Silencing lung cancer genes using miRNAs identified by 7mer-seed matching

Lung cancer (LC) is the main cause of cancer-associated deaths in both men and women globally with a very high mortality rate. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs consisting of 18–25 nucleotides. They inhibit translation of protein through binding to complementary target mRNAs. The non-coding miRNAs are recognized as potent biomarkers for detection, development and treatment of malignancy. In this study, we screened a set of 12 genes over expressed in small cell lung cancer, non small cell lung cancer and the genes involved in both categories and their binding sites for human miRNAs as no work was reported yet. Screening of human miRNAs revealed that a few genes showed numerous miRNA binding sites. Free energy values of mRNA sequences revealed that they might acquire compact folded structure causing complexity for miRNAs to interact. GC content in the target site was relatively higher than that of their flanks. It was observed through analysis of cosine similarity metric and compAI parameters that the genes related to lung cancer were encoded with non optimal codons and thus might be translationally less efficient for producing polypeptides. Gene ontology analysis was carried out to understand the diverse functions of these 12 genes.     

Synthesis,spectroscopic and biological studies of metal complexes of an ONO donor pyrazolylhydrazone – Crystal structure of ligand and Co(II) complex

A new pyrazolylhydrazone, 2-(2-(1,5-dimethy-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazolyl-4-yl)hydrazono)-5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione (HL) and its Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes were synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic measurements and spectral (IR, ¹H NMR, UV–vis, HRMS) measurements. All complexes possess ML₂ stoichiometry with L behaving as monoanionic tridentate ONO donor. Single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that HL and CoL₂ crystallize in orthorhombic system with Pbcn space group. Hydrogen bonding interactions between molecules of CoL₂ results in the formation of an infinite zig-zag chain extending along the ‘b’ axis. EPR spectrum of Cu(II) complex at 77 K suggests mononuclear and distorted octahedral geometry for [CuL₂]. Antimicrobial activity of HL and its complexes were investigated and minimum inhibitory concentrations identified. Bacterial and fungal organisms used were gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans.     

Novel properties and applications in magnetic fluids

In this review, we will report a series of investigations on the homemade homogeneous magnetic fluids. The most spectacular property discussed in our research is the ordered structure of the magnetic columns formed in the magnetic fluid thin film under the influence of the external magnetic field, either perpendicular or parallel to the film surface. It is worth noting that the ordered structure can be manipulated by changing the control parameters. This reveals the variability of the ordered structure. With the ordered structures, some significant magneto-optical characteristics such as magnetochromatics, birefringence, and field-dependent transmittance are generated. These optical properties form the groundwork for further development of related optical devices by using the homogeneous magnetic fluid films.     

Copper(I) stabilized on N,N′-methylene bis-acrylamide crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone: An efficient reusable catalyst for click synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles in water

N,N′-methylene bis-acrylamide crosslinked N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVPMBA) polymer was prepared via suspension polymerization technique and used as a polymeric support for the reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I). It was observed that NVPMBA matrix facilitated the stabilization of Cu(I) particles. Furthermore, the copper supported polymer catalyst (CuNVPMBA) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, and derivative thermogravimetry analysis. SEM showed that both the polymer and CuNVPMBA exhibit a spherical morphology. TEM revealed that copper nanoparticles formed on the polymer surface have an average particle size of 5.14 nm. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of Cu(I) and Cu(II) in the ratio 1:2. The copper content in CuNVPMBA was found to be 1.25 wt%. CuNVPMBA was found to be very effective in promoting the click reaction between terminal alkynes and azides in aqueous media in the absence of ascorbate or external base under mild conditions to form 1,2,3-triazoles in excellent yield with a copper loading as low as 0.2 mol%. The catalyst could be reused and recycled several times without significant loss of catalytic activity.     

Microwave-assisted template-free synthesis of butterfly-like CuO through Cu2Cl(OH)3 precursor and the electrochemical sensing property

An energy-efficient and environmentally friendly microwave-assisted method was adopted for synthesis of butterfly-like CuO assembled by nanosheets through a Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precursor, using no template. Formation mechanism of the butterfly-like CuO was explored and discussed systematically for the first time on the basis of both experimental results and crystal structure transformations in atomic level. The electrochemical sensing properties of the butterfly-like CuO modified electrode to ascorbic acid (AA) were studied for the first time. The results reveal that Cu(OH)₂ nanowires were formed once the Cu²⁺ ions, located in between two CuO₄ parallelogram chains of a Cu₂Cl(OH)₃ precursor, dissolve into the solution as Cu(OH)₄²⁻ complex ions after ion exchange reactions and simultaneous assemble along a axis. Upon microwave irradiation, the adjacent CuO₄ parallelogram chains of the Cu(OH)₂ nanowires dehydrate and assemble along c axis, forming CuO nanosheets with (002) as the main exposed facet, which were further assembled to butterfly-like CuO under the action of microwave field, suggesting that microwave field functions like a ‘directing agent’. The butterfly-like CuO modified electrode shows good electrochemical sensing properties to AA with a low detecting limit, short response time and wide linear response range.     

A prognosis-related based method for miRNA selection on liver hepatocellular carcinoma prediction

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered as the sixth most common cancer in the world, and it is also considered as one of the causes of death. Moreover, the poor prognosis of recurrence of HCC after surgery and metastasis is also a big problem for human health. If the disease can be diagnosed earlier, the survival rate of the patients will be improved significantly. In the early stage of hepatocellular carcinoma, the expression of miRNAs is likely to become abnormal. In our work, the expression profile of miRNAs of human HCC in cancer tissue is compared with their adjacent tissue samples collected from tumor cancer genomic Atlas (TCGA) platform, then the genes with significant difference are selected by Limma test. Selected genes are referred to predict miRNAs related to the prognosis of HCC patients. Finally, miRNAs regulated by target genes are selected by our method, and the experimental results demonstrated that our method is more efficient than biology wet experimental method with lower cost.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of Palladium-hydrazide complexes’ interaction with DNA and BSA,in vitro cytotoxicity activity and plasmid cleavage ability

New palladium complexes with general formula trans-[Pd(L)₂(OAc)₂] (1,2), (L = Benzhydrazide and 2-Furoic hydrazide) have been synthesized and characterized with various methods including elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹HNMR and mass spectroscopy. Afterward their interactions with bovine serum albumin and calf thymus deoxyribonucleic acid have been investigated by UV–vis absorption, fluorescence emission and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Also, site‐selective replacement experiments with site probes have been carried out. Analysis of fluorescence spectrum indicated static quenching mechanism. Spectroscopic measurements for DNA binding showed the groove binding to DNA for both complexes. Furthermore, cytotoxicity studies of complexes and cis-platin have been done against colon carcinoma (CT26) and breast cancer (4T1) cell lines. Evaluation of complexes (1) and (2) on induction of apoptosis in CT26 cells has been done. Finally, plasmid cleavage ability of (1) and (2) was investigated by gel electrophoresis that indicate the more activity of (1) than (2).     

Effect of self assembly on the nonlinear optical characteristics of ZnO thin films

In the present work, we report the third order nonlinear optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited using self assembly, sol gel process as well as pulsed laser ablation by z scan technique. ZnO thin films clearly exhibit a negative nonlinear index of refraction at 532 nm and the observed nonlinear refraction is attributed to two photon absorption followed by free carrier absorption. Although the absolute nonlinear values for these films are comparable, there is a change in the sign of the absorptive nonlinearity of the films. The films developed by dip coating and pulsed laser ablation exhibit reverse saturable absorption whereas the self assembled film exhibits saturable absorption. These different nonlinear characteristics in the self assembled films can be mainly attributed to the saturation of linear absorption of the ZnO defect states.     

Adaptive modified function projective synchronization of multiple time-delayed chaotic Rossler system

In this Letter we consider modified function projective synchronization of unidirectionally coupled multiple time-delayed Rossler chaotic systems using adaptive controls. Recently, delay differential equations have attracted much attention in the field of nonlinear dynamics. The high complexity of the multiple time-delayed systems can provide a new architecture for enhancing message security in chaos based encryption systems. Adaptive control can be used for synchronization when the parameters of the system are unknown. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the adaptive control law and the parameter update law are derived to make the state of two chaotic systems are function projective synchronized. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive controllers.