Browsing by Author "Mehta, Meenu"

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    An overview of vaccine development for COVID-19
    (2021) Shahcheraghi, Seyed H.; Ayatollahi, Jamshid; Aljabali, Alaa A. A.; Shastri, Madhur D.; Shukla, Shakti D.; Chellappan, Dinesh K.; Jha, Niraj K.; Anand, Krishnan; Katari, Naresh K.; Mehta, Meenu; Satija, Saurabh; Dureja, Harish; Mishra, Vijay; Almutary, Abdulmajeed G.; Alnuqaydan, Abdullah M.; Charbe, Nitin; Prasher, Parteek; Gupta, Gaurav; Dua, Kamal; Lotfi, Marzieh; Bakshi, Hamid A.; Tambuwala, Murtaza M.
    The COVID-19 pandemic continues to endanger world health and the economy. The causative SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has a unique replication system. The end point of the COVID-19 pandemic is either herd immunity or widespread availability of an effective vaccine. Multiple candidate vaccines - peptide, virus-like particle, viral vectors (replicating and nonreplicating), nucleic acids (DNA or RNA), live attenuated virus, recombinant designed proteins and inactivated virus - are presently under various stages of expansion, and a small number of vaccine candidates have progressed into clinical phases. At the time of writing, three major pharmaceutical companies, namely Pfizer and Moderna, have their vaccines under mass production and administered to the public. This review aims to investigate the most critical vaccines developed for COVID-19 to date.
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    Dietary Crocin is Protective in Pancreatic Cancer while Reducing Radiation-Induced Hepatic Oxidative Damage
    (2020) Bakshi, Hamid A.; Al Zoubi, Mazhar S.; Faruck, Hakkim L.; Aljabali, Alaa A. A.; Rabi, Firas A.; Hafiz, Amin A.; Al-Batanyeh, Khalid M.; Al-Trad, Bahaa; Ansari, Prawej; Nasef, Mohamed M.; Charbe, Nitin B.; Satija, Saurabh; Mehta, Meenu; Mishra, Vijay; Gupta, Gaurav; Abobaker, Salem; Negi, Poonam; Azzouz, Ibrahim M.; Dardouri, Ashref Ali K.; Dureja, Harish; Prasher, Parteek; Chellappan, Dinesh K.; Dua, Kamal; Da Silva, Mateus Webba; El Tanani, Mohamed; McCarron, Paul A.; Tambuwala, Murtaza M.
    Pancreatic cancer is one of the fatal causes of global cancer-related deaths. Although surgery and chemotherapy are standard treatment options, post-treatment outcomes often end in a poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigated anti-pancreatic cancer and amelioration of radiation-induced oxidative damage by crocin. Crocin is a carotenoid isolated from the dietary herb saffron, a prospect for novel leads as an anti-cancer agent. Crocin significantly reduced cell viability of BXPC3 and Capan-2 by triggering caspase signaling via the downregulation of Bcl-2. It modulated the expression of cell cycle signaling proteins P53, P21, P27, CDK2, c-MYC, Cyt-c and P38. Concomitantly, crocin treatment-induced apoptosis by inducing the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol. Microarray analysis of the expression signature of genes induced by crocin showed a substantial number of genes involved in cell signaling pathways and checkpoints (723) are significantly affected by crocin. In mice bearing pancreatic tumors, crocin significantly reduced tumor burden without a change in body weight. Additionally, it showed significant protection against radiation-induced hepatic oxidative damage, reduced the levels of hepatic toxicity and preserved liver morphology. These findings indicate that crocin has a potential role in the treatment, prevention and management of pancreatic cancer.
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    Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF): Fuel for Cancer Progression
    (Bentham Science Publ. LTD, 2021) Satija, Saurabh; Kaur, Harpreet; Tambuwala, Murtaza M.; Sharma, Prabal; Vyas, Manish; Khurana, Navneet; Sharma, Neha; Bakshi, Hamid A.; Charbe, Nitin B.; Zacconi, Flavia C. M.; Aljabali, Alaa A.; Nammi, Srinivas; Dureja, Harish; Singh, Thakur G.; Gupta, Gaurav; Dhanjal, Daljeet S.; Dua, Kamal; Chellappan, Dinesh K.; Mehta, Meenu
    Hypoxia is an integral part of the tumor microenvironment, caused primarily due to rapidly multiplying tumor cells and a lack of proper blood supply. Among the major hypoxic pathways, HIF-1 transcription factor activation is one of the widely investigated pathways in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME). HIF-1 is known to activate several adaptive reactions in response to oxygen deficiency in tumor cells. HIF-1 has two subunits, HIF-1 beta (constitutive) and HIF-1 alpha (inducible). The HIF-1 alpha expression is largely regulated via various cytokines (through PI3K-ACT-mTOR signals), which involves the cascading of several growth factors and oncogenic cascades. These events lead to the loss of cellular tumor suppressant activity through changes in the level of oxygen via oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent pathways. The significant and crucial role of HIF in cancer progression and its underlying mechanisms have gained much attention lately among the translational researchers in the fields of cancer and biological sciences, which have enabled them to correlate these mechanisms with various other disease modalities. In the present review, we have summarized the key findings related to the role of HIF in the progression of tumors.
