Interleukin-17 in human inflammatory diseases.

Human Th17 pro-inflammatory cells are currently defined as cells that produce IL-17A and F, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, IL-21, IL-22 and IL-23. Recently discovered related molecules are forming a family of cytokines, the IL-17 family, IL-17A, IL-17B, IL-17C, IL-17D, IL-17E and IL-17F. The associated receptors for the IL-17 family identified are IL-17R, IL-17RH1, IL-17RL (receptor like), IL-17RD and IL-17RE. This review introduces the roles of IL-17 and Th17 cells in human autoimmune diseases. Studies have shown that T cells with inflammatory effects on epithelial, endothelial and fibroblast cells express IL-17. Th17 cells are supposed to be involved in various autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Base on the biologic functions and regulation, IL-17 has regulatory roles in host defense and chronic inflammation which result in tissue damage and autoimmunity. So the IL-17 links links innate and adaptive immunity and has both beneficial and pathological effects on the immune system. This paper will focus on the possible roles of IL-17 in autoimmune diseases, a fundamental player in immune regulation.

Echinophora platyloba DC (Apiaceae) crude extract induces apoptosis in human prostate adenocarcinoma cells (PC 3).

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is the second leading malignancy worldwide and the second prominent cause of cancer-related deaths among men. Therefore, there is a serious necessity for finding advanced alternative therapeutic measures against this lethal malignancy. In this article, we report the cytotoxicity and the mechanism of cell death of the methanolic extract prepared from Echinophora platyloba DC plant against human prostate adenocarcinoma PC 3 cell line and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells HUVEC cell line. METHODS: Cytotoxicity and viability of the methanolic extract were assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and dye exclusion assay. Cell death enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to quantify the nucleosome production resulting from nuclear DNA fragmentation during apoptosis and determine whether the mechanism involves induction of apoptosis or necrosis. The cell death was identified as apoptosis using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and DNA fragmentation gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: E. platyloba could decrease cell viability in malignant cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The IC50 values against PC 3 were determined as 236.136 ± 12.4, 143.400 ± 7.2, and 69.383 ± 1.29 µg/ml after 24, 36, and 48 h, respectively, but there was no significant activity in HUVEC normal cell (IC50 > 800 µg/ml). Morphological characterizations and DNA laddering assay showed that the methanolic extract treated cells displayed marked apoptotic characteristics such as nuclear fragmentation, appearance of apoptotic bodies, and DNA laddering fragment. Increase in an early apoptotic population was observed in a dose-dependent manner. PC 3 cell death elicited by the extract was found to be apoptotic in nature based a clear indication of TUNEL assay and gel electrophoresis DNA fragmentation, which is a hallmark of apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the E. platyloba extract attenuated the human prostate adenocarcinoma cell proliferation in vitro possibly by inducing apoptosis. E. platyloba is likely to be valuable for the treatment of human prostate adenocarcinoma.

Future prospects of monoclonal antibodies as magic bullets in immunotherapy.

Monoclonal antibody therapy has become a critical component of clinical treatment procedure for a variety of indications. Therapeutic antibodies have made the transition from conception to clinical reality over the past two decades. Now, many of mAbs are being tested as adjuvant or first-line therapies to determine their efficacy in improving survival. In the future, the information drawn from genomemedical science and genome-informatics, that list the disease-related antigens useful for medical treatment, should be essential to develop the therapy using mAbs. Currently, the more attention is getting paid toward monoclonal antibody therapy. Several monoclonal antibodies, alone and in combination with other conventional therapies, are being tested in phase I and phase II clinical trials at the moment. Monoclonal antibody therapy can be done by using antibody fragments, antibody fusions with effector proteins and intrabodies. The large size and the long half-life of full-length antibody make them an inappropriate tool for radioimmunotherapy. Therefore, scientists produced some antibody fragments including scFv, Diabody and Nanobodies (sdAbs) which have smaller size besides maintaining the binding activity of the full-length molecule. Immunotoxin and Immunocytokines are consisting of toxin and cytokines fused to antibody fragments. An intrabody is produced by entering antibody into the cell and act against intracellular compartments.

Tumor angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapies.

