Biotechnology Commons^™

In Silico Target Identification For Antioxidant And Anti-Inflammatory Activity Of Oil Palm Leaves Extract After Biotransformation Process, Galuh Permatasari, Irma Kresnawaty, Annisa Aulia Aksa, Djoko Santoso, Widodo Widodo

Makara Journal of Science

Oil palm leaf extract (OPLE) contains abundant phenolic and flavonoid compounds with recognized antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential; however, its pharmacological applications remain underexplored. This study aimed to optimize the enrichment process of OPLE and characterize its bioactive compounds using integrated in vitro and in silico approaches. The extraction was optimized by incorporating trichloroacetic acid and extending the incubation time to 48 h, resulting in significantly increased total phenolic content and antioxidant activity compared with the control. LC–MS/MS profiling identified 14 flavonoid compounds with diverse biological functions. Among these, Rhamnetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, Kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, and Nelumboroside A exhibited the strongest antioxidant and free radical …

Biofunctional Characterization Of A Polyherbal Formulation, Muhammad Ameer Qarib Naqvi, Iqra Saleem, Fatma Hussain

Journal of Bioresource Management

Polyherbal formulations (PHFs) have greater medicinal importance due to their enhanced bioactivities. To check whether a combination of several plants enhances bioactivities, the current study was designed. Methanol, aqueous and n-hexane solvents were used to prepare PHF of Syzgium cumini, Origanum vulgare, Aloe vera barbadensis Miller and Gymnema sylvestre. DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging) assay was used to analyze antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) estimations were done by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and AlCl₃ colourimetric techniques, respectively. Bactericidal activity was measured by agar well diffusion method, anti-diabetic profile was assessed by …

Enhancing Topical Delivery Of N-Acetylcysteine And Collagen Via A Novel Electrospun Collagen/Pmma Nanofibrous Mats As Facial Mask Development: Nanofibers Optimization And In Vitro Experiments, Samar A. Salim, Galala University, King Faisal University, Badr University, National Research Centre, City Of Scientific Research And Technological Applications (Srta-City),, Badr University

Nanotechnology Research Centre

This study endeavours to craft a potent topical facial mask using electrospun nanofibers. The nanofibers were carefully fabricated based on loading of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) onto electrospun marine collagen (MC), and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers. Through precise adjustments of electrospinning parameters, a uniform array of nanoscale fibres with a smooth surface was achieved. The morphology and chemical structure configuration of nanofibers (NFs) were examined using SEM, FTIR, and XRD analyses. Furthermore, the cytotoxic impact was assessed on a human normal fibroblast cell line (BJ1), while protein levels were gauged using the Bradford dye-binding assay (Coomassie assay). Also, the antioxidant potential …

Neuroprotective Effects Of Aqueous Extract Of Bryophyllum Pinnatum Against Lead Acetate Induced Damage In The Cerebellum Of Rats, O. A. Bamgbose, O. D. Akanji, E. O. Olayemi, D. O. Taiwo-Ola, K. O. Odubela, B. A. Akanbi, P. B. Fakunle

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Lead is a persistent environmental toxin with pronounced neurotoxic effects, particularly on the central nervous system. This study evaluated the impact of lead acetate on the cerebellar cortex of adult Wistar rats and assessed the neuroprotective effects of aqueous Bryophyllum pinnatum extract. Twenty adult Wistar rats (180–220 g) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 5): Control (distilled water), T1 (0.075 mg/kg lead acetate), T2 (100 mg/kg B. pinnatum), and T3 (lead + B. pinnatum). Treatments were administered orally for 21 days. Cerebellar tissues were processed for biochemical and histological analysis, and data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism v10.1.Lead …

Cytological Changes In Buccal Mucosa Among Yemeni Qat Chewers In Hadhramout Governorate: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study, Saleh H. Ben Sumaidea, Hassan Pyar, Abdullah O. Bin Nashwan, Abdullah M. Bin Fadhl, Abeer A. Marabi, Ahmed A. Al-Shetri, Gumaan S. Rassam, Halima K. Joher, Mashhoor A. Bin Shehab, Mohammed S. Bin Mosalem

