Book Chapters

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Browsing Book Chapters by browse.metadata.cluster "Next Generation Health"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Drug sensitivity and drug repurposing platform for cancer precision medicine
    (Springer Nature, 2021-02) Nweke, EE; Thimiri Govindaraj, Deepak B; Turksen, K
    One of the critical Global challenges in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 Good Health and Well Being is optimizing drug discovery and translational research for unmet medical need in both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Recently, the WHO reports there has been a shift from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases with respect to being the leading cause of death globally and particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa. Hence, there is current drive to establish functional precision medicine program that addresses the unmet medical need using high throughput drug sensitivity and drug repurposing platform. Here, this paper serves as a perspective to showcase the recent development in high throughput drug sensitivity screening platform for the cancer precision medicine. We also elaborate on the benefit and applications of high-throughput drug screening platform for Precision Medicine. From a future perspective, this paper aims to showcase the possibility to integrate existing high-throughput drug sensitivity screening platform with the newly developed platform technologies such as microfluidics based single cell drug screening.
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    Efficacy of a plant-produced clade 2.3.4.4 H5 influenza virus-like particle vaccine in layer hens
    (2022-06) Abolnik, C; O'Kennedy, Maretha M; Murphy, MA; Wandrag, DBR
    Outbreaks caused by Goose/Guangdong H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)-lineage viruses continue to occur in unprecedented numbers throughout Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa, causing billions of dollars in economic losses and the deaths or destruction of hundreds of millions of poultry, and pose a zoonotic threat. Here, a recombinant virus-like particle (VLP) displaying the hemagglutinin protein of a clade 2.3.4.4b H5N8 HPAI strain was produced in tobacco plants (Nicotiana benthamiana) and its immunogenicity with four commercial adjuvants was compared in layer hens. After two immunizations with 250 hemagglutinating unit doses, hens that received intramuscular injections of H5 VLPs formulated with Emulsigen D, Emulsigen P or Montanide ISA 71VG seroconverted with hemagglutination inhibition geometric mean titres (GMTs) of 7.3 log2 (± 1.17), 8 log2 (± 1.08) and 7.9 log2 (±1.07), respectively, but the GMT of hens inoculated by eye drop with VLPs plus Carbigen only reached 2.05 log2 (± 1.64). The H5 VLP plus Emulsigen-P vaccinated hens and a sham-vaccinated group were then challenged with a high dose of the homologous H5N8 HPAI virus. Vaccinated hens were completely protected and showed no clinical signs, whereas the sham-vaccinated birds all died within 3–4 days. The average oropharyngeal shedding in vaccinated hens was reduced by 3,487-fold and 472-fold on days 2 and 3 post challenge, respectively, whereas average cloacal shedding was reduced by 2,360,098-fold and 15,608-fold on days 2 and 3, respectively, compared to the sham-vaccinated controls. No virus was detected in the vaccinated hens after day 8 post challenge, and the plant-produced H5 VLP vaccine completely prevented H5N8 HPAI virus transmission to eggs. This highly efficacious, safe and non-toxic plant-produced H5 VLP vaccine with DIVA (differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals) capability could be rapidly produced with a yield of at least 85,000 doses per Kg of plant leaf material.
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    A look at emerging therapeutic targets for gallbladder cancer: A multi-omics approach
    (Springer Nature, 2023-01) Baichan, P; Naicker, Previn; Devar, J; Smith, M; Nweke, EE; Shukla, VK; Pandey, M; Dixit, R
    Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most frequent biliary tract cancer (including cancers of the intra- and extrahepatic biliary tree). Like many biliary tract carcinomas, GBC is identified by late diagnosis, poor prognosis, and ineffective treatment. Surgery remains the most effective management strategy. Nevertheless, the 5-year survival rate of GBC ranges from approximately 0 to 12%, thus better treatment modalities are required. Over recent years, a multi-omics approach has been implored in the discovery of therapeutic biomarkers. In this chapter, we review known chemotherapeutic drugs used in GBC treatment. Then, we extensively analyze the discovery of several proteins, genes, microRNAs, mutations, metabolites, and microbes whose expressions are dysregulated in GBC. Importantly, we highlight their potential use as therapeutic biomarkers due to their functions in GBC progression. Lastly, we review emerging strategies such as immunotherapy and their potential of improving patient survival.
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    Magnetic nanoparticles: Role in next generation nanomedicine
    (IGI Global, 2021-11) Latha, S; Selvamani, P; Palanisamy, SB; Thimiri Govindaraj, Deepak B; Thangavelu, P
    The magnetic nanoparticles are said to be a class of nanoparticles or nanomaterials that can be manipulated by the help of externally applied magnetic field. These magnetic nanoparticles constitute materials such as nickel, cobalt, iron, and their derivatives. These are normally smaller than 1 µm in diameter possess wide range of properties and attractive characteristics suitable for biomedical such as used as hyperthermia, enhancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, supplementing tissue engineering efforts, and improving the target-based drug delivery and many other technological applications. In the field of cancer research, the role of nanoparticles and nanotechnology-based methods and novel strategies have been increasing swiftly for cancer identification and cancer therapy. The iron oxide (Fe3 O4, -Fe2 O3) nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used for the drug delivery, magnetic nanoparticle-enhanced hyperthermia, and also as MRI contrast agents due to its biocompatibility, low toxicity, etc. lead to the growth of novel biopharmaceutical technologies.
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    Nanomedicines for the treatment of infectious diseases: Formulation, delivery and commercialization aspects
    (Routledge (Taylor & Francis), 2021-03) Dube, A; Semete-Makokotlela, Boitumelo; Ramalapa, Bathabile E; Reynolds, J; Boury, F; Glover, RL; Nyanganyura, D; Mufamadi, MS; Mulaudzi, RB
    The increasing prevalence of drug resistant pathogenic strains, including multi drug resistant TB along with the growing HIV and malaria resistance demand new routes of innovation for pharmaceutical drug discovery. Nanomedicine provides the opportunity to develop therapies for infectious diseases with reduced drug dosage and dose frequencies and shortened treatment duration. These combined strategies may lead to an increase in patient compliance with the goal of improving treatment outcomes and reducing occurrences of drug resistance. With these exciting opportunities, due attention has been given to the clinical translation of nanomedicines for infectious diseases applications. Examples are presented that demonstrate how nanomedicine strategies can enable the development of a wide range of therapeutic solutions to curb the rise of the infectious disease epidemic. The chapter also discusses the models for development and commercialization of medicines for infectious diseases, and presents considerations for commercialization of nanomedicines for infectious diseases.
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    SynBac: Enhanced baculovirus genomes by iterative recombineering
    (Springer, Humana, 2021-05) Crocker, H; Gorda, B; Pelosse, M; Thimiri Govindaraj, Deepak B; Berger, I; Owens, R.J
    Baculovirus expression vector systems (BEVS) are widely used to produce heterologous proteins for a wide range of applications. Developed more than 30 years ago, BEVS have been constantly modified to improve product quality and ease-of-use. Plasmid reagents were tailored and engineered to facilitate introduction of heterologous genes into baculoviral genomes. At the same time, detrimental modalities such as genes encoding proteases or apoptotic factors were removed to improve protein yield. Advances in DNA synthesis and manipulation now enable the engineering of part or whole synthetic baculovirus genomes, opening up new avenues to redesign and tailor the system to specific applications. Here, we describe a simple protocol for designing and constructing baculovirus genomes comprising segments of synthetic DNA through the use of iterative Red/ET homologous recombination reactions.