT cells. Besides, similar results were also observed when the HaCaT cells were treated with the kinase inhibitor Ponitinib (1.43 µM) for 24 h. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

Conformational insights into the inhibitory mechanism of phyto-compounds against Src kinase family members implicated in psoriasis

The toxic effect of TiO2 nanoparticles (TNP) greatly varies with the variation in synthesis protocol followed. Any morphological alteration of TNPs affects their activity. In the present study, we report the detailed toxicological analysis of TNPs fabricated by a microwave irradiation–assisted hybrid chemical approach. The toxicological mechanism was studied in human colon cancer cell lines (HCT116). Results indicate that TNP induces oxidative stress on HCT116, which, in turn, causes mitochondrial membrane depolarization. We also observed activation of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 by Western blot analysis. This indicates TNPs induce mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, G1 cell cycle arrest was observed by flow-cytometric analysis. This study provides an understanding of the mechanism of action for apoptosis induced by TNPs, which can be further used to design safe TNPs for various consumer products and also suggests that extensive research needs to be done on harmful effects of TNPs synthesized from different approaches before commercial application. © Copyright © 2020 Ranjan, Dasgupta, Mishra and Ramalingam.

Fulltext

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Involvement of Bcl-2 Activation and G1 Cell Cycle Arrest in Colon Cancer Cells Induced by Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Microwave-Assisted Hybrid Approach

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a major seafood-borne pathogen causing significant economic losses in aquaculture systems. Therefore, application of phage encoded enzymes, particularly endolysin, as a new strategy for effective biocontrol and therapeutic agent against bacterial diseases. In the present study, we synthesized endolysin gene (Vplys60) of bacteriophage qdv001 and biochemically characterized by expressing in Pichia pastoris X-33. In addition to, we also investigated the anti-biofilm and anti-vibriosis activity of Pichia-expressing Vplys60 against vibrio challenged in vivo aquaculture model, Artemia franciscana. The result indicated that the predicted molecular size of Pichia expressed Vplys60 was approximately 28 kDa as verified by SDS-PAGE and zymogram. Vplys60 manifested stable activity over broad range of pH (6–10), temperatures (37–75 °C) and salinity (100–600 mM NaCl). Biochemical and in silico analysis revealed that addition of calcium ion (Ca2+) enhanced the lytic activity of Vplys60 whereas other metal ions inhibited the activity. Additionally, calcium-dependent Vplys60 has showed a strong amidase activity by cleaving the peptidoglycan of V. parahaemolyticus. Our data also showed that Vplys60 (75 μg/ml) significantly inhibits biofilm formation (91.6%) and significantly reduced the bacterial population. The in vivo challenge study showed enhanced survival rate in combination with reduced vibrio load in Artemia after administration of Pichia-expressing Vplys60. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Department of English

School of Social Sciences & Languages

VIT Unitversity

Department of Energy and Power Electronics

School of Electrical Engineering

Department of General Management

VIT Business School

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

Recombinant engineered phage-derived enzybiotic in Pichia pastoris X-33 as whole cell biocatalyst for effective biocontrol of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in aquaculture

Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World Nanoscience in Medicine Vol. 1

Improving Bioavailability of Vitamin A in Food by Encapsulation: An Update

Augmented escape of nanostructures to the ecosystem has necessitated the comprehensive study of their impact, especially on plants. In the current study, hematite nanoparticles were prepared by employing garlic extract and checked for their cytogenetic effect on onion roots and germination characteristics of five agricultural crops (Vigna radiata, Triticum aestivum, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Cicer arietinum and Vicia faba) in the concentration range of 20-100 mg/L. Onion roots exhibited an increased mitotic index till 60 mg/L dosage, beyond which trend decreased marginally. Percentage of aberrant chromosomes reported for 100 mg/L exposure was very low (3.358 ± 0.13%) and included common defects such as clumped/sticky metaphase, ring chromosomes, laggards, spindle abnormality, chromosome bridges etc. Moreover, comet assay, DNA laddering experiment and electron micrograph study confirmed negligible damage to onion roots. Seed germination study indicated a positive response in different agronomic traits (germination index, root length, fold change in weight and vigour index) up to 60 mg/L, beyond which either negative or neutral effect was observed. However, none of the samples showed 50% inhibition in germination index; highest being 33.33% inhibition for V. faba, compared to the control. In brief, biogenic hematite nanoparticles caused insignificant phytotoxicity and were likely assimilated as iron source at lower dosage. © 2019 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

