Her-2/neu gene amplification and its correlation with other prognostic factors in Iranian breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases in females, arising from overexpression of a variety of oncogenes like HER2/neu. The amplification rate of this gene is variable in different breast cancer patients. In this study, the amplification of the HER2/neu oncogene was distinguished in breast cancer patients and its correlation with prognostic factors. Also, the simultaneous effect of prognostic factors on the occurrence of a specific prognostic factor was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The multiplex PCR technique was used to assay the amplification of the HER2/neu oncogene in breast cancer patients. After extracting DNA from 100 tumor tissue and 8 normal breast tissue samples, the amplification of the HER2/neu gene was distinguished by the co-amplification of a single-copy reference gene, γ-IFN, and the target gene HER2/neu in the PCR reaction and using the Gel analyzer software. SPSS 23 and STATA 9.1 software were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The HER2/neu gene was amplification in 30% of the tumor samples. The statistical analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between HER2/neu gene amplification and progesterone receptors. Amplification of the HER2/neu gene significantly increases the chance of lymph node involvement. Also, the amplification of this gene in tumors with histological grade II tissue is more than grade I. CONCLUSION: The amplification of the HER2/neu gene can be used as an independent prognostic factor in predicting lymph node involvement and histological grade in breast cancer patients.

miRNAs: Regulators of immune system in diabetes.

Diabetes, one of the most common multifactorial metabolic disorders, is a jeopardizing cause of human health worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small non-coding RNAs that have been contributed to the regulation of gene expression through post-transcriptional mechanisms. The potential role of miRNAs has been studied in the most of biological processes and mechanisms underlying the progression of variety diseases including diabetes. In this review, we focus on the role of miRNAs in regulating pivotal molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with immune system that progress diabetic disorders.

The interactions between Reactive Black 5 and human serum albumin: combined spectroscopic and molecular dynamics simulation approaches.

Azo dyes are made in significant amounts annually and released into the environment after being employed in the industry. There are some reports about the toxic effects of these dyes on several organisms. Thus, the textile dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) has been examined for its cytotoxic effects on the human serum albumin (HSA) structure. Molecular interaction between RB5 and HSA indicated the combination of docking methods, molecular dynamic simulation, and multi-spectroscopic approaches. HSA's intrinsic fluorescence was well quenched with enhancing RB5 level, confirming complex formation. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was done to study the cytotoxic effects of RB5 and HSA conformation. Molecular modeling revealed that the RB5-HSA complex was stabilized by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. The results of molecular docking revealed that the binding energy of RB5 to HSA was - 27.94 kJ/mol. The change in secondary structure causes the annihilation of hydrogen bonding networks and the reduction of biological activity. This research can indicate a suitable molecular modeling interaction of RB5 and HAS and broaden our knowledge for azo dye toxicity under natural conditions.

Calcitriol Pretreatment Attenuates Glutamate Neurotoxicity by Regulating NMDAR and CYP46A1 Gene Expression in Rats Subjected to Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion.

Although the neuroprotective effects of calcitriol have been demonstrated in a variety of neurological diseases, such as stroke, the precise molecular mechanism has yet to be determined. This study aimed to investigate the possible role of calcitriol as a neuroprotective agent via CYP46A1 and glutamate receptors in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) animal model. The MCAO technique was performed on adult male Wistar rats to induce focal cerebral ischemia for 1 hour followed by 23 hours of reperfusion. Calcitriol was given for 7 days prior to stroke induction. Sensorimotor functional tests were done 24 hours after ischemia/reperfusion, and infarct volume was estimated by tetrazolium chloride staining of brain sections. Gene expression of NR2A, NR2B, NR3B, and CYP46A1 was evaluated by RT-PCR followed by western blotting for NR3B protein. Our data revealed that calcitriol pretreatment reduced lesion volume and improved ischemic neurobehavioral parameters. Calcitriol therapy altered the expression of glutamate receptor and CYP46A1 genes. A possible molecular mechanism of calcitriol to reduce the severity and complications of ischemia may be through alterations of glutamate receptor and CYP46A1 gene expression.

Serum apelin and galectin-3 in preeclampsia in Iraq.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the correlation between serum apelin and galectin-3 levels with insulin resistance (IR) in women with preeclampsia (PE). METHODS: Serum apelin, galectin-3, and insulin levels were measured in 60 PE women and 30 normotensive pregnant. RESULTS: The PE group had significantly lower apelin and higher galectin-3 levels than the control group. PE group exhibited dyslipidemia and had higher ß-cell functions than the controls. Galectin-3 level correlates with insulin, glucose, and IR. High galectin-3 also is correlated positively with dyslipidemia. CONCLUSION: In PE, there is a possible contribution of galectin-3 to the harmful effects of IR and dyslipidemia.

Decolorization of Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Red 152 Azo Dyes by New Haloalkaliphilic Bacteria Isolated from the Textile Wastewater.

