The purpose of the present study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant activities of polyphenolic extract of fruits of Terminalia chebula Retzius (Combretaceae). The polyphenolic extract of T. chebula fruits was evaluated for antioxidant activity by determining reducing power assay, total antioxidant capacity, DPPH radical (IC 50 14 µg/mL), nitric oxide radical (IC 50 30.51 µg/ml) and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay (IC 50 265.53 µg/ml) under in vitro conditions. Moreover the phytochemical characterization of the extract was also measured by determining total phenolic, flavonoids, tannin and ascorbic acid contents. The characterization of the extract was also done by HPLC profiling with standard gallic acid. The present study demonstrated that extract have significant reducing capacity and scavenging of nitric oxide as well as hydrogen peroxide induced radicals. This activity of the extract may be due to the total polyphenolic contents present in it. The antioxidant activity of the extract was more significant than standard

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Studies on post-translational modifications (PTMs) have grabbed attention of the scientific community worldwide, its role in pathogenesis of cancer and prognostic biomarkers associated with cancers. However, unraveling the specific role of PTMs in carcinogenesis or in predictive biomarkers requires holistic understanding of the cancer types and associated mechanisms. Manifestation of cancer is complex and involves multiple steps including modifications at the levels of genes, associated proteins and signaling pathways. Biomarkers, as a prognostic marker, are critical in deciding efficacy of the clinical outcomes in malignancies. Growing evidence suggests that several biomarkers that are post-translationally modified play important role in human cancers. In the current review, few of such biomarkers and targets that are post-translationally modified and are associated with carcinogenesis are collated and analyzed to provide a bird's eye view of their role in cancer types. Such analysis will help in understanding the pathogenesis and the precise role of biomarkers in designing better therapeutic interventions for different cancer types. METHODS The writing of this review involved a comprehensive search of original articles and reviews published on the subject of post translational modifications. Free search engine PubMed was used to conduct the online search. Sorting option 'Best Match' of PubMed was used to conduct the more relevant search.Various expressions were used to find relevant references for example, "post translational modifications in cancer", "acetylation in cancer and post translational modifications", "methylation in cancer and post translational modifications", "biomarkers in cancer" etc. Some other expressions were used to conduct a more specific search to complement the findings in the articles retrieved with the more general search criteria for example, "checkpoint kinase 1 in cancer", "candidate tumor suppressor BTG3" etc. Further, some articles were also found through reading of previous reviews on similar subjects including the ones by Karve and Cheema [1], and Han et al, [2].Articles clearly related to the theme of this review and those that matched the search criteria were selected according to their year of publication (only articles published after

Background: Hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) is used as an experimental model to screen phytochemicals with liver protecting activity. Solanum nigrum (SN) is a shrub which is widely distributed throughout India. Traditionally the plant has been used for curing various ailments related to gastroenterology and hepatology. The present study was performed to evaluate the hepatoprotective property of S. nigrum extract standardized for its flavonoid content against CCl 4-induced hepatotoxicity. Methods: The liver protecting property of SN was evaluated by means of various biochemical parameters and histopathologically. S. nigrum was administered to Swiss strain female albino mice with either 100/ 200/ 300 mg/kg body weight/day for 30 days along with CCl 4 which is a well established model to induce hepatotoxicity. Results: Administration of CCl 4 for 30 days caused a significant increase in liver marker enzymes and a decrease in hepatic DNA, RNA and protein levels which was effectively mitigated by treatment with the plant extract in a dose dependent manner. Similarly co-treatment of the extract along with the hepatotoxin improved hepatic energy status by increasing the activities of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). Histopathological findings indicated severe vacuolization and necrotic changes after CCl 4 treatment which was mitigated by the co-administration of SN extract in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions: Carbon tetracholoride is known to exert hepatotoxicty by forming adducts with tissue macromolecules through covalent interactions. S. nigrum extract was found to effectively mitigate CCl 4-induced changes in hepatic macromolecular content and energy status of liver tissue. The present study has identified the standardized S. nigrum as an effective hepatoprotective agent probably due to its role in improving the protein and energy levels in the hepatic tissue.

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