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Qat (Catha edulis) chewing is a common practice in Yemen, associated with oral mucosal irritation. The objective of the current study is to compare cytological findings of buccal mucosa between Qat chewers and non-chewers. A comparative cross-sectional study was designed. Buccal smears were collected from chewers (n = 100) and non-chewers (n = 100), fixed, and stained with Harris hematoxylin staining. Smears were assessed for inflammatory changes and cytological atypia by two blinded examiners; disagreements were resolved by consensus. The inflammatory cells were observed in 21% of chewers compared to 8% of controls (P = 0.009), while …

Development Of Self-Assembled Polymeric Polyplexes For Microrna Delivery: Toward Treatment Of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease, Marjina Akter Kalpana

Theses & Dissertations

Self-assembled polymeric polyplexes have the potential to serve as an RNA interference (RNAi) delivery platform for the combined inhibition of CXCR4 and miR-155 in the treatment of alcohol-associated liver disease (AALD). A central challenge in RNA delivery is balancing the extracellular stability of polyplexes, cellular uptake, and intracellular release of RNA cargo. We developed polymeric polyplexes using the CXCR4-antagonist polymer PAMD, designed to target CXCR4 on activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and deliver therapeutic miRNA to activated Kupffer cells (KCs) in fibrotic liver. We improved the polyplexes by cholesterol modification of PAMD and by PEGylation of PAMD-Ch. The cholesterol modification …

Spilling The Tea: Effects Of Uv Disinfection On Bioactive Compounds In South African Rooibos Tea, Sora Ghanem, Leah Ankiah, Yusra Ahmed

Student Scholar Symposium

This study investigated the effects of ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection on key bioactive flavonoid compounds in rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis). There is an interest in non-thermal food preservation technologies, and UV treatment offers potential advantages for beverage processing. However, concerns exist regarding possible degradation of health-promoting compounds during treatment. Rooibos tea samples were subjected to five UV exposure intensities (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mJ/cm²), and concentrations of four major flavonoids (aspalathin, orientin, vitexin, and rutin) were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Surprisingly, most flavonoids showed stability or slight concentration increases at higher UV doses. Aspalathin concentrations …

Investigating The Effects Of Hd5 On Iec-6 Small Intestinal Epithelial Cells On Wound Healing And E-Cadherin Expression, Brady Dunn, Braxton S. Ivie, Ben J. Bolz, Cayden Durrough

Student Scholar Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Human Alpha Defensin 5 (Hd5) In Disrupted Wound Healing Processes In Crohn’S Colitis, Jafer Aljorani, Amanda Williams

Student Scholar Symposium

Wound healing is a complex biological process requiring the coordinated function of multiple proteins. In chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly Crohn’s Colitis (CC), this process is dysregulated, leading to delayed tissue repair and increased disease burden. Prior studies indicate that Human Alpha Defensin 5 (HD5) is over-expressed in the colonic epithelium of CC patients, yet its impact on wound healing remains poorly understood. Our laboratory has identified that HD5 may impair wound healing by modulating key structural and regulatory proteins. Preliminary findings suggest that HD5 reduces the expression and function of desmoplakin, a critical desmosomal protein essential for maintaining …

Protocols For Antioxidant Testing: A Mini Review Of Common Assays And Approaches, Abdulsalam Halboup, Sameer A. Alkubati

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Antioxidants play a pivotal role in mitigating damage caused by oxidative stress, which is implicated in aging, inflammation, neurodegeneration, and various chronic diseases. With the growing interest in natural and synthetic antioxidants across nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, the need for reliable, reproducible, and standardized testing methods has become increasingly urgent. This mini-review provides a structured overview of the most widely used antioxidant testing protocols, categorized into in vitro chemical-based assays (e.g., DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, metal chelation), cell-based assays (e.g., DCFH-DA for intracellular ROS detection), and in vivo biomarker-based models. Each method’s principle, experimental protocol, advantages, and limitations are critically …

Prevalence Of Giardia Infection: A Cross-Sectional Study In Basra Province, Iraq, Sarah Kamal Naser

