The increasing drug resistance of infectious microorganisms is considered a primary concern of global health care. The screening and identification of natural compounds with antibacterial properties have gained immense popularity in recent times. It has previously been shown that several bioactive compounds derived from marine algae exhibit antibacterial activity. Similarly, polyphenolic compounds are generally known to possess promising antibacterial capacity, among other capacities. Phlorotannins (PTs), an important group of algae-derived polyphenolic compounds, have been considered potent antibacterial agents both as single drug entities and in combination with commercially available antibacterial drugs. In this context, this article reviews the antibacterial properties of polyphenols in brown algae, with particular reference to PTs. Cell death through various molecular modes of action and the specific inhibition of biofilm formation by PTs were the key discussion of this review. The synergy between drugs was also discussed in light of the potential use of PTs as adjuvants in the pharmacological antibacterial treatment.

Today's era and lifestyle have led to a quick rise in cases of diabetes. Diabetes mellitus (DM) has risen to the top of the list of serious diseases and stems from different health disorders. Human pancreatic alpha-amylase (HPA) enzyme plays a critical role in the digestion of carbohydrates, and inhibitors of alpha-amylase have been investigated as a way to slow the absorption of carbohydrates and reduce postprandial (after meal) hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes. Recently algal derivatives have been studied for their potential as a new drug against diabetes and other diseases. The study is aimed to find active biochemical compounds from the methanolic extract of Chlorella vulgaris. The in vitro studies were carried out and the results revealed that methanolic extract from C. vulgaris showed abundant inhibition efficacy of the α-amylase (IC₅₀ of about 2.66 µg/mL) compared to acarbose (IC₅₀ of about 2.85 µg/mL), a standard, commercial inhibitor. All the bioactive compounds from the methanolic extract were identified from the GCMS study and considered for in silico evaluation. Out of 14 bioactive compounds from GCMS, compound C3 showed higher docking energy (-8.3 kcal/mol) compared to other compounds. Subsequently, the comparative molecular dynamic simulation of apo and ligand-bound (compound C3 and acarbose) α-amylase complexes showed overall structural stability for compound C3 at the active site of α-amylase from various MD analyses. Hence, we believe, the bioactive compounds identified from GCMS may assist in diabetic therapeutics. Moreover, the compound C3 identified in this study could be a potential antidiabetic therapeutic inhibitor.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

AIM2 and IFI16 are the most studied members of AIM2-like receptors (ALRs) in humans and share a common N-Terminal PYD domain and C-terminal HIN domain. The HIN domain binds to dsDNA in response to the invasion of bacterial and viral DNA, and the PYD domain directs apoptosis-associated speck-like protein via protein–protein interactions. Hence, activation of AIM2 and IFI16 is crucial for protection against pathogenic assaults, and any genetic variation in these inflammasomes can dysregulate the human immune system. In this study, different computational tools were used to identify the most deleterious and disease-causing non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in AIM2 and IFI16 proteins. Molecular dynamic simulation was performed for the top damaging nsSNPs to study single amino acid substitution-induced structural alterations in AIM2 and IFI16. The observed results suggest that the variants G13V, C304R, G266R, and G266D for AIM2, and G13E and C356F are deleterious and affect structural integrity. We hope that the suggested deleterious nsSNPs and structural dynamics of AIM2 and IFI16 variants will guide future research to better understand the function of these variants with large-scale studies and may assist in fresher therapeutics focusing on these polymorphisms. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

The Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is highly contagious, affecting cloven-hoofed animals and causing significant economic losses to the livestock industry. Its high genetic variability complicates vaccine development, necessitating frequent updates to traditional inactivated vaccines. Multi-epitope-based vaccines (MEBVs) offer a promising alternative by incorporating immunogenic epitopes to elicit robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, thereby providing broader protection against diverse FMDV strains. Using in silico approaches, we designed a novel FMDV-targeting MBEV specifically tailored to the BoLA alleles to ensure optimal epitope selection for cattle. The MEBV included non-toxic, antigenic, and non-allergenic epitopes combined with β-defensin 3 adjuvants, PADRE sequences, and linkers to enhance immunogenicity and stability. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations confirmed strong binding affinity and stable interactions with TLR3 and TLR7, and immune simulation analysis revealed notable increases in B-cell and T-cell populations, cytokines, and macrophages, with sustained levels of IFN-γ and IL-2. Codon optimization for Escherichia coli K12 enhanced expression, and in silico restriction cloning demonstrated its scalability for production. Our findings suggest that the MEBV design is a cost-effective and efficient approach to combat FMDV. While experimental validation is required, the in silico results also highlight its potential to trigger protective immune responses and address the limitations of traditional vaccines.

Dengue fever is one of the most dreaded viral diseases caused by the bite of female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes infected with the Dengue virus (DENV). No DENV antiviral drugs have been approved, yet they are desperately needed. The current study focuses on finding potential therapeutics from 8 medicinal plants reported to have activity against the DENV NS2B/NS3 protease in vitro. Eighty‐two phytocompounds were selected from eight different medicinal plants like Vernonia cinerea, Tridax procumbens, Cassia angustifolia, Lawsonia inermis, Dryobalanops aromatic, Punica granatum, Zingiber zerumbet and Zizyphus‐jujuba . The top five phytocompounds (Epicatechin (EPI), Chrysoeriol (CHR), Apigenin (API), Quercetin‐3,4′‐Dimethylether (QUE), and Caffeic acid (CAF)) identified from toxicity evaluation and docking studies were further subjected to 100 ns long Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to study their structural stability and binding affinity through MM‐PBSA based free‐energy calculations. MD results revealed overall conformational stability with all the five phytocompounds. Furthermore, MM‐PBSA results suggest binding free energy values of −154.415 kJ/mol, −151.154 kJ/mol, −139.048 kJ/mol, −122.827 kJ/mol), and −120.622 kJ/mol for compound EPI, QUE, API, CAF, and CHR respectively by interacting with essential binding site residues. These compounds could thus be studied extensively to develop nature‐based therapeutic compounds as anti‐dengue agents for DENV2.