Understanding the evolution of antibiotic resistance at the molecular level as a functional tool for bioinformatic-based drug design.

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In this paper, biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Syzygium guineenses stem extract with 1mM, 2mM and 3mM AgNO3 concentrations has been presented. The plant extract was prepared with distilled water. The characterization and morphological composition of the synthesized AgNPs were determined by UV-visible spectroscopy and SEM respectively, while FTIR analysis was performed to identify the presence of the possible functional groups in the synthesized nano particles. It was observed from the UV and SEM analyses that the particles formed have diameters in the range of 23.5nm -89.3nm, which is the range of nanoparticle size. Antibacterial test was carried out on the sample with six pathogenic microbes (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococus aureas, Vancomycin Resistant Entrococci, Staphylococcus aureas, Bacillus sublitis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) to ascertain the antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs. Both the characterization and antimicrobial activity test were very successful and could lead to significant economic viability, as well as being environmentally friendly for treatment of some infectious diseases.

Envenomation resulting from snakebite is an important public health problem particularly in rural areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Phospholipase A 2 and metalloprotease are some of the principal toxic components of snake venom. Hence, the inhibition of these enzymes is of pharmacological and therapeutic interest as they are involved in several hemorrhage and inflammatory diseases. This study employed in silico methods to provide insights into the inhibitory mechanism of 2',4'-dihydroxy-4-prenyloxychalcone and 3,5-dimethoxy-4'-O-(2,3dihydroxy-3-methylbutyl)-dihydrostilbene isolated from the aerial parts of I. conferta on PLA 2 and metalloprotease snake venom. The method includes; predicting their ADME properties, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and binding free energy calculations. The result of the MD simulation revealed the average RMSD values for the C-α backbone atoms of PLA 2 in complex with the prenylated chalcone and the prenylated stilbene to be 1.14 and 1.16 Ǻ while that of metalloprotease in complex with prenylated chalcone and the prenylated stilbene were 1.37 and 1.18Å. Also, the electrostatic forces and van der Waals forces made a greater contribution to the total binding free energy in the PLA 2 complexes than in the metalloprotease complexes implying that the compounds exerted a greater inhibitory effect on the PLA 2 than on the Metalloprotease. The design of specific inhibitors of PLA 2 could help in the development of new pharmaceutical drugs, more specific antivenom, or even as alternative approaches for treating snakebites