Syed Azmal Ali | European Molecular Biology Laboratory (original) (raw)

Papers by Syed Azmal Ali

Advances in Cancer Biology - Metastasis, 2023

S100 proteins have emerged as key regulators in the mammary gland and have been implicated in bre... more S100 proteins have emerged as key regulators in the mammary gland and have been implicated in breast cancer development and metastasis. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the roles of S100 proteins in mammary gland regulation and their impact on breast cancer progression. The mammary gland, a complex organ involved in lactation and tissue homeostasis, undergoes dynamic changes during different physiological stages. S100 proteins play crucial roles in mammary gland development, differentiation, and function, participating in cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. However, dysregulation of S100 proteins can contribute to breast cancer initiation and metastasis. These proteins are involved in angiogenesis, invasion, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, promoting aggressive behavior in breast cancer cells. Understanding the intricate mechanisms by which S100 proteins exert their effects in the mammary gland and breast cancer is crucial for the development of targeted therapies and identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Further research in this field will provide valuable insights and potential advancements in breast cancer management. This review highlights the significance of unraveling the role of S100 proteins in mammary gland regulation and their impact on breast cancer metastasis.

Food & Function

Correction for ‘Probiotic and prebiotic supplementation ameliorates chronic restraint stress-indu... more Correction for ‘Probiotic and prebiotic supplementation ameliorates chronic restraint stress-induced male reproductive dysfunction’ by Mohd Akram et al., Food Funct., 2023, 14, 8558–8574, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3FO03153E.

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, Mar 18, 2023

Cancers

Phytochemicals possess various intriguing pharmacological properties against diverse pathological... more Phytochemicals possess various intriguing pharmacological properties against diverse pathological conditions. Extensive studies are on-going to understand the structural/functional properties of phytochemicals as well as the molecular mechanisms of their therapeutic function against various disease conditions. Phytochemicals such as curcumin (Cur), genistein (Gen), and tanshinone-IIA (Tan IIA) have multifaceted therapeutic potentials and various efforts are in progress to understand the molecular dynamics of their function with different tools and technologies. Cur is an active lipophilic polyphenol with pleiotropic function, and it has been shown to possess various intriguing properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anticancer, and anti-genotoxic properties besides others beneficial properties. Similarly, Gen (an isoflavone) exhibits a wide range of vital functions including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, pro-apoptotic, anti-proliferative, anti-angiogen...

Veterinary Sciences, 2021

Humans are sorely over-dependent on livestock for their daily basic need of food in the form of m... more Humans are sorely over-dependent on livestock for their daily basic need of food in the form of meat, milk, and eggs. Therefore, genetic engineering and transgenesis provide the opportunity for more significant gains and production in a short span of time. One of the best strategies is the genetic alteration of livestock to enhance the efficiency of food production (e.g., meat and milk), animal health, and welfare (animal population and disease). Moreover, genome engineering in the bovine is majorly focused on subjects such as disease resistance (e.g., tuberculosis), eradicate allergens (e.g., beta-lactoglobulin knock-out), products generation (e.g., meat from male and milk from female), male or female birth specifically (animal sexing), the introduction of valuable traits (e.g., stress tolerance and disease resistance) and their wellbeing (e.g., hornlessness). This review addressed the impressive genome engineering method CRISPR, its fundamental principle for generating highly effi...

Environmental Science: Nano

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN), multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and zinc oxide (ZnO).

BMC Genomics, 2021

BackgroundLow conception rate (CR) despite insemination with morphologically normal spermatozoa i... more BackgroundLow conception rate (CR) despite insemination with morphologically normal spermatozoa is a common reproductive restraint that limits buffalo productivity. This accounts for a significant loss to the farmers and the dairy industry, especially in agriculture-based economies. The immune-related proteins on the sperm surface are known to regulate fertility by assisting the spermatozoa in their survival and performance in the female reproductive tract (FRT). Regardless of their importance, very few studies have specifically catalogued the buffalo sperm surface proteome. The study was designed to determine the identity of sperm surface proteins and to ascertain if the epididymal expressed beta-defensins (BDs), implicated in male fertility, are translated and applied onto buffalo sperm surface along with other immune-related proteins.ResultsThe raw mass spectra data searched against anin-housegenerated proteome database from UniProt using Comet search engine identified more than ...

Cytogenetic and genome research, Jan 26, 2017

This study aimed to understand the molecular characteristics of buffalo leukemia inhibitory facto... more This study aimed to understand the molecular characteristics of buffalo leukemia inhibitory factor (BuLIF) and the generation of a stably transfected COS-1_BuLIF cell line for its functional characterization. Cumulus cells, isolated from oocytes, were separated, and total cDNA was prepared. The BuLIF gene was ligated into the cloning vector pJET1.2/blunt and expression vector pAcGFP-N1 which was transfected into COS-1 cells and confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. BuLIF was immunoprecipitated and evaluated through a MTT assay. qRT-PCR of STAT3 was performed. The multiple sequence alignment of BuLIF showed high similarity with sheep (98.77%) and cattle (96.62%) compared with other species. The BuLIF gene has an open reading frame of 609 nucleotides coding for 202 amino acids. BuLIF was integrated into the genome of COS-1 cells and resulted in the formation of dome-like secondary structures which are indicative of its functional role mediated through STAT3 proteins. In conclusion, t...

Frontiers in Nanotechnology, 2020

In the current scenario, it is an urgent requirement to satisfy the nutritional demands of the ra... more In the current scenario, it is an urgent requirement to satisfy the nutritional demands of the rapidly growing global population. Using conventional farming, nearly one third of crops get damaged, mainly due to pest infestation, microbial attacks, natural disasters, poor soil quality, and lesser nutrient availability. More innovative technologies are immediately required to overcome these issues. In this regard, nanotechnology has contributed to the agrotechnological revolution that has imminent potential to reform the resilient agricultural system while promising food security. Therefore, nanoparticles are becoming a new-age material to transform modern agricultural practices. The variety of nanoparticle-based formulations, including nano-sized pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and sensors, have been widely investigated for plant health management and soil improvement. In-depth understanding of plant and nanomaterial interactions opens new avenues toward improving cr...

Genome Announcements, 2013

This report describes a draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus fermentum strain 3872. The data re... more This report describes a draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus fermentum strain 3872. The data revealed remarkable similarity to and dissimilarity with the published genome sequences of other strains of the species. The absence of and variation in structures of some adhesins and the presence of an additional adhesin may reflect adaptation of the bacterium to different host systems and may contribute to specific properties of this strain as a new probiotic.

Fermentation

Numerous studies have shown a link between the consumption of fermented dairy foods and improved ... more Numerous studies have shown a link between the consumption of fermented dairy foods and improved health outcomes. Since the early 2000s, especially probiotic-based fermented functional foods, have had a revival in popularity, mostly as a consequence of claims made about their health benefits. Among them, fermented dairy foods have been associated with obesity prevention and in other conditions such as chronic diarrhea, hypersensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome, Helicobacter pylori infection, lactose intolerance, and gastroenteritis which all are intimately linked with an unhealthy way of life. A malfunctioning inflammatory response may affect the intestinal epithelial barrier’s ability to function by interfering with the normal metabolic processes. In this regard, several studies have shown that fermented dairy probiotics products improve human health by stimulating the growth of good bacteria in the gut at the same time increasing the production of metabolic byproducts. The fermen...

