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As we know inadequate oxygen and nutrition supply tends to cell death. More oxygen and nutrition is required competitively for the rapid growth of cancer cell. So, an angiogenesis inhibitor may help to inhibit the formation of the new blood vessel, which is responsible for the growth of the tumor. Angiogenesis is a vital process, by which new blood vessels are formed. Angiogenesis inhibitors prevent or decrease the formation of new blood vessels by decreasing the secretion of angiogenesis factors that forms tumor cells. Keywords: Angiogenesis, Nutrition, Tumor, Chemotherapy, Radiation.

We demonstrated for the first time without any chemical modification the two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section can be enhanced and red-shifted to the near-infrared (NIR) region by the ground-state proton-transfer (GSPT) process. Using GSPT, we developed a simple binol-based aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-fluorogenic phototrigger having a large two-photon uncaging cross-section in the "phototherapeutic window". As a proof of concept, we showed our phototrigger for the release of two different anticancer drugs in the NIR region.

Heritage tourism offers authentic value-addition to homogenized experiences providing authentic, one-of-a-kind take-away. Apart from popular world heritage sites there are little-exposed gems which can offer novelty and hedonics together. Chandernagore, located on the western bank of river Hugli, 40 km north of Kolkata, India, germinated during the medieval period, later became a thriving French Colony in Bengal displays brilliant prospect for urban heritage tourism. A detailed spatio-temporal inventory of shared heritage legacies both tangible and intangible is prepared using old literatures, oral interviews, GPS plotting and GIS mapping which offers a great platform for promoting urban heritage tourism. Chandernagore is at interesting cross-roads – bridging the infrastructural gaps and garnering involvement of the locals, for ascertaining true potentiality – the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) are identified to prepare a blueprint for heritage tourism revival strategy for the shared Indo-French melange. Empirical study is conducted for tourist profiling along with usage of descriptive statistics and to carry out perception analysis of locals and tourists. The SWOT analysis leads to a comprehensive strategy formulation which aims to act as base for the revival of Indo-French cultural melange through sustainable, robust tourism emphasizing the core and innovation capitals, tourism development strategies and management, tourism outcomes and resource sustainability.

Photodynamic therapy has emerged as a noninvasive treatment modality for several types of cancers. However, conventional hydrophobic photosensitizers (PS) suffer from low water solubility and poor tumor-targeting ability. Therefore, PS modified with glycopolymers can offer adequate water solubility, biocompatibility, and tumor-targeting ability due to the presence of multiple sugar units. In this study, a well-defined block copolymer poly(3-O-methacryloyl-d-glucopyranose)-b-poly(2-(4-formylbenzoyloxy)ethylmethacrylate) (PMAG-b-PFBEMA) containing pendant glucose and aldehyde units is synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization method. A water-soluble PS (toluidine blue O; TBO) and a potent anticancer drug, Doxorubicin (Dox) are introduced to the polymer backbone via acid-labile Schiff-base reaction (PMAG-b-PFBEMA_TBO_Dox). The PMAG-b-PFBEMA_TBO_Dox is then anchored on the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) via electrostatic interaction. This hybrid system exhibits excellent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generating ability under exposure of 630 nm light-emitting diode along with triggered release of Dox under the acidic pH of tumor cells. The in vitro cytotoxicity study on human breast cancer cell line, MDA MB 231, for this hybrid system shows promising results due to the synergistic effect of ROS and Dox released. Thus, this glycopolymer-based dual (chemo-photodynamic) therapy model can work as potential material for future therapeutics.

Sox family of transcriptional factors play essential functions in development and are implicated in multiple clinical disorders, including cancer. Sox2 being their most prominent member and performing a critical role in reprogramming differentiated adult cells to an embryonic phenotype is frequently upregulated in multiple cancers. High Sox2 levels are detected in breast tumor tissues and correlate with a worse prognosis. In addition, Sox2 expression is connected with resistance to conventional anticancer therapy. Together, it can be said that inhibiting Sox2 expression can reduce the malignant features associated with breast cancer, including invasion, migration, proliferation, stemness, and chemoresistance. This review highlights the critical roles played by the Sox gene family members in initiating or suppressing breast tumor development, while primarily focusing on Sox2 and its role in breast tumor initiation, maintenance, and progression, elucidates the probable mechanisms that control its activity, and puts forward potential therapeutic strategies to inhibit its expression.