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Giardiasis is a common parasite infection that is seen more frequently than any other parasitic infection worldwide. This infection is especially prevalent in tropical areas and in developing nations that have a poor standard of living and poor health conditions. The Giardia parasite is able to infect people of any gender, as it enters the body by the mouth, passes down the oesophagus, and finally reaches the stomach, where it is not negatively impacted by gastric acids. The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which patients who were treated at Al-Zubair General Hospital in Basra, Iraq, …

Electrochemical Sensors For In Situ Monitoring Of Reactive Species During Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Based Therapies, Jonathan Thomas, Suneel Kumar, Gagana Karkada, Julia Sutter, Kristina Pattison, Jason Rainone, Dhruv Patel, Shashank Madhavan, Fred Krebs, Francois Berthiaume, Vandana Miller, Katharina Stapelmann

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) is emerging as a clinically relevant therapy for dermatological conditions such as actinic keratosis, warts, and chronic wounds. However, these therapies lack strategies to monitor CAP delivery in situ and to ensure delivery of an effective CAP dose without unwanted toxicity. CAP acts as a therapeutic agent in these biomedical applications primarily (but not solely) through reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated at transiently high local concentrations. Here we demonstrate the use of bio-electrochemical sensors capable of real-time measurements of key CAP RONS: hydrogen peroxide and oxidation-reduction-potential (ORP). In in vitro scratch assays and …

Environmental Risk Assessment Of Textile Waste From Bio-Engineered Fibers In The Fashion Industry, Aayush Pankaj Agarwal, Harshit Soral, Irmak Aktan, Karol Montserrat Gonzalez Saad, Maria Daniela Saa Espinosa, Sheetal Suhas Dhanuka, Yi Yang

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

The global fashion industry generates over 92 million tons of textile waste annually, a figure projected to increase significantly by 2030. Bio-engineered fibers, including bacterial cellulose, mycelium-based leather, and recombinant protein textiles emerge as sustainable alternatives to conventional fibers. Despite their promise, recent evidence suggests that these fibers may pose environmental risks at the end-of-life stage, such as incomplete biodegradation in landfills, microfiber shedding, and chemical leaching from dyes and coatings. The purpose of this study is to examine how these risks are represented through scientific literature, corporate sustainability reports, and policy frameworks, and to identify strategies for integrating risk …

Generating Predictive Gene Expression Signatures For Alzheimer's Disease Using Postmortem Brain Tissue, Ashley Duche

Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Background: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and tau protein aggregates. These pathological features develop in specific brain regions, but why some areas are more vulnerable to early AD-related changes remains unclear. To address this, predictive gene expression signatures were developed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying regional susceptibility to AD pathology.

Methods: This was performed using postmortem brain (PMB) tissue from participants in the Religious Orders Study and Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP), Mayo Clinic, and Mount Sinai Brain Bank (MSBB) to generate gene expression signatures from six brain …

Comparative Assessment Of Lower Limb Neuromusculoskeletal Activation And Joint Kinematics In Normal And Impaired Gait, Jack Ryan Schule

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates whether accessible and affordable technologies can provide clinically significant, quantifiable gait analysis comparable to traditional marker-based motion capture systems. Modern high-end systems offer excellent accuracy but remain financially and logistically inaccessible to many clinicians and researchers. To address this gap, a framework was developed using markerless pose estimation using the model, MediaPipe, inertial measurement units (IMUs) processed through an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), and surface electromyography (sEMG) to measure joint kinematics and neuromuscular activity during gait. An experiment was performed where data was collected from participants with both normal gait and pathologies including: Osgood–Schlatter disease, Plica Band …

Antioxidant Enzymes And Osmolyte Accumulation In Okra Cultivars Under Drought Stress, Jawad Ali, Ibadullah Jan, Hidayat Ullah, Muhammad Adnan, Shah Fahad, Hassan Alsberi, Khulud Albalawi, Hakki Akdeniz, Manzoor Ahmmad, Beena Saeed, Noor Us Sabah, Mian Sayed Khan, Abdul Basir, Muhammad Romman, Ayman El Sabagh