IET Nanobiotechnology

Superparamagnetic hematite nanoparticle: Cytogenetic impact on onion roots and seed germination response of major crop plants

A series of new pyrrolidine-appended phenoxy-substituted quinoline derivatives were synthesized using 2-chloro-3-formyl quinoline. Initially, the second position of 2-chloro-3-formyl quinoline was successfully converted into various substituted phenoxy-substituted quinolines using various substituted phenols; then, its aldehyde function was reduced to its corresponding alcohols which is in turn converted into its corresponding pyrrolidine-appended phenoxy-substituted quinolines by treating it with 1-(2-chloroacetyl)pyrrolidine-2-carbonitrile. All these newly synthesized compounds were subjected to the in silico studies with the α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes to predict the binding affinity. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V.

Department of Chemistry

School of Advanced Sciences

Research on Chemical Intermediates

Design, synthesis and exploration of in silico α-amylase and α-glucosidase binding studies of pyrrolidine-appended quinoline-constrained compounds

Watermelon is an annual fruit crop that faces various biotic and abiotic stresses. Genetic engineering is an efficient tool for improving plant traits that combat environmental stresses. In this study, we have developed an improved Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation system for watermelon and the same was evaluated in four cultivars (Arka Manik, Arka Muthu, IIHR-14, and Sugar Baby).Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA 105 bearing binary vector pCAMBIA 1301-bar was used to standardize the transformation protocol. BASTA® 6 mg−1was used to eliminate nontransformed tissues and select transformed shoots. To improve the transformation efficiency, polyamine incorporation in the medium, sonication of explant, and vacuum infiltration were tested. The highest transformation efficiency of 17.3% was achieved with spermidine (15 mg l−1) incorporation in the culture medium, sonicating the explant for 30 s followed by 2 min vacuum infiltration during Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation, in the cultivar Arka Manik. The shoot induction and elongation medium containing BA (1 mg l−1), leucine (5 mg l−1), spermidine (10 mg l−1) along with BASTA® were successfully used for regeneration and elongation of shoots, from cotyledonary node. The 2-month-old regenerated putative transformants were subjected for molecular analysis. Histochemical GUS (β-glucuronidase) assay, PCR and southern analysis confirmed the presence of a transgene in the obtained transgenic watermelon lines. This transformation protocol was tested in four cultivars to prove its efficiency, which further confirmed that this genotype-independent direct regeneration–based Agrobacterium transformation protocol could be further explored for improving genetic transformation of watermelon. © 2019 SAAB

Department of Design and Automation

School of Mechanical Engineering

Centre for Bio-Separation and Technology

South African Journal of Botany

Polyamines, sonication and vacuum infiltration enhances the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thunb.)

Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the major food crops, and it is considered to be a very distinctive plant, since it is able to produce a large amount of the natural polymer of starch through its capacity to utilize large amounts of sunlight. Corn starch is used in a wide range of products and applications. In recent years, the use of nanotechnology for applications in the food industry has become more apparent; it has been used for protecting against biological and chemical deterioration, increasing bioavailability, and enhancing physical properties, among other functions. However, the high cost of nanotechnology can make it difficult for its application on a commercial scale. As a biodegradable natural polymer, corn starch is a great alternative for the production of nanomaterials. Therefore, the search for alternative materials to be used in nanotechnology has been studied. This review has discussed in detail the properties, simulations, and wide range of applications of corn starch-based nanomaterials. © 2020 by the authors.

Polymers

A comprehensive review on corn starch-based nanomaterials: Properties, simulations, and applications

Oral Oncology

Clinical interpretation of findings from a systematic review and a comprehensive meta-analysis on clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) arising in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP)