Dhirendra Kumar Sharma

Chemotherapy and drug resistance status of malaria parasite in northeast India

India reports the highest number of malaria cases in Southeast Asia, of which Plasmodium falciparum contribute more than half of the cases every year. North eastern states of India contribute only 3.96% of countrys population but account for >10% of total reported malaria cases, 11% of Plasmodium falciparum cases and 20% of malaria related deaths annually. In India, chloroquine resistance was reported for the first time from northeast region and since then chloroquine treatment failure is being reported from many parts of the region. Increased chloroquine treatment failure has led to change of the drug policy to artemisinin combination therapy as first line of malaria treatment in the region. However, replacing chloroquine to artemisinin combination therapy has not shown significant difference in the overall malaria incidence in the region. The present review addresses the current malaria situation of northeastern region of India in the light of antimalarials drug resistance.

Comparative insights using the molecular homology model of BDNF (Brain derived neurotrophic factor) of Varanus komodoensis and the known NGF (Nerve growth factor) structure of Naja atra.

BDNF (Brain derived neurotrophic factor) is a secretion protein and a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors. Structural and functional characterization of BDNF Varanus komodoensis is of interest while its structure remains unknown. Thus, a homology molecular model of BDNF was constructed for gleaning possible structural insights. The model was compared with the structure of the homologous NGF (Nerve growth factor, another member of neuro-trophin family) from Naja atra. Comparative structural analysis of the models showed structural similarities with their predicted cavities for the interpretation of potential functional analogy.

Sequence to Structure Analysis of SOD1 and SOD2 from Fresh Water Turtles

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) responsible for dismutation of ROS produced in cell controls the aging and longevity of animals. An attempt has been made to report on sequence to structure analysis of the genes and proteins of SOD1 and SOD2 of freshwater turtles, Pelodiscus sinensis and Mauremys reevesii. Analysis of gene and protein sequences of these SODs retrieved from the NCBI database suggested that the there were minor variations in their molecular weight of the gene sequences, melting temperature, folding, aliphatic index and isoelectric point. Gene sequences were all AT rich with 5 restriction sites each in SOD1 of both the turtles and SOD2 of Pelodiscus sinensis while 8 restriction sites in SOD2 of Mauremys reevesii were obtained. SOD1 were dominated by b Strands, whereas, SOD2 were by the alpha helices. Homology models were generated by MODELLER 9.12 presented that all the models of SODs within acceptable range. Solvent accessible surface area (SASA) and active sites analysis of refined models of the SOD proteins were acidic and with 5 to 11 number of active sites in all the proteins and high percentage of exposed aliphatic residues. Therefore, it could well be inferred that these models have the potentiality to be used for understanding the aging process. Corresponding Author: Dhirendra Kumar Sharma, School of Biological Sciences, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, Techno city, Kiling Road, Baridua-793101, India. Tel: +91 9435147412; E-mail: dksgu@yahoo.co.uk Received Date: June 17, 2015 Accepted Date: September 28, 2015 Published Date: October 06, 2015