Colorectal cancer treatment using bacteria: focus on molecular mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer which is related to genetic and environmental risk factors, is among the most prevalent life-threatening cancers. Although several pathogenic bacteria are associated with colorectal cancer etiology, some others are considered as highly selective therapeutic agents in colorectal cancer. Nowadays, researchers are concentrating on bacteriotherapy as a novel effective therapeutic method with fewer or no side effects to pay the way of cancer therapy. The introduction of advanced and successful strategies in bacterial colorectal cancer therapy could be useful to identify new promising treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients. MAIN TEXT: In this article, we scrutinized the beneficial effects of bacterial therapy in colorectal cancer amelioration focusing on different strategies to use a complete bacterial cell or bacterial-related biotherapeutics including toxins, bacteriocins, and other bacterial peptides and proteins. In addition, the utilization of bacteria as carriers for gene delivery or other known active ingredients in colorectal cancer therapy are reviewed and ultimately, the molecular mechanisms targeted by the bacterial treatment in the colorectal cancer tumors are detailed. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the bacterial instrument in cancer treatment is on its way through becoming a promising method of colorectal cancer targeted therapy with numerous successful studies and may someday be a practical strategy for cancer treatment, particularly colorectal cancer.

Developing a vaccine against velogenic sub-genotype seven of Newcastle disease virus based on virus-like particles.

In the present study, for the first time, we released and assembled the particles of three major structural proteins of velogenic NDV (M, HN, and F glycoproteins) as a NDV-VLPs. The ElISA result of the cytokines of splenocyte suspension cells showed that IL2, IL10, TNF-α, and IFN- Ë  titers were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in mice that were immunized only with NDV-VLPs three times with a 10-day interval, in comparison to those that were immunized with NDV-VLPs twice in a 10-day interval and received a B1 live vaccine boost on the third interval. Flow cytometry results showed that CD8 + titers in the group that only received NDV-VLP was higher than other group. However, serum ELISA results did not show a significantly (p ≥ 0.05) higher NDV antibody titer in NDV-VLPs immunized mice compared to the boosted group. Besides, HI results of SPF chickens vaccinated with NDV-VLPs and boosted with B1 live vaccine were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than those that only received NDV-VLPs. Interestingly, after challenging with NDV sub-genotype VII, all the chickens that were solely vaccinated with NDV-VLPs remained alive (six out of six), whereas two out of six chickens that were vaccinated with NDV-VLPs and also received the B1 live vaccine boost died. In conclusion, our results strongly indicated that the T-cell immune response in an NDV host is more important than the B-cell response. Also, the results of the present study revealed that to completely protect chickens against velogenic NDV strains, a vaccine comprising specific epitopes of velogenic strain is needed.

The role of circadian genes in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most frequent cancer in human beings and is also the major cause of death among the other gastrointestinal cancers. The exact mechanisms of CRC development in most patients remains unclear. So far, several genetically, environmental and epigenetically risk factors have been identified for CRC development. The circadian rhythm is a 24-h rhythm that drives several biologic processes. The circadian system is guided by a central pacemaker which is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. Circadian rhythm is regulated by circadian clock genes, cytokines and hormones like melatonin. Disruptions in biological rhythms are known to be strongly associated with several diseases, including cancer. The role of the different circadian genes has been verified in various cancers, however, the pathways of different circadian genes in the pathogenesis of CRC are less investigated. Identification of the details of the pathways in CRC helps researchers to explore new therapies for the malignancy.

An Overview on the Role of miR-451 in Lung Cancer: Diagnosis, Therapy, and Prognosis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved non-coding RNAs involved in many physiological processes such as cell proliferation, inhibition, development of apoptosis, differentiation, suppression of tumorigenicity, and regulation of cell growth. The description of the alterations of miRNA expression patterns in cancers will be helpful in recognizing biomarkers for early detection and possible therapeutic intervention in the treatment of cancers. Recent studies have shown that miR-451 is broadly dysregulated in lung cancer and is a crucial agent in lung tumor progression. This review summarizes recent advances in the potential role of miR-451 in lung cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment and provides an insight into the potential use of miR-451 for the development of advanced therapeutic methods in lung cancer.

Epigenetic modifications in gastric cancer: Focus on DNA methylation.

Gastric cancer is a complex heterogeneous disease which is the fourth prevalent malignancy worldwide. Although, several diagnosis and treatment are available for the gastric cancer patients, however the malignancy is still the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. Beside the genetic and environmental factors, epigenetic alterations are also involved in the emergence of gastric cancer. Epigenetics alterations are heritable changes which regulate gene expression without occurring changes in DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes mostly include DNA methylation, histon post-translational modifications, chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNAs. Among the mentioned epigenetic modifications, DNA methylation is a major epigenetic process that plays a key role in different stages of evolution and cancer development. In this review, we address all types of related epigenetic modifications in gastric cancer by focus on DNA methylation by reviewing the recent literatures. Understanding of molecular mechanisms of epigenetics alterations in gastric cancer development helps researchers to identify new epigenetic drugs against the malignancy.

Development of a reliable microRNA based electrochemical genosensor for monitoring of miR-146a, as key regulatory agent of neurodegenerative disease.

A MicroRNA (miR) based electrochemical method for quantification of miR-146a, a known biomarker for neurodegenerative disease, was developed. In this bioassay, the capture microRNA (C-miR) was self-assembled on the gold surface and used for quantification of target microRNA (T-miR) of miR-146a. For this purpose, an optimized concentration of C-miR was immobilized on the surface of gold electrode and used for capture of target analyte (T-miR). All of preparation steps were characterized by electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). At the optimized conditions, the linear dynamic range, limit of quantification and relative standard deviation of the proposed bioassay were obtained as 10 pM to 1 µM, 10 pM and 1.59%, respectively. The unprocessed human serum sample was used as a real sample and the results fully confirm that the designed microRNA based biosensor is capable for detection of miR-146a as neurodegenerative disease biomarker. The developed method offers a more precise and high sensitive tool to be used in clinical applications for early detection of neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's and Parkinson.