Biology subjects

Saklani, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Saklani, P..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Sleep-dependent clearance of brain lipids by peripheral blood cells

Sleep is typically viewed through a brain-centric lens, with little known about the role of the periphery. Here, we identify a sleep function for peripheral macrophage-like cells (hemocytes) in the Drosophila circulation, showing that hemocytes track to the brain during sleep and take up lipids accumulated in cortex glia due to wake-associated oxidative damage. Through a screen of phagocytic receptors expressed in hemocytes, we discovered that knockdown of eater, a member of the Nimrod receptor family, reduces sleep. Loss of eater also disrupts hemocyte adhesion to the brain and lipid uptake, which results in increased brain levels of Acetyl CoA and acetylated proteins, including mitochondrial proteins PGC1 and DRP1. Dysregulation of mitochondria, reflected in high oxidation and reduced NAD+, is accompanied by impaired memory and lifespan. Thus, peripheral blood cells, which we suggest are precursors of mammalian microglia, perform a daily function of sleep to maintain brain function and fitness.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Physiological Responses of The Leaves of a High-Altitude Plant Picrorhiza kurroa to Cold Stress

There are various plants that grow in high elevations and experience various environmental stresses, cold stress being the most prevalent one. Plants undergo biochemical, metabolic, molecular, and physiological changes under cold stress hence, they adopt various mechanisms to tolerate it. The antioxidant defense system, osmotic regulators and photosynthetic pigments in the plant provide them stress tolerance. The present study is conducted on a high-altitude plant, Picrorhiza kurroa which grows in such environmental conditions, to study the physiological parameters that provides it the coping mechanism against the cold stress. For this study, the leaves were collected from Pothivasa (2200 m asl) and Tungnath (3600 m asl) in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India. The photosynthetic pigments, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymes, and osmoprotectants present in the leaves were determined to visualize the impact of cold stress. It was revealed that the concentration of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids increased with increase in elevation. The activity of SOD, CAT, POD, APOX and GR were analyzed and they were observed to decrease with altitude. The MDA concentration which is an indicator of lipid peroxidation is higher in Pothivasa (2.214 mol L-1) and lower in Tungnath (1.697 mol L-1). There is a significant increase in the total protein content, total soluble sugar content and total proline content along the altitudinal gradient. Therefore, the leaves from both the sampling locations revealed the physiological changes occurred in them to adapt to the cold stress conditions.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Analyzing the effects of altitudes on the metabolic diversity and forskolin content in Coleus forskohlii roots by HPTLC and HPLC

IntroductionColeus forskohlii is an important medicinal plant native to India. It grows wild in a wide range of altitude in the Indian Himalayan region and contains some important phytochcemicals which possess remarkable medicinal properties. The plant contains terpenoid like Forskolin in its roots. ObjectiveConsidering the medicinal importance of C. forskohlii, being the only source of Forskolinand its availability over a wide altitude range, the effect of altitude on the metabolic diversity and forskolin content was assessed using the HPTLC and HPLC. MethodsFive populations of Coleus forskohlii collected from five locations of varying altitude from Uttarakhand, India. The plant roots were extracted with methanol by soxhlet extraction. The metabolic diversity was analyzed by employing HPTLC fingerprinting while forskolin was extracted and quantified by HPLC. ResultsSignificant differences were observed in the phytochemical composition through the HPTLC chromatograms among the studied population across the altitudes. The Gopeshwar population (1488m) showed highest number of bands on HPTLC chromatogram each of which corresponds to acompound. Results of HPLC shows differences in forskolin quantity in studied populations and the Piaplkoti population(1339m) showed highest forskolin accumulation. ConclusionThe present study confirms that altitude and changing environment affects the nature and quantity of secondary metabolites in C. forskohlii and the environmental conditions might be instrumental factor for intraspecific metabolic diversity. The Pipalkoti (1339m) and Gopeshwar (1488m) populations were found suitable for the forskolin production as well as other metabolites and these two populations can be propagated for commercial use.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Analyzing effect of altitudinal variation in Enzymatic antioxidants of Coleus forskohlii from Uttarakhand, India

Enzymatic antioxidant activity of the five populations of the medicinal plant Coleus forskohlii from five locations of varied altitudes was assayed to analyze the effect of altitude on the enzymatic antioxidant potential. The various enzymes assayed were SOD, CAT, POD, PPO, APX and GR. Highest activity for all the enzymes was observed at higher altitudes. Strong positive correlation was observed between the protein content, enzyme activities and altitude. CAT, POD and GR activity increases significantly with the altitude while SOD was least affected. APX and PPO shows positive correlation. High activity of all these enzymes seems to be to combat the high oxidative stress at higher altitudes. Results of the present study suggest that Coleus forskohlii population growing at a higher altitude has higher antioxidant potential than those at lower altitude. Thus, the population of Coleus forskohlii from a higher altitude can be used as a source of antioxidants and for commercial propagation.

plant biology↗