Perception of Research Culture among Undergraduate Students in a Malaysian Public University

Studies on research culture often focus on how administrators and academics inculcate this culture and what impact it has on undergraduates. Evidently, literature information on undergraduates’ perception of university research and publication agenda is lacking. Considering the fact that the campus community comprises largely of an undergraduate population and their activities, facts and conjectures alluding to research culture can be misleading without the views of undergraduate students. The study investigated the perception of research culture among undergraduate students in a Malaysian public university. The objectives of the study were to examine the students’ awareness of the research culture of the university, ranging from the research culture of the university as per the lecturers to the research reputation of the university. A survey was carried out using questionnaires incorporated within the e-learning platform (Morpheus) of a taught course on scientific communication. The analysis of questionnaire data from 56 students showed that undergraduates are more aware of research than publication matters. They do not think that good research correlates with better teaching. Local students are also indifferent to issues of university ranking. Our findings provide the basis for rethinking and deriving more accurate explanations of research culture appreciation in local public universities

Expression Analysis of Ribosomal Protein Genes, eL13 and eL14 in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Lines

Increasing evidence of the association between ribosomal protein (RP) genes with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have been derived from findings of their differential expression patterns in NPC cell lines. Nevertheless, expression data from a comprehensive list of RP gene family members is still lacking. This paper reports the assessment of two RP genes, eL13 and eL14, with regards to their expression patterns in several NPC cell lines (TW04, TW01, HK1, HONE1 and SUNE-1) relative to a non-malignant control (NP69). A conventional Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) assay was employed. Analysis of eL13 has never been explored before this, whereas investigation of eL14 represents an extended study. We found a general over-expression trend of eL14 in 40% (2 of 5; TW01 and HONE-1) of the NPC cell lines studied, with higher upregulated level in only one (TW01) of them. However, this pattern of expression level is not statistically significant. Expression of eL13 was not detected in any of the cell lines used. The inconsistency of these expression patterns demonstrates an elusive nature of RP activities in the malignancy of the nasopharynx

Extra-Ribosomal Functions of the Ribosomal Protein, RPS3 as Predicted by In Silico Analysis

Products of ribosomal protein (RP) genes have been found to play extra-ribosomal roles that range from DNA repair to RNA splicing. Their association with congenital disorders or cancers has also been widely documented. However, the relatively large number of different RPs, each with perhaps unique biological roles, has compounded the comprehensive elucidation of the physiological functions of each RPs. Experimental functional studies on the many and variegated RPs are labour intensive, time-consuming and costly. Moreover, experimental studies unguided by theoretically insights entail inaccurate results. Therefore, knowledge on the actual roles of these proteins remains largely undefined. A valid alternative is the use of bioinformatics resources to computationally predict functional roles of these biomolecules. Findings from such in silico studies of the RPS3 are reported herein. We reveal an array of possible extra-ribosomal functions that includes regulation of transcription (including via NF-κB-mediated, POK-induced and DNA-dependent), regulation of p53 activities and its stabilisation, inflammatory immune response, modulation of nNOS activities, and anti-oxidative capabilities. Our findings provide computational prediction of de novo extra-ribosomal functions of RPS3. These results will enhance the theoretical basis for designing future experimental studies on elucidating its definitive physiological roles

Speaking in tongues: Family communication in a multicultural society

Language is an aspect of culture that defines a person, just like how customs and ways of life and beliefs make a person who they are. When two persons get together in a marriage, much accommodation and assimilation of practices, attitudes and values take place so that two different individuals can live together harmoniously. The conjoining of two different lives almost always necessitates a decision on mutual language use, whether this takes place consciously or sub-consciously. While language can bring about ethnic pride, it can also be a factor for societal discord. This can be seen when one ethnic group champions its language at the expense of other ethnic groups. Similarly, in a mixed marriage, language choice can be influenced by ethnic pride. A couple from different cultures may use language to champion their own cultural identity. Another way of explaining ethnic pride here is the notion that languages can be consciously or subconsciously ranked in a hierarchical order as markers of cultural superiority. For instance, an ethnic group that considers itself as being an older civilization often ranks its language as more advanced or superior relative to those from a younger civilization. In an interethnic marriage, language choice can be biased by mindsets that assume civilizational superiority. Although much has been debated on this, there is very little information from empirical studies to support or refute this supposition. Our study is perhaps among the few to boldly address this phenomenon

Comparative Analysis of Ribosomal Protein Gene, eL14 Expression between Two Types of Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Lines