Textile wastewaters are usually alkali and saline, so using haloalkaliphilic bacteria can be the best option for the treatment of wastewater. This study aimed at the decolorization of textile Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Red 152 dyes using new haloalkaliphilic bacteria isolated from the textile wastewater. Among 50 strains of bacteria isolated from the effluent of Kashan textile industry, three bacterial strains, namely D1, D2 and E49, exhibited high decolorization abilities for Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Red 152 dyes. Decolorization was evaluated through spectrophotometry at maximum absorbance wavelengths of 607 and 554 nm for Reactive Black 5 and Reactive Red 152, respectively. The highest decolorization percentage was observed at a dye concentration of 50 mg L-1. Aerobic conditions, 5% of the yeast extract and salt, 10% of peptone and glucose as nitrogen and carbon sources, respectively, and a pH range of 9-12 were considered as the optimal conditions for decolorization. The consortium of three haloalkaliphilic isolates showed a remarkable ability for decolorization of the Reactive Black 5 (87%) and Reactive Red 152 (85%) dyes. The consortium exhibited higher decolorization ability for the textile effluent, compared to individual bacterial inoculations. According to phenotypic characterization experiments and phylogenetic analyses based on comparing 16S rDNA sequence, the mentioned strains belonged to the genus Halomonas.

Isolation, characterization, and decolorization of Disperse Blue 60 by newly isolated bacterial strains from Kashan textile wastewater.

Wastewaters are a source of water pollution and the environment. Therefore, the decolorization ability of isolated strains from textile wastewater for Disperse Blue 60 dye was measured. After sampling from different parts of textile waste, four decolorizer strains were isolated. The effects of various factors were evaluated on decolorization. Decolorization ability of strains was measured after incubation up to 72 hr, the range of pH 6-9, different dye concentrations from 50 to 400 mg/L, and different carbon sources. The four newly bacterial strains showed high decolorization ability to dye. The highest decolorization (90%-95%) was observed after 72 hr, pH 7-9, 50 mg/L concentration of dye and glucose as carbon source. According to findings from the present study, the decolorization ability of F52, C43, C19, and C25 strains was 93%, 96%, 100%, and 98.33%, respectively. The phytotoxicity test confirmed the nontoxic effect of the dye decolorization products compared with the toxic Disperse Blue 60 on seeds of Raphanus sativus L. Based on the biochemical characterization and 16s rDNA gene sequencing analysis, the selected bacterial strains were identified as Alishewanella, Halomonas, Jonesia, and Pseudomonas genera. High decolorization ability of the bacterial isolates showed they could effectively use in the biological treatment of wastewater. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Isolation of powerful and effective strains from Kashan textile wastewater Increasing of decolorization by improving environmental conditions Alishewanella, Halomonas, Jonesia, and Pseudomonas genera can be used for biological treatment of wastewater.

Spectroscopic detection of etoposide binding to chromatin components: the role of histone proteins.

Chromatin has been introduced as a main target for most anticancer drugs. Etoposide is known as a topoisomerase II inhibitor, but its effect on chromatin components is unknown. This report, for the first time, describes the effect of etoposide on DNA, histones and DNA-histones complex in the structure of nucleosomes employing thermal denaturation, fluorescence, UV absorbance and circular dichroism spectroscopy techniques. The results showed that the binding of etoposide decreased UV absorbance and fluorescence emission intensity, altered secondary structure of chromatin and hypochromicity was occurred in thermal denaturation profiles. The drug exhibited higher affinity to chromatin compared to DNA. Quenching of drug chromophores with tyrosine residues of histones indicated that globular domain of histones is the site of etoposide binding. Moreover, the binding of etoposide to histones altered their secondary structure accompanied with hypochromicity revealing compaction of histones in the presence of the drug. From the results it is concludes that apart from topoisomerase II, chromatin components especially its protein moiety can be introduced as a new site of etoposide binding and histone proteins especially H1 play a fundamental role in this process and anticancer activity of etoposide.

A comparison of the effect of anticancer drugs, idarubicin and adriamycin, on soluble chromatin.

The biological activity of an anticancer agent is related to its physicochemical interaction with biological receptors. In the present study we have investigated and compared the affinity and mode of action of two potent anticancer drugs, adriamycin and idarubicin on soluble chromatin using ultraviolet/visible and fluorescence spectroscopy, hydroxyapatite (HAP) chromatography and gel electrophoresis techniques. The results show that addition of various concentrations of drugs to chromatin solution individually, reduced both absorbance and fluorescence emission intensity of chromatin and precipitated it in a dose dependent manner, however, the extent of reduction was different for two drugs used. This effect was also observed on the histone gel patterns of the drug treated samples revealing that the chromatin is less affected by idarubicin compared to adriamycin implying higher aggregation of chromatin with the former. As hydroxyapatite chromatograms show, histone H1 represented the highest drug binding activity. The results suggest that although adriamycin and idarubicin are both grouped anthracycline antibiotic anticancer drugs, they differ considerably on their binding affinity to cellular chromatin.