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Drought stress brought about by worsening environmental conditions due to climate change has increasingly damaging effects on crop production systems. To mitigate these effects, several physiological and biochemical aspects of plants could be used as markers in breeding for the selection of drought-resistant cultivars. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of 8 okra cultivars (Arka Anamika, Punjab Selection, Posaswami, Tulsi, Subz Pari, Super Green, Local Multani, and Green Star) under well-watered (control), mild drought stress, and severe drought stress conditions by irrigating plants at an interval of 3, 6, and 9 d after 30 d of planting. Results …

Synthesis Of Antibody Functionalized Polyaniline/Polystyrene/N-Gqds Composite Fibermats For Sweat Based Cortisol Biosensing Applications, Ashwin James

Honors Theses

Noninvasive, wearable biosensors capable of detecting stress biomarkers in sweat require electrodes that are flexible, conductive, insoluble in water, and highly sensitive at low concentrations of analyte. In this work, bovine serum albumin blocked and anti-cmab immobilized nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots integrated polyaniline/polystyrene composite fibermat electrodes (BSA/Anti-Cmab/N-GQDs/PANI/PS electrodes) were synthesized and evaluated as a potential platform for an electrochemical cortisol biosensor in sweat based systems. Polyaniline was utilized in order to provide electrical conductivity, while polystyrene served as a carrying polymer for mechanical support and its hydrophobicity. Composite fibermats were manufactured through Forcespinning™, followed by a secondary polyaniline graft …

Mmp-7 Expression And Rs11225307 Polymorphism In Breast Cancer And Fibroadenoma: A Molecular Study In Basrah, Iraq, Heba Jassam, Wijdan Nazar Ibraheim, Mazin Hawwaz Abdulridha, Rafid Adil Abood, Karam B. Nanjem

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Breast cancer (BC) progression relies heavily on extracellular matrix degradation, mediated in part by matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7). While overexpression of MMP-7 has been implicated in multiple cancers, data from Middle Eastern populations remain limited.

This study examined MMP-7 gene expression and polymorphism patterns, with emphasis on rs11225307, in breast cancer versus benign fibroadenoma (FA) tissues among women in Basrah, Iraq. Thirty-seven BC and twenty-three FA patients were enrolled. MMP-7 mRNA expression was quantified using qRT-PCR and normalized to β-actin, while polymorphisms were analyzed through Sanger sequencing of eight SNPs and allele-specific PCR for rs11225307. Statistical significance was set at …

Assessing The Role Of Social Media As A Complementary Source In Pharmacovigilance: Insights From Faers, X (Formerly Twitter), And Askapatient Data Across Multiple Drug Classes, Nwanneka Okere

Dissertations

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) pose significant public health challenges yet remain substantially underreported in traditional pharmacovigilance systems. Social media platforms and patient-reported outcome forums have emerged as potential complementary sources for capturing real-time patient experiences with medications, but their integration with established surveillance systems remains underexplored.

Purpose: This study examined ADR reporting patterns across FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), X (formerly Twitter), and Askapatient to evaluate whether patient-generated digital data can complement traditional pharmacovigilance systems for enhanced drug safety monitoring.

Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design analyzed 107,753 reports representing 289,740 individual ADR occurrences for …

Fostering Entrepreneurial Thinking And Practice Through Teaching And Learning Integration, Mohammad G. Sabbir

Learning and Educational Center Virtual Teaching and Learning Conference

This session explores an innovative, evidence-based approach to integrating entrepreneurial thinking into undergraduate neuroscience education through hands-on gene editing experiences. Using the commercially available Bio-Rad CRISPR/Cas9-based “Out of the Blue” kit for bacterial LacZ gene editing, students are guided not only through the scientific principles underlying modern gene editing technologies but also through the entrepreneurial challenge of replicating and manufacturing the kit using existing lab resources. This model empowers students to extend their learning beyond the classroom by engaging in cost-effective, scalable biotechnology practices—particularly valuable for institutions with limited funding. Classroom-based research demonstrates increased student engagement, deeper conceptual understanding, and …