TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gupta, Shishir K.
A1  - Minocha, Rashmi
A1  - Thapa, Prithivi Jung
A1  - Srivastava, Mugdha
A1  - Dandekar, Thomas
T1  - Role of the pangolin in origin of SARS-CoV-2: an evolutionary perspective
JF  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
N2  - After the recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, unanswered questions remain related to its evolutionary history, path of transmission or divergence and role of recombination. There is emerging evidence on amino acid substitutions occurring in key residues of the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein in coronavirus isolates from bat and pangolins. In this article, we summarize our current knowledge on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. We also analyze the host ACE2-interacting residues of the receptor-binding domain of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 isolates from bats, and compare it to pangolin SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from Guangdong province (GD Pangolin-CoV) and Guangxi autonomous regions (GX Pangolin-CoV) of South China. Based on our comparative analysis, we support the view that the Guangdong Pangolins are the intermediate hosts that adapted the SARS-CoV-2 and represented a significant evolutionary link in the path of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We also discuss the role of intermediate hosts in the origin of Omicron.
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - SARS-CoV-2
KW  - origin
KW  - evolution
KW  - intermediate host
KW  - pangolin
KW  - mutation
KW  - recombination
KW  - adaptation
KW  - transmission
KW  - comparative sequence analysis
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285995
SN  - 1422-0067
VL  - 23
IS  - 16
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fathy, Moustafa
A1  - Darwish, Mostafa A.
A1  - Abdelhamid, Al-Shaimaa M.
A1  - Alrashedy, Gehad M.
A1  - Othman, Othman Ali
A1  - Naseem, Muhammad
A1  - Dandekar, Thomas
A1  - Othman, Eman M.
T1  - Kinetin ameliorates cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity and lymphotoxicity via attenuating oxidative damage, cell apoptosis and inflammation in rats
JF  - Biomedicines
N2  - Though several previous studies reported the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant effect of kinetin (Kn), details on its action in cisplatin-induced toxicity are still scarce. In this study we evaluated, for the first time, the effects of kinetin in cisplatin (cp)- induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity in rats. Wistar male albino rats were divided into nine groups: (i) the control (C), (ii) groups 2,3 and 4, which received 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin for 10 days; (iii) the cisplatin (cp) group, which received a single intraperitoneal injection of CP (7.0 mg/kg); and (iv) groups 6, 7, 8 and 9, which received, for 10 days, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin or 200 mg/kg vitamin C, respectively, and Cp on the fourth day. CP-injected rats showed a significant impairment in biochemical, oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in hepatic tissue and lymphocytes. PCR showed a profound increase in caspase-3, and a significant decline in AKT gene expression. Intriguingly, Kn treatment restored the biochemical, redox status and inflammatory parameters. Hepatic AKT and caspase-3 expression as well as CD95 levels in lymphocytes were also restored. In conclusion, Kn mitigated oxidative imbalance, inflammation and apoptosis in CP-induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity; therefore, it can be considered as a promising therapy.
KW  - cisplatin
KW  - hepatotoxicity
KW  - lymphotoxicity
KW  - oxidative stress
KW  - AKT
KW  - CD95
KW  - caspase-3
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-281686
SN  - 2227-9059
VL  - 10
IS  - 7
ER  -