Cyto/hemocompatible magnetic hybrid nanoparticles (Ag2S-Fe3O4) with luminescence in the near-infrared region as promising theranostic materials.

Small hybrid nanoparticles composed of highly biocompatible Ag2S quantum dots (QD) emitting in the near-infrared region and superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPION) are produced in a simple extraction method utilizing ligand exchange mechanism. Hybrid nanoparticles luminesce at the same wavelength as the parent QD, therefore an array of hybrid nanoparticles with emission between 840 and 912nm were easily produced. Such hybrid structures have (1) strong luminescence in the medical imaging window eliminating the autofluoresence of cells as effective optical probes, (2) strong magnetic response for magnetic targeting and (3) good cyto/hemocompatibility. An interesting size dependent cytotoxicity behavior was observed in HeLa and NIH/3T3 cell lines: smallest particles are internalized significantly more by both of the cell lines, yet showed almost no significant cytotoxicity in HeLa between 10 and 25µg/mL Ag concentration but were most toxic in NIH/3T3 cells. Cell internalization and hence the cytotoxicity enhanced when cells were incubated with the hybrid nanoparticles under magnetic field, especially with the hybrid nanoparticles containing larger amounts of SPION in the hybrid composition. These results prove them as effective optical imaging agents and magnetic delivery vehicles. Combined with the known advantages of SPIONs as a contrast agent in MRI, these particles are a step forward for new theranostics for multimode imaging and magnetic targeting.

DNA repair XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism alone, and in combination with CYP2E1 polymorphisms significantly contribute to the risk of development of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

It is now well established that genetic polymorphisms impairing the DNA repair capacity can disrupt the genomic integrity and potentially modulate individual's susceptibility to various cancers. In this study, we investigated the possible association of X-ray repair cross-complimenting group 1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln and Arg194Trp variants with the risk of incidence of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Turkish population comprised of 190 healthy controls and 167 ALL patients. For Arg399Gln polymorphism, the heterozygous (Arg/Gln) and homozygous mutant (Gln/Gln) genotypes were significantly more common in the ALL patients than the controls (OR: 1.6, p=0.04). Particularly, the Gln399Gln genotype significantly increased the risk of disease up to 2.0-fold (OR: 2.0, p=0.04). Besides, Gln399Gln genotype has been found to be associated with considerably increased risk of ALL among females (OR=2.9, p=0.03). In case of codon 194 polymorphism, no significant associations have been found with risk of childhood ALL. In addition, none of the combinations of XRCC1 codon 194 and 399 polymorphisms have been found to be significantly associated with childhood ALL risk. In the scope of this study, we have also showed that the co-presence of XRCC1 codon 399 and CYP2E1*5B and *6 polymorphisms (data for CYP2E1 polymorphisms drawn from previously published study conducted in our lab) in the same individuals considerably increased the risk for childhood ALL to 3.7-fold with borderline significance (p=0.049). The observed combined effect was considerably more prominent among females (OR=17.4, p=0.001) and need to further investigation. This is the first study showing combined associations of XRCC1 399Gln, CYP2E1*5B and *6 alleles with the risk of development of childhood ALL.

Significance of genetic polymorphisms at multiple loci of CYP2E1 in the risk of development of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The molecular etiology of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is likely to involve interactions between environmental factors and genetic make up. Understanding these interactions between various predisposing genes for the risk of developing childhood leukemia is of considerable importance. CYP2E1 is a susceptible gene in this respect, especially for its capacity to bioactivate many procarcinogens including benzene and N-nitrosodimethylamine. The CYP2E1 gene possesses several polymorphisms in humans, and among them, CYP2E1*5B and *6 have been shown to be associated with increased risks of several chemical-induced diseases. There are limited and contradictory data on the association between the CYP2E1*5B variant allele and childhood ALL, and none on such associations of CYP2E1*6 and*7B variant alleles. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of CYP2E1*5B, *6 and *7B alleles, alone or in combination, with the risk of incidence of childhood ALL in a Turkish population. METHODS: The genotypes for both polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques on 207 healthy controls and 168 patients. RESULTS: Neither locus was associated with the occurrence of childhood ALL. On the other hand, when both CYP2E1*5B and *6 alleles were considered together, the risk of childhood ALL increased significantly (2.9-fold; OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.0-8.5; p < 0.05). Moreover, the presence of at least 2 variant alleles of any combination increased the risk significantly 3.9 times, suggesting a combined effect (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.4-11.0). CONCLUSION: Individuals carrying combinations of CYP2E1*5B, *6 and *7B variants together are likely associated with the risk of developing childhood ALL.

