Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics

 Protein folding refers to the process and path by which a nascent polypeptide obtains its 3-D or native state. Over the years the field of protein folding has evolved, as are the questions pertaining with this perplexing field. Levinthal, was first to propose that the folding code for a polypeptide to fold, is its primary structure or sequence of amino acids. But, still in present era, a major challenge is to predict the native structure of a protein solely from its sequence. This has become more challenging with ever increasing sequence data being accumulated with each day. Thus, protein folding problem continues to be a complex problem to be solved and has perplexed scientists over the decades. In this article, main focus will be to sum up the broad aspects of protein folding, protein denaturation and discuss in brief the methods to estimate protein stability.

Keywords: Protein Folding; Denaturation; Stability; Equilibrium Methods; Differential Scanning Calorimetry.

 Medicinal plant including herbal medicine/material contains more active analogues or active principles also called as natural products such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, essential oils, flower absolutes. Herbal medicines have a strong traditional or conceptual base and the potential to be useful as drugs in terms of safety and effectiveness leads for treating Tuberculosis. World Health Organization (WHO) has made an attempt to identify all medicinal plants used globally and listed more than 20,000 species. According to the WHO more than 80% of the world’s population realize on traditional herbal medicine for their primary health care. Although herbal medicine has existed since the dawn of time, our knowledge of how plants actually affect human physiology remains largely unexplored. Numbers of plants are claiming various medicinal uses and a lot of research is going for the treatment of tuberculosis. The potential of herbal medicinal plants to combat with the disease is increasing more and more attention as they have lesser side effects as compare to the routine medicines used. Plants like Abutilon indicum, Allium cepa, Andrographis peniculata are largely studied for Tuberculosis treatment and management. This innovative effort has been made for the enrichment and indirect contribution in Science and Technology.

Keywords: Medicinal Plant; Secondary Metabolites; Tuberculosis; Health and Disease.

 Exposure to ammonium acetate induces acute and chronic renal injuries as well as oxidative stress in rats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exogenous melatonin (MLT) treatment on ammonium acetate induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity in Wistarrats using biochemical parameters and histopathology. For histopathological evaluation, liver of all rats were excised and processed for light microscopy. Liver sections of ammonium acetate treated group showed changes in microanatomy. In contrast, these deleterious histopathological alterations resulting from ammonium acetate induced hepatotoxin were absent after MLT treatment in ammonium acetate treatment+MLT treated group of rats. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that MLT through its antioxidant activity effectively ameliorated ammonium acetate induced hepatotoxicity.

Keywords: Melatonin; Ammonium Acetate; Hepatotoxicity; Histopathology; Antioxidants

 The efficacy of thiamine hydrochloride against lead induced acute toxicity was studied in the experimental rats. Hematological parameters such as RBC Count and Heamoglobin content were determined and was found to be decreased throughout the period of study in the lead induced animals. Biochemical parameters such as protein, urea, uric acid levels increased throughout the study when treated with lead acetate. Triglyceride content was also found to be decreased throughout the period of study, in lead induced animals. Biochemical alterations were reversed on treatment with thiamine hydrochloride due to its antagonistic role in lead induced rats.

Keywords: Lead Acetate; Thiamine; Protein; Urea; Uric Acid and RBC Count; Triglyceride.