http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/59840 <b>[Pages 371-442]</b> 2026-10-11T23:32:30Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/59848 Title: Different roles of helper T lymphocytes during dendritic cells vaccine in experimental breast cancer Authors: Silva, Saulo FM Da; Cunha, Alessandra; Murta, Eddie FC; Michelin, E Márcia A Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common women’s tumor. Treatments though effective, are often aggressive and leave the patients vulnerable to developing opportunistic infections. There is a need for less aggressive more effective new therapies. In this study, we have made an attempt to evaluate DCs immunotherapy by flow cytometry, analyzing the presence of infiltrating cells, cytokines and transcription factors in the spleens, lymph nodes and tumors of breast cancer mice undergoing immunotherapy. The 4T1 cell transfection was used to induce breast cancer in Balb/c mice aged 6 to 8 weeks. Mice were treated with 3 doses of DCs vaccine. After the treatment, animals were euthanized, the spleen, lymphnodes and tumors were removed and used to perform flow cytometry. Results have shown higher CD4+ T lymphocytes that produce IL-12 in the spleen of group treated with DCs vaccine (149,8-271,3) 172,4. Further, there was an increase in T-bet (976,1-1075) 1022 in the lymph nodes of tumor group treated with DCs and less FOXP3 (795,7 - 895) 832. Tumoral volume and the FOXP3 were decreased in the treated group. There was an increase in the transcription factor of Th1 profile, and of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, inferring a good immune response. With these observations, it can be concluded that the DC vaccine is effective in combating the development of tumors. Page(s): 375-385 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/59847 Title: Mild overexpression of a novel transcription factor Grainy head like-2 (Grhl2) elicits hybrid phenotype in human astrocytoma cells Authors: Prasannaraj, Govindaraj; Prabhakaran, Vasudevan Abstract: The Grainy head like-2 (Grhl2) transcription factor plays a major role in embryonic and cancer development. The role of Grhl2 has been intensively studied in various cancers but not for brain cancer. Hence, in this study, we provide a preliminary understanding on the role of Grhl2 that regulate the transition of astrocytoma cells. The human A172 astrocytoma cell line, a mesenchymal cell characterized by mild overexpression of Grhl2 transcription factor, was used in this study. At first, the Grhl2 stably overexpressing A172 clones into three types i.e., Grhl2+ (mild), Grhl2++ (moderate) and Grhl2+++ (high) based on mRNA and protein expression levels of Grhl2 were characterized. Phenotypic characteristics of vector and Grhl2+ cells were observed using phase contrast microscopy. Quantitative PCR (qPCR), Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect the level of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin/vimentin) and also epithelial markers (E-cadherin/ β- catenin) in vector and Grhl2+ cells. The migration and invasion characteristics of vector and Grhl2+ cells were determined by scratch assay and Boyden chamber assay. Further, the Grhl2+ cells were characterized to determine the effect of temozolomide chemotherapy drug which were widely used in treating brain cancer. As expected, in phase contrast image, we observed the mesenchymal characteristic of A172 cells becomes hybrid phenotype i.e., mixture of mesenchymal (spindle-like fibroblast morphology) and epithelial (cobblestone like appearance) cells upon Grhl2 mild expression (Grhl2+) when compared to vector cells. Further, we found that there was a significant upregulation of E-cadherin at both mRNA and protein levels in Grhl2+ cells when compared to vector cells. There was a significant upregulation of β-catenin, N-cadherin and vimentin at mRNA levels, but there was no significant upregulation at the protein levels in Grhl2+ cells compared to the vector cells. The migration and invasion were diminished in Grhl2+ cells when compared to the vector control cells. We observed that the Grhl2+ were sensitive to the temozolomide compared to the vector cells. This infers that the Grhl2+ cells were unable to attain complete transition of mesenchymal to epithelial state, and hence we categorized the Grhl2+ cells as hybrid phenotype. The results provide a better understanding of the largely unknown function of Grhl2 in human astrocytoma cells as tumor progression or suppression. Page(s): 386-396 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/59846 Title: A hemagglutinin from Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre seed Authors: Ayesha, Noor; Savithri, HS; Rao, AG Appu Abstract: Lectins are diverse proteins that bind to carbohydrates and are involved in many important physiological processes. They are highly specific to the sugar molecules they bind and therefore, have many therapeutic and diagnostic applications. There are several lectins that display antiviral, antibacterial antifungal and antitumour activities. Characterization of new lectins paves way for comprehension of their diverse biological roles and mechanism of action, thus aiding in further exploration of lectins in various domains of biology. Here, we endeavoured to purify and characterize lectin from the seed of the legume,Pongamia. Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre (syn. Millettia pinnata), seed lectin (PPSL) was purified conventionally by ammonium-sulfate precipitation followed by size exclusion chromatography. The further lectin was physicochemically characterized by CD, fluorescence spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and isothermal calorimetry. Hemagglutination studies with various mono and disaccharides showed specificity towards galactose. This specificity was reaffirmed by isothermal studies with appreciable thermodynamic parameters. Lectins have tremendous diagnostic applications. They are used as second-generation drug delivery systems. Page(s): 397-403 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/59845 Title: Chemical and biological assessment of high value pharmaceutical raw material from Egyptian orange peel Authors: Meselhy, Meselhy R.; Ezzat, Shahira M.; Ali, Dalia El-Sheikh; El-Adl, Mohamed; El-Shafei, Reham A.; El-Aziz, Marwa M. Abd; Abdel-Sattar, Essam Abstract: In Egypt, orange juice industries generate huge amount of waste peel that could be a source of raw materials with high value and economic return. Here, we explored a better model for waste management of citrus processing waste in Egypt by developing an ecofriendly method for preparation of value added materials. A high grade pectin (HGP) was obtained from the crude acidic water extract of the peel after passing through Diaion HP20 column. The HGP showed potent antidiabetic activity at lower dose than those reported in literature. It possessed significant effect on blood glucose (BG) level, as well as parameters relevant to liver and kidney functions in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. On the other hand, the essential oil (EO) prepared by cold press showed the highest yield (0.72% w/w) and it is the most applicable method of isolate orange oil on pilot scale. EO showed significant antimicrobial activity against the tested food borne pathogens. In conclusion, high value materials — HGP and EO were prepared on pilot scale from the waste orange peel. While the HGP can be included in food supplement for diabetic patients, EO can be used as a natural food preservative. Page(s): 404-412 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z