Amomum subulatum is a popular aromatic and medicinal spice crop being used for centuries to treat... more Amomum subulatum is a popular aromatic and medicinal spice crop being used for centuries to treat a variety of health ailments. The ethnopharmacological use of Amomum subulatum has been described in various medicinal systems including Ayurveda, Unani, and Chinese for its therapeutic properties in mitigating gastrointestinal disorders, lung congestions, respiratory ailments, jaundice, tuberculosis, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, ischemic heart diseases, etc. Literature search using Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Elsevier, Wiley online Library, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus databases was restricted to English‐language articles. Significant information on pharmacological properties of Amomum subulatum, including antioxidant (ROS/RNS pathways), anti‐inflammatory (TNF‐α, IL‐1, IL‐6, COX‐2, NF‐кB, HO‐1, arachidonic acid pathways), antinephrotoxic (urea, creatinine, Cystatin‐C), antihepatotoxic (SGOT, SGPT, and ALP), antidiabetic, etc., was collected fo...
Data science has been an invaluable part of the COVID-19 pandemic response with multiple applicat... more Data science has been an invaluable part of the COVID-19 pandemic response with multiple applications, ranging from tracking viral evolution to understanding the vaccine effectiveness. Asymptomatic breakthrough infections have been a major problem in assessing vaccine effectiveness in populations globally. Serological discrimination of vaccine response from infection has so far been limited to Spike protein vaccines since whole virion vaccines generate antibodies against all the viral proteins. Here, we show how a statistical and machine learning (ML) based approach can be used to discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 infection and immune response to an inactivated whole virion vaccine (BBV152, Covaxin). For this, we assessed serial data on antibodies against Spike and Nucleocapsid antigens, along with age, sex, number of doses taken, and days since last dose, for 1823 Covaxin recipients. An ensemble ML model, incorporating a consensus clustering approach alongside the support vector machine model, was built on 1063 samples where reliable qualifying data existed, and then applied to the entire dataset. Of 1448 self-reported negative subjects, our ensemble ML model classified 724 to be infected. For method validation, we determined the relative ability of a random subset of samples to neutralize Delta versus wild-type strain using a surrogate neutralization assay. We worked on the premise that antibodies generated by a whole virion vaccine would neutralize wild type more efficiently than delta strain. In 100 of 156 samples, where ML prediction differed from self-reported uninfected status, neutralization against Delta strain was more effective, indicating infection. We found 71.8% subjects predicted to be infected during the surge, which is concordant with the percentage of sequences classified as Delta (75.6%–80.2%) over the same period. Our approach will help in real-world vaccine effectiveness assessments where whole virion vaccines are commonly used.
Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) is a one of the important non-timber forest species of Nor... more Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) is a one of the important non-timber forest species of North East India which on microbial infection produces fragrant resinous wood and agar oil, of tremendous market value. Agarwood and agar oil is extensively used in perfumery and pharmaceutical industries. So far, the research on A. malaccensis has been mostly on the role of microbes in agar production, specially the process of conversion of the healthy, noninfected trees to infected agar oil bearing tree. However, no concerted efforts have been made so far to study the role of Zeuzera conferta, a borer insect often found to be associated with the phenomena of agarwood production. In the present study, the association of this important insect on agarwood formation has been established. The borer insect (Z. conferta) is found to be habitually associated with the agarwood trees (23.93 per cent) where agar formation takes place and 69.91 per cent of harvested trees with agar formation of good ...
Objectives Vitamin K (VK), an important antihemorrhagic vitamin has attracted scientific attentio... more Objectives Vitamin K (VK), an important antihemorrhagic vitamin has attracted scientific attention recently due to its diverse physiological activities beyond hemostasis. Present study for the first time systematically examined the hypothesis that circulating VK deficiency might be linked with hyperlipidemia-associated inflammatory pathophysiology and VK supplementation may ameliorate the hepatic inflammation via activating growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6) protein, an important member of the coagulation-unrelated vitamin K-dependent proteins. Methods Subjects with hyperlipidemia (n = 22) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 19) attending the institute clinical center were included in this study. High fat diet (HFD)-fed male albino mice model was used for in vivo studies. High palmitic acid (PA, 0.75 mM)-treated and GGCX knockdown monocytes and hepatocytes were employed for in vitro studies. All data were analyzed using Sigma Stat statistical software. Results Plasma levels of VK and...
Some of the Staphylococcus species were shown to have Coagulase properties. Earlier we reported a... more Some of the Staphylococcus species were shown to have Coagulase properties. Earlier we reported a strain from Staphylococcus family named Staphylococcus sp. Cobs2Tis23 which possesses Coagulase properties. Since structure prediction by the bioinformatics tools depending upon its amino acid sequence is very important to have a preliminary knowledge about the characteristics of the protein before the experimental evidences by structural studies, we tried to predict the structural conformation as well as some biochemical characteristics of the coagulase extracellular protein present in Staphylococcus sp. Cobs2Tis23 strain. A range of bioinformatics programmes like Expasy, TranSeq ToxinPred, PROCHECK, ERRAT, Discovery Studio 4.0 were used for the structure prediction as well as the biochemical characterisation of the protein. A Ramachandran plot validated structure is predicted out for the Coagulase protein which is found to be nontoxic and have the molecular weight of 50049.7 Da. Predi...
Abstract The role of plant-based prooxidants as the selective anticancer agents is of a great pro... more Abstract The role of plant-based prooxidants as the selective anticancer agents is of a great promise. Citrus macroptera commonly known as “Satkara”, is an important herbal and medicinal plant native to Southeast Asia. Its fruit is used in cooking different kinds of meat and pickle preparation for extra flavour and as folk medicine. In this study, the antiproliferative effect of ethyl acetate extract of C. macroptera peel (CPEA) was demonstrated on human non-small cell lung cancer cells through prooxidant induced apoptosis. Fatty acids, eight coumarins (three furanocoumarins) and one triterpenoid were identified from the CPEA through rigorous spectroscopic (UV, 1H and 13C NMR) and spectrometric (GC-MS, LC-ESI-HRMS) studies. Cytotoxicity, apoptotic rates, expression of apoptosis related genes, caspases activity and oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) damage in A549 cells were evaluated. MTT and flow cytometry analysis confirmed inhibition of A549 cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner with early apoptosis. qRT-PCR studies showed CPEA significantly upregulated p53, Bax, FasL, FADD and Bid mRNA expression levels and lowered Cdk1 and Bcl-2 compared to control. Caspase −9, −8 and −3 were also activated in cells treated by CPEA in both real-time and colorimetric/flurometric analysis. These results indicate that C. macroptera extract acts as prooxidant and induces cell death targeting both mitochondrial-and death receptor pathways of apoptosis in A549 cells.
This study for the first time examined the prophylactic role of Tungrymbai, a well-known fermente... more This study for the first time examined the prophylactic role of Tungrymbai, a well-known fermented soybean food of North-East India, against hepatic steatosis. Treatment with hexane-isopropanolic (2:1, HIET) but not hydro-alcoholic (70% ethanol, HAET) extract dose-dependently (0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 µg/mL) reduced the intracellular lipid accumulation as shown by lower triglyceride levels and both Oil Red O and Nile Red staining in palmitate (PA, 0.75 mM)-treated hepatocytes. Immunobloting, mRNA expression, and knock-down studies demonstrated the role of AMPK-mediated SREBP/FAS/ACC/HMGCR and PPARα/CPT1A/UCP2 signaling pathways in facilitating the beneficial role of HIET against lipid accumulation in PA-treated hepatocytes. Animal studies further showed a positive effect of HIET (20 µg/kg BW, 8 weeks, daily) in regulating AMPK/SREBP/PPARα signaling pathways and reducing body weight gain, plasma lipid levels, and hepatic steatosis in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Histological analyses also r...
Growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6), a vitamin K-dependent protein plays a significant role in the re... more Growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6), a vitamin K-dependent protein plays a significant role in the regulation of cellular homeostasis via binding with TAM-receptor tyrosine kinases. Several studies reported the role of Gas6 in cancer, glomerular injury, obesity, and inflammation, however, very little is known about its role in insulin resistance (IR) and impaired glucose metabolism. Majority of the studies reported an inverse correlation of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with plasma glucose, HbA1c, IR, and inflammatory cytokines among type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obese subjects. However, few studies reported a positive correlation of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with IR and inflammation among obese subjects. This review for the first time provides an overview of the association of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with IR, glucose intolerance, and inflammation among T2D and obese subjects. This review also depicts the probable mechanism underlying the associati...
Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North-East India, 2016
To increase the demand of global food security, the economy of the agricultural sector must achie... more To increase the demand of global food security, the economy of the agricultural sector must achieve a sustainable level, to supply an adequate amount to feed the increasing population. Insects and other pests have detrimental impacts to the world of food production during growth of crop, harvest and storage. To minimise losses, farmers sell their grain soon after harvest for which they get less market value. Plants with pesticidal properties are already used by farmers as a mean of reducing the damage by insect pests of agriculture and more specifically on stored commodities since time immemorial. However, it has assumed greater importance in recent years due to the detrimental health and environmental hazards caused by synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are target specific and biodegradable with less toxicity. Use of pesticidal plants reduces the liability of using synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are safer and flexible in their usage than synthetic pesticides, and moreover they are easily grown in their local environment. The rich bioactive compounds present in these plants are utilised to control the insect and pest population. In the present study, a detailed discussion has been made on the pesticidal plants, found in Northeast India, which seems to be an alternative to the synthetic pesticides.
2018 International Conference on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (BSB), 2018
β-secretase (BACE) is an enzyme that is encoded by BACE1 gene. It is also known as beta-site amyl... more β-secretase (BACE) is an enzyme that is encoded by BACE1 gene. It is also known as beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme. The BACE enzyme is mainly associated with the filamentous aggregation of amyloid, leads in the formation of plagues in Alzheimer's disease. The present study is conducted to explore phytochemicals constituents of North East India particularly Bacopa monneiri, Galanthus woronowii, Ginkgo bibola, Narcissus leonensis, Piper nigrum and Emblica officinalis known to possess anti-alzheimer properties. The compounds of these 6 plants were retrieved from publically available databases PubChem, ChEBI and ZINC database. The compounds were further forwarded for virtual screening followed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies. Out of 500 phytochemical constituents only 4 of the compounds passed Lipinski's and drug-likeliness rule. The detailed insight of binding mechanism revealed out of virtually screened compounds Butyl-methoxy...
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2021
Soybean (Glycine max) harbours high quality proteins which have been evident to exhibit therapeut... more Soybean (Glycine max) harbours high quality proteins which have been evident to exhibit therapeutic properties in alleviating many diseases including but not limited to diabetes and its related metabolic complications. Since diabetes is often manifested with hyperglycemia, impaired energy homeostasis and even low-grade chronic inflammation, plenty of information has raised the suggestion for soy protein supplementation in preventing and controlling these abnormalities. Moreover, clinical intervention studies have established a noteworthy correlation between soy protein intake and lower prevalence of diabetes. Besides soy protein, various soy-derived peptides also have been found to trigger antidiabetic response in different in vitro and in vivo models. Molecular mechanisms underlying the antidiabetic actions of soy protein and peptide have been predicted in many literatures. Results demonstrate that components of soy protein can act in diversified ways and modulate various cell signaling pathways to bring energy homeostasis and to regulate inflammatory parameters associated with diabetic pathophysiology. The main objective of the present review lies in a systemic understanding of antidiabetic role of soy protein and peptide in the context of impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, and inflammation.
