Aims: Dental caries is caused by the disturbance in oral homeostasis, marked by a notable increase in the population of Streptococcus mutans. Lectins are a group of plant proteins that are capable of recognizing the glycoconjugates present on the bacterial surface. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of seven plant lectins on the growth and initial adhesion of S. mutans.
Methods and Results: Lectins of different carbohydrate specificities were isolated from plant sources by conventional methods of protein purification. The effect on growth of S. mutans was evaluated following CLSI guidelines. None of the lectins used in this study inhibited the bacterial growth and multiplication. The adherence and biofilm formation of bacteria to saliva‐coated polystyrene plates was tested in the presence of plant lectins. All the plant lectins tested, inhibited both the adherence and biofilm in a concentration dependent manner. Confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were employed to assess the biofilm formation in the presence of plant lectin (glucose/mannose‐specific) at sub‐minimal inhibitory concentrations. These evaluations revealed that lectins inhibited the clumping and attachment of S. mutans.
Conclusions: Lectins tested here inhibited initial biofilm formation by S. mutans. Glucose/Mannose‐specific lectin altered the adhesion arrangement of the bacteria on the saliva‐coated surfaces.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The plant lectins used in this study may offer a novel strategy to reduce development of dental caries by inhibiting the initial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation of S. mutans.
Multilayer capsules have been of great interest for scientists and medical communities in multidisciplinary fields of research, such as drug delivery, sensing, biomedicine, theranostics and gene therapy. The most essential attributes of a drug delivery system are considered to be multi-functionality and stimuli responsiveness against a range of external and internal stimuli. Apart from the highly explored strong polyelectrolytes, weak polyelectrolytes offer great versatility with a highly controllable architecture, unique stimuli responsiveness and easy tuning of the properties for intracellular delivery of cargo. This review describes the progress in the preparation, functionalization and applications of capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes or their combination with biopolymers. The selection of a sacrificial template for capsule formation, the driving forces involved, the encapsulation of a variety of cargo and release based on different internal and external stimuli have also been addressed. We describe recent perspectives and obstacles of weak polyelectrolyte/biopolymer systems in applications such as therapeutics, biosensing, bioimaging, bioreactors, vaccination, tissue engineering and gene delivery. This review gives an emerging outlook on the advantages and unique responsiveness of weak polyelectrolyte based systems that can enable their widespread use in potential applications.
Aim:The objective of this study was to isolate endophytic bacteria from Azadirachta indica (neem) leaves, their identification and investigate their antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus cereus and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumoniae.Materials and Methods:Fresh leaves of A. indica (neem) was procured from the Department of Botany, JNKVV, Jabalpur. Five samples were taken, and each sample was divided into five subsamples and separated for further isolation of endophytic bacteria. For sterilization leaves were treated with double distilled water, 0.1% sodium hypochlorite, 0.01% bavistin, 0.05% and 70% ethanol. Sterilized leaves of the plants were embedded in Kings B (KB) petri plates and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. Characterization of the bacteria was done according to its morphology and by Gram-staining. After that, a single colony was transferred into brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. The antibacterial effect was studied by the disk diffusion method with known antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Ci) as standard.Results:A total of 25 bacterial isolates from A. indica (neem) were obtained and identified morphologically. Most of the samples on KB media depicted irregular shape, flat elevation, undulated, rough, opaque, and white in color. Most of the samples on blood agar showed irregular, raise elevation, undulated, smooth, opaque and all the isolates were nonhemolytic and nonchromogenic. The growth of endophytic bacteria in BHI broth were all isolates showed turbidity. The microscopic examination revealed that maximum isolates were Gram-positive and rod shaped. Good antibacterial activity was observed against S. aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, E. coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and K. pneumoniae.Conclusions:Endophytic bacteria are present in leaves of A. indica (neem) and it possesses antibacterial activity against few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
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