Antimicrobial Secondary metabolite, Anti-aging plant metabolite, Bioethanol production from agro-wastes
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Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Role of Notch gene receptors as prognostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer Abhay Kumar Sharma, Nimisha Nimisha, Arun Kumar, Apurva Apurva, Abhishek Kumar, Ejaj Ahmad, Asgar Ali, Birendra Prasad, Sundeep Singh Saluja Scientific Reports, 2025 The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing across the world, especially in younger age groups and the Indian subcontinent. Dysregulation in Notch pathway genes and their Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) can potentially lead to aberrant signaling and contribute to CRC development. We investigated SNPs of Notch1 (rs3124591), Notch2 (rs10910779), Notch3 (rs1043994), and Notch4 (rs367398) in CRC (n = 103) and Controls (n = 103) along with their protein expression in the cases. The SNPs were detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method followed by Sanger sequencing. The protein expression was determined by the western blot technique. SPSS was used to analyze the correlations of the molecular findings with clinicopathological features and survival. The frequency of CT genotype in Notch1 was significantly lower in CRC patients compared to healthy controls (40.77% vs 62.14%; p = 0.009) and was associated with increased depth of invasion (p = 0.03). Notch3 polymorphism A > G showed significant association with the advanced TNM stage (p = 0.013). Interestingly, AG and GG genotype in Notch3 was significantly associated with increased protein expression (p = 0.047). The patients carrying the 'G' allele in Notch3 had an increased risk of having CRC (OR = 1.697, CI 95%: 1.001–2.873, p = 0.049) and a lower survival rate (p > 0.05). Notch4 polymorphism showed an association with tumor grade (p = 0.03). The genotypes CT and TT had lower survival rates than the CC genotype (p = 0.08). Notch receptor polymorphism, especially Notch3, is associated with increased protein expression and a higher risk of having CRC. Furthermore, poor survival in patients with Notch3 and Notch4 polymorphism suggests their potential as prognostic biomarker in CRC.
Neuroprotective Potential of Ocimum sanctum Polyphenols: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications Nikhat Parween, Saurabh Kumar Pandey, Birendra Prasad, Nikhat Parween, Saurabh Pandey, et al. Iranian Biomedical Journal, 2025 Neurodegenerative diseases are major global health concerns due to progressive neuronal deterioration. Natural compounds, particularly plant polyphenols, are being explored for their neuroprotective potential. O. sanctum (Holy Basil or Tulsi) polyphenols, which possess pharmacological activities, were emphasized in this review. O. sanctum contains flavonoids, phenolic acids, and tannins, which exhibit strong antioxidant activity through scavenging free radicals and boosting endogenous antioxidants. These compounds also demonstrate anti-inflammatory activities, modulate cytokine production, and increase synaptic plasticity. Their anti-apoptotic effects inhibit the degeneration of neuronal cells. Preclinical studies demonstrated potential neuroprotective effects of O. sanctum polyphenols in different NDD models, with a few clinical studies suggesting their safety and efficacy over conventional neuroprotective medicines. Elucidating these mechanisms could help the development of O. sanctum polyphenols as drugs to combat NDDs and improve patient outcomes.
Eugenol Elicits Prolongevity by Increasing Resistance to Oxidative Stress in C. elegans Nikhat Parween, Amber Jabeen, Birendra Prasad CNS and Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, 2022 Aim: To analyze the efficacy of eugenol on longevity by assessing its antioxidant effect using Caenorhabditis elegans as an animal model. Background: Eugenol is a major polyphenolic component of Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) which attributes wide pharmacological activities and can serve as a biomarker. However, the possible effect of eugenol on longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans has not been reported. Objective: The objective of this investigation was to provide the first scientific based results about the effect of eugenol on longevity, slowing down of paralysis in Alzheimer’s model and the mechanism behind it in Caenorhabditis elegans animal model system. Methods: The phenolic components of methanolic extract of Ocimum sanctum were analyzed by RP-HPLC. Worms were exposed to different concentrations of extract and one of its components - eugenol. Lifespan, health span, survival in CL4176 Alzheimer’s model and molecular mechanism were analyzed. Results: Extract of Ocimum sanctum and eugenol increased lifespan and provided indemnity against pro-oxidants. It also significantly improved healthy ageing and slowed the progression of neurodegeneration in CL4176 Alzheimer’s model of the worm by increasing survival against prooxidants and slowing down the paralysis. Longevity effect was independent of the DAF-16 as observed by using DAF-16::GFP and daf-16 null mutant strains. These results implicate eugenol as a potent therapeutic compound that may curtail ageing and age related disorders like- Alzheimer’s disease. Conclusion: The present work demonstrated eugenol as a potential anti-ageing compound that may curtail ageing, improve heath span by enhancing resistance to oxidative stress and exerts its effect independent of DAF-16 pathway. So, it can be assumed that eugenol can be beneficial to humans as well, albeit further research is necessary before declaring it for human consumption.
