The Role of Apoptosis as a Double-Edge Sword in Cancer

The pathogenesis of many diseases is most closely related to inappropriate apoptosis (either too little or too much) and cancer is one of the situations where too little apoptosis happens, leading to malignant cells that highly proliferate. Defects at any points along apoptotic pathways may lead to malignant transformation of the affected cells, tumor metastasis, and resistance to anti-cancer drugs. Several major molecular mechanisms are involved in the evasion of apoptosis in cancer initiation and progression. Bcl-2 family of proteins and caspases are the central players in the apoptotic mechanism and regulate cell death. Their imperfections cause to the deficient apoptotic signaling and thereby the inadequate apoptosis in cancer cells and eventually carcinogenesis. Strategies targeting these master regulators in carcinoma cells has been a major focus of interest in cancer studies. Therefore, despite being the cause of problem, apoptosis can be targeted in cancer therapy. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of apoptotic cell death and how deficiencies in apoptotic master regulators, caspases and Bcl-2 family proteins, influence carcinogenesis and can be targeted in cancer treatment

A Simple, Inexpensive and Safe Method for DNA Extraction of Frigid and Clotted Blood Samples

Background: Extraction of blood genomicDNAis one of the main approaches for clinical and molecular biology studies. Although several methods have been developed for extraction of blood genomic DNA, most of these methods consume long time and use expensive chemicals such as proteinase K and toxic organic solvent such as phenol and chloroform. The objective of this study was to developed easy and safe method forDNAextraction from clotted and frozen whole blood. This method has many advantages: time reducing, using inexpensive materials, without phenol and chloroform, achieving of high molecular weight and good quality genomicDNA.Materials and Methods: DNA extraction was performed by two methods (new and phenol-chloroform method). Then quantity and quality parameters were evaluated by 1% agarose gel electrophoresis, Nano drop analysis and efficiency of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).Results: Extracted DNA from 500μL of blood samples were 457.7ng/μl and 212ng/μL and their purity (OD260/OD280) were 1.8 and 1.81 for new recommended and phenol–chloroform methods respectively. The PCR results indicated that D16S539 and CSF1PO loci were amplified.Conclusion: These results shown that this method is simple, fast, safe and most economical

Effect of cognitive-behavioral training on pain self-efficacy, self-discovery, and perception in patients with chronic low-back pain: A quasi-experimental study

Background: Correcting false cognitionsandestablishing preventivebehaviors in patients with chroniclow-back pain can improve self-efficacy and self-discovery of these patients against the physical and psychological consequences of chronic back pain through reinforcing thoughts and constructive behaviors. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral training in self-efficacy, self-discovery, and pain perception of patients with chronic low-back pain. Methods: Based on a quasi-experimental design, 40 patients with chronic low-back were selected through purposive sampling and assigned into two groups of intervention (n = 20) and control (n = 20). After administering the pain self-efficacy (PSE) scale, the self-discovery scale (SDS), and the pain perception questionnaire (MPQ) to both groups, the intervention group received the cognitive-behavioral training while the control group did not receive the intervention. The post-test was performed on both groups and the data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The scores of pain self-efficacy and self-discovery (self-awareness and acceptance, commitment and attraction, transcendence and development, and personal growth) were higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The highest increase with an effect size of 0.514 was related to the self-awareness and acceptance subscale. In addition, the pain assessment perception was the only reduced subscale among the other dimensions of pain perception (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Psychosocial complementary therapies can provide patients suffering from chronic pain with better physical and mental conditions to have a higher quality of life. © 2019, Author(s)

Exploring the therapeutic efficacy of glioma vaccines based on allo- and syngeneic antigens and distinct immunological costimulation activators