Amomum subulatum is a popular aromatic and medicinal spice crop being used for centuries to treat... more Amomum subulatum is a popular aromatic and medicinal spice crop being used for centuries to treat a variety of health ailments. The ethnopharmacological use of Amomum subulatum has been described in various medicinal systems including Ayurveda, Unani, and Chinese for its therapeutic properties in mitigating gastrointestinal disorders, lung congestions, respiratory ailments, jaundice, tuberculosis, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, ischemic heart diseases, etc. Literature search using Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Elsevier, Wiley online Library, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus databases was restricted to English‐language articles. Significant information on pharmacological properties of Amomum subulatum, including antioxidant (ROS/RNS pathways), anti‐inflammatory (TNF‐α, IL‐1, IL‐6, COX‐2, NF‐кB, HO‐1, arachidonic acid pathways), antinephrotoxic (urea, creatinine, Cystatin‐C), antihepatotoxic (SGOT, SGPT, and ALP), antidiabetic, etc., was collected fo...
Data science has been an invaluable part of the COVID-19 pandemic response with multiple applicat... more Data science has been an invaluable part of the COVID-19 pandemic response with multiple applications, ranging from tracking viral evolution to understanding the vaccine effectiveness. Asymptomatic breakthrough infections have been a major problem in assessing vaccine effectiveness in populations globally. Serological discrimination of vaccine response from infection has so far been limited to Spike protein vaccines since whole virion vaccines generate antibodies against all the viral proteins. Here, we show how a statistical and machine learning (ML) based approach can be used to discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 infection and immune response to an inactivated whole virion vaccine (BBV152, Covaxin). For this, we assessed serial data on antibodies against Spike and Nucleocapsid antigens, along with age, sex, number of doses taken, and days since last dose, for 1823 Covaxin recipients. An ensemble ML model, incorporating a consensus clustering approach alongside the support vector machine model, was built on 1063 samples where reliable qualifying data existed, and then applied to the entire dataset. Of 1448 self-reported negative subjects, our ensemble ML model classified 724 to be infected. For method validation, we determined the relative ability of a random subset of samples to neutralize Delta versus wild-type strain using a surrogate neutralization assay. We worked on the premise that antibodies generated by a whole virion vaccine would neutralize wild type more efficiently than delta strain. In 100 of 156 samples, where ML prediction differed from self-reported uninfected status, neutralization against Delta strain was more effective, indicating infection. We found 71.8% subjects predicted to be infected during the surge, which is concordant with the percentage of sequences classified as Delta (75.6%–80.2%) over the same period. Our approach will help in real-world vaccine effectiveness assessments where whole virion vaccines are commonly used.
Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) is a one of the important non-timber forest species of Nor... more Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk.) is a one of the important non-timber forest species of North East India which on microbial infection produces fragrant resinous wood and agar oil, of tremendous market value. Agarwood and agar oil is extensively used in perfumery and pharmaceutical industries. So far, the research on A. malaccensis has been mostly on the role of microbes in agar production, specially the process of conversion of the healthy, noninfected trees to infected agar oil bearing tree. However, no concerted efforts have been made so far to study the role of Zeuzera conferta, a borer insect often found to be associated with the phenomena of agarwood production. In the present study, the association of this important insect on agarwood formation has been established. The borer insect (Z. conferta) is found to be habitually associated with the agarwood trees (23.93 per cent) where agar formation takes place and 69.91 per cent of harvested trees with agar formation of good ...
Objectives Vitamin K (VK), an important antihemorrhagic vitamin has attracted scientific attentio... more Objectives Vitamin K (VK), an important antihemorrhagic vitamin has attracted scientific attention recently due to its diverse physiological activities beyond hemostasis. Present study for the first time systematically examined the hypothesis that circulating VK deficiency might be linked with hyperlipidemia-associated inflammatory pathophysiology and VK supplementation may ameliorate the hepatic inflammation via activating growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6) protein, an important member of the coagulation-unrelated vitamin K-dependent proteins. Methods Subjects with hyperlipidemia (n = 22) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 19) attending the institute clinical center were included in this study. High fat diet (HFD)-fed male albino mice model was used for in vivo studies. High palmitic acid (PA, 0.75 mM)-treated and GGCX knockdown monocytes and hepatocytes were employed for in vitro studies. All data were analyzed using Sigma Stat statistical software. Results Plasma levels of VK and...
