Shahriar Zaman

Cancer and antimicrobial resistance pose significant global health challenges, necessitating the development of novel therapeutic approaches. This study presents the green synthesis of (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS)-modified iron oxide nanoparticles coated with Elettaria cardamomum extract (EC-AMIONPs) via a co-precipitation method. The synthesized nanoparticles were thoroughly characterized using UV-vis, FTIR, SEM, EDX, XRD, TGA, and VSM techniques. The analyses confirmed the successful formation of spherical, amorphous EC-AMIONPs with an average size of 14.28 nm and paramagnetic properties. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of bioactive compounds, including terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, tannins, and phenols. Functionally, EC-AMIONPs exhibited potent antioxidant activity (80.75% at 100 μg mL⁻¹), broad-spectrum antibacterial effects against multidrug-resistant pathogens, and significant antibiofilm capacity. The anti-inflammatory potential was demonstrated through the inhibition of albumin denaturation (76.92%), stabilization of HRBC membranes (78.85%), and proteinase inhibition (73.36%) at 200 μg mL⁻¹. Cytotoxicity, assessed via the Artemia salina assay, revealed moderate toxicity (65.00% lethality at 400 μg mL⁻¹; LC₅₀: 170.35 μg mL⁻¹), supporting their biosafety at therapeutic doses. In vivo studies in EAC-induced mice confirmed the anticancer efficacy of EC-AMIONPs, resulting in a significant reduction in tumor growth and improvement in physiological parameters, including hematological (RBC, WBC, hemoglobin), biochemical (ALT, creatinine, lipid profile), and ionic (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻) profiles. Histological analysis further validated the protective effects on liver, kidney, lung, and intestinal tissues. Overall, EC-AMIONPs demonstrate multifunctional biomedical properties—antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer—highlighting their potential as a green nanoplatform for future therapeutic applications.

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPSs) exhibit distinct physiological properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-microbial activities that may have a range of industrial, pharmaceutical, and medical uses. This study aimed to separate, purify, and examine the properties of the Rhizobium sp. HR1101-4 EPS. The optimum parameter set (time, temperature, pH, sugar) for the production of EPS was determined. The highest yield was obtained at a temperature of 39 °C, a pH range of 8–10, and using mannose (0.2%) as the carbon source. The results of FT-IR and the NMR analysis revealed that the EPS is a mixture of hexoses with possible pentose sugars. Moreover, this structure showed positive antibiofilm activity against five pathogenic bacteria; Acinetobacter sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella sp., and Shigella flexneri, as well as antioxidant activity (42%). Furthermore, the high water-holding (355%) and oil-holding capacity (170%) of the EPS may enhance the nutritional value and rheological characteristics of food products. The improved emulsifying activity of mustard oil suggested potential use for stabilizing emulsions. Additionally, the EPS showed promising flocculating activity, indicating its potential application in treatment of industrial wastewater. This also could be employed as a safe rheological agent and a nutritious food-grade additive for industrial use, paving the way for manufacturing innovation in near future.

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPSs) exhibit distinct physiological properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and anti-microbial activities that may have a range of industrial, pharmaceutical, and medical uses. This study aimed to separate, purify, and examine the properties of the Rhizobium sp. HR1101-4 EPS. The optimum parameter set (time, temperature, pH, sugar) for the production of EPS was determined. The highest yield was obtained at a temperature of 39°C, a pH range of 8–10, and using mannose (0.2%) as the carbon source. The results of FT-IR and the NMR analysis revealed that the EPS is a mixture of hexoses with possible pentose sugars. Moreover, this structure showed positive antibiofilm activity against five pathogenic bacteria; Acinetobacter sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella sp., and Shigella flexneri, as well as antioxidant activity (42%). Furthermore, the high water-holding (355%) and oil-holding capacity (170%) of the EPS may enhance the nutritional value and rheological characteristics of food products. The improved emulsifying activity of mustard oil suggested potential use for stabilizing emulsions. Additionally, the EPS showed promising flocculating activity, indicating its potential application in treatment of industrial wastewater. This also could be employed as a safe rheological agent and a nutritious food-grade additive for industrial use.

