Naturally occurring food-derived active ingredients have received huge attention for their chemopreventive and chemotherapy capabilities in several diseases. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a caffeic acid ester and a naturally-occurring phenolic compound in a number of plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family, such as Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) from which it was formerly isolated. RA intervenes in carcinogenesis through different ways, including in tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and inflammation. On the other hand, it also exerts powerful antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and even antidepressant, anti-aging effects. The present review aims to provide an overview on anticancer activities of RA and to deliberate its therapeutic potential against a wide variety of diseases. Given the current evidence, RA may be considered as part of the daily diet in the treatment of several diseases, with pre-determined doses avoiding cytotoxicity.
Background: ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 protein is an active ATPbinding cassette transporter with the potential to combat cancer stem cells.Objective: Due to the lack of potential ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 inhibitors, we screened natural inhibitors, which could be a safe source to control multidrug resistance by blocking the regulation of ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 protein.Methods: Three-dimensional structure of ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 protein downloaded from the protein databank and chemical structures of 166 selected compounds of the training dataset were retrieved from PubChem. Drug-likeness and docking analysis was conducted to shortlist the dataset for pharmacophore generation. LigandScout 4.1.5 used for pharmacophorebased screening of Zbc library of ZINC database and Autodock Vina were utilized for molecular docking against the predicted active pocket of the target protein to evaluate the potential association of protein and ligands. The physiochemical properties of novel compounds were calculated by admetSAR respectively.Results: Through pharmacophore-based screening, ZINC4098704 (Rhein) was identified as a lead compound which demonstrates the least binding energy (-8.5) and the highest binding affinity with the target protein and showed optimal physiochemical profile. This compound is highly recommended for a laboratory test to confirm its activity as an ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 inhibitors.Conclusion: Our computer-based study systematically selected natural lead compounds, which could be effective in inhibiting ATP-binding cassette Super-family G member 2 and may help reverse the effect of multidrug resistance to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy in cancer treatment.
27 August 2018 in Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an open-pollinated crop having 25-40% dissimilarity index which promotes heterozygosity and adds new cultivars. Morpho-genetic characterization of 37 guava accessions was carried out for genetic variability and structure of guava germplasm located in Punjab province, Pakistan. Principal Component analysis (PCA) was subjected to analyze the morphological diversity and for genetic analysis we applied cluster analysis, using the PyElph software. PCA distributed thirty one traits into six components and first two components accounted 39.5% of total variation. A dendrogram constructed on the basis of morphological traits which showed 34% dissimilarity index among thirty seven guava accessions and divided them into 6 groups. For genetic characterization 18 microsatellites were used, the size of reproducible and scorable bands ranged from 150 to 320 bp. The 18 primer pairs amplified 85 alleles with an average number of 4.7 alleles per locus and no more than two displayed bands (nuclear SSR loci). The phylogenetic tree based on molecular analysis showed 50% dissimilarity index among selected guava accessions and separated them into 4 groups.
1 June 2016 in Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences