Construction of ceRNA network and identification of hub differentially expressed genes associated with breast cancer using reanalysis of microarray dataset: A systems biology approach.

The interaction between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), miRNAs and mRNAs has implications in the pathogenesis of different cancer, including breast cancer. In the current study, we developed an in-silico approach to ascertain the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in breast cancer. Our approach led to identification of 1816 differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs, including 1039 downregulated DEmRNAs (such as LEP and ADIPOQ) and 777 upregulated DEmRNAs (such as COL11A1 and COL10A1), 19 DElncRNAs, including 15 downregulated DElncRNAs (such as CARMN and COPG2IT1) and 4 upregulated DElncRNAs (such as MALAT1 and NRAV) and 27 DEmiRNAs, including 15 downregulated DEmiRNAs (such as MIR452 and MIR224) and 12 upregulated DEmiRNAs (such as MIR6787 and MIR21). Pathway analysis revealed down-regulation of PPAR, Fatty acid metabolism, Adipocytokine, Vascular smooth muscle contraction and Metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, while up-regulation of Pyrimidine metabolism, p53 signaling pathway, Cell cycle, Oocyte meiosis and RNA transport pathways in breast cancer. Finally, we constructed an lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA ceRNA network consisted of 2 lncRNAs, 15 mRNAs, and 4 miRNAs. This network represents an appropriate target for design of anti-cancer modalities and documentation of novel markers for breast cancer.

Assessment of the effects of intrastromal injection of adipose-derived stem cells in keratoconus patients.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intrastromal transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in keratoconus patients. METHODS: This study was conducted on 8 eyes of 8 patients with moderate to severe keratoconus. In the patients, ophthalmic assessments including visual acuity, refraction, slit lamp examination, fundoscopy, corneal topography, and confocal microscopy were performed. Autologous stem cells were used. The isolated stem cells were injected into the corneal stroma by using femtosecond laser. Surgical procedure was similar to intracorneal ring implantation. All patients were re-assessed 1, 3, and 6mo after surgery. RESULTS: The baseline mean visual acuity was 0.48±0.18 and improved to 0.66±0.17 after surgery and final acuity increased by 1.85±0.80 lines (P=0.001). The mean spherical refraction of patients improved 0.34±0.35 D (P=0.039), and the mean cylindrical refraction of patients improved 0.84±0.23 D (P=0.016). The mean flat keratometry decreased 0.78±0.71 D (P=0.017), and the mean steep keratometry decreased 0.59±0.68 D (P=0.023). The mean central corneal thickness of patients improved of 6.29±4.47 µm (P=0.03). The mean keratocyte density at the anterior and middle stroma of cornea increased (P<0.05) but remained stable at the posterior stroma after 6mo. All patients had no complications and their corneas remained transparent. CONCLUSION: Intrastromal transplantation of ASCs has positive effects on vision and refractive parameters in most patients with keratoconus. After six months, visual acuity improved moderately, corneal parameters reduced slightly, and stromal keratocytes density increased. This modality is safe, and patients do not have any complications.

Myopic regression after photorefractive keratectomy: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Myopic regression is a major complication of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). The rates and causes vary considerably among different studies. This study aimed to investigate myopic regression at six months after myopic PRK. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included all eligible patients with myopia ranging from - 0.75 to - 9 D, aged 18 to 50 years, who underwent PRK by a single surgeon with the availability of preoperative and postoperative data at six months after the initial procedure. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations preoperatively and at six months post-PRK. Overcorrection was planned based on the participant's age range to achieve the desired refractive result after PRK. All patients received the same postoperative antibiotic and steroid eye drops in a similar dosage regimen, and the contact lenses were removed after complete corneal epithelial healing. Based on the spherical equivalent of refraction six months after PRK, eyes without and with myopic regression were allocated into groups 1 and 2, respectively. Results: We included 254 eyes of 132 patients who underwent myopic PRK with a mean (standard deviation) age of 30.12 (7.48) years; 82 (62.12%) were women and 50 (37.88%) were men. The frequency of myopic regression was significantly lower in patients with younger age, lower preoperative cylindrical refraction, and lower ablation depth (all P < 0.05). Overcorrection was more successful in eyes with low myopia than in eyes with high myopia (P < 0.05). The highest frequency of myopic regression occurred in eyes with moderate myopia (25.68%), followed by eyes with high myopia (20.0%) and low myopia (6.54%). Among different age groups, patients aged ≤ 30 years had a lower frequency of myopic regression. The frequency of myopic regression in the different age groups was 5.0% at 18 - 20 years, 7.46% at 26 - 30 years, 12.28% at 21 - 25 years, 21.31% at 31 - 35 years, and 26.53% at 36 - 50 years. Conclusions: Overcorrection was more successful in eyes with low myopia than in eyes with high myopia. The success rate was higher in younger patients with lower astigmatism and ablation depths. Myopic regression was most frequent in eyes with moderate myopia, followed by those with high and low myopia. Further studies should replicate our findings over a longer follow-up period with a larger sample size before generalization is warranted.

The impact of non-coding RNAs in the pathobiology of eye disorders.

Eye disorders are common disorders with significant effects on personal, economic, and social aspects of life. These disorders have a genetic background and are associated with dysregulation of non-coding RNAs. Three classes of these transcripts, namely long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) have established roles in the regulation of gene expression and pathoetiology of ocular disorders. H19, MEG3, BANCR, UCA1, HOTAIR, ANRIL, XIST and MIAT are among important lncRNAs in ocular disorders. CircRNAs from ZBTB44, HIPK3, circ-PSEN1, COL1A2, ZNF532 and FAM158A loci have also been found to affect pathoetiology of ocular disorders. Both lncRNAs and circRNAs can serve as molecular sponges for miRNAs. In this review, we searched PubMed and Google Scholar databases to find the research articles summarizing the impact of non-coding RNAs in ocular disorders. The results of these studies would help in identification of suitable targets for treatment of ocular disorders.

Expression of Treg-associated lncRNAs in breast cancer.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have important functions in tumor microenvironment, particularly for induction of immune evasion. In order to find the underlying mechanism of dysregulation of Tregs in breast cancer tissues, we designed the current study to appraise expression of five Treg-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), namely FLICR (FOXP3 Regulating Long Intergenic Non-Coding RNA), NEST (IFNG-AS1), RMRP (RNA Component of Mitochondrial RNA Processing Endoribonuclease), MAFTRR (MAF Transcriptional Regulator RNA) and TH2-LCR (Th2 Cytokine Locus Control Region) in paired breast cancer and nearby noncancerous tissues. Expression levels of RMRP, TH2-LCR, MAFTRR and GATA3-AS1 were significantly higher in breast cancer samples compared with non-tumoral tissues. The calculated AUC values for GATA3-AS1, TH2-LCR, RMRP and MAFTRR were 0.66, 0.63, 0.63 and 0.60, respectively. There were significant positive associations between expression level of RMRP gene in tumor tissues and nuclear grade, tubule formation and tumor sizes. In addition, there was a significant positive association between expression levels of MAFTRR genes in tumor tissues and nuclear grade. Besides, expression levels of FLICR were different among tumors with different levels of HER2/neu receptor. Taken together, Treg-associated lncRNAs might contribute to the pathogenesis of breast cancer.