Investigation of the cytotoxic, anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects of Toluhydroquinone on Caco-2 cell line.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world. The treatment options for colorectal carcinoma generally consist of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The drug resistance to chemotherapy agents used in the current cancer treatment has brought about the finding of new drug molecules from some plant and aquatic species in the treatment approaches. Some species of aquatic biota create novel biomolecules as potential drugs for cancer and other diseases. Toluhydroquinone belongs to these groups of biomolecules and it shows anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic properties. In this study, we tested the cytotoxic and anti-angiogenic effects of Toluhydroquinone on Caco-2(Human colorectal carcinoma cell line) cells. It was observed that the amount of closure of the wound space, colony forming ability (in vitro cell survivability) and formation of tubule-like structures in matrigel decreased in comparison to the control group. As a result of this study, Toluhydroquinone has cytotoxic, anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic properties on the Caco-2 cell line.

Nonsense ß-thalassemia mutation at codon 37 (TGG>TGA), detected for the first time in three Turkish cases.

Thalassemias are genetically heterogeneous group of disorders with reduced or absent production of globin. ß-Thalassemia major can be caused by homozygosity or compound heterozygosity for ß-globin gene mutation. Here we report, for the first time in Turkey, three cases who carry the nonsense ß-thalassemia (ß-thal) mutation at codon 37 (TGG>TGA; Trp→Stop) causing premature stop codon.

Performance of MLPA as a screening method for aneuploidy in uncultured amniocytes.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether the Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) technique can be used as a screening test for rapid diagnosis of aneuploidies in uncultured amniocentesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective blind study, MLPA with chromosomes 13,18,21,X and Y specific probe mixes was performed in 500 amniotic fluid samples. Chromosome copy numbers were determined by analyzing size and peak area for each MLPA probe. Results were compared with those of karyotyping/FISH. RESULTS: Conclusive test results were obtained in 98% of the samples, whereas 10 were inconclusive. In all conclusive tests, the MLPA results were concordant with that of cytogenetic and/or FISH analyses. There were no false-positive results. A case with 69,XXX triploidy could not be diagnosed by MLPA. In total, 28 aneuploidies were diagnosed. There were no false-positive results. The performance of each probe was determined. CONCLUSION: MLPA is a rapid, simple and reliable assay for aneuploidy screening in uncultured amniocytes.

Detection of deletions and/or amplifications of genes related with lung cancer by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) technique.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has the leading mortality rate among all cancers and it is the second most common cause of death following cardiovascular diseases.The aim of the study was determining deleted and/or amplified regions of 64 different loci previously associated with lung cancer, by using Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA). RESULTS: The most frequently seen deletions in lung cancerous tissues were in 2p, 3p, 13q, 17p, 16p and the most frequently seen amplifications were in 17q, 8p and 5q. We observed same deletions in the same regions in normal lung tissues as in cancerous tissues in lower frequencies. Deletions in 5q, 8p, 9q, 10p, 11p. 11q, 12p, 14q, 17q and 21q probe regions were seen especially in cancerous tissues. MATERIALS/METHODS: One hundred non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue samples which had been previously examined histopathologically were included in this investigation. DNA extracts of normal lung tissues from the same patients were used as control group in the study. CONCLUSIONS: As a conclusion, it was determined that MLPA is an alternative technique which can give cheap, fast and reliable results in the screening of lung cancers. The findings obtained in the study are compatible with the literature. MLPA is one of the most important molecular techniques which have been developed recently and it can be used in cancer screening easily and reliably.

Role of the AZFd locus in spermatogenesis.

To determine the prevalence of Y-chromosome microdeletions among infertile men and to correlate the clinical presentation of the men with specific deletions, microdeletion analysis in 53 infertile men (30 nonobstructive azoospermic, 23 severely oligozoospermic patients), and 100 age-matched, fathered normospermic men who had fathered children was performed by the multiplex PCR with 18 different Y-chromosome-specific STS primer sets, spanning the AZFa, AZFb, AZFd, and AZFc regions. Detection of the same locus deletion of the AZFd region in three cases indicated the possible importance of the genes located in this region in spermatogenesis.