Angiogenesis, the development and growth of blood vessels, is a major topic of research which began in 1971 with Folkman's original hypothesis. Different mechanisms of blood vessel growth are sprouting and intussusceptive angiogenesis, vascular mimicry, and blood vessel cooption. Dis-regulated angiogenesis may result in numerous angiogenic diseases and is responsible for solid tumor growth and metastasis. Vascular endothelial cells are generally dormant in adult but in pathological conditions when tumors reach a size of about 0.2-2.0 mm in diameter, they become hypoxic and hindered in tumor growth in the lack of angiogenesis. During angiogenic switch pro-angiogenic factors predominate and result in angiogenesis and tumor progression. Angiogenesis switch leads to the increased production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) following up-regulation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor. The VEGF family comprises from VEGF (VEGF-A), VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and placental growth factor (PlGF). The VEGF family of receptors consists of three protein-tyrosine kinases. Now, the most conventional approach for controlling tumor angiogenesis is blockade of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway. The results of preclinical studies, substantial therapeutic effects of VEGF blockers have been stated in various types of human cancers, even in progressive or recurrent cancer cases.

Sensitive antibody-based CTCs detection from peripheral blood.

The detection of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) is a purpose in numerous oncology research fields. CTCs are disseminated from the original site from metastatic and primary tumors in the peripheral blood of breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancer patients. Different characteristics of tumor cells have been applied to define enrichment methods through the differential expression of tumor-specific markers on the surface of the cells. Antibody-based affinity methods can provide the separation of CTCs via the expression of specific antigens on the surface of epithelial tumor cells or hematopoietic cells. Developments in CTC detection methods will improve a wide range of clinical applications, as well as the discovery of biomarkers to predict treatment responses and disease progression. In this mini-review, different CTCs detection approaches base on antibodies for enrichment of circulating tumor cells will be discussed and elucidated the methods for CTCs detection biomarkers on the current knowledge.

Induction of apoptosis by grape seed extract (Vitis vinifera) in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Development of novel therapeutic modalities is crucial for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Recent scientific studies have been focused on herbal medicines as potent anti-cancer drug candidates. This study is the first to investigate the cytotoxic effects and the mechanism of cell death induced by grape seed extract (GSE) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (KB cells). MTT (3-(4,5-dimetylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and trypan blue assays were performed in KB cells as well as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were used to analyze the cytotoxic activity of GSE. Furthermore, the apoptosis-inducing action of the extract was determined by TUNEL, DNA fragmentation and cell death analysis. Statistical significance was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Duncan's test at a significance level of P≤0.05. The results showed apoptotic potential of GSE, confirmed by significant inhibition of cell growth and viability in a dose- and time- dependent manner without inducing damage to non-cancerous cell line HUVEC. The results of this study suggest that this plant contains potential bioactive compound(s) for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Inhibition of Growth and Induction of Apoptosis in Fibrosarcoma Cell Lines by Echinophora platyloba DC: In Vitro Analysis.

Echinophora platyloba DC plant (Khousharizeh) is one of the indigenous medicinal plants which is used as a food seasoning and medicine in Iran. The objective of this study was to examine the in vitro cytotoxic activity and the mechanism of cell death of crude methanolic extracts prepared from Echinophora platyloba DC, on mouse fibrosarcoma cell line (WEHI-164). Cytotoxicity and viability of methanolic extract was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and dye exclusion assay. Cell death ELISA was employed to quantify the nucleosome production result from nuclear DNA fragmentation during apoptosis and determine whether the mechanism involves induction of apoptosis or necrosis. The cell death was identified as apoptosis using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase- (TdT-) mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Our results demonstrated that the extract decreased cell viability, suppressed cell proliferation, and induced cell death in a time- and dose-dependent manner in WEHI-164 cells (IC50 = 196.673 ± 12.4 µg/mL) when compared with a chemotherapeutic anticancer drug, Toxol. Observation proved that apoptosis was the major mechanism of cell death. So the Echinophora platyloba DC extract was found to time- and dose-dependently inhibit the proliferation of fibrosarcoma cell possibly via an apoptosis-dependent pathway.

Current challenges in metastasis: disseminated and circulating tumor cells detection.

Metastatic dissemination of the primary tumor is responsible for the majority of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Detection of disseminated tumor cells in the bone marrow and circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood is associated with early metastatic recurrence in cancer. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) shed from the site of disease in metastatic or primary tumor that can be recognized and enriched in the peripheral blood of cancer patients. The detection of rare circulating tumor cells (CTC) is an objective of numerous oncologists' researches. Circulating tumor cells have the potential to help to detect cancer recurrence at its earlier stage, determine therapy resistance before full blown progression, distinguish molecular changes during treatment, monitor efficacy therapy during treatment, guide therapy choice, and predict clinical outcome. In future perspective, standardization of the different enrichment methods in clinical trial is integrated. Developments in CTC detection methods will improve a wide range of clinical applications, as well as the discovery of biomarkers to predict treatment responses and disease progression. In order to identifying, several techniques have been applied to detect and isolate CTC in a heterogeneous population for management and monitoring response to therapy in clinical course in patients with localized or metastatic disease.