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2021

Industrialisation, directly or indirectly, exposes humans to various xenobiotics. The increased m... more Industrialisation, directly or indirectly, exposes humans to various xenobiotics. The increased magnitude of chemical pesticides and toxic heavy metals in the environment, as well as their intrusion into the food chain, seriously threatens human health. Therefore, the surveillance of xenobiotics is crucial for social safety and security. Online investigation by traditional methods is not sufficient for the detection and identification of such compounds because of the high costs and their complexity. Advancement in the field of genetic engineering provides a potential opportunity to use genetically modified microorganisms. In this regard, whole-cell-based microbial biosensors (WCBMB) represent an essential tool that couples genetically engineered organisms with an operator/promoter derived from a heavy metal-resistant operon combined with a regulatory protein in the gene circuit. The plasmid controls the expression of the reporter gene, such as gfp, luc, lux and lacZ, to an inducible gene promoter and has been widely applied to assay toxicity and bioavailability. This review summarises the recent trends in the development and application of microbial biosensors and the use of mobile genes for biomedical and environmental safety concerns.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, 2021

We announce the draft genome sequence of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus NCDC610, an isolate from an... more We announce the draft genome sequence of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus NCDC610, an isolate from an Indian traditional cereal-based fermented milk product (Raabadi). The genome size of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus NCDC610 is 2.91 Mb with the assembled sequence, and the genome consists of 67 contigs.

Microbial Cell Factories, 2020

Probiotics have several health benefits by modulating gut microbiome; however, techno-functional ... more Probiotics have several health benefits by modulating gut microbiome; however, techno-functional limitations such as viability controls have hampered their full potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. Therefore, the focus is gradually shifting from viable probiotic bacteria towards non-viable paraprobiotics and/or probiotics derived biomolecules, so-called postbiotics. Paraprobiotics and postbiotics are the emerging concepts in the functional foods field because they impart an array of health-promoting properties. Although, these terms are not well defined, however, for time being these terms have been defined as here. The postbiotics are the complex mixture of metabolic products secreted by probiotics in cell-free supernatants such as enzymes, secreted proteins, short chain fatty acids, vitamins, secreted biosurfactants, amino acids, peptides, organic acids, etc. While, the paraprobiotics are the inactivated microbial cells of probiotics (intact or ruptured c...

Journal of proteomics, Jan 26, 2017

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a multifunctional highly glycosylated protein, synthesized an... more Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a multifunctional highly glycosylated protein, synthesized and secreted in various body tissues. Besides the abundance in multiple organs, the molecular mechanism underlying the LIF interactions for cell survival and polarity is poorly understood. In the present study, high-resolution LC-MS/MS based LFQ approach identified 2083 proteins with the overall PSM as 16,032. This proteomics data reviles that LIF promotes the AKT-mTOR signaling pathway. It induces cell growth arrest by an intracellular pathways loop to increase the half-life of the cell. Bioinformatics-based enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of LIF interacting partners in cell survival through increasing the cell cycle length. The anti-proliferative effect of LIF was confirmed by BrdU, MTT and Caspase 3/7 assays and further validated by RT-qPCR. Till date to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that elucidates LIF-mediated cascade of activation of MEK/ERK, Ras, mT...

Clinical Proteomics, 2016

Background: An early, reliable and noninvasive method of early pregnancy diagnosis is prerequisit... more Background: An early, reliable and noninvasive method of early pregnancy diagnosis is prerequisite for efficient reproductive management in dairy industry. The early detection of pregnancy also help in to reduce the calving interval and rebreeding time which is beneficial for industries as well as farmers. The aim of this work is to identify potential biomarker for pregnancy detection at earlier stages (16-25 days). To achieve this goal we performed DIGE and LFQ for identification of protein which has significant differential expression during pregnancy. Results: DIGE experiment revealed a total of eleven differentially expressed proteins out of which nine were up regulated having fold change ≥1.5 in all time points. The LFQ data analysis revealed 195 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) out of 28 proteins were up-regulated and 40 down regulated having significant fold change ≥1.5 and ≤0.6 respectively. Bioinformatics analysis of DEPs showed that a majority of proteins were involved in regulation of leukocyte immunity, endopeptidase inhibitor activity, regulation of peptidase activity and polysaccharide binding. Conclusion: This is first report on differentially expressed protein during various time points of pregnancy in cow to our best knowledge. In our work, we identified few proteins such MBP, SERPIN, IGF which were differentially expressed and actively involved in various activities related to pregnancy such as embryo implantation, establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Due to their involvement in these events, these can be considered as biomarker for pregnancy but further validation of is required.

