The Bioflavonoid Galangin Suppresses the Growth of Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma in Swiss Albino Mice: A Molecular Insight

Bioflavonoids are plant compounds touted for their potential to treat or prevent several diseases including cancer caused by various stress conditions. Galangin (4H-1-Benzopyran-4-one, 3, 5, 7-trihydroxy-2-phenyl-), a flavonoid, is a polyphenolic compound found primarily in medicinal herb, Alpinia galanga. This study aims to demonstrate the galangin as a pharmacological lead compound using in vitro, in vivo, and in silico model targeting specific cancer condition and proteins. The proliferation of MCF-7 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells was significantly inhibited with an IC₅₀ of 34.11 and 22.29???g/ml, respectively. In an animal model system, galangin has inhibited the tumor growth by 73.51%?±?4.742 in EAC-induced Swiss Albino mice with no evidences of mortality as compared to standard drug, 5-fluorouracil. The effectiveness of galangin is proven in an animal system suggesting its pharmacokinetics behavior in an animal model which is also complemented by outcome of in silico analysis with more than 88?% of human intestinal absorption and significant Caco-2 cell, MDCK cell, and skin permeability as predicted by in silico methods. Galangin was docked against 19 different proteins involved in tumorogenesis and apoptosis; the energetic analysis indicates that it exhibits higher predicted binding free energy of ?12.7?kcal/mol with Bcl-xL protein.     

Synthesis, characterization, and glutathionylation of cobalamin model complexes [Co(N4PyCO2Me)Cl]Cl2 and [Co(Bn-CDPy3)Cl]Cl2

Synthetic Co(III) complexes containing N5 donor sets undergo glutathionylation to generate biomimetic species of glutathionylcobalamin (GSCbl), an important form of cobalamin (Cbl) found in nature. For this study, a new Co(III) complex was synthesized derived from the polypyridyl pentadentate N5 ligand N4PyCO(2)Me (1). The compound [Co(N4PyCO(2)Me)Cl]Cl(2) (3) was characterized by X-ray crystallography, UV-vis, IR, (1)H NMR, and (13)C NMR spectroscopies and mass spectrometry (HRMS). Reaction of 3 with glutathione (GSH) in H(2)O generates the biomimetic species [Co(N4PyCO(2)Me)(SG)](2+) (5), which was generated in situ and characterized by UV-vis and (1)H NMR spectroscopies and HRMS. (1)H NMR and UV-vis spectroscopic data are consistent with ligation of the cysteine thiolate of GSH to the Co(III) center of 5, as occurs in GSCbl. Kinetic analysis indicated that the substitution of chloride by GS(-) occurs by a second-order process [k(1) = (10.1 ± 0.7) × 10(-2) M(-1) s(-1)]. The observed equilibrium constant for formation of 5 (K(obs) = 870 ± 50 M(-1)) is about 3 orders of magnitude smaller than for GSCbl. Reaction of the Co(III) complex [Co(Bn-CDPy3)Cl]Cl(2) (4) with GSH generates glutathionylated species [Co(Bn-CDPy3)(GS)](2+) (6), analogous to 5. Glutathionylation of 4 occurs at a similar rate [k(2) = (8.4 ± 0.5) × 10(-2) M(-1) s(-1)], and the observed equilibrium constant (K(obs) = 740 ± 47 M(-1)) is slightly smaller than for 5. Glutathionylation showed a significant pH dependence, where rates increased with pH. Taken together, these results suggest that glutathionylation is a general reaction for Co(III) complexes related to Cbl.     

An organoselenium-based highly sensitive and selective fluorescent "turn-on" probe for the Hg2+ ion

An organoselenium-based NSe(3) type of tripodal system 2 as a Hg(2+)-selective fluorescence "turn-on" probe is described. The "turn-on" fluorescence behavior of this selenotripod 2 is significant because it depends on Hg-Se bond formation and acts as a reporting unit for this system. The system exhibits immediate response (15 s) with a subnanomolar detection limit (0.1 nM) for the Hg(2+) ion. It efficiently detects both aqueous and nonaqueous Hg(2+) at 2 nM concentration.     