The development of Photoremovable protecting groups (PRPGs), which can be activated in the ʽphototherapeutic windowʼ for biological applications, is highly challenging. Only PRPGs based on BODIPY dye have been developed so far, which can be excited ≥600 nm. Herein, we developed for the first time NIR dye hydroxystyryl dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran (DCM) as a PRPG that can be operated in the phototherapeutic window. Ours easily synthesized DCM photocages efficiently released aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids in an aqueous solution on irradiation using the light of wavelength ≥600 nm and 650 nm, separately. As an application, we used our DCM-PRPG as a single component nanocarrier drug delivery system (DDS) to uncage valproic acid (a known histone deacetylase inhibitor) for cancer treatment. In vitro studies revealed that our DDS, hydroxystyryl dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran valproic acid conjugate nanoparticles (DCM-VPA-NPs) exhibited good cellular internalization, biocompatibility, and enhanced cytotoxicity upon irradiation.

The development of Photoremovable protecting groups (PRPGs), which can be activated in the ʽphototherapeutic windowʼ for biological applications, is highly challenging. Only PRPGs based on BODIPY dye have been developed so far, which can be excited ≥600 nm. Herein, we developed for the first time NIR dye hydroxystyryl dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran (DCM) as a PRPG that can be operated in the phototherapeutic window. Ours easily synthesized DCM photocages efficiently released aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids in an aqueous solution on irradiation using the light of wavelength ≥600 nm and 650 nm, separately. As an application, we used our DCM-PRPG as a single component nanocarrier drug delivery system (DDS) to uncage valproic acid (a known histone deacetylase inhibitor) for cancer treatment. In vitro studies revealed that our DDS, hydroxystyryl dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran valproic acid conjugate nanoparticles (DCM-VPA-NPs) exhibited good cellular internalization, biocompatibility, and enhanced cytotoxicity upon irradiation.

We report a two-photon responsive drug delivery system (DDS), namely, p-hydroxyphenacyl-naphthalene-chlorambucil (pHP-Naph-Cbl), having a two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section of ≥20 GM in the phototherapeutic window (700 nm). Our DDS exhibited both AIE and ESIPT phenomena, which were utilized for the real-time monitoring of anti-cancer drug release.

Glioma is one of the most perplexing cancers because of its infiltrating nature, molecular signaling, and location in central nervous system. Blood-brain barrier acts as a natural barrier to the glioma making it difficult to access by conventional chemotherapy. Clinicians are using natural compounds or their derivatives for several diseases including different cancers. However, the feasibility of using natural compounds in glioma is not explored in details. Natural compounds can act over a wide variety of signaling pathways such as survival and metabolic pathways and induce cell death. Some of the natural agents have additional benefits of crossing biological barriers such as blood-brain barrier with ease having few or no impact on the surrounding healthy cells. All of these benefits make natural compounds a prospective candidate for the glioma management. This article evaluates the benefits of using natural compounds for glioma therapy and their possible mechanism of actions. We have discussed the natural compounds assessed currently for glioma therapy and proposed a few novel natural compounds with potential antiglioma effect based on their mechanism of action.

Development of fluorescent imaging probes is an important topic of research for the early diagnosis of cancer. Based on the difference between the cellular environment of tumor cells and normal cells, several "smart" fluorescent probes have been developed. In this work, a glycopolymer functionalized Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based fluorescent sensor is developed, which can monitor the pH change in cellular system. One-pot sequential reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)polymerization technique is employed to synthesize fluorescent active triblock glycopolymer that can undergo FRET change on the variation of pH. A FRET pair, fluorescein o-acrylate (FA) and 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) is linked via a pH-responsive polymer poly [2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDPAEMA), which can undergo reversible swelling/deswelling under acidic/neutral condition. The presence of glycopolymer segment provides stability, water solubility, and specificity toward cancer cells. The cellular FRET experiments on cancer cells (MDA MB 231) and normal cells (3T3 fibroblast cells) demonstrate that the material is capable of distinguishing cells as a function of pH change.

The Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF- β1) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is the major cytokine that acts as a mediator of tumor-stroma crosstalk, which in fact has a dual role in either promoting or suppressing tumor development. The cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the major cell types in the TME, and the interaction with most of the epithelial cancers is the prime reason for cancer survival. However, the molecular mechanisms, associated with the TGF- β1 induced tumor promotion through tumor-CAF crosstalk are not well understood. In the Reverse Warburg effect, CAFs feed the adjacent cancer cells by lactate produced during the aerobic glycolysis. We hypothesized that the monocarboxylate transporter, MCT4 which is implicated in lactate efflux from the CAFs, must be overexpressed in the CAFs. Contextually, to explore the role of TGF- β1 in the hypoxia-induced autophagy in CAFs, we treated CoCl

Development of Internet and Internet of Things (IoTs) has laid rapid advancement in the farming system and medical system. Various relevant data and signals are collected and monitored from these systems and then appropriate results are predicted that help to make agriculture more optimized and sustainable and healthcare more automated. In this paper, a low-cost, power efficient, Long-Range Wide-Area Network (LoRaWAN) based IoT platform is proposed where two LoRa end nodes are designed, one for collecting the parameters from agricultural fields and another for monitoring body temperature and pulse rate. The readings from these two nodes are then communicated to a single gateway which are then forwarded to Network Server. The collected data can be visualised on a web-based dashboard on a daily basis. The main aim of this proposed platform is to help the people living in rural and hilly areas in monitoring their farm and health on a single dashboard regularly.

In this work, we depleted glutathione (GSH) by releasing SO2 with internal stimulus GSH itself, and also selectively marked the cancer cells followed by release of anticancer drug using another orthogonal stimulus i.e., two-photon (TP) NIR light by a single naphthalene based chromophore (TP absorbance 77 GM and uncaging cross-section 21 GM). We demonstrated the improved therapeutic efficacy of chlorambucil by the stepwise dual stimuli approach and dual surveillance of both the drug uncaging process in real-time using in vitro studies.

In this study, a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-polycaprolactone (POSS-PCL)-cored octa-arm star-shaped glyco block copolymer (BCP), poly(e-caprolactone)-b-poly(glucopyranose) (Star-POSS-PCL-b-PGlc) was successfully synthesized via the combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and MADIX (macromolecular design by interchange of xanthate) polymerization technique. Herein, initially octa(3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyl dimethylsiloxy) POSS (Star-POSS) was utilized to initiate the ROP of the e-caprolactone to get octa-arm star-shaped Star-POSS-PCL. A successive bromination followed by xanthation of the synthesized Star-POSS-PCL polymer allowed us to further polymerize 3-O-acryloyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-glucofuranose (AIpGlc) via MADIX polymerization. Formation of the star-shaped block copolymer (BCP) was characterized using 1H NMR, FT-IR and DSC analyses. The morphology and the aqueous solution behavior of the Star-POSS-PCL-b-PGlc were analyzed using FESEM, HRTEM and DLS analyses, respectively. The lectin-binding efficiency of the star-shaped BCP having different glycopolymer block length was studied using turbidimetry assay and fluorescence quenching titration (FQT) using photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Here, FITC labeled concanavalin A (FITC-Con A) was used as a model lectin. The cytotoxicity study of the star-shaped BCPs over the human fibroblast cells revealed the non-toxic nature of the BCPs which open up its great potential towards drug delivery vector.

Cancer is a complex disease affecting millions of lives worldwide. Cancer is primarily an aberration of the genome, causing unrestricted proliferation of the cells. While a tiny portion of this aberration is hereditary, most of it is caused by environmental factors. These factors are known as carcinogens, and these carcinogens can cause cancer through physical, chemical, or biological interactions. Understanding this process of carcinogenesis is crucial for developing any cancer models because all of the cancer models ultimately attempt to mimic the cancer of origin in human beings. It is also a burning question in the field of cancer biology to understand the cells of origin in cancer and how they become cancerous. This chapter tries to explore the concept of carcinogenesis in light of both recent and past findings.

The use of medicinal plants is as ancient as human civilization. The development of phytochemistry and pharmacology facilitates the identification of natural bioactive compounds and their mechanisms of action, including against cancer. The efficacy and the safety of a bioactive compound depend on its optimal delivery to the target site. Most natural bioactive compounds (phenols, flavonoids, tannins, etc) are unable to reach their target sites due to their low water solubility, less cellular absorption, and high molecular weight, leading to their failure into clinical translation. Therefore, many scientific studies are going on to overcome the drawbacks of natural products for clinical applications. Several studies in India, as well as worldwide, have proposed the development of natural products-based nanoformulations to increase their efficacy and safety profile for cancer therapy by improving the delivery of natural bioactive compounds to their target site. Therefore, we are trying to discuss the development of natural products-based nanoformulations in India to improve the efficacy and safety of natural bioactive compounds against cancer.

