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The industrially important species of corynebacteria viz. Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum appear to be alternative hosts for recombinant protein production; despite many efforts, a strong promoter-based system in corynebacteria has not been established so far. Described here is a T7 promoter-based expression system which was functional in both gram-positive C. acetoacidophilum and gram-negative Escherichia coli in an external inducer independent manner. This is the very first report of a T7 expression system for Corynebacterium sp. Also, it is a useful addition in the existing T7 expression systems of E. coli.

The present study explores an RNA we have discovered in human heart that induces differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells into cardiomyocytes in vitro. We have designated this RNA as Cardiac Inducing RNA or CIR. We now find that CIR also induces mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) to form cardiomyocytes in vitro. For these studies, human-derived CIR is transfected into MEF using lipofectamine. The CIR-transfected mouse fibroblasts exhibit spindle-shaped cells, characteristic of myocardial cells in culture and express cardiac-specific troponin-T and cardiac tropomyosin. As such, the CIR-induced conversion of the fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes in vitro appears to take place without initial dedifferentiation into pluripotent stem cells. Instead, after CIR transfection using a lipofectamine transfection system, over the next 8 days there appears to be a direct transdifferentiation of ˃80% of the cultured fibroblasts into definitive cardiomyocytes. Fewer than ˂7% of the untreated controls using non-active RNA or lipofectamine by itself show cardiomyocyte characteristics. Thus, discovery of CIR may hold significant potential for future use in repair/regeneration of damaged myocardial tissue in humans after myocardial infarction or other disease processes such that affected patients may be able to return to pre-heart-disease activity levels.

: In the recent scenario, nanotechnology-based therapeutics intervention has gained tremendous impetus all across the globe. Nano-based pharmacological intervention of various bioactive compounds has been explored on an increasing scale. Sesquiterpenes are major constituents of essential oils (EOs) present in various plant species which possess intriguing therapeutic potentials. However, owing to their poor physicochemical properties; they have pharmacological limitations. Recent advances in nano-based therapeutic interventions offer various avenues to improve their therapeutic applicability. Reckoning with these, the present review collates various nano-based therapeutic intervention of sesquiterpenes with prospective potential against various debilitating diseases especially cancer. In our viewpoint, considering the burgeoning advancement in the field of nanomedicine; in the near future, the clinical applicability of these nano-formulated sesquiterpenes can be foreseen with great enthusiasm.