Antibiotic resistance is an alarming threat all over the world, and the biofilm formation efficacy of bacteria is making the situation worse. The antagonistic efficacy of Klebsiella pneumoniae against one of the known fish pathogens, Aeromonas sp., is examined in this study. Moreover, Aeromonas sp.’s biofilm formation ability and in vivo pathogenicity on Artemia salina are also justified here. Firstly, six selected bacterial strains were used to obtain antimicrobial compounds against this pathogenic strain. Among those, Klebsiella pneumoniae, another pathogenic bacterium, surprisingly demonstrated remarkable antagonistic activity against Aeromonas sp. in both in vitro and in vivo assays. The biofilm distrusting potentiality of Klebsiella pneumoniae’s cell-free supernatants (CFSs) was likewise found to be around 56%. Furthermore, the volatile compounds of Klebsiella pneumoniae were identified by GC-MS in order to explore compounds with antibacterial efficacy against Aeromonas sp. through an in silico study, where 5′-methylthioadenosine/S-adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidase (MTAN) (PDB: 5B7P) was chosen as a target protein for its unique characteristics and pathogenicity. Several volatile compounds, such as oxime- methoxy-phenyl-, fluoren-9-ol, 3,6-dimethoxy-9-(2-phenylethynyl)-, and 2H-indol-2-one, 1,3-dihydro- showed a strong binding affinity, with free energy of −6.7, −7.1, and −6.4 Kcal/mol, respectively, in complexes with the protein MTAN. Moreover, the root-mean-square deviation, solvent-accessible surface area, radius of gyration, root-mean-square fluctuations, and hydrogen bonds were used to ensure the binding stability of the docked complexes in the atomistic simulation. Thus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and its potential compounds can be employed as an alternative to antibiotics for aquaculture, demonstrating their effectiveness in suppressing Aeromonas sp.

Honey inhibits bacterial growth due to the high sugar concentration, hydrogen peroxide generation, and proteinaceous compounds present in it. In this study, the antibacterial activity of stingless and sting honey against foodborne pathogenic bacteria isolated from spoiled milk samples was examined. The isolated bacterial strains were confirmed as Bacillus cereus and Listeriamonocytogenes through morphological, biochemical, and 16 s RNA analysis. Physiochemical characterizations of the honey samples revealed that both of the honey samples had an acidic pH, low water content, moderate reducing sugar content, and higher proline content. Through the disc diffusion method, the antibacterial activities of the samples were assayed and better results were observed for the 50 mg/disc honey. Both stingless and sting honey showed the most positive efficacy against Bacillus cereus. Therefore, an in silico study was conducted against this bacterium with some common compounds of honey. From several retrieved constituents of stingless and sting honey, 2,4-dihydroxy-2,5-dimethyl 3(2H)-furan-3-one (furan) and 4H-pyran-4-one,2,3-dihydro of both samples and beta.-D-glucopyranose from the stingless revealed high ligand-protein binding efficiencies for the target protein (6d5z, hemolysin II). The root-mean-square deviation, solvent-accessible surface area, the radius of gyration, root-mean-square fluctuations, and hydrogen bonds were used to ensure the binding stability of the docked complexes in the atomistic simulation and confirmed their stability. The combined effort of wet and dry lab-based work support, to some extent, that the antimicrobial properties of honey have great potential for application in medicine as well as in the food industries.

The spread of the Dengue virus over the world, as well as multiple outbreaks of different serotypes, has resulted in a large number of deaths and a medical emergency, as no viable medications to treat Dengue virus patients have yet been found. In this paper, we provide an in silico virtual screening and molecular dynamics-based analysis to uncover efficient Dengue infection inhibitors. Based on a Google search and literature mining, a large phytochemical library was generated and employed as ligand molecules. In this investigation, the protein target NS2B/NS3 from Dengue was employed, and around 27 compounds were evaluated in a docking study. Phellodendroside (−63 kcal/mole), quercimeritrin (−59.5 kcal/mole), and quercetin-7-O-rutinoside (−54.1 kcal/mole) were chosen based on their binding free energy in MM-GBSA. The tested compounds generated numerous interactions at Lys74, Asn152, and Gln167 residues in the active regions of NS2B/NS3, which is needed for the protein’s inhibition. As a result, the stable mode of docked complexes is defined by various descriptors from molecular dynamics simulations, such as RMSD, SASA, Rg, RMSF, and hydrogen bond. The pharmacological properties of the compounds were also investigated, and no toxicity was found in computational ADMET properties calculations. As a result, this computational analysis may aid fellow researchers in developing innovative Dengue virus inhibitors.

Currently, a worldwide pandemic has been declared in response to the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a fatal and fast-spreading viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The low availability of efficient vaccines and treatment options has resulted in a high mortality rate, bringing the world economy to its knees. Thus, mechanistic investigations of drugs capable of counteracting this disease are in high demand. The main protease (M^pro) expressed by SARS-CoV-2 has been targeted for the development of potential drug candidates due to the crucial role played by M^pro in viral replication and transcription. We generated a phytochemical library containing 1672 phytochemicals derived from 56 plants, which have been reported as having antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal activity. A molecular docking program was used to screen the top three candidate compounds: epicatechin-3-O-gallate, psi-taraxasterol, and catechin gallate, which had respective binding affinities of −8.4, −8.5, and −8.8 kcal/mol. Several active sites in the targeted protein, including Cys145, His41, Met49, Glu66, and Met165, were found to interact with the top three candidate compounds. The multiple simulation profile, root-mean-square deviation, root-mean-square fluctuation, radius of gyration, and solvent-accessible surface area values supported the inflexible nature of the docked protein–compound complexes. The toxicity and carcinogenicity profiles were assessed, which showed that epicatechin-3-O-gallate, psi-taraxasterol, and catechin gallate had favorable pharmacological properties with no adverse effects. These findings suggest that these compounds could be developed as part of an effective drug development pathway to treat COVID-19.