Date (Phoenix dactylifera) seed and syringic acid exhibits antioxidative effect and lifespan extending properties in Caenorhabditis elegans Amber Jabeen, Nikhat Parween, Kumar Sayrav, Birendra Prasad Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 2020 Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera (PD); Arecaceae) has numerous proven health benefits and is the staple food in the Middle East. The seed which is discarded forms one-fourth of its weight and is rich in polyphenols. However, the possible effect of PD seed (PDS) extract in Caenorhabditis elegans has not been reported. The objective of this investigation was to provide the first scientific based results of the in vivo antioxidant effect of the PDS extract and its active ingredient in a Caenorhabditis elegans animal model system. The composition of a methanol extract of PDS was analyzed by RP-HPLC. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assays were performed for the estimation of in vitro antioxidant activity of the crude extract and one of its components – syringic acid (SA). For the in vivo effect, worms were exposed to different concentrations of PDS extract and SA. Lifespan and oxidative stress response were analyzed. To investigate the pathway involved, transgenic strains (mu86, DAF-16::GFP) of C. elegans were used. The amount of syringic acid in the phenolic content of the extract was 10.72 µg/mL. PDS and SA demonstrated antioxidative property in concentration dependent fashion and a concentration of 250 µg/mL PDS and 600 µg/mL SA significantly increased the lifespan and provided indemnity against pro-oxidants. The effect was independent of the DAF-16 transcriptional regulator as observed by using DAF16::GFP nuclear translocation assays and a daf-16 null mutant strains. The fertility also increased upon treatment with PDS and SA. This implicates syringic acid as a possible drug and date seed powder can thence be further investigated to be used as a dietary nutritional supplement.
Screening and identification of amylase producing strains of bacillus K. Pranay, S. R. Padmadeo, V. Jha, B. Prasad Journal of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, 2019 An attempt was made to isolate and screen efficient amylolytic strains of Bacillus sp. Initial screening based on Starch hydrolysis ratio (SHR) resulted in selection of 72 amylolytic bacterial strains. Among these, 18 strains were selected for further studies. Secondary screening based on amylase production in starch broth medium led to selection of six amylolytic strains of Bacillus sp. The selected strains were grown in four different fermentation media (FMI-FMIV) in order to screen for three most efficient amyloytic strains for optimization and characterization. FMIV was the best basal medium for amylase production as it had the shortest incubation time (24 hours) and highest amylase production. Molecular identification based on 16S rDNA sequence revealed that three most efficient strains (BCM36 (KR1), BCM33 (KR2) & BCM25 (KR3)) belonged to Bacillus sp.
Ethanol production by Aspergillus niger US4MTCC9931 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC174 using different lignocellulosic biomass feed stocks Vijay Kumar Jha, Nirupa Kumari, Birendra Prasad, Tushar Ranjan Bioresources, 2019 To investigate the production of cellulases and hemicellulases from Aspergillus niger MTCC9931, solid state fermentation (SSF) was performed using 10 different lignocellulosic materials derived from agrowastes, i.e., rice straw, rice husk, wheat straw, corn cob, sugar cane bagasse, saw dust, banana stalk, Eichhornia, Parthenium stalk, and residual fruit pulp. Among these agrowastes, the maximum yield of reducing sugars (116.46 ± 2.56 g/mL) was observed with residual fruit pulp. Further, the same substrate showed the highest endoglucanase (389.1 ± 0.44 IU/g), MCC-adsorbable endoglucanase (3.4 ± 0.14 IU/g), cellulase (12.0 ± 0.13 IU/g), and FPase (4.9 ± 0.64 IU/g) activities. Sawdust showed the maximum xylanase activity (7478.0 ± 6.51 IU/g), and corncob showed maximum β-glucosidase activity (79.87 ± 1.15 IU/g). The maximum activities of all enzymes were observed at 72 h of SSF under shaking conditions. A. niger MTCC9931 can be concluded to be an important strain for potential applications in saccharification. The enzymatic hydrolysates of the agrowastes were used as substrates for ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC174. The maximum yield (35.34 g/L) of ethanol was obtained when residual fruit pulp was used as a substrate. This study has further demonstrated the feasible biotechnological conversion of agrowastes to produce ethanol using both A. niger and S. cerevisiae.
Silymarin extends lifespan and reduces proteotoxicity in C. elegans Alzheimer’s model Jitendra Kumar, Kyung-Chae Park, Anjali Awasthi, Birendra Prasad CNS and Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, 2015 Aging is a process of progressive decline in physiological functions resulting in increased vulnerability to diseases and death. Aging results in increased rates of age related disorders like neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, arthritis etc. Modulation of insulin signaling, protein aggregation, stress, free radical damage and inflammation are the major causes for deleterious changes resulting in aging. Many studies are being undertaken to find novel compounds which can improve a typical human life span and aid in healthy aging. We investigated the potential of one such compound silymarin for its anti-aging effect. Silymarin is a flavanone derivative extracted from the seeds of the milk thistle Silybum marianum. It is widely used for the treatment of liver diseases in clinical practice. We tested the anti-aging efficacy of silymarin using the Caenorhabditis elegans model system. Our results demonstrate that C. elegans treated with 25μM and 50μM silymarin concentration resulted in an increase in mean lifespan by 10.1% and 24.8% respectively compared to untreated control. Besides increased lifespan, silymarin treated aged animals showed better locomotion rate, higher response to stimuli and improved tolerance to stress compared to untreated control. We also checked the potential of silymarin to slow the progression of neurodegenerative disorder like Alzheimer's disease (AD) by using CL4176 C. elegans model for AD. C. elegans CL4176 transgenic animal induces expression of amyloid beta-protein (Aβ1-42) in muscle tissues when subjected to temperature of 23°C and above resulting in worm paralysis. CL4176 animals treated with silymarin showed delayed paralysis via enhancing resistance to oxidative stress. These results suggested that silymarin is a potential hormetin for preventing aging and age-related diseases.
