Neuregulin 4 in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Phenotypes: A Key Role or Standby.

Background: Neuregulin_4 (NRG4) is one of the adipokines members that synthesize adipose tissues. It has an activating effect on epidermal growth factor receptors (ErbB receptors). NRG4 has indirect effects on the hormonal environment through its interaction to ErbB receptors. Increased insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammation may be present when NRG4 levels are high in PCOS. Obesity and polycystic ovarian syndrome have recently gained a lot of attention. However, the literature on the connection between NRG4 and the PCOS phenotype is limited. Thus, this research aimed to identify neuregulin_4's function as a biomarker for insulin resistance in PCOS phenotypes. Methods: A case-control study and included 140 female cases effect by different phenotypes of PCOS. Patients samples were collected at the reproductive fertility consultant of the Teaching Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kerbala health directorate, Iraq. The outpatient clinic serum hormonal levels and insulin concentration were determined by the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay "ECLIA" system. Elisa system was used for the detection of Neuregulin-4 protein level. Results: At the early age of participant NRG4 was increased significantly in all phenotypes of PCOS compared to control with a P< 0.05. interestingly, phenotype A was shown high level of NRG4 following phenotype C than phenotype D and phenotype B. Receiver Operator Characteristic Curves (ROC) analysis for NRG4 was performed and showed good diagnostic performers to word phenotype A. Conclusions: Females with phenotype A have a higher level of NRG4 than other phenotypes, which could be attributable to the more pronounced metabolic abnormalities in this phenotype.

Fabrication of dopamine conjugated with protein @metal organic framework for targeted drug delivery: A biocompatible pH-Responsive nanocarrier for gemcitabine release on MCF­7 human breast cancer cells.

Metal-organic structures (MOF), modern extremely proliferous materials consisting of metal ions and organic coordinating molecules, has become a promising biomedical material because of its unusual features, including great surface area, wide pore volume, flexible functionality and superior performance for drug loading. In the current investigation, Gemcitabine Hydrochloride (Gem), an anticancer drug, and Amygdalin (Amy) were loaded into a nanocomposite structure formed from bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a center and zeolytic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as a pH sensitive protective coating. The formed BSA-Gem@ZIF-8 and BSA-Gem-Amy@ZIF-8 were successively coated by polydopamine, chelated by Au3+ and conjugated via gallic acid (GA), acquired ZIF-8 structure as a multifunctional nanocarrier at the end. It was confirmed by different characterization methods that the nanocarrier was successfully produced. Due to the nature of ZIF-8, pH dependent releases of BSA-Gem@ZIF-8/Dopa/GA and BSA-Gem-Amy@ZIF-8/Dopa/GA were observed in in vitro studies. Cytotoxicity and apoptotic effects of these nanocarriers were evaluated using WST-1 and acridine orange staining in MCF-7 human breast cancer and HUVEC control cell lines. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies showed that both BSA-Gem@ZIF-8/Dopa/GA and BSA-Gem-Amy@ZIF-8/Dopa/GA were more effective than gemcitabine alone in MCF-7 cells with less toxicity in HUVEC cells. Additionally, both pH-responsive nanocarriers induced more apoptotic cell death in MCF-7 cells. We therefore believe that the built multifunctional nanocarrier based on ZIF-8 could be an alternative therapeutic strategy the use of gemcitabine for cancer therapy.

Practical aspects of the automated preparation of aqueous two phase systems for the analysis of biological macromolecules.

A robust strategy for the automated preparation of aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) using a liquid handling sample processor was developed using gravimetric methods: to determine the accuracy of preparation. The major robotic control parameters requiring adjustment were; speed of aspiration and dispense; delay times following aspiration and dispense alongside measures to control cross-contamination during phase sampling. In general mixture compositions of both polymer/polymer and polymer/salt mixtures could be prepared with a target bias accuracy of less than 5%. However, we found that the bias accuracy with which systems of defined TLL and MR could be constructed was highly dependent on the tie line length of the ATPS and the geometrical form of the ATPS co-existence curve. For systems with a very low degree of curvature (PEG/salt systems here) increases in bias (accuracy) are appreciable at relatively long tie line lengths. Where the degree of curvature is more pronounced (PEG/dextran systems) closer approach to the critical point was possible without major effect on bias/accuracy. Application of the strategy to the measurement of the partitioning of phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms of the model protein ovalbumin are reported. Differences in partition of phosphorylated (native) forms and dephosphorylated forms could be demonstrated. In a PEG/salt system this was manifest as a substantial decrease in solubility based on overall protein recovery derived from accurate knowledge of the system mass ratio. In a PEG/dextran system differences in partition coefficient could be demonstrated between phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms.