A novel approach to design a multiepitope peptide as a vaccine candidate for Bordetella pertussis.

Bordetella pertussis is a very contagious pathogen in humans, causing pertussis disease. Pertussis is one of the 10 leading causes of death due to infectious diseases, especially among infants and children. Antibiotic-resistant strains have recently emerged in this bacterium, and despite the high vaccination coverage, the prevalence of this disease has been increasing recently in both developed and developing countries. The objective of this study is to introduce a novel in silico vaccine candidate aimed at countering B. pertussis effectively. Differing from other comparable studies, this research employed a computational screening methodology to assess the genome of 'Bordetella pertussis 18323.' The purpose was to identify an innovative antigen for the development of a vaccine against B. pertussis. Notably, our investigation introduces an innovative antigen distinguished by its elevated immunogenicity score. Importantly, this antigen lacks toxicity and allergenicity, making it recognizable to the immune system and thus capable of inducing a robust immune response. In the subsequent phase, our antigen was utilized to identify potential epitopes conducive to the construction of a B. pertussis vaccine. These epitopes, alongside linkers, his-tag and adjuvants, were amalgamated to form the vaccine candidate. Subsequently, a comprehensive evaluation of the vaccine was conducted, encompassing various computational tests such as secondary and tertiary structure analysis, physicochemical examination, and structural analysis involving docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Importantly, our vaccine successfully passed all in silico tests.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Novel PWO/ ZnO heterostructured nanocomposites: Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic performance.

Photocatalytic degradation is becoming an increasingly attractive method for addressing environmental remediation challenges. In this work, the novel pure PWO/ZnO and doped PWO: Er/ZnO: Ag heterostructure nanocomposites with premier photocatalytic efficiency were synthesized via a simple co-precipitation method followed by a solvothermal procedure. X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorbance measurements techniques were employed to characterize the structural and optical properties. HRTEM images prove the possibility of intimate contact formation at the pure and doped PWO/ZnO heterostructure nanocomposite interfaces. The photocatalytic performance of the PWO/ZnO heterostructure nanocomposites in the degradation of the methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under UVA light was evaluated. The photocatalysts' ability in the mineralization of organic pollutants was confirmed by the TOC test. BET and zeta potential analyses were used to study the dye adsorption mechanisms. Additionally, adsorption isotherms and kinetics have been investigated to describe the adsorption of MB and MO into the samples. The degradation rates of MB with PWO/ZnO and PWO: Er/ZnO: Ag heterostructure nanocomposites were 4.7 and 6.6 times higher than those of PWO and PWO: Er nanoparticles. This rate for MO degradation is 5.2 and 3.5 times higher than that of pure PWO and PWO: Er nanoparticles, respectively. This study outlines an easy method to develop innovative, highly effective heterostructure nanocomposites capable of converting UVA light into photocatalytic performance.

Targeted Next Generation Sequencing Revealed Novel Variants in the PKD1 and PKD2 Genes of Iranian Patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

BACKGROUND: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), one of the common inherited disorders in humans, is characterized by the development and enlargement of renal cysts, often leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In this study, Iranian ADPKD families were subjected to high-throughput DNA sequencing to find potential causative variants facilitating the way toward risk assessment and targeted therapy. METHODS: Our protocol was based on the targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) panel previously developed in our center comprising 12 genes involved in PKD. This panel has been applied to investigate the genetic causes of 32 patients with a clinical suspicion of ADPKD. RESULTS: We identified a total of 31 variants for 32 individuals, two of which were each detected in two individuals. Twenty-seven out of 31 detected variants were interpreted as pathogenic/likely pathogenic and the remaining 4 of uncertain significance with a molecular diagnostic success rate of 87.5%. Among these variants, 25 PKD1/2 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants were detected in 32 index patients (78.1%), and variants of uncertain significance in four individuals (12.5% in PKD1/2). The majority of variants was identified in PKD1 (74.2%). Autosomal recessive PKD was identified in one patient, indicating the similarities between recessive and dominant PKD. In concordance with earlier studies, this biallelic PKD1 variant, p.Arg3277Cys, leads to rapidly progressive and severe disease with very early-onset ADPKD. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that targeted gene panel sequencing is expected to be the method of choice to improve diagnostic and prognostic accuracy in PKD patients with heterogeneity in genetic background.

Hepcidin and HFE Polymorphisms and Ferritin Level in ß-Thalassemia Major.