New insights into HLA class I association to Behçet's syndrome in Iranian Azari patients.

Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a chronic recurrent inflammatory disorder characterized by oral and genital ulcers and ocular inflammation. BS has a complex genetic etiology. To evaluate the influence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I in BS susceptibility in Iranian Azari population, we studied 290 BS patients and 300 healthy controls. As expected, a high frequency of HLA-B5 was found. Remarkably, HLA-B35 frequency was higher in the patient than control group, and the frequency of HLA-B51, HLA-B52, and HLA-BW4 was significantly elevated. Thus, HLA-B5 and HLA-B35 seem to confer susceptibility to BD in Iranian Azari patients.

Studies on the Cytotoxic Activities of Punica granatum L. var. spinosa (Apple Punice) Extract on Prostate Cell Line by Induction of Apoptosis.

The Punica granatum L. var. granatum (pomegranate) has been demonstrated to exert antitumor effects on various types of cancer cells. The present study aimed to evaluate the medicinal herbs Punica granatum L. var. spinosa (apple punice) that are native to Iran. This study was determined to test the possible cytotoxic activity and induction of apoptosis on human prostate cell lines. The effect of ethanol extracts of the herbs on the inhibition of cell proliferation was assessed by MTT colorimetric assay. PC3 cell lines treated with the extracts were analyzed for the induction of apoptosis by cell death detection (ELISA) and TUNEL assay. Dye exclusion analysis was performed for viability rate. Our results demonstrated that the Punica granatum L. var. spinosa extract dose dependently suppressed the proliferation of PC3 cells (IC(50)= 250.21 µg/mL) when compared with a chemotherapeutic anticancer drug (Toxol) (Vesper Pharmaceuticals) with increased nucleosome production from apoptotic cells. The Punica granatum L. var. spinosa extract attenuated the human prostate cell proliferation in vitro possibly by inducing apoptosis. The Punica granatum L. var. spinosa is likely to be valuable for the treatment of some forms of human prostate cell line.

Behçet's syndrome in Iranian Azari people.

Behçet's Syndrome (BS) is a chronic recurrent multisystemic inflammatory disorder characterized by oral and genital ulcers, ocular inflammation. Behçet's syndrome has a complex genetic etiology. However, epidemiological studies recommend that genetic factors have a significant influence to its pathogenesis, alike to other autoinflammatory disorders. Epidemiological statistics, clinical records and HLA typing were studied in Iranian Azari patients with Behçet's syndrome. This investigation considered HLA associations with BS and HLA with certain clinical characteristics, age and sex in the (Tabriz) Iran which has an ethnically homogeneous population. HLA-A and HLA-B typing was performed in 290 BS patients, conforming to International Study Group criteria and in 300 blood donors, as controls. Patient records were retrospectively reviewed and patients reassessed clinically. HLA-B5, HLA-B35, HLA-51, HLA-B52 and HLA-CW4 presented significantly high frequencies in all patients. No other HLA type was associated. There was a significant HLA link with male sex in BS patients and Mean age (34 +/- 1.1) was determined. We present the frequency and correlation between Iranian Azari patients with Behçet's syndrome and particular HLA antigens. Ninety nine percent had mouth ulceration, 64% genital ulceration, 72% skin lesions and 52% ocular involvement. This study supports HLA-B5, HLA-B35, HLA-51, HLA-B52 and HLA-CW4 immunogenetic predisposition in an ethnically homogeneous (Iranian Azari) population.

Development and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against human CD20 in Balb/c mice.

BACKGROUND: Targeting CD20 antigen on B-lymphocytes provides good opportunity for management of the target cells in patients with B-cell malignancies. By the advent of hybridoma technology, monoclonal antibodies applications exert extensive changes in medical fields such as diagnosis, treatment and purification. OBJECTIVE: The prim aim of this study was to produce monoclonal antibody against CD20 for exploitation in diagnosis. METHODS: In this study, Balb/c mice were immunized with two peptides from extracellular domain of CD20. Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) fused spleen cells of the most immune mouse with SP2/0 (myeloma cells). Supernatant of hybridoma cells were screened for detection of antibody by ELISA. The desired clones were selected for limiting dilution (L.D). Afterward, specificity and cross reactivity of these antibodies were determined by immunological assay such as ELISA and western blot analysis (WB) and Immunofluorescence. Large scale of monoclonal antibodies was produced by ascetic fluid method. Monoclonal antibody was purified by chromatography then confirmed by SDS-PAGE. RESULTS: In this study, between five positive clone wells, 3 clones were chosen for limiting dilution. Limiting dilution product was one monoclone with absorbance about 2. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that such monoclonal antibodies against CD20 can be used in diagnosis of CD20 in the cells surface.