Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    Simultaneous removal of malachite green and hexavalent chromium by Cunninghamella elegans biofilm in a semi-continuous system
    The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of the fungus Cunninghamella elegans for simultaneous decolourisation of a triphenylmethane dye malachite green (MG) and hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in the same media. This fungus can degrade MG through its reduction into leucomalachite green and then demethylation followed by oxidative cleavage. Along with MG degradation, C. elegans biofilm could effectively and repeatedly remove Cr(VI) from the liquid cultures even in the presence of high concentrations (40 g L−1) of NaCl and various other metal ions. C. elegans biofilm was also found to adsorb different dyes (reactive black-5, acid orange 7, direct red 81 and brilliant blue G) concurrently with Cr(VI). Based on its potential for simultaneous removal of dyes and Cr(VI) as well as reusability, C. elegans biofilm is envisaged as an efficient bioresource to devise strategies for treatment of wastewaters loaded with multiple pollutants.
      46Scopus© Citations 36
  • Publication
    Targeted Fluorination of a Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug to Prolong Metabolic Half-life
    In drug design, one way of improving metabolic stability is to introduce fluorine at a metabolically labile site. In the early stages of drug design, identification of such sites is challenging, and a rapid method of assessing the effect of fluorination on a putative drug’s metabolic stability would be of clear benefit. One approach to this is to employ micro-organisms that are established as models of drug metabolism in parallel with the synthesis of fluorinated drug analogues. In this study, we have used the filamentous fungus Cunninghamella elegans to identify the metabolically labile site of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen, to aid in the design of fluorinated derivatives that were subsequently synthesised. The effect of the additional fluorine substitution on cytochrome P450-catalysed oxidation was then determined via incubation with the fungus, and demonstrated that fluorine substitution at the 4′-position rendered the drug inactive to oxidative transformation, whereas substitution of fluorine at either 2' or 3' resulted in slower oxidation compared to the original drug. This approach to modulating the metabolic stability of a drug-like compound is widely applicable and can be used to address metabolic issues of otherwise good lead compounds in drug development.
      382Scopus© Citations 20
  • Publication
    Classification and biological identity of complex nano shapes
    Everywhere in our surroundings we increasingly come in contact with nanostructures that have distinctive complex shape features on a scale comparable to the particle itself. Such shape ensembles can be made by modern nano-synthetic methods and many industrial processes. With the ever growing universe of nanoscale shapes, names such as “nanoflowers” and “nanostars” no longer precisely describe or characterise the distinct nature of the particles. Here we capture and digitise particle shape information on the relevant size scale and create a condensed representation in which the essential shape features can be captured, recognized and correlated. We find the natural emergence of intrinsic shape groups as well-defined ensemble distributions and show how these may be analyzed and interpreted to reveal novel aspects of our nanoscale shape environment. We show how these ideas may be applied to the interaction between the nanoscale-shape and the living universe and provide a conceptual framework for the study of nanoscale shape biological recognition and identity.
      281Scopus© Citations 34