The Potential of Algae in Treating Celiac Disease

Compounds found in algae, such as bioactive substances, sulfated polysaccharides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, have been found to have positive effects on the immune system. Previous research has shown that algae can also benefit digestive system disorders. They possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can influence the balance of gut microbiota and maintain the integrity of the intestinal lining. Celiac disease (CD), a disorder caused by an abnormal immune response to gluten, results in inflammation and damage to the intestinal lining, leading to problems with nutrient absorption. Although a lifelong gluten-free diet is the only treatment option for this disease, it is challenging to adhere to. Therefore, recent studies have focused on finding supplementary or alternative therapies for celiac disease patients. Traditional medical treatments, like anti-inflammatory and biological drugs, are associated with significant side effects and are not suitable for supplementary therapy for this group of patients. Algae shows promise as a potential research area for treating CD; however, their specific effects on this condition have not been widely studied. The aim of this study was to gather current information and draw attention to the potential use of algae extracts in treating CD to encourage further research in this field

Exploring conserved mRNA-miRNA interactions in colon and lung cancers

Aim: The main goal of this analysis was prioritization of co-expressed genes and miRNAs that are thought to have important influences in the pathogenesis of colon and lung cancers. Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as small and endogenous noncoding RNAs which regulate gene expression by repressing mRNA translation or decreasing stability of mRNAs; they have proven pivotal roles in different types of cancers. Accumulating evidence indicates the role of miRNAs in a wide range of biological processes from oncogenesis and tumor suppressors to contribution to tumor progression. Colon and lung cancers are frequently encountered challenging types of cancers; therefore, exploring trade-off among underlying biological units such as miRNA with mRNAs will probably lead to identification of promising biomarkers involved in these malignancies. Methods: Colon cancer and lung cancer expression data were downloaded from Firehose and TCGA databases and varied genes extracted by DCGL software were subjected to build two gene regulatory networks by parmigene R package. Afterwards, a network-driven integrative analysis was performed to explore prognosticates genes, miRNAs and underlying pathways. Results: A total of 192 differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes within gene regulatory networks were derived by ARACNE algorithm. BTF3, TP53, MYC, CALR, NEM2, miR-29b-3p and miR-145 were identified as bottleneck nodes and enriched via biological gene ontology (GO) terms and pathways chiefly in biosynthesis and signaling pathways by further screening. Conclusion: Our study uncovered correlated alterations in gene expression that may relate with colon and lung cancers and highlighted the potent common biomarker candidates for the two diseases

Interpretation of tongue squamous cell carcinoma via protein-protein interaction network construction and analysis

Background: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma is one of the prominent cancers in the oral cavity. Molecular investigations based on interaction analysis can be promising towards providing a better resolution of malignant neoplasms. Here, the protein-protein interaction network of tongue cancer is studied. Methods: The protein-protein interaction network was constructed by the application of Cytoscape 3.5.1 and the related algorithms. Centrality analysis via the degree, betweenness, and closeness centralities was conducted. Results: The result indicated that there are seven chief proteins in the network foundation. Moreover, enrichment evaluation suggested two associated biological processes including Response to UV-A, Response to interlukin-7, cellular response to alcohol, and catenin import into nucleus process using CluePedia. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the identified central panel proteins and their related biological processes can shed light on the neoplasm mechanisms and are worth pursuing for clinical approaches. © 2018, Cancer Research Center (CRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Protein interaction mapping related to to becker muscular dystrophy

Objective Becker Muscular Dystrophy (BMD) is a neuromuscular disorder which is incurable. In this research protein interaction network of most associated proteins with BMD to provide better clarification of disorder underlying mechanism was investigated. Materials & Methods The related genes to BMD were retrieved via string database and conducted by Cytoscape and the related algorithms. The network centrality analysis was performed based on degree, betweenness, closeness, and stress parameters. Gene ontology and clustering were performed via ClueGO analysis. Results DMD as the super-hub as well as other central proteins including UTRN, TTN, DNM2, and RYR1 are important in BMD in terms of interactive features. The impairment of muscular contraction may be vital in BMD disease pathogenesis as it is the highlighted biological process term obtained by ClueGO analysis. Conclusion DMD targeting may be the main concern for dystrophy clinical approaches. However, the other suggested proteins should be evaluated. Targeting these key proteins are required for treatment goals following extensive validation studies. © 2019, Iranian Child Neurology Society. All rights reserved

Interpretation of tongue squamous cell carcinoma via protein-protein interaction network construction and analysis

Background: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma is one of the prominent cancers in the oral cavity. Molecular investigations based on interaction analysis can be promising towards providing a better resolution of malignant neoplasms. Here, the protein-protein interaction network of tongue cancer is studied. Methods: The protein-protein interaction network was constructed by the application of Cytoscape 3.5.1 and the related algorithms. Centrality analysis via the degree, betweenness, and closeness centralities was conducted. Results: The result indicated that there are seven chief proteins in the network foundation. Moreover, enrichment evaluation suggested two associated biological processes including Response to UV-A, Response to interlukin-7, cellular response to alcohol, and catenin import into nucleus process using CluePedia. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the identified central panel proteins and their related biological processes can shed light on the neoplasm mechanisms and are worth pursuing for clinical approaches. © 2018, Cancer Research Center (CRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

The Main Targets of Okadaic Acid Toxin in Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells: An Investigation of Biological Systems