Oncotarget, 2016

Desmoplasia in human pancreatic cancer (PC) promotes cancer progression and hinders effective dru... more Desmoplasia in human pancreatic cancer (PC) promotes cancer progression and hinders effective drug delivery. The objectives of this study were to characterize a homologous orthotopic model of PC in Syrian golden hamster and investigate the effect of anti-fibrotic (pirfenidone), antioxidant (N-acetyl cysteine, NAC) and antiaddiction (disulfiram, DSF) drugs on desmoplasia and tumor growth in this model. The HapT1 PC cells when implanted orthotopically into hamsters formed tumors with morphological, cellular and molecular similarities to human PC. Protein profiling of activated hamster pancreatic stellate cells (ha-PSCs) revealed expression of proteins involved in fibrosis, cancer cells growth and metastasis. Pirfenidone, suppressed growth of HapT1 cells and the desmoplastic response in vivo; these effects were enhanced by co-administration of NAC. Disulfiram alone or in combination with copper (Cu) was toxic to HapT1 cells and PSCs in vitro; but co-administration of DSF and Cu accelerated growth of HapT1 cells in vivo. Moreover, DSF had no effect on tumor-associated desmoplasia. Overall, this study identifies HapT1-derived orthotopic tumors as a useful model to study desmoplasia and tumor-directed therapeutics in PC. Pirfenidone in combination with NAC could be a novel combination therapy for PC and warrants investigation in human subjects.

Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 2021

Background The cellular response to nanoparticles (NPs) for the mechanical clue and biochemical c... more Background The cellular response to nanoparticles (NPs) for the mechanical clue and biochemical changes are unexplored. Here, we provide the comprehensive analysis of the Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO-K1) cell line to study cell behaviour following the exposure of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs. Results Through the high-throughput proteomic study, we observed that the effect of NPs is alone not restricted to cell viability but also on cell polarisation. In the case of MSN, no drastic changes were observed in cellular morphology, but it upregulated chaperons that might prevent protein aggregation. However, MWCNT showed elongated cell appearance with numerous cytoplasmic vacuoles, and induce lamellipodia formation through actin polymerisation. The cytoskeleton remodelling was accompanied by the increased expression of Dlc-1, cofilin and Rac1 proteins. While ZnO NPs resulted in the rounded cell morphology along with nucl...

Cells

S100 is a broad subfamily of low-molecular weight calcium-binding proteins (9–14 kDa) with struct... more S100 is a broad subfamily of low-molecular weight calcium-binding proteins (9–14 kDa) with structural similarity and functional discrepancy. It is required for inflammation and cellular homeostasis, and can work extracellularly, intracellularly, or both. S100 members participate in a variety of activities in a healthy cell, including calcium storage and transport (calcium homeostasis). S100 isoforms that have previously been shown to play important roles in the immune system as alarmins (DAMPs), antimicrobial peptides, pro-inflammation stimulators, chemo-attractants, and metal scavengers during an innate immune response. Currently, during the pandemic, it was found that several members of the S100 family are implicated in the pathophysiology of COVID-19. Further, S100 family protein members were proposed to be used as a prognostic marker for COVID-19 infection identification using a nasal swab. In the present review, we compiled the vast majority of recent studies that focused on th...

International journal of probiotics & prebiotics, 2018

In the present study, we have investigated the bioavailability of biotransformed organic zinc enr... more In the present study, we have investigated the bioavailability of biotransformed organic zinc enriched dahi in vivo. The results evidence that the rats fed with zinc enriched dahi (ZED and ZEP) significantly increased (p<0.001) body weight and food intake from zero to third weeks. Analysis of zinc by AAS in body parts of different rat groups indicated that zinc content was significantly higher (p<0.001) in serum, femur bone, liver and hair of rats fed ZED/ZEP. Basal diet and inorganic zinc sulphate fed rat group excreted a greater amount of zinc in faeces. The results of in-vivo studies indicated that the bioavailability of organic zinc through dahi/probiotic dahi is high compared to its inorganic form.