The discovery of insulin came with very high hopes for diabetic patients. In 2021, the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the discovery of this vital hormone. However, external use of insulin is highly affected by its aggregating tendency that occurs during its manufacturing, transportation, and improper handling which ultimately leads to its pharmaceutically and biologically ineffective form. In this review, we aim to discuss the various approaches used for decelerating insulin aggregation which results in the enhancement of its overall structural stability and usage. The approaches that are discussed are broadly classified as either a measure through excipient additions or by intrinsic modifications in the insulin native structure.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a debilitating progressive
neurodegenerative
disorder characterized by the loss of cognitive function. A major
challenge in treating this ailment fully is its multifactorial nature,
as it is associated with effects like deposition of Aβ plaques,
oxidative distress, inflammation of neuronal cells, and low levels
of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). In the present work,
we demonstrate the design, synthesis, and biological activity of peptide
conjugates by coupling a H2S-releasing moiety to the peptides
known for their Aβ antiaggregating properties. These conjugates
release H2S in a slow and sustained manner, due to the
formation of self-assembled structures and delivered a significant
amount of H2S within Caenorhabditis elegans. These conjugates are shown to target multiple factors responsible
for the progression of AD: notably, we observed reduction in oxidative
distress, inhibition of Aβ aggregation, and significantly increased
ACh levels in the C. elegans model
expressing human Aβ.
The advent of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) necessitated search for new drug targets for the
bacterium. It is reported that 3.3% of all new tuberculosis cases had multidrug resistance (MDR-TB) in 2009 and each year, about
0.44 million MDR-TB cases are estimated to emerge and 0.15 million people with MDR-TB die. Keeping such an alarming situation
under consideration we wanted to design suitable anti tubercular molecules for new target using computational tools. In the work
Methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was considered as target and three non-toxic phenolic=ketonic
compounds were considered as ligands. Docking was done with Flex X and AutoDock 4.2 separately. Ten proven inhibitors of
MetAP were collected from literature with their IC50 and were correlated using EasyQSAR to generate QSAR model. Activity of
ligands in question was predicted from QSAR. Pharmacophore for each docking was generated using Ligandscout 3.0. Toxicity of
the ligands in question was predicted on Mobyle@rpbs portal and Actelion property explorer. Molecular docking with target
showed that of all three ligands, 3-ammonio-3-(4-oxido-1H-imidazol-1-ium-5-yl) propane-1, 1-bis (olate) has highest affinity (-
37.5096) and lowest IC50 (4.46 µM). We therefore, propose that -3-ammonio-3-(4-oxido-1H-imidazol-1-ium-5-yl) propane-1,1-
bis(olate) as a potent MetAP inhibitor may be a new anti-tubercular drug particularly in the context of Multi Drug Resistant
Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.