The low frequency of defective TPMT alleles in Turkish population: a study on pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

6-Mercaptopurine (6MP) is an essential anticancer drug used in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) polymorphisms are the major determinants of interindividual differences in the severe toxicity or efficacy of 6MP. Four variant alleles, TPMT*2, TPMT*3A, TPMT*3B, and TPMT*3C, are responsible over the 80% of low or undetectable enzyme activity. The frequencies of these variants were investigated among 106 children with ALL in Turkish population. TPMT*3A and TPMT*3C were the only deficiency alleles detected in Turkish population with an allele frequency of 0.9% for both. While *3C allele frequency in Turkish population was found to be very similar to Asian and other Caucasian populations, *3A allele frequency was significantly (P < 0.05) lower. So far, studies showed that the genetic polymorphisms of other drug metabolizing enzymes like CYP2E1, CYP1A1, GSTM1/ T1 in Turkish population were similar to Caucasian populations. However, we found that the distribution of TPMT polymorphisms in Turkish population was significantly lower than those in other Caucasians like British, French, and Italian whereas the distributions of TPMT variants were found to be very similar to Kazak population which is also Caucasian in ethnic origin. In this study, the clinical histories of the patients in the sample population were also examined, retrospectively. The patients with heterozygous or homozygous mutant genotypes had developed severe neutropenia and infection during 6MP therapy. The study provides the first data on the frequency of common TPMT variants in the Turkish population, based on analysis of pediatric patients with ALL.

Genotype and allele frequencies of polymorphic CYP2E1 in the Turkish population.

Cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) gene shows genetic polymorphisms that vary markedly in frequency among different ethnic and racial groups. We studied the genotype distributions and allele frequencies of three CYP2E1 polymorphisms: CYP2E1*5B (RsaI/PstI RFLP, C-1053T/G-1293C SNP, rs2031920 /rs3813867), CYP2E1*6 (DraI RFLP, T7632A SNP, rs6413432), and CYP2E1*7B (DdeI RFLP, G-71T SNP, rs6413420) by PCR/RFLP technique in a sample of 206 healthy subjects representing Turkish population. CYP2E1*5B polymorphism analysis yielded the genotype distribution as 96.12% for *1A/*1A (c1/c1), and 3.88% for *1A/*5B (c1/c2). The genotype frequencies for CYP2E1*6 polymorphism were found as 83.98% for *1A/*1A (T/T), 15.53% for *1A/*6 (T/A) and 0.49% for *6/*6 (A/A). For CYP2E1*7B (G-71T) polymorphism, the genotype frequencies were determined to be 86.89% for *1A/*1A (G/G), 12.62% for *1A/*7B (G/T) and 0.49% for *7B/*7B (T/T). Accordingly, the allele frequencies for *5B, *6 and *7B were 1.94, 8.25, and 6.80%, respectively. The genotype distributions of CYP2E1*5B and *6 in Turkish population were similar to those in other Caucasian populations, while differed significantly from East Asian populations. Recently, a novel and functionally important CYP2E1*7B polymorphism was identified in the promoter region. There have been few studies and limited data on CYP2E1*7B polymorphism frequency in the world and, so far, no information has been available for Turkish population. The genotype frequencies of CYP2E1*7B in Turkish population were found to be similar to those of other Caucasian populations. Population studies like this could be useful in assessing the susceptibility of different populations to chemical-induced diseases, including several types of cancer.