The efficacy of a various immunotherapeutic immunisation strategies for malignant glioma brain cancer was evaluated in the syngeneic CNS-1 Lewis rat glioma model. A prototype glioma cancer vaccine, which was composed of multivalent antigens derived from allogeneic and syngeneic cells and lysates, formed the prototype preparation of antigens. These antigens reflect the autologous antigens derived from the patient’s surgically removed tumor tissue, as well as allogeneic antigens form glioma tumor tissue surgically removed from donor patients. This antigen mixture provides a broad spectrum of tumor associated antigens (TAA) and helps to prevent escape of tumor immune surveillance when given as a vaccine. This antigen preparation was administered in a therapeutic setting with distinct single or multiple co-stimulation-favouring immunostimulants and evaluated for inhibition of tumor growth. Our prototype vaccine was able to arrest progression of tumor growth when co-delivered in a specific regimen togetherwith the costimulating multi-TLR agonist, Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) and interleukin-2, or with the Toll-Like receptor (TLR) 7/8 activator resiquimo

The synergic effects of presynaptic calcium channel antagonists purified from spiders on memory elimination of glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in the rat hippocampus trisynaptic circuit

The hippocampus is a complex area of the mammalian brain and is responsible for learning and memory. The trisynaptic circuit engages with explicit memory. Hippocampal neurons express two types of presynaptic voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) comprising N and P/Q-types. These VGCCs play a vital role in the release of neurotransmitters from presynaptic neurons. The chief excitatory neurotransmitter at these synapses is glutamate. Glutamate has an essential function in learning and memory under normal conditions. The release of neurotransmitters depends on the activity of presynaptic VGCCs. Excessive glutamate activity, due to either excessive release or insufficient uptake from the synapse, leads to a condition called excitotoxicity. This pathological state is common among all neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Under these conditions, glutamate adversely affects the trisynaptic circuitry, leading to synaptic destruction and loss of memory and learning performance. This study attempts to clarify the role of presynaptic VGCCs in memory performance and reveals that modulating the activity of presynaptic calcium channels in the trisynaptic pathway can regulate the excitotoxic state and consequently prevent the elimination of neurons and synaptic degradation. All of these can lead to an improvement in learning and memory function. In the current study, two calcium channel blockers—omega-agatoxin-Aa2a and omega-Lsp-IA—were extracted, purified, and identified from spiders (Agelena orientalis and Hogna radiata) and used to modulate N and P/Q VGCCs. The effect of omega-agatoxin-Aa2a and omega-Lsp-IA on glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in rats was evaluated using the Morris water maze task as a behavioral test. The local expression of synaptophysin (SYN) was visualized for synaptic quantification using an immunofluorescence assay. The electrophysiological amplitudes of the field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in the input-output and LTP curves of the mossy fiber and Schaffer collateral circuits were recorded. The results of our study demonstrated that N and P/Q VGCC modulation in the hippocampus trisynaptic circuit of rats with glutamate-induced excitotoxicity dysfunction could prevent the destructive consequences of excitotoxicity in synapses and improve memory function and performance

Curcumin as an enhancer of therapeutic efficiency of chemotherapy drugs in breast cancer

Female breast cancer is the world’s most prevalent cancer in 2020. Chemotherapy still remains a backbone in breast cancer therapy and is crucial in advanced and metastatic breast cancer treatment. The clinical efficiency of chemotherapy regimens is limited due to tumor heterogeneity, chemoresistance, and side effects. Chemotherapeutic drug combinations with natural products hold great promise for enhancing their anticancer efficacy. Curcumin is an ideal chemopreventive and chemotherapy agent owning to its multitargeting function on various regulatory molecules, key signaling pathways, and pharmacological safety. This review aimed to elucidate the potential role of curcumin in enhancing the efficacy of doxorubicin, paclitaxel, 5-fluorouracil, and cisplatin via combinational therapy. Additionally, the molecular mechanisms underlying the chemosensitizing activity of these combinations have been addressed. Overall, based on the promising therapeutic potential of curcumin in combination with conventional chemotherapy drugs, curcumin is of considerable value to develop as an adjunct for combination chemotherapy with current drugs to treat breast cancer. Furthermore, this topic may provide the frameworks for the future research direction of curcumin–chemotherapy combination studies and may benefit in the development of a novel therapeutic strategy to maximize the clinical efficacy of anticancer drugs while minimizing their side effects in the future breast cancer treatment