Owing to the suppression of immune responses and associated side effects, steroid based treatments for inflammatory encephalitis disease can be detrimental. Here, we demonstrate a novel carbon nanosphere (CNP) based treatment regime for encephalomyelitis in mice by exploiting the functional property of the nuclear matrix binding protein SMAR1. A truncated part of SMAR1 ie, the DNA binding domain was conjugated with hydrothermally synthesized CNPs. When administered intravenously, the conjugate suppressed experimental animal encephalomyelitis in T cell specific conditional SMAR1 knockout mice (SMAR
−/−
). Further, CNP-SMAR1 conjugate delayed the onset of the disease and reduced the demyelination significantly. There was a significant decrease in the production of IL-17 after re-stimulation with MOG. Altogether, our findings suggest a potential carbon nanomaterial based therapeutic intervention to combat Th17 mediated autoimmune diseases including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
Mountains on the west coast of India are known as the Western Ghat (WG). The WG region has a landslide (LS) susceptibility index of four and is prone to LSs in the monsoon season due to rainfall activity. The LS study focuses on the area between 15.5–20.5° N, 72.5–77.0° E in the Maharashtra state. A catalog of 115 LS events in the study area has been prepared by collecting LS data for 17 years (2000–2016) from various sources. The area from the windward to the leeward side of the WG mountains is divided into three regions: (1) the windward region (72.5–73.4° E) (90 km width), (2) the immediate lee side (ILS) (73.40–74.20° E) (80 km width), and (3) distant lee side (DLS) (74.2–77.0° E) (280 km width). The Center for Citizen Science (CCS), Pune, India, developed the LS-predicting model “Satark” using data from satellites, the India Meteorological Department weather forecasts, radar products, synoptic conditions, and atmospheric sounding data from the Wyoming site for inferring conditions for a hydraulic jump on the WG. The model validation for the 5 years (2017–2021) showed a reasonably good Heidke skill score of 0.44. The model showed 76.5% success in LS prediction 1 day in advance. It is the first attempt of this kind in the Indian region.
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