Background: Okadaic acid (OA) is a toxin of polluted shellfish. Consuming the contaminated shellfish is accompanied by diarrhea and paralytic and amnesic disorders. There is a correlation between diarrhea and the consumed OA. Determining the critical targeted genes by OA was the aim of this study. Methods: The transcriptomic data about the effect of OA on human intestinal caco-2 cells were extracted from gene expression omnibus (GEO) and evaluated via the GEO2R program. The significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were included in a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and the central nodes were enriched via gene ontology to find the crucial affected biological terms. Results: Among the 178 significant DEGs plus 50 added first neighbors, four hub-bottleneck genes (ALB, FOS, JUN, and MYC) were determined. Twenty-eight critical biological terms were identified as the dysregulated individuals in response to the presence of OA. “ERK1/2-activator protein-1 (AP-1) complex binds KDM6B promoter” was highlighted as the major class of biological terms. Conclusion: It can be concluded that down-regulation of ALB as a potent central gene leads to impairment of blood homeostasis in the presence of OA. Up-regulation of the other three central genes (JUN, FOS, and MYC) grossly affects the vital pathways in the human body

Protein-protein interaction network analysis of human fibroblast cells treated with ethanol

Introduction: Studies show that ethanol can induce changes in proteomic profile of human fibroblast cells. Some of these proteins are important in promoting cancer. Thus, analyzing function and interaction networks of these proteins are essential for better understanding the carcinogenesis mechanism of ethanol. Materials and Methods: In this study the protein-protein interaction network (PPI) of six significant down-regulated proteins in human fibroblast cells (HFFF2) treated with ethanol were analyzed by using Cytoscape software and its algorithms. Results: PPI network analysis showed that the constructed network consisted of 756 nodes and 1166 edges. Results indicated that Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 with degree = 528 and Betweenness Centrality = 0.74 is a hub protein that ethanol can alter its expression. In addition, module evaluation showed that the hub protein has a key role in different overlapped complexes. On the other hand, annotation studies by using DAVID program indicated that this protein is involved in different important biological processes in the cell. Conclusion: The six down-regulated proteins treated with ethanol may become carcinogenic and can impose vast alterations in other vital biological processes of the cell. Among them, Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 is the most important one. © 2016, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Ethanol and Cancer Induce Similar Changes on Protein Expression Pattern of Human Fibroblast Cell

Ethanol has a vast consumption around the world. Many researches confirmed some adverse effect of this component on human health. In addition, recent studies showed significant alteration in both cellular population, and protein profile of human foreskin fibroblast cell line (HFFF2) in the specific dosage of ethanol. Here, the role and interaction of some proteins (characterized by significant alteration in expression due to ethanol effect) analyzed by proteomics and evaluated by considering cancerous case. 2D-electrophoresis findings of comparison of normal fibroblast cells and treated fibroblast with 270 mM dosage of ethanol analyzed by using SameSpots software, R software, and Cytoscape for protein-protein interaction (PPI) investigation. Six proteins with significantly altered expression associated with fundamental properties in a cell identified in ethanol-treated sample. These include AnnexinA5, Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1, Rho-GDP dissociation inhibitor, Cathepsin L, Cu/Zn-SOD, Rho-GDP dissociation inhibitor, and Serpin peptidase inhibitor. Surprisingly, all these proteins were down-regulated and this pattern is similar to nasopharyngeal carcinoma-associated stromal fibroblast sample. Additionally, protein-protein interaction (PPI) indicates that HNRNPA1, SERPINE1 are hub proteins. Once their expression alters, it can impose vast changes on other molecular function. Based on this approach, ethanol may target same pathways that are related to cancer onset. In addition, some epidemiologic studies proved that ethanol consumption is related to increment of cancer risk. Therefore, more investigation is required in this regard to elicit the feasible relationship

Ethanol-induced chromosomal abnormalities in human fibroblast cells

Introduction: ethanol consumption may impose cytotoxic effects on the human body, by producing toxic metabolites through different pathways. Furthermore, some studies have also linked alcohol consumption to various types of diseases. Therefore, this in vitro study is aimed to assess the ethanol toxic effects on the human fibroblastic chromosome structure. Materials and Methods: G banding staining method was used to determine the karyotype of chromosomal abnormalities of cultured fibroblast cells. Karyogram of ethanol-treated cells after 48 hours of incubation with 54 and 108 mmol of ethanol were assessed against the untreated cultured cells. Results: the comparison between two karyogram models confirmed that lower ethanol concentration (54mmol) caused breakage in chromosome type C and number 1, while with higher concentration (108mmol) breakage was observed in chromosome 9, chromatids as well as endoreplication in some other cells. Conclusion: this study indicates that specific concentrations of ethanol can cause vast alterations in chromosomal structure. Therefore, in general, more care is suggested in consuming this substance. In addition, to confirm the cytotoxic alterations in chromosomal structure in relation to alcohol consumption, using other cell lines and /or in vivo studies, more investigations are warrant. © 2014, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Molecular approaches in obesity studies

The prevalence of obesity as one of the most health concerns has increased globally. This kind of disease has been accounted for several diseases such as type 2 diabetes, different types of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer. Obesity is a multifactorial disease that both environmental factors and genetics play important role in its susceptibly. In molecular biology, characterization of the adipocyte secretome is important in signaling to other organs and in regulating energy balance for evaluating underlines mechanism. Since better understanding of this disease lead to both preventive and post treatment of obesity which is achieved by molecular evaluations, this review underlies the importance of some molecular approaches in the field of obesity