Overexpression of miR-490-5p/miR-490-3p Potentially Induces IL-17-Producing T Cells in Patients With Breast Cancer

Objective: Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent female cancer globally and this is also true in Iranian women. Alteration in circulating microRNAs affects the fate of immune cells, affecting immunological response to neoplasia. Materials and Methods: We investigated the expression of miR-490-5p and miR-490-3p in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma of patients with BC. Moreover, the correlation of these microRNAs with the expression levels of CD3d, interleukin 2 (IL-2), IL-2 receptor chain alpha (IL-2RA), forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) and nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5) were investigated. Results: Two groups, including 42 patients with BC, aged 22-75 years with stage I, II, III disease without administration of immunosuppressive chemotherapy regimens/radiotherapy and 40 healthy controls aged 27-70 years, participated. Overexpression and higher circulation levels of miR-490-5p and miR-490-3p were found in the patients with consequent down-regulation of all targets investigated in PBMCs. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the overexpression of these microRNAs and a reduction in levels of CD3d, IL-2, and IL-2RA in patients with BC. Conclusion: These results suggest that down-regulation of the target genes by miR-490 may predispose and facilitate the production of Th17 lymphocytes and IL-17-producing Tregs. The variation in miR-490-5p/-3p and the investigated targets in the PBMCs of BC patients may be used as non-invasive diagnostic markers

Investigation of Long Non-coding RNA HOX A11-AS Expression in Iranian Patients with Glioblastoma: A Quantitative Study

Background and Objectives: Glioblastoma is one of the most malignant and common brain tumors, accounting for about half of all gliomas. Glioblastoma is a central nervous system tumor that originates from the glial tissue of the brain. The present study aimed to investigate changes in the expression of long non-coding RNA HOXA11-AS as a possible biomarker in glioma.   Methods: For the purposes of the present study, first, the medical records of the patients in Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran, Iran were reviewed. The ethical considerations were respected as well; accordingly, written informed consent was obtained from the patients and the code of ethics was achieved as well. Finally, the paraffin blocks, including the biopsy of brain tumor tissue of the patients who referred to Imam Hossein Hospital during 2015-17 were collected and their degrees were confirmed by the pathologist. In total, 50 samples of grades 1 and 2 as well as 50 samples of grades 3 and 4 were examined in this research project. The RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed for all the tissue samples donated by the patients. Subsequently, a specific primer and probe were designed and the expression of the HOXA11-AS gene was investigated using real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. The mean age of the subjects was 43.70±16.416 years. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 20) using descriptive and analytical statistics. Moreover, the expression levels of this gene in lower- and higher-grade tumor tissues were compared using the unpaired samples t-test.   Results: Based on the results, the tumor samples with grade three and four underwent a 2.76 fold increase in expression (fold change), compared to tumor samples with grade one and two. This difference was statistically significant.   Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the expression of the HOXA11-AS gene has a significant positive relationship with the degree of disease (P=0.0002)

Study of relationship between a strain of E.coli and colorectal cancer

Background and Aim: The most important factors of colorectal cancer (CRC), as a multifactorial disease is bacterial infections. The studies showed that a certain type of infection with E.coli with PKS positive strain. This strain of bacteria can be promoted colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In fact, the E.coli with PKS gene disrupt the cell cycle by producing the colibactin as secondary metabolites of bacteria, so leads to initiation and progression of colorectal cancer. The aim of this paper is describing the latest achievements regarding molecular study of this matter in the Iranian patients with CRC. Materials and Methods: 126 colon biopsies were obtained from colorectal cancer patients (60sample) and the healthy individuals (66samples) during Aug_Dec 2013. After Isolating the E.coli and extraction of their DNA, duplex-PCR performed for PKs Island region. Results: The frequency of E.coli with Pks positive strains was 12.2% and 4% in colorectal cancer patient and healthy individuals, respectively. Conclusions: The results of this study rather than similar studies in European countries showed the lower frequencies for E. coli with PKs positive strain in patients with CRC

Semi-Quantitative Evaluation of KAI1 Gene Expression in Colorectal Cancer and Correlation with Clinical Stage and Progression Factors of the Disease

Background & objectives: KAI1 is a tumor suppressor gene and inhibitor of metastasis in a wide range of malignancies. While it is ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues, KAI1 expression subjects to the down regulation in tumors. The present research aims semi-quantitative evaluation of KAI1 mRNA expression in Iranian patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and correlation between expression levels of KAI1 and stage oftumorigenesis, especially metastasis and invasion of CRC as well as pathologic factors of patients. Methods: RT-PCR was done by specific primers for KAI1 and &beta;-actin genes on the 80 tumor tissues and 14 normal tissues as fresh samples which obtained from 80 unrelated patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital. &nbsp; Results: According the results, 51.2% and 48.8% of the sample were on and off for KAI1 gene expression, respectively. As a detail, 97.3% of samples in the stage 3 and 4 and 94.5% of metastatic phases samples showed no expression of this gene. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant difference of the KAI1 expression between four groups of samples; normal, stage 1, 2 and 3 (p<0.05). Also a significant difference was observed between semi-quantitative KAI1 expression and degree of spread to regional lymph nodes (p=0.02) as well as semi-quantitative KAI1 expression and metastasis (p=0.000001). Conclusion: A significant difference between semi-quantitative expression of KAI1 and degree of spread to regional lymph nodes (p=0.02) and metastasis (p=0.000001) was observed

Association of the gene expression variation of tumor necrosis factor-α and expressions changes of dopamine receptor genes in progression of diabetic severe foot ulcers

Objective(s):Regulation of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-, which are secreted by the immune cells through induction of their several receptors including dopamine receptors (especially DRD2 and DRD3) is one of the noticeable problems in diabetic severe foot ulcer healing. This study was conducted to evaluate the alteration of TNF- in plasma as well as DRD2 and DRD3 changes in PBMCs of diabetics with severe foot ulcers. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 31 subjects with ulcers, 29 without ulcers, and 25 healthy individuals. Total mRNA was extracted from PBMCs for the study of DRD2, DRD3, and TNF- gene expression variations. Expression patterns of these genes were evaluated by real-time PCR. Consequently, concentration of TNF- was investigated in plasma. Results: Significant decrease in gene expression and plasma concentration of TNF- in PBMCs was observed in both patient groups at P Conclusion: We concluded that DRD2 and DRD3 expression alteration and presence of new DRD3 transcripts can be effective in reduction of TNF-α expression as a pro-inflammatory factor. Performing complementary studies, may explain that variations in DRD2 and DRD3 are prognostic and effective markers attributed to the development of diabetes severe foot ulcers