Surekha Kumari - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Surekha Kumari

Computational Biology and Chemistry

Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Indeed, vaccines and drugs hav... more Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Indeed, vaccines and drugs have a lot to learn from the malaria parasite before they can be successful. Here, using a filter for glideosomal anchor protein PfGAP50, we have explored a plethora of small molecules to shortlist eight GAP50 binders with promising antiplasmodial activity (IC50 < 3 µM) that are also highly selective. Of these, Hayatinine, Curine, MMV689758 (Bedaquiline), MMV1634402 (Brilacidin), and MMV688271 with PfINDO IC50 ≤ 1 µM were found to stall merozoite invasion by inhibiting IMC formation besides increasing oxidant levels in trophozoites. Bedaquiline pre-treated and washed healthy RBCs showed prophylactic ability to prevent intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasite. Synergistic activities with ΣFIC values as low as 0.22 (Curine and Artemisinin) or 0.37 (Bedaquiline and Artemisinin) augur well for the development of drug combinations to combat malaria effectively. Interestingly, orally ...

Molecules, 2022

Aphis craccivora Koch is a polyphagous and major pest of leguminous crops causing significant dam... more Aphis craccivora Koch is a polyphagous and major pest of leguminous crops causing significant damage by reducing the yield. Repeated application of synthetic insecticides for the control of aphids has led to development of resistance. Therefore, the present study aimed to screen the insecticidal activity of root/stem extracts/fractions, and pure molecules from Cissampelos pareira Linnaeus against A. craccivora for identification of lead(s). Among root extract/fractions, the n-hexane fraction was found most effective (LC50 = 1828.19 mg/L) against A. craccivora, followed by parent extract (LC50 = 2211.54 mg/L). Among stem extract/fractions, the n-hexane fraction (LC50 = 1246.92 mg/L) was more effective than the water and n-butanol fractions. Based on GC and GC-MS analysis, among different compounds identified in the n-hexane fraction of root and stem, ethyl palmitate (known to possess insecticidal activity) was present in the highest concentration (24.94 to 52.95%) in both the fractio...

Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Vaccines and drugs have a lot ... more Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Vaccines and drugs have a lot to learn from the malaria parasite before they can be successful. Here, using a filter for glideosomal anchor protein PfGAP50, we have explored a plethora of small molecules to shortlist eight GAP50 binders with promising antiplasmodial activity (IC50 < 3 µM) that are also highly selective. Of these, Hayatinin, Bedaquiline, MMV688271, Curine, and Brilacidin with PfINDO IC50 ≤ 1 µM were found to stall merozoites invasion by inhibiting IMC formation besides increasing ROS levels in trophozoites. Bedaquiline loaded healthy RBCs showed prophylactic ability to prevent intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasite. Synergistic activities with ΣFIC values as low as 0.22 (Curine and Artemisinin) or 0.37 (Bedaquiline and Artemisinin) augur well for the development of drug combinations to combat malaria effectively. Interestingly, orally delivered Bedaquiline (50 mg/Kg b. wt.) showed substa...

BackgroundViral infections have a history of abrupt and severe eruptions through the years in the... more BackgroundViral infections have a history of abrupt and severe eruptions through the years in the form of pandemics. And yet, definitive therapies or preventive measures are not present.PurposeHerbal medicines have been a source of various antiviral compounds. An accelerated repurposing potential of antiviral herbs can provide usable drugs and identify druggable targets. In this study, we dissect the anti-coronavirus activity of Cissampelos pareira L (Cipa). using an integrative approach.MethodsWe analysed the signature similarities between predicted antiviral agents and Cipa using the connectivity map (https://clue.io/). Next, we tested the anti-SARS-COV-2 activity of Cipa in vitro. A three-way comparative analysis of Cipa transcriptome, COVID-19 BALF transcriptome and CMAP signatures of small compounds was also performed.ResultsSeveral predicted antivirals showed a high positive connectivity score with Cipa such as apcidin, emetine, homoharringtonine etc. We also observed 98% inhi...

Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2020

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds, 2020

This review summarizes environmentally benign approaches for the synthesis of fused N-heterocycle... more This review summarizes environmentally benign approaches for the synthesis of fused N-heterocycles since 2011. It is mainly focused on one-pot, multicomponent protocols for generating fused N-heterocyclic moieties with biological significance in atom-efficient manner. Several attractive and cost-effective approaches such as metal-, catalyst-, and solvent-free methods are discussed in this review. Electrochemical concept as green and environmentally optional strategy to produce fused N-heterocycles is also discussed. Synthesis of natural bioactive compounds like clausine V, glycoborine, and popular commercial drug alprazolam (Xanax) by utilizing such strategy is described.

Aconitum heterophyllum is a traditionally important medicinal plant having numerous therapeutic a... more Aconitum heterophyllum is a traditionally important medicinal plant having numerous therapeutic actions as documented in Ayurveda. This plant has been used alone as well as in combination with other plants for the preparation of different anti-malarial formulations. However, there is no report on the assessment of its anti-plasmodial activity, and the compound responsible for this activity. The main aim of this study was to conduct phytochemical investigation of A. heterophyllum roots for the preparation of extract, fractions and isolation of pure molecules to identify active fractions/molecules responsible for the anti-plasmodial activity, and development of UHPLC-DAD based analytical method which can be used for the quantification of marker compounds in the extracts and fractions. Hydro-alcoholic extract (1:1 v/v) and fractions (n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water) were prepared from the dried powdered roots of A. heterophyllum. Fractions were further subjecte...

Scientific Reports

Bioactive fractions obtained from medicinal plants which have been used for the treatment of mult... more Bioactive fractions obtained from medicinal plants which have been used for the treatment of multiple diseases could exert their effects by targeting common pathways. Prior knowledge of their usage could allow us to identify novel molecular links. In this study, we explored the molecular basis of action of one such herbal formulation Cissampelos pareira L. (Cipa), used for the treatment of female hormone disorders and fever. Transcriptomic studies on MCF7 cell lines treated with Cipa extract carried out using Affymetrix arrays revealed a downregulation of signatures of estrogen response potentially modulated through estrogen receptor α (ERα). Molecular docking analysis identified 38 Cipa constituents that potentially bind (ΔG

Journal of Ethnopharmacology