Basit Latief Jan

Nano-bioremediation application is an ecologically and environmentally friendly technique to overcome the catastrophic situation in soil because of petroleum waste contamination. We evaluated the efficiency of oil-degrading bacterial consortium and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with or without fertilizer to remediate soils collected from petroleum waste contaminated oil fields. Physicochemical characteristics of control soil and petroleum contaminated soils were assessed. Four oil-degrading strains, namely Bacillus pumilus (KY010576), Exiguobacteriaum aurantiacum (KY010578), Lysinibacillus fusiformis (KY010586), and Pseudomonas putida (KX580766), were selected based on their in vitrohydrocarbon-degrading efficiency. In a lab experiment, contaminated soils were treated alone and with combined amendments of the bacterial consortium, AgNPs, and fertilizers (ammonium nitrate and diammonium phosphate). We detected the degradation rate of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) of the soil samples with GC-FID at different intervals of the incubation period (0, 5, 20, 60, 240 days). The bacterial population (CFU/g) was also monitored during the entire period of incubation. The results showed that 70% more TPH was degraded with a consortium with their sole application in 20 days of incubation. There was a positive correlation between TPH degradation and the 100-fold increase in bacterial population in contaminated soils. This study revealed that bacterial consortiums alone showed the maximum increase in the degradation of TPHs at 20 days. The application of nanoparticles and fertilizer has non-significant effects on the consortium degradation potential. Moreover, fertilizer alone or in combination with AgNPs and consortium slows the rate of degradation of TPHs over a short period. Still, it subsequently accelerates the rate of degradation of TPHs, and a negligible amount remains at the end of the incubation period.

Tomato is an important vegetable that is highly sensitive to drought (DR) stress which impairs the development of tomato seedlings. Recently, melatonin (ME) has emerged as a nontoxic, regulatory biomolecule that regulates plant growth and enhances the DR tolerance mechanism in plants. The present study was conducted to examine the defensive role of ME in photosynthesis, root architecture, and the antioxidant enzymes’ activities of tomato seedlings subjected to DR stress. Our results indicated that DR stress strongly suppressed growth and biomass production, inhibited photosynthesis, negatively affected root morphology, and reduced photosynthetic pigments in tomato seedlings. Per contra, soluble sugars, proline, and ROS (reactive oxygen species) were suggested to be improved in seedlings under DR stress. Conversely, ME (100 µM) pretreatment improved the detrimental-effect of DR by restoring chlorophyll content, root architecture, gas exchange parameters and plant growth attributes compared with DR-group only. Moreover, ME supplementation also mitigated the antioxidant enzymes [APX (ascorbate peroxidase), CAT (catalase), DHAR (dehydroascorbate reductase), GST (glutathione S-transferase), GR (glutathione reductase), MDHAR (monodehydroascorbate reductase), POD (peroxidase), and SOD (superoxide dismutase)], non-enzymatic antioxidant [AsA (ascorbate), DHA (dehydroascorbic acid), GSH (glutathione), and GSSG, (oxidized glutathione)] activities, reduced oxidative damage [EL (electrolyte leakage), H₂O₂ (hydrogen peroxide), MDA (malondialdehyde), and O₂^•− (superoxide ion)] and osmoregulation (soluble sugars and proline) of tomato seedlings, by regulating gene expression for SOD, CAT, APX, GR, POD, GST, DHAR, and MDHAR. These findings determine that ME pretreatment could efficiently improve the seedlings growth, root characteristics, leaf photosynthesis and antioxidant machinery under DR stress and thereby increasing the seedlings’ adaptability to DR stress.

This study aimed to analyze the cryoprotective effect of a ovalbumin (OVA) and β-cyclodextrin (βCD) mixture (3:1, OVA/βCD) on the structure, rheology and gelling properties of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) during 90 days of frozen storage. A mixture of OVA/βCD at different concentrations (0, 2, 4, and 6%) was added to MPs and stored at −18 °C for 90 days. The addition of OVA/βCD significantly decreased the sulfhydryl contents while it increased the surface hydrophobicity, which was closely connected with tertiary structural changes. Circular dichroism analysis showed that the addition of OVA/βCD enhanced the stability of the secondary structure by inhibiting the decline in the α-helix. Rheological properties analysis indicated that 6% OVA/βCD treatment showed better storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”). In addition, treatment of OVA/βCD showed better gel forming properties than the control group (0%), helping to form a homogeneous and denser gel network. The results proved that 6% OVA/βCD could be act as a promising cryoprotectant, which can improve the structure and gel behavior of Culter alburnus MPs during frozen storage. Moreover, OVA/βCD could be a potential alternative to conventional cryoprotectants at the industrial level to increase the economic and commercial values of seafood products.

Epilepsy is an intricate neurological disease where the neurons are severely affected, leading to the mortality of millions worldwide. Status epilepticus (SE), induced by lithium chloride (LiCl) and pilocarpine, is the most accepted model for epilepsy. The current work aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying the anti-epileptic efficacy of zingerone (an active ingredient of ginger), which has beneficial pharmacological activities on seizure-induced behavioral, histological, neurochemical, and molecular patterns in mice. Zingerone restored cognitive function by diminishing seizure activity, escape latency, and subsequent hippocampal damage manifested in histology. Seizures are associated with local inflammation, redox imbalance, and neural loss, confirmed by the present study of SE, and was attenuated by zingerone treatment. Nuclear factor-kappa B and its downstream signaling molecules (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, NO, MPO) were activated in the LiCl-and-pilocarpine-induced group leading to inflammatory signaling, which was substantially ameliorated by zingerone treatment. The intrinsic apoptotic process was triggered subsequent to SE, as demonstrated by augmentation of cleaved caspase-3, downregulation of Bcl-2. However, zingerone treatment downregulated caspase-3 and upregulated Bcl-2, increasing cell survival and decreasing hippocampal neural death, deciphering involvement of apoptosis in SE. Therefore, zingerone plays an essential role in neuroprotection, probably by precluding oxidative stress, inflammation, and obstructing the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.

Lung cancer is a well-known malignant tumor of the respiratory tract, which has caused a significant level of damage to human health in the 21st century. Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are tiny, non-coding RNA stem-loop structures with a length of roughly 20–25 nucleotides that function as powerful modulators of mRNA and protein products of a gene. miRNAs may modulate many biological processes involving growth, differentiation, proliferation, and cell death and play a key role in the pathogenesis of various types of malignancies. Several accumulating pieces of evidence have proven that miRNA, especially miR-146a, are crucial modulators of innate immune response sequences. A novel and exciting cancer research field has involved miRNA for the detection and suppression of cancer. However, the actual mechanism which is adopted by these miRNA is still unclear. miRNAs have been used as a cancer-associated biomarker in several studies, suggesting their altered expression in various cancers compared to the normal cells. The amount of expression of miRNA can also be used to determine the stage of the disease, aiding in early detection. In breast, pancreatic, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastric cancer, cancer cell proliferation and metastasis has been suppressed by miR-146a. Changes in miR-146a expression levels have biomarker importance and possess a high potential as a therapeutic target in lung cancer. It retards epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promotes the therapeutic action of anticancer agents in lung cancer. Studies have also suggested that miR-146a affects gene expression through different signaling pathways viz. TNF-α, NF-κB and MEK-1/2, and JNK-1/2. Further research is required for understanding the molecular mechanisms of miR-146a in lung cancer. The potential role of miR-146a as a diagnostic marker of lung cancer must also be analyzed. This review summarizes the tumor-suppressing, anti-inflammatory, and antichemoresistive nature of miR-146a in lung cancer.