ABSTRACT
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Present treatment options include chemotherapy, radiationtherapy, and surgery, all of which have side effects. In order to mitigate the side effects of these treatments, there isa need to look for combinational or alternative treatment, which is based on natural sources. Present study aims toscreen the whole plant extracts of Sesuvium portulcastrum for its antiproliferative activity against various cancer celllines. Different extracts of S. portulacastrum were prepared using ethanol, methanol, acetone, hexane, and diethylether as solvent. Their anticancer activity was evaluated against human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231), humanneuroblastoma cell line (IMR-32), and human colon cancer cells (HCT-116) using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Propidium iodide staining method was used to observe the apoptosisassociated morphological changes under the microscope. Among the five extracts, diethyl ether extract showed thehighest activity with IC50 values of 288.69 ± 6.53 μg/ml for MDA-MB-231, 231.01 ± 6.31 μg/ml for IMR-32, and182.86 ± 4.29 μg/ml for HCT-116 cell lines. Our results suggest that the extracts of S. portulacastrum exhibit goodanticancer activity against the different cell lines tested.
ABSTRACT
Avian influenza has raised many apprehension in the recent years because of its potential transmitability to humans. With the increasing emergence of drug-resistant avian influenza strains, development of potential vaccines are imperative to manage this disease. Two structural antigens, haemagglutinin and neuraminidase, have been the target candidates for the development of subunit vaccine against influenza. In an effort to develop a faster and economically beneficial vaccine, the neuraminidase gene of a highly pathogenic avian influenza isolate was cloned and expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. The recombinant neuraminidase (rNA) antigen was purified, and its bioactivity was analysed. The rNA was found to be functional, as determined by the neuraminidase assay. Four groups of mice were immunized with different concentrations of purified rNA antigen, which were adjuvanted with aluminium hydroxide. The immune response against rNA was analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neuraminidase inhibition assay. The mice groups immunized with 25 μg and 10 μg of antigen had a significant immune response against rNA. This method can be utilized for faster and cost-effective development of vaccines for a circulating and newer strain of avian influenza, and would aid in combating the disease in a pandemic situation, in which production time matters greatly.