Long Non-Coding RNA SNHG6 as a Potential Biomarker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Long Non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) refer to all non-protein coding transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides. Their critical roles in different biological pathways have been already well established. Altered expression of lncRNAs can be involved in the cancer initiation and/or progression. Since patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are usually diagnosed in late stages, developing diagnostic methods seems to be essential. In this study, the expression levels of different lncRNAs were systematically analysed in different genomic and transcriptome datasets. The analyses showed that SNHG6 is among the lncRNAs with distinctive dysregulation of expression and copy number variation in HCC tumors compared with normal tissues. The results also suggest that the dysregulation of SNHG6 is highly cancer type specific. Through co-occurrence analyses, we found that SNHG6 and its related co-expressed genes on 8q are involved in the structural integrity of ribosome and translation. This comprehensive in silico analysis, provides a resource for investigating SNHG6 in hepatocellular carcinoma and lays the groundwork for design of next researches.

Cloning and Expression of Beta Subunit Gene of Phycocyanin From Spirulina platensis in Escherichia coli.

BACKGROUND: C-Phycocyanin (C-PC) from blue-green algae such as Spirulina has been reported to have various pharmacological characteristics, including anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities. Recombinant ß-subunit of C-PC (C-PC/ß) is an inhibitor of cell proliferation and an inducer of cancer cell apoptosis. OBJECTIVES: Since C-PC/ß has a big potential to be used as a promising cancer prevention or therapy agent, the purpose of this study was to clone and express Spirulina platensis cpcB gene in a bacterial expression system. This is a significant step for the production of this compound. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cpcB gene was amplified using specific primers and cloned in a bacterial expression vector, namely pET43.1a+. Gene expression of cpcB was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and the dot blotting technique. RESULTS: The SDS-PAGE analysis and dot blotting confirmed the production of recombinant C-PC/ß in the bacterial expression system. Over-expression of cpcB gene was optimized in induction by 1 mM Isopropyl-ß-D-Thiogalactoside (IPTG), after four hours of inoculation at 30°C. CONCLUSIONS: Over-expression of the synthetic CPC/ß protein in the bacterial system (Escherichia coli BL-21) showed that E. coli can be used as a basis for further research to produce this desired protein in large quantities.