Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the beta coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was believed to be restricted to the respiratory system since its outbreak in January 2020. Later it was found that it also involves multiple other organs including the central and peripheral nervous system. Neurological problems like ischemic, hemorrhagic strokes, venous sinus thrombosis, encephalopathy, cerebral hemorrhage, encephalitis, and neurodegenerative diseases like Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) has been found to be associated with COVID-19 (Ref.1 and 2). SARS-CoV-2 can cause neurological damage directly by damaging specific receptors or by causing cytokine-related injury, also through secondary hypoxia and retrograde travel along nerve fibers (Ref.3).GBS is a rare[..]

Interleukin18 (IL18) is a pro-inflammatory IL-1 family cytokine that activates hematopoietic cell types involved in Th1 and Th2 responses. IL18 plays an essential role in the host defense against various infectious microorganisms. It also enhances the induction of IFN-gamma, nitric oxide (NO), and ROS in phagocytes. Expressed by both immune and non-immune cells like macrophages, keratinocytes, osteoblasts, kupffer cells, T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, astrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells as inactive precursor pro-IL18, it is cleaved by Caspase-1 enzyme to form the mature and active IL18 molecule (Ref.1 and 2). Once activated, IL18 is released and is free to bind the receptor, IL18 receptor alpha chain (IL18R1), and the co-receptor, IL18R accessory[..]

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a spherical enveloped virus with a diameter of approximately 150 nm. It is filamentous, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the Orthopneumovirus genus of the Pneumoviridae family in the order Mononegavirales. The RNA genome consists of a non-segmented negative-sense single strand RNA along with 10 genes encoding 11 proteins. They are: internal structural proteins (matrix protein [M] and nucleoprotein [N]), proteins required for a functional polymerase complex (phosphoprotein [P] and polymerase [L]), nonstructural proteins involved in evasion of the innate immune response (NS-1 and NS-2), externally exposed transmembrane glycoproteins (small hydrophobic protein [SH], glycoprotein [G], and fusion protein[..]

Nipah virus (NiV), is a highly lethal zoonotic paramyxovirus that emerged at the end of last century as a human pathogen capable of causing severe acute respiratory infection and encephalitis.  NiV blocks the elicitation of innate and adaptive immune response by inhibiting synthesis of cytokines, interferon type I (IFN α/β) (Ref.1). The effects on humans of infection by Nipah virus can range from an asymptomatic infection to fatal encephalitis. The incubation period can vary from four to 45 days. The first stage of the infection is the development of fever, headache, sore throat, myalgia, and vomiting, similar to common flu. The infection can then evolve to dizziness, altered consciousness, drowsiness, and some neurological signs indicating acute[..]

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has infected millions of people throughout the world leading to a global health crisis. COVID-19 declared as pandemic by World Health Organization, generally causes lung inflammation and pneumonia. In extreme cases, it can also cause injury to multiple organs including the lungs, cardiovascular system, liver, kidneys, muscles and brain. Serious patients generally exhibit a “cytokine storm” or hyper-inflammation formed due to excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines that not only leads to ARDS in many cases but can also cause extensive tissue damage, organ failure, and death (Ref.1 and 2).The SARS-CoV2 virus belongs[..]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic respiratory disease caused by a highly transmissible and pathogenic coronavirus, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had an unusual outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. SARS-CoV-2, a novel beta-coronavirus, is characterized by a spherical morphology with spike projections on the surface. It shared high sequence identity with SARS-CoV and bat SARS-like coronavirus (SL-CoV). COVID-19 is an infectious disease which shows symptoms like fever, tiredness, dry cough and shortness of breath. People may be sick with the virus for 1 to 14 days before developing symptoms (Ref.1 and 2). Development of therapeutics and vaccines is underway. Diagnosis and testing of the disease can be the most[..]

Statins are the most common drug used to treat hyperlipidemia. They also induce several pleiotropic effects like improvement of endothelial dysfunction, increased nitric oxide bioavailability, antioxidant properties, inhibition of inflammatory responses, and stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques. The different pleiotropic effects arise due to marked differences in lipophilicity, solubility and differential localization of statins which is based on the presence or absence of polar moieties on its hydrophobic structures. Lipophilic statins (such as Atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, cerivastatin and pitavastatin) enter into cells by passive diffusion and appear to be more beneficial as they are taken up by a large number of cells and widely[..]

Immune checkpoints are co-stimulatory or inhibitory molecules that serve as regulators of T cells function in the tumor microenvironment. Inhibitory immune checkpoints maintain immune homeostasis, down-regulate anti-tumor responses and prevent autoimmunity (Ref.1). Checkpoint pathways involve costimulatory and inhibitory receptors and their ligands. Costimulatory receptors include CD28 and ICOS (inducible T cell co-stimulator), 4-1BB, OX40, CD27, CD30, CD40, GITR (glucocorticoid inducible TNF receptor-related protein), and HVEM (herpes-virus entry mediator), whereas co-inhibitory receptors include CTLA4, Programmed Death-1 (PD-1), BTLA (B and T lymphocyte attenuator), lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), TIM3 (T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein[..]

Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines belonging to a large family of small, secreted proteins that stimulate the cells migration and the positioning and interactions of cells within tissue. About 50 endogeneous chemokine ligands and 20 cell surface G protein-coupled heptahelicalchemokine receptors together form the chemokine superfamily. Chemokines regulate leukocyte migration into the tumor microenvironment and thus play important roles in deciding tumor fate, promoting anti-tumor immune responses, or sustaining tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis (Ref.1).Chemokines mediate anti-tumor activities through inhibition of angiogenesis and attraction of immune effector cells to the tumor site. Major immune cells that are recruited to the tumor microenvironment (TME)[..]

Cholesterol is the key component of the structure and function of cell membranes and is biosynthesized by all animal cells. Cholesterol biosynthesis occurs in the liver and the intestines. The liver has two sources of cholesterol either it can take up LDL particles from the blood, or it can synthesis cholesterol using HMG-CoA reductase adding to the cholesterol pool in the liver cell. Cholesterol, owing to their hydrophilic structure are packed within lipoproteins for intra cellular transport. Several types of lipoproteins are present in the blood varying in density. They are very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density[..]

NFATs are basically calcium-dependent transcription factors, activated by stimulation of receptors coupled to calcium/calcineurin signals, such as the antigen receptors on T-Cells and B-Cells, FcEpsilonR (Fc-Epsilon Receptors) on mast cells and basophils, the Fc-Gamma receptors on macrophages and NK cells, the platelet collagen receptors, and receptors coupled to heterotrimeric G-Proteins (Ref.1). NFATs serve to couple gene expression to changes in intracellular calcium levels and are regulated primarily at the level of their subcellular localization. In response to antigen receptor signaling, the calcium-regulated phosphatase, calcineurin acts to directly dephosphorylate NFAT proteins, causing their rapid translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, where they[..]

Cholesterol is an important structural component of cell membranes. They not only act as precursor of steroid hormones, bile acids and vitamin D but are essential for posttranslational modification of membrane proteins involved in cellular processes such as cell growth/differentiation, gene expression, and protein glycosylation and cytoskeletal assembly. Cholesterol biosynthesis occurs in the cytoplasm and endoplasmic reticulum of liver and intestine and is strictly regulated by the Mevalonate Pathway. Cholesterol biosynthesis is initiated with the synthesis of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG)-CoA from Acetyl-CoA through Acetoacetyl CoA. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG CoA reductase) the rate-limiting enzyme catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to[..]