Richard L. Jayaraj

Production of Extracellular Pectinase by Bacillus Cereus Isolated From Market Solid Waste

Pectin is a major component of primary cell wall of all land plants and encompasses a range of galacturonic acid rich polysaccharides. Pectinase or pectinolytic enzyme, hydrolyzes pectic substance, they have a share of 25% in the global sales of food enzymes. Production of this enzyme is affected by the nature of solid substrate, level of moisture content, presence or absence of carbon, nitrogen, minerals and vitamin supplements. Maximum enzyme production (44U/ml) is achieved when temperature is around 37°C, pH.8.5, pectin as a carbon source, yeast extract as a nitrogen source and incubation time is 36 hours. In addition to this, wheat bran acts as a better agro substrate and Magnesium chloride as supplement for better production of pectinase. The sequence analysis of 16S rDNA of the isolated organism was much similar when compared with gyrase B gene (gyrB) of Bacillus cereus. Pectinolytic enzyme is of significant importance in the application of apple juice industry in the current biotechnological era.

CNB-001 a Novel Curcumin Derivative, Guards Dopamine Neurons in MPTP Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Copious experimental and postmortem studies have shown that oxidative stress mediated degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons underlies Parkinsons disease (PD) pathology. CNB-001, a novel pyrazole derivative of curcumin, has recently been reported to possess various neuroprotective properties. This study was designed to investigate the neuroprotective mechanism of CNB-001 in a subacute 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) rodent model of PD. Administration of MPTP (30 mg/kg for four consecutive days) exacerbated oxidative stress and motor impairment and reduced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine transporter, and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) expressions. Moreover, MPTP induced ultrastructural changes such as distorted cristae and mitochondrial enlargement in substantia nigra and striatum region. Pretreatment with CNB-001 (24 mg/kg) not only ameliorated behavioral anomalies but also synergistically enhanced monoamine transporter expressions and cosseted mitochondria by virtue of its antioxidant action. These findings support the neuroprotective property of CNB-001 which may have strong therapeutic potential for treatment of PD.

CNB-001, a novel pyrazole derivative mitigates motor impairments associated with neurodegeneration via suppression of neuroinflammatory and apoptotic response in experimental Parkinson’s disease mice

Parkinsons disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive degeneration via apoptosis of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons associated with inflammation, resulting in behavioral anomalies. Therefore, an anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory regimen may be useful in treatment of PD. CNB-001, a novel pyrazole derivative of curcumin and cyclohexyl bisphenol A has superior biological properties than its parental compounds. The present study utilizes a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of PD to investigate anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic mediated neuroprotection of CNB-001. The administration of MPTP (30 mg/kg for four successive days) significantly induced motor impairments as determined by behavioral studies (narrow beam test, catalepsy and akinesia), lowered dopamine levels and up-regulated the expressions of the inflammatory and apoptotic markers (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, glial fibrillary acidic protein, cyclooxygenase-2 and Bax). Moreover, MPTP treatment attenuated Bcl-2 and nigrostriatal dopamine transporter expression and also increased total nitrite and citrulline levels in comparison to the control group. However, co-treatment with CNB-001 significantly attenuated motor impairments and pathological changes caused by MPTP administration. Collectively, our results demonstrate that CNB-001 is neuroprotective through its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. Thus, CNB-001 has potential to be further developed as a therapeutic candidate for treatment of PD.

In vitro antioxidant potential and deoxyribonucleic acid protecting activity of CNB-001, a novel pyrazole derivative of curcumin

Background: Free radicals are underpinned to initiate cascade of toxic events leading to oxidative stress and resultant cell death in many neurodegenerative disorders. Now-a-days antioxidants have become mandatory in the treatment of various diseases apart from the drugs modes of action. CNB-001, a novel hybrid molecule synthesized by combining curcumin and cyclohexyl bisphenol A is known to possess various biological activities, but the antioxidative property of the compound has not yet been elucidated. Aim: The present study is aimed to analyze various free radicals scavenging by employing in vitro antioxidant assays and to evaluate the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) protecting the ability of CNB-001 against hydroxyl radicals. Materials and methods: The in vitro antioxidant potential of CNB-001 was evaluated by analyzing its ability to scavenge DPPH, ABTS, nitric oxide, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anion, hydroxyl, hydrogen peroxide radicals and reducing power using spectroscopic method. The DNA protecting activity of CNB-001 was also evaluated on pUC19 plasmid DNA subjected to hydroxyl radicals using standard agarose gel electrophoresis. Results: From the assays, it was observed that CNB-001 scavenged free radicals effectively in a dose dependent manner. CNB-001 scavenged 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (IC50 = 44.99 μg/ml), 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (IC50 = 17.99 μg/ml), nitric oxide (IC50 = 1.36 μg/ml), superoxide radical (IC50 = 77.17 μg/ml), hydrogen peroxide (IC50 = 492.7 μg/ml), superoxide (IC50 = 36.92 μg/ml) and hydroxyl (IC50 = 456.5 μg/ml) radicals effectively and the reducing power was found to be 11.53 μg/ml. CNB-001 showed considerable protecting activity against plasmid DNA (pUC19) strand scission by •OH at dose dependent manner. Conclusion: Results from these assays concluded that CNB-001 has a good antioxidant potential by reducing reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen radicals and it showed significant protecting activity against DNA scission by hydroxyl radicals. Hence, CNB-001 can be further developed as potential drug for free radical induced neurodegenerative disorders.

Plant Lipidomics: Signalling and Analytical Strategies

The plant lipidomics is a comprehensive system of all lipids in plants with respect to cell signalling, membrane architecture, transcriptional and translational modulation and cell-cell and cell-protein interactions in response to environmental changes over time. This chapter is mainly focused on the role of plant lipids in signalling pathways during stress conditions, which were described in detail. In order to ameliorate lipid research, various analytical methods developed to characterise and quantify lipids are discussed with the salient points. Various lipid databases are provided which will be useful to access a wide range of information about lipids. Few online resources for the lipids are also described. This can help further research in the field of plant lipidomics. In conclusion, the role of plant lipids over human health and some of biological roles were illustrated.