A mini review on challenges and opportunities in dinoflagellates cultivation

Dinoflagellates are photosynthetic protists commonly distributed in marine and freshwater environments and can be found in symbiotic associations. They are a significant primary producer and play a fundamental role in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems – especially for coral reefs. Dinoflagellates can produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites, and their toxins can affect fish, birds and mammals. In recent years these toxins have been found to have potential cytotoxic, anticancer, antibiotics, antifungals activities. This mini review covers the main genera of dinoflagellates, and challenges and advances in their cultivation in addition to prospects for development of dinoflagellates-based products.

Knowledge, Attitude and Awareness about Anticancer Antibiotics among Dental Students

Cancer is considered to be one of the major threats throughout the world. Treatment for cancer involves chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgeries. Different groups of drugs are used for chemotherapy. Anticancer antibiotics are such groups that act against tumor cells that are in a phase of continuous division and do not harm the cells in the resting phase. This study was a question-based survey. A questionnaire about anticancer antibiotics, its types, it's uses, and the clinical scenario was administered to a group of dentists. The questionnaire had a set of questions and corresponding options, the participants had to choose one among the options. The questions were simple and easy. The results obtained were collected and tabulated. The participants were of equal ratio with 50 male and 50 female participants. About 57.1% of the participants were not aware about anticancer antibiotics. As dentists, it is important to know how to diagnose oral cancer, and the treatment options available for those patients. In this study, we could see that the participants’ knowledge about anticancer antibiotics was less than adequate. Proper training and conferences should be conducted to improve their knowledge.

Quantum-chemically-calculated mechanistically interpretable molecular descriptors for drug-action mechanism study – a case study of anthracycline anticancer antibiotics

Identification of drug-action mechanisms and understanding of chemical substituents affecting the anticancer activity of drugs are important for drug development.