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    Perfluorocarbons Therapeutics in Modern Cancer Nanotechnology for Hypoxia-induced Anti-tumor Therapy
    (2021) Satija, Saurabh; Sharma, Prabal; Kaur, Harpreet; Dhanjal, Daljeet S.; Chopra, Reena S.; Khurana, Navneet; Vyas, Manish; Sharma, Neha; Tambuwala, Murtaza M.; Bakshi, Hamid A.; Charbe, Nitin B.; Zacconi, Flavia C. M.; Chellappan, Dinesh K.; Dua, Kamal; Mehta, Meenu
    With an estimated failure rate of about 90%, immunotherapies that are intended for the treatment of solid tumors have caused an anomalous rise in the mortality rate over the past decades. It is apparent that resistance towards such therapies primarily occurs due to elevated levels of HIF-1 (Hypoxia-induced factor) in tumor cells, which are caused by disrupted microcirculation and diffusion mechanisms. With the advent of nanotechnology, several innovative advances were brought to the fore; and, one such promising direction is the use of perfluorocarbon nanoparticles in the management of solid tumors. Perfluorocarbon nanoparticles enhance the response of hypoxia-based agents (HBAs) within the tumor cells and have been found to augment the entry of HBAs into the tumor micro-environment. The heightened penetration of HBAs causes chronic hypoxia, thus aiding in the process of cell quiescence. In addition, this technology has also been applied in photodynamic therapy, where oxygen self-enriched photosensitizers loaded perfluorocarbon nanoparticles are employed. The resulting processes initiate a cascade, depleting tumour oxygen and turning it into a reactive oxygen species eventually to destroy the tumour cell. This review elaborates on the multiple applications of nanotechnology based perfluorocarbon formulations that are being currently employed in the treatment of tumour hypoxia.
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    Probing 3CL protease: Rationally designed chemical moieties for COVID-19
    (2020) Sharma, Mousmee; Prasher, Parteek; Mehta, Meenu; Zacconi, Flavia C.; Singh, Yogendra; Kapoor, Deepak N.; Dureja, Harish; Pardhi, Dinesh M.; Tambuwala, Murtaza M.; Gupta, Gaurav; Chellappan, Dinesh K.; Dua, Kamal; Satija, Saurabh
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    Protein and peptide delivery to lungs by using advanced targeted drug delivery
    (2022) Chellappan, Dinesh Kumar; Prasher, Parteek; Saravanan, Vilashini; Yee, Vanessa See Vern; Chi, Wendy Chai Wen; Wong, Jia Wei; Wong, Joon Kang; Wong, Jing Tong; Wan, Wai; Chellian, Jestin; Molugulu, Nagashekhara; Prabu, Sakthivel Lakshmana; Ibrahim, Rania; Darmarajan, Thiviya; Candasamy, Mayuren; Singh, Pankaj Kumar; Mishra, Vijay; Shastri, Madhur D.; Zacconi, Flavia C. M.; Chakraborty, Amlan; Mehta, Meenu; Gupta, Piyush Kumar; Dureja, Harish; Gulati, Monica; Singh, Sachin Kumar; Gupta, Gaurav; Jha, Niraj Kumar; Oliver, Brian Gregory George; Dua, Kamal
    The challenges and difficulties associated with conventional drug delivery systems have led to the emergence of novel, advanced targeted drug delivery systems. Therapeutic drug delivery of proteins and peptides to the lungs is complicated owing to the large size and polar characteristics of the latter. Nevertheless, the pulmonary route has attracted great interest today among formulation scientists, as it has evolved into one of the important targeted drug delivery platforms for the delivery of peptides, and related compounds effectively to the lungs, primarily for the management and treatment of chronic lung diseases. In this review, we have discussed and summarized the current scenario and recent developments in targeted delivery of proteins and peptide-based drugs to the lungs. Moreover, we have also highlighted the advantages of pulmonary drug delivery over conventional drug delivery approaches for peptide-based drugs, in terms of efficacy, retention time and other important pharmacokinetic parameters. The review also highlights the future perspectives and the impact of targeted drug delivery on peptide-based drugs in the coming decade.