Association between the expression of ribosomal protein (RP) genes and cancer is widely known. More specifically, the extra-ribosomal functions of RPs have been linked to carcinogenesis. The ribosomal protein gene, eL14 has been reported to be associated with malignancy of the colorectum, albeit of mechanism yet unclear. Its expression in cells derived from different tissue origin of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) has never been explored. Therefore, this study aims to comparatively analyse the expression pattern of eL14 between two different CRC cell lines (DLD-1 and HCT116). It involved a conventional gene expression analysis, the Reverse-Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) assays. Products of RT-PCR assay were resolved via an agarose gel electrophoresis method, and band intensities of amplicons were documented and quantified using TotalLab Quant software. We observed differential expression patterns of eL14 between DLD-1 and HCT116 cells, but statistical analysis revealed insignificant differences. Therefore, the relevance of eL14 as a biomarker to distinguish between different colorectal cancer cells is suggestive but not conclusive

Preliminary findings of down-regulated genes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The cause and mechanism of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) progression are multifactorial and multigenic in nature. Despite the increasing number of genes found to be linked with NPC, the comprehensive list of associated genetic factors remains incomplete and the precise molecular pathways to this cancer are largely undefined. Here we show early evidence of possible association between several genes and the tumourigenesis of NPC. By employing the GeneFishingTM DEG Technique that allows the comparative analysis of expression profiles between normal and tumour nasopharyngeal biopsy tissues, we have identified 10 differentially expressed genes. These genes were down-regulated in tumours relative to normal control and have never been brought into the context of NPC tumourigenicity. Our findings represent preliminary yet novel clues of several associative genetic factors to neoplastic malignancy of the nasopharynx

Inhibition of lysosomal vacuolar proton pump down-regulates cellular acidification and enhances E. coli bactofection efficiency

Endosomal escape is considered a crucial barrier that needs to be overcome by integrin-mediated E. coli for gene delivery into mammalian cells. Bafilomycin, a potent inhibitor of the H+ proton pump commonly employed to lower endosomal pH, was evaluated as part of the E. coli protocol during delivery. We found an increase in green fluorescent protein expression up 6.9, 3.2, 5.0, 2.8, and 4.5 fold in HeLa, HEK-293, A549, HT1080, and MCF-7 respectively, compared to untreated cells. Our result showed for the first time that Inhibition of lysosomal VATPase enhances E. coli efficiency

Quantitative analysis of the expression of p53 gene in colorectal carcinoma by using real-time PCR

Colorectal carcinoma ranks third among ten leading causes of cancer in Malaysia. The colorectal carcinoma tumourigenesis involves the inactivation of tumour suppressor genes, and activation of proto-oncogenes. The p53 is one of the tumour suppressor genes that is involved in the colorectal carcinogenesis. The p53 gene is located on human chromosome 17p13.1 and comprises of 11 exons. Deficiencies in the p53 gene can cause the cancerous cells to spread to distant organs such as liver, lungs, lymph nodes, spine and bone. The most common p53 abnormalities that can lead to the metastasis of colorectal tumours are mutation and deregulation of the gene. In this study, nine colorectal carcinoma samples were used to establish a simple and sensitive strategy in the study on in vivo p53 expression by using realtime LightCycler SYBR Green I technology

Expression of Selected Inflammatory Cytokine Genes in Bladder Biopsies

Besides the deregulation of oncogene and tumour suppressor gene, bladder carcinoma can also be caused by inflammation. To date, the association of inflammatory cytokines with carcinoma of the bladder (especially the transitional cell carcinomas) is not fully understood. In this study, we report an attempt to examine expression patterns of pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokine genes from normal and tumour tissue biopsies of the human bladder. Our molecular assays involved the use of the GeneXP™ Human Cyto-3 kit and the Reverse Transcription – Polymerase Chain Reaction test. Due to limitation in our experimental process, mainly attributed by inconsistencies in the results obtained between the two assay systems, we cannot reach a conclusion regarding the association of the six selected inflammatory cytokine genes (IL-8, IL-12A, IL-18, TGF-β1, TGF- β2, and TGF-β3) with bladder carcinoma. However, our data provided early novel evidence of expression of four inflammatory cytokine genes, namely IL-12A, TGF-β1, TGF-β2, and TGF-β3 in tissues derived from the human bladder

Short homologies efficiently generate detectable homologous recombination events

When recombineering bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), it is common practice to design the ends of the donor molecule with 50 bp of homology specifying its insertion site. We demonstrate that desired recombinants can be produced using intermolecular homologies as short as 15 bp. Although the use of shorter donor end regions decreases total recombinants by several fold, the frequency of recombinants with correctly inserted donor molecules was high enough for easy detection by simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening. This observation may have important implications for the design of oligonucleotides for recombineering, including significant cost savings, especially for high-throughput projects that use large quantities of primers