Bioengineered nanoconjugates have enormous potential as a multifunctional platform for biomedical applications. conjugation between biotic and abiotic materials enables formulation of nanoconjugates with enhanced physico-chemical properties, increased stability and ability to overcome the inherent shortcomings of individual materials. in this study, we report the preparation and biophysical characterization of an antibacterial system formulated by functionalizing reduced graphene oxide (rGo) with an antimicrobial peptide via covalent as well as non-covalent interaction mechanisms. environmentally benign synthesis approach was adopted for the formation of rGo, using L-ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. covalently conjugated peptide-graphitic conjugate displayed improved antibacterial efficacy against Escherichia coli with considerably low cytotoxic activity towards erythrocytes in comparison to self-assembled conjugate and rGo alone. the studies described herein are highly significant in the field of biomaterials and aims to open new avenues of research focusing on a plethora of applications as a prospective non-toxic substitute to conventional antibacterial approaches. Graphene-based materials like graphite, graphene oxide (GO) and rGO (reduced graphene oxide) have been explored for numerous biomedical applications ranging from diagnostics to delivery of therapeutics owing to their inimitable physiochemical characteristics, renewability and economical raw material procurement 1,2. Amongst these, oxygen-rich GO exhibits far ranging applications owing to occurrence of epoxide, hydroxyl, and carboxylic moieties in its structure. In comparison to GO, rGO lacks sufficient reaction sites and functional groups that limit its applicability 3. Although, rGO has been reportedly used in construction of sensors, but it has not been explored much for its therapeutic efficacy 4,5. Thermal annealing along with application of reducing agents are used to eliminate functional groups usually present on GO to produce rGO 6,7. Over the last few years many methods for preparation of rGO have been reported but most of them are time consuming, use toxic reagents and produce a low yield 8. In order to reduce the harmful effects of these reducing agents' efforts are being focussed on using naturally derived agents which are non-toxic. Therefore, it is necessary to opt for environment friendly reducing agents like L-ascorbic acid which give a better yield as compared to the conventional reducing agents 9,10. Although reduction of GO by application of L-ascorbic acid has been reported previously, but functionalizing it with biomolecules like peptides has not been reported earlier 11. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential components of the innate immune system 12. They are widely distributed amongst a wide variety of life forms ranging from microorganisms to humans. AMPs display antibacterial function by interacting with the surface of the cell membrane thereby causing disintegration of lipid bilayer present on the bacterial structure ...

The present study indicated that protofibrillar Aβ 1-42 injection altered long term memory, induced anxiety-like behavior and also developed Alzheimer's disease like pathology in rats.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The decreasing effectiveness of conventional drugs due to multidrug-resistance is a major challenge for the scientific community, necessitating development of novel antimicrobial agents. In the present era of coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic, patients are being widely exposed to antimicrobial drugs and hence the problem of multidrug-resistance shall be aggravated in the days to come. Consequently, revisiting the phenomena of multidrug resistance leading to formulation of effective antimicrobial agents is the need of the hour. As a result, this review sheds light on the looming crisis of multidrug resistance in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the problem, significance and approaches for tackling microbial resistance with special emphasis on anti-microbial peptides as next-generation therapeutics against multidrug resistance associated diseases. Antimicrobial peptides exhibit exceptional mechanism of action enabling rapid killing of microbes at low concentration, antibiofilm activity, immunomodulatory properties along with a low tendency for resistance development providing them an edge over conventional antibiotics. The review is unique as it discusses the mode of action, pharmacodynamic properties and application of antimicrobial peptides in areas ranging from therapeutics to agriculture.

No abstract

In recent years, the occurrence of a wide variety of drug-resistant diseases has led to an increase in interest in alternate therapies. Peptide-based drugs as an alternate therapy hold researchers’ attention in various therapeutic fields such as neurology, dermatology, oncology, metabolic diseases, etc. Previously, they had been overlooked by pharmaceutical companies due to certain limitations such as proteolytic degradation, poor membrane permeability, low oral bioavailability, shorter half-life, and poor target specificity. Over the last two decades, these limitations have been countered by introducing various modification strategies such as backbone and side-chain modifications, amino acid substitution, etc. which improve their functionality. This has led to a substantial interest of researchers and pharmaceutical companies, moving the next generation of these therapeutics from fundamental research to the market. Various chemical and computational approaches are aiding the production of more stable and long-lasting peptides guiding the formulation of novel and advanced therapeutic agents. However, there is not a single article that talks about various peptide design approaches i.e., in-silico and in-vitro along with their applications and strategies to improve their efficacy. In this review, we try to bring different aspects of peptide-based therapeutics under one article with a clear focus to cover the missing links in the literature. This review draws emphasis on various in-silico approaches and modification-based peptide design strategies. It also highlights the recent progress made in peptide delivery methods important for their enhanced clinical efficacy. The article would provide a bird’s-eye view to researchers aiming to develop peptides with therapeutic applications. Graphical Abstract