Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2013 in |
One-third of eukaryotic proteins are associated with membranes and these membrane proteins (MP) represent approximately 50% of pharmacological targets. Researchers are therefore nursing the hope of achieving a higher percentage of about 80% in the near future. The only bottleneck to achieving this target is the experimental challengers associated with the production, purification and crystallization at reasonable cost. Expression of protein in E. coli is now very popular, because it is easy to use and also comes with low operational cost. But membrane proteins have been difficult to produce in E. coli. The membrane proteins (MP), G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the major class of potential drug targets but probably the most difficult class of MPs to bring to three-dimensional studies. This review paper therefore sought to bring to the fore some of the techniques employed by researchers to improve the quality and quantity of GPCR expressed in E. coli. A literature search on the effective expression of some important members of the GPCR family in E. coli was...
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Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2013 in |
Aneuploidies are one of the important causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Initially screening for aneuploidies started with maternal age risk estimation. Later on, serum testing for biochemical markers and ultrasound markers were added. Women detected to be at high risk for aneuploidies were offered invasive testing. Recently, various methods including non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) by analysis of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal blood has shown promise for highly accurate detection of common fetal autosomal trisomies. Incorporating these new noninvasive technologies into clinical practice will impact the current prenatal screening paradigm for fetal aneuploidy, in which genetic counseling plays an integral role. The advantage of the technique being elimination of risks such as miscarriage associated with invasive diagnostic procedures. But then this new technique has its own set of technical limitations and ethical issues at present and further research is required before implementation. Data was obtained through a literature search via Pubmed and Google as well as detailed search of our library...
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Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2013 in |
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common metabolic disorders that cause micro and macro vascular complications. Because of additive effects of hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia for cardiovascular disease, serum lipid and glucose level should be closely monitored in diabetes. Chronic Hyperglycaemia resulting from diabetes has profound effects on nearly every system of the body. The toxic effects of hyperglycaemia may result from accumulation of nonenzymatically glycosylated products, increased sorbitol production in tissue, formation of diacylglycerol leading to activation of protein kinase C or by free radical generation. Since type 2 DM is a major public health problem, accounting for significant premature mortality and morbidity, every possible effort should be made to minimize its complications. Studies have shown that diabetes is accompanied by an increased oxidative damage to all the bimolecules. Enhanced oxidative stress contributes to the development of the diabetic complications. Over the last 5 years, a number of large observational studies have suggested an association between the onset of type 2 diabetes and Vitamin deficiencies. As vitamins have...
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Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2013 in |
Bi-layer tablet technology for bimodal release of drug and co-administration of drugs via oral route has been engaged a significant place in the field of drug delivery technology. At present, several pharmaceutical companies are developing bilayer tablet for co-administration of drugs to improve the therapeutic efficacy as well as to reduce the chances of drug-drug interaction. This review indicates the different aspects of drug release mechanism, different strategies of drug release, various techniques for bilayer tablet, and the influence of different process and formulation parameters must be considered during the development of bilayer tablet. Bi-layer tablet is suitable for sequential release of two drugs in combination, separate two incompatible substances, and also for sustained release tablet in which one layer is immediate release as initial dose and second layer is maintenance...
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Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2013 in |
Significant portion of maternal death in developing countries was attributed to induced abortions secondary to unwanted pregnancies. Using emergency contraception as a backup method can contribute to reduce unwanted pregnancy secondary to method failure, contraception non-use and also rape. The need for emergency contraception is clearly demonstrated by the occurrence of unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion. If emergency contraception were easily available and distributed through clinics and non-clinics channels along with appropriate advocacy activities millions of unwanted pregnancy and abortions could be averted. There is a growing concern about the prevention of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion to minimize maternal death and this review concentrates on accessibility barriers related to emergency contraceptives that limit its use among women of reproductive age...
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