IIT-Roorkee researchers re-defines a drug for chikungunya
48 SCIENCE NEWS l BioSpectrum | November 2017 | www . biospectrumindia . com
IIT-Roorkee researchers re-defines a drug for chikungunya
A drug to treat chikungunya virus infection is in the offing , and in vitro studies carried out by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ) Roorkee show promise . Currently , there is no cure for the disease and treatment is focused more on relieving the symptoms . Since the team used an existing drug piperazine , safety of the drug is already known and hence the trials on animals and humans will be more to understand the efficacy of the drug in treating chikungunya infection .
Piperazine is used for the treatment of worm infections . The antiviral drug indinavir used for treating HIV positive people is a piperazine-based molecule . The derivatives of piperazine are used as anti-histamines and antidepressants drugs too .
Drug binding studies were carried out using chikungunya virus and it was found that the binding of the drug at the caspid protein was better in the case of chikungunya virus . The function of capsid protein is essential for the virus budding and replication of virus . On studying the antiviral activity of piperazine molecule against chikungunya , it was found that the molecule inhibits virus replication .
Scientists at IISc use nanomaterials for treating Parkinson ’ s
A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science ( IISc ) Bengaluru has fabricated a metal oxide nanomaterial that is capable of mimicking all three major cellular antioxidant enzymes , thereby controlling the level of reactive oxygen species ( ROS ) inside cells .
A problem arises when ROS is generated in excess and the enzymes are unable to control the level of ROS . Oxidative stress due to excessive ROS causes damage to DNA , proteins and lipids ; oxidative stress is implicated in several diseases such as neurodegeneration , cancer , diabetes and cardiovascular diseases . Based on in vitro test results , the nanomaterial appears a promising candidate for therapeutic applications against oxidative stress-induced neurological disorders , particularly Parkinson ’ s .
The manganese oxide nanomaterial was able to control the level of Reactive Oxygen Species inside the cells . They did not scavenge the ROS completely . If they do , then the normal physiological functions of the cells get affected . It actually scavenges reactive oxygen species and brings it to optimum level so normal functions of the cell are not affected . The nanozymes have therapeutic potential particularly for Parkinson ’ s disease . The researchers are trying to design an animal model in mice for in vivo testing .
IIT-Bombay researchers suggest non-surgical treatment for cancer
The researchers from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Tata Memorial Centre have synthesised hybrid polymer-gold nanoparticles as photothermal agent to ablate solid tumours . The near infrared light heats up the nanoparticles and the heated nanoparticles , in turn , can kill the cancer cells . Unlike other agents tried out by others , the hybrid nanoparticles used by the Mumbai team has no toxicity , is biodegradable and gets cleared from the body through urine .
The team used a thermoresponsive polymer ( poly ( N-vinyl caprolactam )) nanoshell which can be loaded with an anticancer drug . The polymer nanoshell is coated with gold nanoparticles . Besides killing the cancer cells through thermal ablation , the polymer degrades at about 43 degree celsius and releases the drug to completely kill the tumour . Cancer cells get killed above 42 degree celsius .
The hybrid nanoparticles can be injected into the blood and need not be injected directly into the tumour . The nanoparticles are able to reach the tumour cells through enhanced permeability and retention effect . The team is planning to carry out clinical trials ( Phase I ) on people with oral cancer . Trials in animals have already been carried out and the efficiency has been encouraging .