Background: Thalassemia patients need repeated transfusion that lead to increased blood ferritin level and iron overload in the heart and liver. Because the roles of hepcidin antimicrobial peptide (HAMP) and hemocromatosis protein (HFE) in iron metabolism have been confirmed, this study investigated the effects of these gene's polymorphisms on blood ferritin levels and iron overload in the heart and liver in patients with beta thalassemia major Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 91 patients referring to the Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran in 2015. After the blood samples were collected, the ferritin levels were measured, DNA was extracted from the blood cells, and the types of polymorphisms were determined using PCR-RFLP. Data of MRI T2* in the heart and liver were drawn from the patients' medical files. Data analysis was conducted by t-test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: There was no significant correlation between blood ferritin level and c.-582 A>G polymorphisms of hepcidin gene (p=0.58), and H63D of HFE gene (p=0.818). In addition, there was no significant association between the polymorphisms and heart and liver MRI, but there was a significant association between blood ferritin level and qualitative heart and liver MRI (r=-0.34, p=0.035 and r=-0.001, p=0.609, respectively). Conclusion: In patients with ß-thalassemia major, the presence of c.-582A>G HAMP and H63D HFE polymorphisms is not effective on blood ferritin level and iron overload in the heart and liver in the studied region.

Quantitative Gene Expression of ERG9 in Model Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Chamomile Extract For Human Cancer Treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Over expression of squalene synthase gene causes induction of growth tumour and reduction of apoptosis. This gene which is conserved between Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and humans, is named (ERG9). AIM: In this work, we studied the effect of Matricaria recutita extract on ERG9 gene (squalene synthase) expression in S.cerevisiae which was used as organism model in cancer therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S. cerevisiae was cultured in YPD medium plus 0,250, 1000 and 3000 µg/ml of Matricaria recutita extract and we evaluated the (ERG9) gene expression by Real-time RT-PCR method after 24 hours. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: At least 3 independent experiments were done. Data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test. A p-value of less than 0.01 was considered as significant. RESULTS: We found that 250, 1000 and 3000 µg/ml of Matricaria recutita extract could reduce expression of ERG9 gene significantly (p<0.01). Interestingly, the expression of this gene was completely inhibited in 1000 and 3000 µg/ml concentrations. CONCLUSION: This study predicted that Matricaria recutita extract produced anti-cancer effects in humans, because it could inhibit the expression of an analogue key gene in this malignant disease. Further investigations should be made, to study its molecular mechanism of action at the mammal cell level.

The Effect of Consanguineous Marriage on Mental Health among the Students of the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences.

INTRODUCTION: In Iran, after unintentional accidents, mental health problems are the second leading burden of disease. Consanguineous marriage is very common in Iran and the association between parental consanguinity and mental health is an important issue that has not yet been studied sufficiently in Iran. AIM: To investigate the effect of consanguinity and the degree of relationship on different levels of mental health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, conducted in the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, two groups of students were enrolled. The first group consisted of 156 students that had consanguineous parent (case group) and the second group was 156 students whose parents had non-blood relationship (control group). The students were evaluated using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Statistical analysis was conducted by Pearson's correlation coefficient, independent t-test and the one-way analysis of variance. Odd ratio was used to estimate the relative risk. RESULTS: Over 30% of the individuals were suffering from mental health problems. The most and least common mental health problems in both groups were social dysfunction (54.5% in the case group and the control group 50%) and depression (15.4% in the case group and 17.3% in the control group), respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed in the frequency of overall mental health and its subscales between student with non-consanguineous parent (control group) and the students that had consanguineous parent (case group) (p>0.05) and the status of mental health was not significantly different among student with different degree of kinship (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that social dysfunction was very common among the study students and also there were no relationship between parental consanguineous marriage and mental health. Parental consanguinity and genetic factors may not be the major causes of high prevalence of mental health problems in Iran and the effects of the environmental factors on these problems may be greater than those of the inherited ones.

Optimum values of air-filling fraction for photonic crystal fibers with different configurations and fixed number of air rings.

In this study, a Gaussian amp function related to the Gaussian family is employed to approximate the output intensity profile of various arrangements of air holes in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with a fixed number of air rings (N=4). It is shown that d/Λ=0.5 can be the best minimum value of air-filling fraction for all of the studied PCFs when λ=1.35 µm, whereas, for λ=1.55 and 1.65 µm, d/Λ=0.6 is suitable for achieving the maximum output intensity with very low confinement loss.