G. S. Desai

Apoptosis induced by NS1 gene of Canine Parvovirus-2 is caspase dependent and p53 independent

Apoptosis is programmed cell death that normally occurs during development and aging in multicellular animals. Apoptosis also occurs as a defense mechanism against disease or harmful external agents. It can be initiated by a variety of stimuli including viruses and viral proteins. Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) that causes acute disease in dogs has been found to induce cell cycle arrest and DNA damage leading to cellular lysis. Though non structural protein 1 (NS1) of many parvoviruses has been found to be apoptotic, no report on the apoptotic potential of NS1 of CPV-2 (CPV-2.NS1) exists. In this study, we evaluated the apoptotic potential of CPV-2.NS1 in HeLa cells. CPV-2.NS1 has been found to induce apoptosis which was evident through characteristic DNA fragmentation, increase in hypodiploid cell count, phosphatidyl serine translocation and activation of caspase-3. Increase in caspase-3 activity and no change in p53 activity with time in CPV-2.NS1 expressing HeLa cells showed the induction of apoptosis to be caspase dependent and p53 independent.

Canine parvovirus type 2a (CPV-2a)-induced apoptosis in MDCK involves both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways.

The canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) causes an acute disease in dogs. It has been found to induce cell cycle arrest and DNA damage leading to cellular lysis. In this paper, we evaluated the apoptotic potential of the “new CPV-2a” in MDCK cells and elucidated the mechanism of the induction of apoptosis. The exposure of MDCK cells to the virus was found to trigger apoptotic response. Apoptosis was confirmed by phosphatidylserine translocation, DNA fragmentation assays, and cell cycle analysis. Activation of caspases-3, -8, -9, and -12 and decrease in mitochondrial potential in CPV-2a-infected MDCK cells suggested that the CPV-2a-induced apoptosis is caspase dependent involving extrinsic, intrinsic, and endoplasmic reticulum pathways. Increase in p53 and Bax/Bcl2 ratio was also observed in CPV-2a-infected cells.

Non-Structural protein 1 (NS1) gene of Canine Parvovirus-2 regresses chemically induced skin tumors in Wistar rats

The Non-Structural protein 1 of Canine Parvovirus-2 (CPV2.NS1) plays a major role in viral cytotoxicity and pathogenicity. CPV2.NS1 has been proven to cause apoptosis in HeLa cells in vitro in our laboratory. Here we report that CPV2.NS1 has no toxic side effects on healthy cells but regresses skin tumors in Wistar rats. Histopathological examination of tumor tissue from CPV2.NS1 treated group revealed infiltration of mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells with increased extra cellular matrix, indicating signs of regression. Tumor regression was also evidenced by significant decrease in mitotic index, AgNOR count and PCNA index, and increase in TUNEL positive apoptotic cells in CPV2.NS1 treated group. Further, CPV2.NS1 induced anti-tumor immune response through significant increase in CD8(+) and NK cell population in CPV2.NS1 treated group. These findings suggest that CPV2.NS1 can be a possible therapeutic candidate as an alternative to chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer.

Computational modeling and validation studies of 3-D structure of neuraminidase protein of H1N1 influenza A virus and subsequent in silico elucidation of piceid analogues as its potent inhibitors.

Emergence of the drug resistant variants of the Influenza A virus in the recent years has aroused a great need for the development of novel neuraminidase inhibitors for controlling the pandemic. The neuraminidase (NA) protein of the influenza virus has been the most potential target for the anti-influenza. However, in the absence of any experimental structure of the drug targeting NA protein of H1N1 influenza A virus as zanamivir and oseltamivir, the comprehensive study of the interaction of the drug molecules with the target protein has been missing. Hence in this study a computational 3-D structure of neuraminidase of H1N1 influenza A virus has been developed using homology modeling technique, and the same was validated for its reliability by ProSA web server in term of energy profile & Z scores and PROCHECK program followed by Ramachandran plot. Further, the developed 3-D model had been employed for docking studies with the class of compounds as Piceid and its analogs. In this context, two novel compounds (ChemBank ID 2110359 and 3075417) were found to be more potent inhibitors of neuraminidase than control drugs as zanamivir and oseltamivir in terms of their robust binding energies, strong inhibition constant (Ki) and better hydrogen bond interactions between the protein-ligand complex. The interaction of these compounds with NA protein has been significantly studied at the molecular level.