A novel transacetylase (TAase) function of glutamine synthetase (GS) in bacterial species such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was established by us, termed as mycobacterial TAase (MTAase). Several polyphenolic acetates (PAs) were found to be substrates for MTAase by inhibiting certain receptor proteins such as glutathione S-transferase by way of acetylation. The present work describes the descriptor-based 2D-QSAR studies developed for a series of PA synthesized by us and evaluated for MTAase and antimycobacterial activity using stepwise multiple linear regression method with the kinetic constants and the minimum inhibitory constant (MIC) as the dependent variables, to address the fact that TAase activity was leading to the antimycobacterial activity. Further, blind docking methods using AutoDock were carried out to study the interaction of potent PA with the crystal structure of M. tuberculosis GS. PAs were predicted to bind M. tuberculosis GS on the protein surface away from the known active site of GS. Subsequent focussed/refined docking of potent PA with GS showed that the ε-amino group of Lys4 of GS formed a cation-π interaction with the benzene ring of PA. Also, ADMET-related descriptors were calculated to predict the pharmacokinetic properties for the selection of the effective and bioavailable compounds.

Introduction: WhatsApp is one of the most popular tool of mass media communication besides Facebook and twitter. We all agree a good communication is essential between the teacher and student for a healthy academic environment in every discipline and it is must in Anatomy because of immenseness of this basic science as well as its exposure to the students in a short span. To ease this burden and to facilitate the teaching learning outcome we incorporated WhatsApp shared learning as an adjuvant to class-room teaching. So we created a group dedicated to anatomical discussion for MBBS 2015-16 batch. We discussed the current curricular topics, relevant queries and provided the students the multimedia resource as and when needed. The outcome of this was analysed and discussed through peer reviewed questionnaire and suggestions.

The present study clearly demonstrated the in vitro antitubercular potential of the novel drug candidate NA5. Further studies are warranted to establish the in vivo efficacy and therapeutic potential of NA5.

Based on data collected through interview of 2142 mothers who had experienced live births and/or infant deaths within one year preceding the date of survey in selected slums of Calcutta Metropolis and Raipur City, this study attempts to elucidate and explain the levels, differentials, causes and determinants of infant mortality in the Indian slums. The infant mortality rate (IMR) in the slums was found to be quite high but lower than that in rural India, underlining the importance of ‘urban residence’ as a major controlling factor of infant mortality. The IMR in the slums of Calcutta was about one and a half times that in the slums of Raipur, suggesting that slum infant mortality is far worse in metropolises than in smaller cities. A number of individual‐level, household‐level and slum‐level determinants were examined, and all played some explanatory role, but the differences in neighbourhood environment contributed most substantially to the infant mortality differential between the slums of Calcutta and Raipur. The study also reveals that mere literacy or low educational level is not an effective depressant of infant mortality. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The protein acetyltransferase (MTAase) function of glutamine synthetase of Mycobacterium smegmatis was established earlier. In this paper, studies were undertaken to examine MTAase function of recombinant glutamine synthetase (rGlnA1) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which showed >80% similarity with M. smegmatis GlnA. The specificity of MTAase to several acyl derivative of coumarins was examined. The results clearly indicated that MTAase exhibited differential specificities to several acyloxycoumarins. Further, MTAase was also found capable of transferring propionyl and butyryl groups from propoxy and butoxy derivatives of 4-methylcoumarin. These observations characterized MTAase in general as a protein acyltransferase. MTAase catalyzed acetylation of GST by 7,8-diacetoxy-4-methylcoumarin (DAMC), a model acetoxy coumarin was confirmed by MALDI-TOF-MS as well as western blot analysis using acetylated lysine polyclonal antibody. In order to validate the active site of rGlnA1 for TAase activity, effect of DAMC and L-methionine-S-sulfoximine (MSO) on GS and TAase activity of rGlnA1 were studied. The results indicated that the active sites of GS and TAase were found different. Acetyl CoA, a universal biological acetyl group donor, was also found to be a substrate for MTAase. These results appropriately characterize glutamine synthetase of Mtb exhibiting transacylase action as a moonlighting protein.