Polymerizable anthracene derivatives for labeling emulsion copolymers

We describe the synthesis of three anthracene–methacrylate monomers [9‐methacryloxymethyl‐10‐methyl anthracene ( 4 ), 9‐methacryloxyethyloxymethyl‐10‐methyl anthracene ( 5 ), and 9‐methacryloxy‐10‐methyl anthracene ( 6 )] as well as their emulsion copolymers containing butylacrylate. When films prepared from latex dispersions containing 4 or 5 were heated, the anthracene (An) group was cleaved from the polymer at temperatures above 120 °C. Lower temperatures induced this reaction when strong acids were present. In 4 and 5 , the polymerizable group is connected to the An ring via a 9‐CH₂O? linkage. The cleavage reaction requires more stringent conditions when the connection involves a benzylic ether ( 5 ) instead of a benzylic ester. Polymers prepared from 6 , with an An? O? bond, were stable for 1 h at 150 °C in the presence of 0.5 wt % p‐toluene sulfonic acid. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1495–1504, 2001     

Hole-transporting property of a chemically hybridized poly(vinylcarbazole)-fullerene

We synthesized a star copolymer of poly(vinylcarbazole) (PVK) branched from a fullerene (C₆₀) center, and investigated its optical absorption and photoluminescence properties. The chemically hybridized PVK-C₆₀ was then employed as a hole-transporting layer of the electroluminescent device with a poly(9,9^′-dihexylfluorene-2,7-divinylene-m-phenylenevinylene-stat-p-phenylenevinylene) (CPDHFPV) emitting layer. The ITO/PVK-C₆₀/CPDHFPV/LiF/Al device showed a strong electroluminescence quenching due to a direct contact of the PVK-C₆₀ and the CPDHFPV layers. In contrast, when an additional PVK layer was introduced between the two layers, the electroluminescence was largely enhanced. The emitted light power of the ITO/PVK-C₆₀/PVK/CPDHFPV/LiF/Al device was improved by 3 times compared with the device without the PVK-C₆₀ layer.     

Flowshop/No-idle Scheduling to Minimize Total Elapsed Time

This paper studies four n-job, m-machine flowshop problems when processing times of jobs on various machines follow certain conditions. The objective is to obtain a sequence, which minimizes total elapsed time under no-idle constraint. Under no-idle constraint, the machines work continuously without idle-interval. We prove two theorems. We introduce simple algorithms without using branch and bound technique. Numerical examples are also given to demonstrate the algorithms.     

Calculation of interband magneto-optical transition linewidth in Ge by combined projection technique

Using a combined projection technique, we calculate the line-shape function for the magneto-optical direct interband transition in an electron-phonon system. From the plot of the absorption power vs the frequency of the electro-magnetic wave, we obtain the linewidth in Ge at 300 K, where only the deformation potential phonon scattering is taken into account. The obtained value (1.7 meV) is compared with the experimental value (2.0 meV) of Burstein et al. [11].     

Composite exciton-phonon states in molecular crystals

It is known that the diagonalization of the exciton-phonon Hamiltonian gives rise to the composite exciton-phonon energy states. Within the single phonon approximation, two different diagonalized Hamiltonians are obtained for 0–0 and 0–1 phonon transitions in pure molecular crystals. The resulting secular equations are solved, and analytical expressions for the energy eigenvalues corresponding to the two transitions are derived. The thermal broadening due to the composite exciton-phonon states interaction is also calculated at low temperatures, and the results agree with experiments.     

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carissa carandas</Emphasis> berries and its potential antibacterial activities

Metal nanoparticles synthesis using the biological material offers a simple, biocompatible, cost-effective and nontoxic in character. A number of plant materials have been utilized as resource material for the most favorable biosynthesis of active nanomaterials. This study involves the synthesis of active silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using the Carissa carandas (Karonda) berry water extract at room temperature. The nanoparticles characterized at several parameters including shape, size, mass and charge with help of electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transforms IR (FTIR), UV-VIS spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy which proved the efficient silver nanoparticles to be useful in several practical applications. The UV-visible spectra showed the surface plasmon resonance peak at ~440?nm, which is weel recognized attribute peak in case of silver nanoparticles. Avarage size of the biogenic silver nanoparticles ranged from ~10–60?nm, predominantly spherical in shape. The suggested possible mechanisms for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles relies on reduction of AgNO₃ due to occurrence of carinol (and related resonant compounds) in the berry extract with inductive effect of the proton of methoxy and allyl groups, present at ortho and para positions of the compounds. The biologically synthesized Ag NPs also showed efficient antibacterial activity against different pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria at par with the generic antibiotics.

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Masking of trap effects on exciton bands by exciton-phonon coupling

In a rigid lattice the effect on the exciton band of a trap with a lower transition energy than the host is to push a level down from the band edge to an extent depending on the trap depth and the structure of the band. In a non-rigid lattice, in which the levels of the band have mixed exciton-phonon character, interferences caused by the phonon additions to the eigenstates belonging to the same total wavevector (exciton plus phonon) can, especially for shallow traps, greatly weaken the effect of the traps. The effective trap depth may be reduced to a small fraction of its true value. In such cases shallow traps will not be detectable by their influence on exciton band structure. The effect of deep traps is not changed by this mechanism.