A new structurally characterised half-condensed Schiff base (HL′) and a Zn2L4 complex reacting from Zn2+ ion and HL produced from HL′ in a solution state as smart chemosensors for Zn2+ and H2PO4− ions respectively in aqueous medium.
Background
Amoebiasis, being endemic worldwide, is the second leading cause of parasite-associated morbidity and mortality after malaria. The human parasite Entamoeba histolytica is responsible for the disease. Metronidazole is considered as the gold standard for the treatment of amoebiasis, but this antibiotic is carcinogenic and the development of antibiotic resistance against E. histolytica is a major health concern. Chromosome segregation is irregular in this parasite due to the absence of a few cell cycle checkpoint proteins. Anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C or cyclosome) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that synchronizes chromosome segregation and anaphase progression via the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Proteasome is considered to be an attractive drug target for protozoan parasites. For the present study, EhApc11 from E. histolytica, a homologue of Apc11 in humans, is selected for elucidating its structural and functional aspects by detailed in silico analysis and molecular methods. Its physicochemical characteristics, identification of probable interactors, 3D model and quality analysis are done using standard bioinformatics tools. cDNA sequence of EhAPC11 has been further cloned for molecular characterization.
Result
Conserved domain analysis revealed that EhApc11 belongs to the RING (really interesting new gene) superfamily and has ligand binding capacity. Expression study in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) revealed that the molecular weight of glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged protein is ~ 36 kDa.
Conclusion
EhApc11 is a hydrophilic, thermostable, extracellular protein with potent antigenicity. The study will serve as a groundwork for future in-depth analysis regarding the validation of protein-protein interaction of EhApc11 with its substrates identified by STRING analysis and the potential of EhApc11 to serve as an anti-amoebic drug target.
Fabrication of effective photocatalyst using semiconductors and graphene or reduced graphene oxide has been regarded as one of the most promising task to attenuate the environmental pollution. This paper reports the synthesis of different nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide-cadmium sulfide (RGO-CdS) with varying weight ratio of RGO by simple reflux condensation reaction, during which the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and formation of CdS nanoparticles occur simultaneously. The combination of CdS nanoparticles (NPs) with the optimum amount of RGO gives a noticeable effect on the properties of the synthesized hybrid nanocomposites, such as enhanced optical, photocatalytic properties. The microscopic studies proved that with the increasing RGO content in the nanocomposites, the particle size decreases and got different shapes. These nanocomposites have been investigated separately as nanocatalyst for the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the presence of visible light irradiation and the catalytic activity depends on the pH of the medium and also the particle size of the CdS NPs which are supported by the band gap energy derived from Tauc's equation. The significant increase in photocatalytic performance of the RGO-CdS nanocomposite was attributed to high electron conductivity of the CdS NPs and RGO surface which facilitates charge separation and prolongs the lifetime of photogenerated electron-hole pairs by decreasing the recombination rate. Antibacterial and antiprotozoal activities have been investigated to determine the efficiency of these RGO-CdS nanocomposites on different bacterial and protozoan strains.
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