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The present study details the interaction mechanism of Thioflavin T (ThT) to Human α1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) applying various spectroscopic and molecular docking methods. Fluorescence quenching data revealed the binding constant in the order of 104 M−1 and the standard Gibbs free energy change value, ΔG = −6.78 kcal mol−1 for the interaction between ThT and AAG indicating process is spontaneous. There is increase in absorbance of AAG upon the interaction of ThT that may be due to ground state complex formation between ThT and AAG. ThT impelled rise in β-sheet structure in AAG as observed from far-UV CD spectra while there are minimal changes in tertiary structure of the protein. DLS results suggested the reduction in AAG molecular size, ligand entry into the central binding pocket of AAG may have persuaded the molecular compaction in AAG. Isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) results showed the interaction process to be endothermic with the values of standard enthalpy change ΔH0 = 4.11 kcal mol−1 and entropy change TΔS0 = 10.82 kcal.mol− 1. Moreover, docking results suggested hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding played the important role in the binding process of ThT with F1S and A forms of AAG. ThT fluorescence emission at 485 nm was measured for properly folded native form and for thermally induced amyloid state of AAG. ThT fluorescence with native AAG was very low, while on the other hand with amyloid induced state of the protein AAG showed a positive emission peak at 485 nm upon the excitation at 440 nm, although it binds to native state as well. These results confirmed that ThT binding alone is not responsible for enhancement of ThT fluorescence but it also required beta stacked sheet structure found in protein amyloid to give proper signature signal for amyloid. This study gives the mechanistic insight into the differential interaction of ThT with beta structures found in native state of the proteins and amyloid forms, this study reinforce the notion that ThT is amyloid specific dye and interacts differently with the beta structures in native protein and that of the structures found in aggregated form of the same protein.

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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a worldwide healthcare problem; however, traditional treatment methods have failed to cure all patients, and HCV has developed resistance to new drugs. Systems biology-based analyses could play an important role holistic analysis of the impact of HCV on hepatocellular metabolism. Here, we integrated HCV assembly reactions with a genome-scale hepatocyte metabolic model to identify the metabolic targets for HCV assembly and the metabolic alterations that occur between different HCV progression states (cirrhosis, dysplastic nodule, and early and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)) and healthy liver tissue. We found that diacylglycerolipids were essential for HCV assembly. In addition, the metabolism of keratan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate was significantly changed in the cirrhosis stage, whereas the metabolism of acyl-carnitine was significantly changed in the dysplastic nodule and early HCC stages. Our results explained the role of the upregulated expression of BCAT1, PLOD3 and six other methyltransferase genes involved in carnitine biosynthesis and S-adenosylmethionine metabolism in the early and advanced HCC stages. Moreover, GNPAT and BCAP31 expression was upregulated in the early and advanced HCC stages and could lead to increased acyl-CoA consumption. By integrating our results with copy number variation analyses, we observed that GNPAT, PPOX and five of the methyltransferase genes (ASH1L, METTL13, SMYD2, TARBP1 and SMYD3), which are all located on chromosome 1q, had increased copy numbers in the cancer samples relative to the normal samples. Finally, we confirmed our predictions with the results of metabolomics studies and proposed that inhibiting the identified targets has the potential to provide an effective treatment strategy for HCV-associated liver disorders. 

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a worldwide healthcare problem; however, traditional treatment methods have failed to cure all patients, and HCV has developed resistance to new drugs. Systems biology-based analyses could play an important role holistic analysis of the impact of HCV on hepatocellular metabolism. Here, we integrated HCV assembly reactions with a genome-scale hepatocyte metabolic model to identify the metabolic targets for HCV assembly and the metabolic alterations that occur between different HCV progression states (cirrhosis, dysplastic nodule, and early and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)) and healthy liver tissue. We found that diacylglycerolipids were essential for HCV assembly. In addition, the metabolism of keratan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate was significantly changed in the cirrhosis stage, whereas the metabolism of acyl-carnitine was significantly changed in the dysplastic nodule and early HCC stages. Our results explained the role of the upregulated expression of BCAT1, PLOD3 and six other methyltransferase genes involved in carnitine biosynthesis and S-adenosylmethionine metabolism in the early and advanced HCC stages. Moreover, GNPAT and BCAP31 expression was upregulated in the early and advanced HCC stages and could lead to increased acyl-CoA consumption. By integrating our results with copy number variation analyses, we observed that GNPAT, PPOX and five of the methyltransferase genes (ASH1L, METTL13, SMYD2, TARBP1 and SMYD3), which are all located on chromosome 1q, had increased copy numbers in the cancer samples relative to the normal samples. Finally, we confirmed our predictions with the results of metabolomics studies and proposed that inhibiting the identified targets has the potential to provide an effective treatment strategy for HCV-associated liver disorders. 

Different zinc oxide (ZnO) morphologies were synthesized via a thermal evaporation-like technique without a catalyst introduction. The morphology of ZnO has been controlled by varying the evaporation pressure of ambient air. X-ray diffractometer and field emission scanning electron microscope were used for crystallinity and morphology investigation, respectively. The X-ray data confirmed the purity and crystallinity of the as-prepared ZnO structure. A variation of the pressure led to different morphologies of ZnO nanostructure such as nanocombs and nanorods. The influence of these different morphologies on the photocatalytic activity was performed on a water wasted methylene blue. The results showed the geometry of one-dimensional nanostructures deposited at different pressures strongly controls the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. The most suitable photocatalytic performance was recorded for ZnO deposited at 0.15 Torr, which showed one-side nanocombs of long nails.

Different zinc oxide (ZnO) morphologies were synthesized via a thermal evaporation-like technique without a catalyst introduction. The morphology of ZnO has been controlled by varying the evaporation pressure of ambient air. X-ray diffractometer and field emission scanning electron microscope were used for crystallinity and morphology investigation, respectively. The X-ray data confirmed the purity and crystallinity of the as-prepared ZnO structure. A variation of the pressure led to different morphologies of ZnO nanostructure such as nanocombs and nanorods. The influence of these different morphologies on the photocatalytic activity was performed on a water wasted methylene blue. The results showed the geometry of one-dimensional nanostructures deposited at different pressures strongly controls the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. The most suitable photocatalytic performance was recorded for ZnO deposited at 0.15 Torr, which showed one-side nanocombs of long nails.

Different zinc oxide (ZnO) morphologies were synthesized via a thermal evaporation-like technique without a catalyst introduction. The morphology of ZnO has been controlled by varying the evaporation pressure of ambient air. X-ray diffractometer and field emission scanning electron microscope were used for crystallinity and morphology investigation, respectively. The X-ray data confirmed the purity and crystallinity of the as-prepared ZnO structure. A variation of the pressure led to different morphologies of ZnO nanostructure such as nanocombs and nanorods. The influence of these different morphologies on the photocatalytic activity was performed on a water wasted methylene blue. The results showed the geometry of one-dimensional nanostructures deposited at different pressures strongly controls the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. The most suitable photocatalytic performance was recorded for ZnO deposited at 0.15 Torr, which showed one-side nanocombs of long nails.