No abstract

Glutathione (GSH) is the most abundant cellular tripeptide (L-γglutamate-L-cysteinyl-glycine) which is as critical as oxygen and water. This low molecular mass antioxidant has a very high intracellular concentration that ranges from 1-10 mM and reaches extreme concentration points in malignant cell types. This defender of the cell is compartmentalized in mitochondria, nucleus, peroxisomes, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and cytosol where it is synthesized. The enzymes involved in GSH redox cycling are important for both cellular free radical and nonradical detoxification. The present review article is covering the crucial roles of GSH to combat oxidative/nitrosative stress related to different diseases/disorders and possible drug designing for new therapies.

Entrapping of potent Schiff base with biomimetic environment using fluorescence properties enables better understanding of their interaction for drug‐based application. A detailed photophysical study of zinc (II) Schiff bases, 2,6‐bis((E)‐((2‐(dimethylamino) ethyl)imino)methyl)‐4‐R‐phenol, where R = methyl/tertiary butyl/chloro is reported by utilizing bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the bio membrane. Steady state absorption and emission studies of Schiff base‐protein system have been found to get altered by change in the compartmental ligand. Alternation of polarity caused by such compartmental ligands is reported by comparing the fluorescence behavior of the probes in microheterogeneous environment in a mixture of dioxane and water of varying composition. Hildebrand equation accounts for negative binding constants among BSA with Schiff base with Cl (‐I) group as the compartmental ligand in contrast to the positive magnitudes with ligands exhibiting +I effect. Functionality of such compartmental ligands (intra interactions studied using Hirshfeld analyses) upon binding with the protein is also studied in terms of quenching and denaturation studies. Schiff base with Me is found to be the most favorable ligand that bound to BSA as corroborated from the binding, quenching, micropolarity, and docking studies. Molecular docking studies predict the affinity energies for suitable binding conformations to be ~ − 6 kcal mol−1 for BSA‐Schiff base (with Me ligand).

A detailed photophysical behavioral study of zinc (II) complexes of Schiff bases 2,6-bis((E)-((2-(dimethylamino) ethyl)imino)methyl)-4-R-phenol, where R = methyl (1)/isopropyl (2)/tertiary butyl (3)/chloro (4) for ligands 1 to 4 (HL1 to HL4) have been done by utilising the surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as the biomimicking environment. Steady state absorption and emission studies have been studied to investigate the course of deciphering of the photophysical behavior of the complexes. The study reveals modification of the photophysical properties of the complexes based on the effect of polarity of the micellar environment. The studies reported in the present investigation describe the initial reduction of fluorescent intensity of all the four complexes followed by an escalation in intensity. The binding constant values reveal that the Schiff bases bind to the micellar compartment. The course of binding is however found to be dependent on the functional group of the ligand which is studied and reported in the present context.

In this article, we report the generation of alternating current by the application of constant and ramping DC voltages across oil–water interfaces. The work reported here can be broadly divided into two parts depending on the shapes of oil–water interfaces, i.e., flattened and curved. In the first part, an alternating current of ∼100 nA (amplitude) was generated by applying a constant DC voltage of −3 V and above across a freestanding and flattened oil–water interface. In another part, an alternating current of ∼150 nA (amplitude) was generated by applying a ramping up DC voltage starting from −5 V to 5 V, then again ramping back down to −5 V for the freestanding and curved interface. The suggested qualitative mechanism that engenders such a phenomenon includes the oil–water interface acting like a membrane. This membrane oscillates due to the electrophoretic movement of ions present in the aqueous phase by the application of a DC voltage across the interface. This electrophoretic movement of ions across oil–water interfaces causes Faraday instabilities leading to oscillations of the said interface. This method could also be used to study the stress levels in the interfacial films between two immiscible liquids. It explores the more-than-Moore’s paradigm by finding a substitute to a conventional alternator/inverter that generates alternating current upon applying a DC voltage input. This work would be of substantial interest to researchers exploring alternatives to conventional AC generators that can be used in liquid environments and in the design of novel integrated circuits that could be used for unconventional computing applications.