Computer Sciences

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11274/15374

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    Myco-synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their bioactive role against pathogenic microbes
    (MDPI, 2023-04) Abdel-Hadi, Ahmed; Iqbal, Danish; Alharbi, Raed; Jahan, Sadaf; Darwish, Omar; Alshehri, Bader; Banawas, Saeed; Palanisamy, Manikanadan; Ismail, Ahmed; Aldosari, Sahar; Alsaweed, Mohammed; Madkhali, Yahya; Kamal, Mehnaz; Fatima, Faria
    Simple Summary: The relatively high prevalence of microbial infections and the rising resistance to traditional antibiotics are the causes of the need for revolutionary antibiotics. Nanotechnology, a technique that employs materials featuring nanometer size, has grown in popularity for therapeutic uses and is very intriguing as a means of eradicating or limiting the activity of several pathogens. Silver nanoparticles have been shown to have antimicrobial properties against fungi and bacteria. The unique properties of silver nanoparticles, such as their high surface-area-to-volume ratio and the ability to release silver ions, can cause damage to the microbial cell membrane, interfere with cellular processes, and make them effective against a wide range of microorganisms. Synthesis of nanoparticles via natural products could potentiate their therapeutic activities. Moreover, phosphatase enzyme is also known to possess antimicrobial effects, and there is a fungus (Fusarium oxysporum) reported to have phosphatase enzymes in its extracellular fluid. Therefore, we focused on synthesizing silver nanoparticles by using extracellular proteins released by Fusarium oxysporum and thereafter evaluated its biological activities against pathogenic microbes. Our findings illustrated that synthesized nanoparticles showed prominent anti-microbicidal activities against various pathogenic bacterial and fungal species. Thus, these nanoparticles may be used against drug-resistant infections. Abstract: Nanotechnology based on nanoscale materials is rapidly being used in clinical settings, particularly as a new approach for infectious illnesses. Recently, many physical/chemical approaches utilized to produce nanoparticles are expensive and highly unsafe to biological species and ecosystems. This study demonstrated an environmentally friendly mode of producing nanoparticles (NPs) where Fusarium oxysporum has been employed for generation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which were further tested for their antimicrobial potentials against a variety of pathogenic microorganisms. The characterization of NPs was completed by UV–Vis spectroscopy, DLS and TEM, where it has been found that the NPs were mostly globular, with the size range of 50 to 100 nm. The myco-synthesized AgNPs showed prominent antibacterial potency observed as zone of inhibition of 2.6 mm, 1.8 mm, 1.5 mm, and 1.8 mm against Vibrio cholerae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus anthracis, respectively, at 100 µM. Similarly, at 200 µM for A. alternata, A. flavus and Trichoderma have shown zone of inhibition as 2.6 mm, 2.4 mm, and 2.1 mm, respectively. Moreover, SEM analysis of A. alternata confirmed the hyphal damage where the layers of membranes were torn off, and further EDX data analysis showed the presence of silver NPs, which might be responsible for hyphal damage. The potency of NPs may be related with the capping of fungal proteins that are produced extracellularly. Thus, these AgNPs may be used against pathogenic microbes and play a beneficial role against multi-drug resistance.
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    Estrogen modulation of the pronociceptive effects of serotonin on female rat trigeminal sensory neurons is timing dependent and dosage dependent and requires estrogen receptor alpha
    (Lippincott, 2022) Kaur, Sukhbir; Hickman, Taylor M.; Lopez-Ramirez, Angela; McDonald, Hanna; Lockhart, Lauren M.; Darwish, Omar; Averitt, Dayna L.
    The role of the major estrogen estradiol (E2) on orofacial pain conditions remains controversial with studies reporting both a pronociceptive and antinociceptive role of E2. E2 modulation of peripheral serotonergic activity may be one mechanism underlying the female prevalence of orofacial pain disorders. We recently reported that female rats in proestrus and estrus exhibit greater serotonin (5HT)-evoked orofacial nocifensive behaviors compared with diestrus and male rats. Further coexpression of 5HT2A receptor mRNA in nociceptive trigeminal sensory neurons that express transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 ion channels contributes to pain sensitization. E2 may exacerbate orofacial pain through 5HT-sensitive trigeminal nociceptors, but whether low or high E2 contributes to orofacial pain and by what mechanism remains unclear. We hypothesized that steady-state exposure to a proestrus level of E2 exacerbates 5HT-evoked orofacial nocifensive behaviors in female rats, explored the transcriptome of E2-treated female rats, and determined which E2 receptor contributes to sensitization of female trigeminal sensory neurons. We report that a diestrus level of E2 is protective against 5HT-evoked orofacial pain behaviors, which increase with increasing E2 concentrations, and that E2 differentially alters several pain genes in the trigeminal ganglia. Furthermore, E2 receptors coexpressed with 5HT2A and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 and enhanced capsaicin-evoked signaling in the trigeminal ganglia through estrogen receptor α. Overall, our data indicate that low, but not high, physiological levels of E2 protect against orofacial pain, and we provide evidence that estrogen receptor α receptor activation, but not others, contributes to sensitization of nociceptive signaling in trigeminal sensory neurons.