There have been great interests in the development of new smart materials for the wound-healing application. Herein, we have designed a new wound-healable material based on thermoresponsive multi-layered micellar interpolyelectolyte complex (IPEC) hydrogel. The polyelectrolyte BCPs were prepared via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The combination of inner thiolated cationic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-block-(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride) (PHEMA-b-PMTAC) BCP stabilized Ag NPs and outer anionic thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-block-sodium 4-vinylbenzenesulfonate) (PNIPAAm-b-PSS) BCP moiety of the IPEC provides self-healing property to the complex via ionic interaction. The morphology of the resulting IPEC was investigated by FESEM, AFM, and HRTEM analyses. The spray-on thermoresonsive IPEC was found to form self-standing hydrogel at the wound site above its lower critical solution temperature (LCST at 33 °C), as determined using temperature-responsive DLS analysis. The Ag NPs embedded hydrogel showed a catastrophic effect against both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria which was confirmed using Live-dead assay (DAPI-PI analysis), flow cytometry (FACS) study and morphological analyses. This ensures the prevention of wound infection. Upon application of this Ag NPs embedded IPEC in the wound site of Wistar rats (in vivo study), the re-epithelialization process was observed to be facilitated leading to wound healing. The CD31 and Collagen IV markers were used in the immunohistochemistry (IHC) study of the wound closure process. The combination of the qRT-PCR and IHC study suggested that the Ag NPs incorporated thermogel can have application as anti-flammation and angiogenic material. The multifunctional activities of this new IPEC based hydrogel can shed light in the field of wound dressing application.

Chemoresistance is one of the significant problems of cancer management. Cellular crosstalk in tumor microenvironment plays a vital role in regulating the chemoresistance in cancer. Cancer stem cell (CSC) is one of the key players in the regulation of chemoresistance in cancer, and they modulate the tumor microenvironment to enhance the resistance to anti-cancer therapy. However, the exact mechanism by which CSC can influence the cellular crosstalk in the tumor microenvironment is mostly unknown. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is attributed to inducing therapeutic resistance in several cancers. We previously found a close relation of MIF secretion with a group of polyploid giant cells in chemoresistant breast cancer. MIF secretion was increased in the media of the mammosphere of MDA MB 231 cell (231) as well as Doxorubicin (Dox) and 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) resistant 231 cells. MIF secretion also increased upon treating 231 with Dox and 5FU in a time-dependent manner. Addition of recombinant MIF in culture medium increased the resistance of 231 to chemotherapeutic agents, and a similar phenomenon was also observed upon treatment with conditioned medium from CSC. Chemoresistant breast cancer is enriched with the CSC population, and hence we hypothesized that the MIF was secreted from CSC populations and had a significant role in the regulation of chemoresistance in breast cancer. MIF expression was also increased in Chemoresistant breast cancer tissues compare to non-resistant ones. MIF also induced anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 and Bcl-xl by downregulating Bax and Bad as well as contributed to the chemoresistant phenotype. Conditioned media from CSC and exogenous MIF were unable to induce chemoresistance in parental 231 cell line in the presence of 4-IPP, a MIF inhibitor. The anti-apoptotic effect of exogenous MIF was also reversed by the inhibitor. Thus we confirmed that MIF played a significant role in the regulation of resistant phenotype in breast cancer microenvironment. Upon further analysis of molecular pathways, we found phosphorylation of AKT corresponded with the MIF secretion in CSC as well as chemoresistant 231 cell lines. MIF was able to increase the level of phosphorylated AKT in 231 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. When chemoresistant 231 cells were treated with MIF inhibitor, the AKT phosphorylation was inhibited. Silencing the AKT pathway via siRNA reversed the sensitization of exogenous MIF and reduced the resistance of both parental 231 as well as resistant 231 cells. So, overall we conclude that MIF plays a crucial role in inducing chemoresistance in breast cancer by upregulating anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 and Bcl-xl & downregulating Bax and Bad through AKT phosphorylation. The MIF is mainly secreted by CSC population during self-renewal or stress caused by chemotherapy which activates anti-apoptotic pathways in tumor microenvironment. Citation Format: Subhayan Das, Moumita Kundu, Aditya Parekh, Deblina Bharadwaj, Mahitosh Mandal. Cancer stem cell induces chemoresistance in breast cancer via macrophage migration inhibitory factor mediated activation of AKT pathway [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4676.