The Evaluation of Nerve Growth Factor Over Expression on Neural Lineage Specific Genes in Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

OBJECTIVE: Treatment and repair of neurodegenerative diseases such as brain tumors, spinal cord injuries, and functional disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, are challenging problems. A common treatment approach for such disorders involves the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as an alternative cell source to replace injured cells. However, use of these cells in hosts may potentially cause adverse outcomes such as tumorigenesis and uncontrolled differentiation. In attempt to generate mesenchymal derived neural cells, we have infected MSCs with recombinant lentiviruses that expressed nerve growth factor (NGF) and assessed their neural lineage genes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, we cloned the NGF gene sequence into a helper dependent lentiviral vector that contained the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. The recombinant vector was amplified in DH5 bacterial cells. Recombinant viruses were generated in the human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293) packaging cell line with the helper vectors and analyzed under fluorescent microscopy. Bone marrow mesenchymal cells were infected by recombinant viruses for three days followed by assessment of neural differentiation. We evaluated expression of NGF through measurement of the NGF protein in culture medium by ELISA; neural specific genes were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: We observed neural morphological changes after three days. Quantitative PCR showed that expressions of NESTIN, glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) genes increased following induction of NGF overexpression, whereas expressions of endogenous NGF and brain derived neural growth factor (BDNF) genes reduced. CONCLUSION: Ectopic expression of NGF can induce neurogenesis in MSCs. Direct injection of MSCs may cause tumorigenesis and an undesirable outcome. Therefore an alternative choice to overcome this obstacle may be the utilization of differentiated neural stem cells

Over expression of circulating miR-155 predicts prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Introduction: The expression patterns of microRNAs in plasma are involved in potential biomarkers for several diseases. The goal of this study was to explore the expression level of miR-155 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and its clinical significance. Materials and methods: We used qRT-PCR to assess the peripheral blood plasma of 40 DLBCL patients for the expression of miRNA-155. The median of miR-155 expression divided the DLBCL patients into miR-155 low-expression (miR-155low) and miR-155 high-expression (miR-155high) groups. Results and discussion: We found that plasma miR-155 expression was significantly up-regulated in patients with DLBCL (median expression value: 4.29, range: 1.52�27.86) compared to healthy individuals (median expression value: 2.14, range: 0.29�10.56, P < 0.002). Moreover, DLBCL cases with an elevated level of miR-155 had shorter overall survival (median 9 vs. 13 months, P = 0.043) than those with a lower miR-155 expression. © 2018 Elsevier Lt

Over expression of circulating miR-155 predicts prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Introduction: The expression patterns of microRNAs in plasma are involved in potential biomarkers for several diseases. The goal of this study was to explore the expression level of miR-155 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and its clinical significance. Materials and methods: We used qRT-PCR to assess the peripheral blood plasma of 40 DLBCL patients for the expression of miRNA-155. The median of miR-155 expression divided the DLBCL patients into miR-155 low-expression (miR-155low) and miR-155 high-expression (miR-155high) groups. Results and discussion: We found that plasma miR-155 expression was significantly up-regulated in patients with DLBCL (median expression value: 4.29, range: 1.52�27.86) compared to healthy individuals (median expression value: 2.14, range: 0.29�10.56, P < 0.002). Moreover, DLBCL cases with an elevated level of miR-155 had shorter overall survival (median 9 vs. 13 months, P = 0.043) than those with a lower miR-155 expression. © 2018 Elsevier Lt