Some of the Staphylococcus species were shown to have Coagulase properties. Earlier we reported a... more Some of the Staphylococcus species were shown to have Coagulase properties. Earlier we reported a strain from Staphylococcus family named Staphylococcus sp. Cobs2Tis23 which possesses Coagulase properties. Since structure prediction by the bioinformatics tools depending upon its amino acid sequence is very important to have a preliminary knowledge about the characteristics of the protein before the experimental evidences by structural studies, we tried to predict the structural conformation as well as some biochemical characteristics of the coagulase extracellular protein present in Staphylococcus sp. Cobs2Tis23 strain. A range of bioinformatics programmes like Expasy, TranSeq ToxinPred, PROCHECK, ERRAT, Discovery Studio 4.0 were used for the structure prediction as well as the biochemical characterisation of the protein. A Ramachandran plot validated structure is predicted out for the Coagulase protein which is found to be nontoxic and have the molecular weight of 50049.7 Da. Predi...
Abstract The role of plant-based prooxidants as the selective anticancer agents is of a great pro... more Abstract The role of plant-based prooxidants as the selective anticancer agents is of a great promise. Citrus macroptera commonly known as “Satkara”, is an important herbal and medicinal plant native to Southeast Asia. Its fruit is used in cooking different kinds of meat and pickle preparation for extra flavour and as folk medicine. In this study, the antiproliferative effect of ethyl acetate extract of C. macroptera peel (CPEA) was demonstrated on human non-small cell lung cancer cells through prooxidant induced apoptosis. Fatty acids, eight coumarins (three furanocoumarins) and one triterpenoid were identified from the CPEA through rigorous spectroscopic (UV, 1H and 13C NMR) and spectrometric (GC-MS, LC-ESI-HRMS) studies. Cytotoxicity, apoptotic rates, expression of apoptosis related genes, caspases activity and oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) damage in A549 cells were evaluated. MTT and flow cytometry analysis confirmed inhibition of A549 cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner with early apoptosis. qRT-PCR studies showed CPEA significantly upregulated p53, Bax, FasL, FADD and Bid mRNA expression levels and lowered Cdk1 and Bcl-2 compared to control. Caspase −9, −8 and −3 were also activated in cells treated by CPEA in both real-time and colorimetric/flurometric analysis. These results indicate that C. macroptera extract acts as prooxidant and induces cell death targeting both mitochondrial-and death receptor pathways of apoptosis in A549 cells.
This study for the first time examined the prophylactic role of Tungrymbai, a well-known fermente... more This study for the first time examined the prophylactic role of Tungrymbai, a well-known fermented soybean food of North-East India, against hepatic steatosis. Treatment with hexane-isopropanolic (2:1, HIET) but not hydro-alcoholic (70% ethanol, HAET) extract dose-dependently (0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 µg/mL) reduced the intracellular lipid accumulation as shown by lower triglyceride levels and both Oil Red O and Nile Red staining in palmitate (PA, 0.75 mM)-treated hepatocytes. Immunobloting, mRNA expression, and knock-down studies demonstrated the role of AMPK-mediated SREBP/FAS/ACC/HMGCR and PPARα/CPT1A/UCP2 signaling pathways in facilitating the beneficial role of HIET against lipid accumulation in PA-treated hepatocytes. Animal studies further showed a positive effect of HIET (20 µg/kg BW, 8 weeks, daily) in regulating AMPK/SREBP/PPARα signaling pathways and reducing body weight gain, plasma lipid levels, and hepatic steatosis in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Histological analyses also r...
Growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6), a vitamin K-dependent protein plays a significant role in the re... more Growth arrest specific 6 (Gas6), a vitamin K-dependent protein plays a significant role in the regulation of cellular homeostasis via binding with TAM-receptor tyrosine kinases. Several studies reported the role of Gas6 in cancer, glomerular injury, obesity, and inflammation, however, very little is known about its role in insulin resistance (IR) and impaired glucose metabolism. Majority of the studies reported an inverse correlation of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with plasma glucose, HbA1c, IR, and inflammatory cytokines among type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obese subjects. However, few studies reported a positive correlation of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with IR and inflammation among obese subjects. This review for the first time provides an overview of the association of Gas6 protein levels or gene polymorphism with IR, glucose intolerance, and inflammation among T2D and obese subjects. This review also depicts the probable mechanism underlying the associati...
Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North-East India, 2016
To increase the demand of global food security, the economy of the agricultural sector must achie... more To increase the demand of global food security, the economy of the agricultural sector must achieve a sustainable level, to supply an adequate amount to feed the increasing population. Insects and other pests have detrimental impacts to the world of food production during growth of crop, harvest and storage. To minimise losses, farmers sell their grain soon after harvest for which they get less market value. Plants with pesticidal properties are already used by farmers as a mean of reducing the damage by insect pests of agriculture and more specifically on stored commodities since time immemorial. However, it has assumed greater importance in recent years due to the detrimental health and environmental hazards caused by synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are target specific and biodegradable with less toxicity. Use of pesticidal plants reduces the liability of using synthetic pesticides. Pesticidal plants are safer and flexible in their usage than synthetic pesticides, and moreover they are easily grown in their local environment. The rich bioactive compounds present in these plants are utilised to control the insect and pest population. In the present study, a detailed discussion has been made on the pesticidal plants, found in Northeast India, which seems to be an alternative to the synthetic pesticides.
2018 International Conference on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (BSB), 2018
β-secretase (BACE) is an enzyme that is encoded by BACE1 gene. It is also known as beta-site amyl... more β-secretase (BACE) is an enzyme that is encoded by BACE1 gene. It is also known as beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme. The BACE enzyme is mainly associated with the filamentous aggregation of amyloid, leads in the formation of plagues in Alzheimer's disease. The present study is conducted to explore phytochemicals constituents of North East India particularly Bacopa monneiri, Galanthus woronowii, Ginkgo bibola, Narcissus leonensis, Piper nigrum and Emblica officinalis known to possess anti-alzheimer properties. The compounds of these 6 plants were retrieved from publically available databases PubChem, ChEBI and ZINC database. The compounds were further forwarded for virtual screening followed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies. Out of 500 phytochemical constituents only 4 of the compounds passed Lipinski's and drug-likeliness rule. The detailed insight of binding mechanism revealed out of virtually screened compounds Butyl-methoxy...
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2021
Soybean (Glycine max) harbours high quality proteins which have been evident to exhibit therapeut... more Soybean (Glycine max) harbours high quality proteins which have been evident to exhibit therapeutic properties in alleviating many diseases including but not limited to diabetes and its related metabolic complications. Since diabetes is often manifested with hyperglycemia, impaired energy homeostasis and even low-grade chronic inflammation, plenty of information has raised the suggestion for soy protein supplementation in preventing and controlling these abnormalities. Moreover, clinical intervention studies have established a noteworthy correlation between soy protein intake and lower prevalence of diabetes. Besides soy protein, various soy-derived peptides also have been found to trigger antidiabetic response in different in vitro and in vivo models. Molecular mechanisms underlying the antidiabetic actions of soy protein and peptide have been predicted in many literatures. Results demonstrate that components of soy protein can act in diversified ways and modulate various cell signaling pathways to bring energy homeostasis and to regulate inflammatory parameters associated with diabetic pathophysiology. The main objective of the present review lies in a systemic understanding of antidiabetic role of soy protein and peptide in the context of impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, and inflammation.
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