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Regenerative medicine is an evolving interdisciplinary topic of research involving numerous technological methods that utilize stem cells to repair damaged tissues. Particularly, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a great tool in regenerative medicine because of their lack of tumorogenicity, immunogenicity and ability to perform immunomodulatory as well as anti-inflammatory functions. Numerous studies have investigated the role of MSCs in tissue repair and modulation of allogeneic immune responses. MSCs derived from different sources hold unique regenerative potential as they are self-renewing and can differentiate into chondrocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes, endothelial and neuronal cells, among which neuronal-like cells have gained special interest. MSCs also have the ability to secrete multiple bioactive molecules capable of stimulating recovery of injured cells and inhibiting inflammation. In this review we focus on neural differentiation potential of MSCs isolated from different sources and how certain growth factors/small molecules can be used to derive neuronal phenotypes from MSCs. We also discuss the efficacy of MSCs when transplanted in vivo and how they can generate certain neurons and lead to relief or recovery of the diseased condition. Furthermore, we have tried to evaluate the appropriatemerits of different sources ofMSCs with respect to their propensity towards neurological differentiation as well as their effectiveness in preclinical studies.

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Altered expression of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), longer than 200 nucleotides without potential for coding protein, has been observed in diverse human diseases including viral diseases. It is largely unknown whether lncRNA would deregulate in SARS-CoV-2 infection, causing ongoing pandemic COVID-19. To identify, if lncRNA was deregulated in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, we analyzed in silico the data in GSE147507. It was revealed that expression of 20 lncRNA like MALAT1, NEAT1 was increased and 4 lncRNA like PART1, TP53TG1 was decreased in at least two independent cell lines infected with SARS-CoV-2. Expression of NEAT1 was also increased in lungs tissue of COVID-19 patients. The deregulated lncRNA could interact with more than 2800 genes/proteins and 422 microRNAs as revealed from the database that catalogs experimentally determined interactions. Analysis with the interacting gene/protein partners of deregulated lncRNAs revealed that these genes/proteins were associated with many pathways related to viral infection, inflammation and immune functions. To find out whether these lncRNAs could be regulated by STATs and interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), we used ChIPBase v2.0 that catalogs experimentally determined binding from ChIP-seq data. It was revealed that any one of the transcription factors IRF1, IRF4, STAT1, STAT3 and STAT5A had experimentally determined binding at regions within -5kb to +1kb of the deregulated lncRNAs in at least 2 independent cell lines/conditions. Our analysis revealed that several lncRNAs could be regulated by IRF1, IRF4 STAT1 and STAT3 in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and lncRNAs might be involved in antiviral response. However, these in silico observations are necessary to be validated experimentally.

Proper treatment of heavy metal ions present in wastewaters is a major concern. With extensive usage in various industries, Cr(VI) contamination has become threatening for the environment. Biosorption is a favorable technique for heavy metals removal. In the present study, dried cyanobacterial consortium of Dinophysis caudata and Dinophysis acuminata were used to assess its biosorption capability. The surface texture and morphology of the biosorbent were obtained through scanning electron microscopy. The presence of different chemical bonds, namely hydroxyl, C-H and C-N, was confirmed through FTIR study. Pseudo-second-order Mckay-Ho model was found to perform best to fit the kinetic data. Temkin adsorption isotherm model fit best to the equilibrium data. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize Cr(VI) abatement. Effect of initial concentration (IC) of metal ion, temperature, pH variation and amount of adsorbent (AD) were studied during batch study. Maximum Cr(VI) abatement after 5 min contact time was 80.77% for an IC of Cr(VI) of 25 mg/L, at pH 11 and 45 °C with the AD of 2.5 g/L. The optimum removal conditions as shown by RSM study were IC of Cr(VI): 15 mg/L, AD: 1 g/L, pH: 11, and the removal was predicted as 81.72%. Artificial neural network-based model was further developed based on experimental points which indicated that the model can predict abatement of Cr(VI) for various operating conditions with reasonably high accuracy.

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The concentration of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, has been increasing in the atmosphere due to various anthropogenic activities. This review aims at summarizing different organisms, including eukaryotes and prokaryotes that have the ability to assimilate CO2. In addition, the metabolic pathway via which an organism sequesters CO2 is explained in brief. The adaptations of different organisms for efficient CO2 sequestration have also been explained in the current review. An important advantage of applying biological systems to manage CO2 is that it synthesizes industrially useful byproducts such as bioplastics, medicinal compounds, and biofuels. Hence, this review helps in understanding diverse biological systems that can be utilized to develop a sustainable technology to mitigate CO2 at an industrial level. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 127–136, 2019