Research in Molecular Medicine
Volume:4 Issue: 3, Aug 2016

Receptors and proteins are overexpressed in many human cancer cell membranes rather than normal tissues and are considered as the main molecular targets. Specific tumor- targeting molecules which have high affinity for these receptors can be valuable tools as carrier molecules for targeted cancer therapy and imaging. Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of diagnostic and therapeutic agents are very important. Poor selectivity of cancer therapeutic agents causes toxicity on normal cells that limits maximum effective dose. The Attachment of these agents to macromolecules or their installation on carriers is currently under investigation. This article presents recent developments in the field of targeting agents and introduces different carriers and their applications in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The appearance of multi-drug resistant microorganisms is becoming a global problem. Already several strategies have been employed to overcome antibiotic resistance issue. Developing new antimicrobial compounds from microbial sources could be a beneficial solution. Hence screening programs in order to discover new antibiotics from microbial entities are interesting. Because of high capabilities of extremophiles for adaptation to harsh environmental conditions, the microbial communities of the extreme environments could be regarded as rich resources for new antibacterial metabolites.
In this research different saline environments of Iran have been subjected to screening of antibiotic producing actinomycetes using overlaid method after the ingredient optimization of culture media. The strain which was shown pronounce inhibition zone in the screening step, has been phylogenetically analyzed followed by studying the effect of agar concentration and cultivation time on the production of antibacterial agent(s).
The strain RS1, a rare actinomycete, had antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (PTCC 1330) and Bacillus subtilis (PTCC 1023) and taxonomically belongs to the genus Amycolatopsis with high similarity of 99.6% to Amycolatopsis coloradensis IMSNU 22096T based on sequencing of 16S rRNA gene nucleotide. The zone of growth inhibition of E.coli was the widest when the base layer had contained 1.2% agar, while no significant differences were observed on anti-gram-positive bacterial assay. This strain produced the antibacterial agent at the highest level after 5 days when B. subtilis was used as an indicator, but the production of antibacterial agent active against E.Coli was reached to its highest level on the 3rd days of cultivation and then was decreased significantly.
Due to the results of agar concentration and time course study as well as possessing activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative indicators, it could be concluded that the previously discovered active agent, avaporcin, produced by Amycolatopsis coloradensis which is active only against Gram-negative bacteria, is not the same bioactive compound or , at least, the only bioactive compound produced by RS1 strain and it is worth further investigation in order to purify and identify the active agent.

Bladder cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed genitourinary cancer in Iran, presented in both men and women. BC is a multifactorial trait resulting from the complex interaction between several genes and environmental factors. Long stress-induced non-coding transcript 5 (LSINCT5), a member of the long non-coding RNAs, is abundantly expressed in high proliferative cells, as well as the cells vulnerable to cellular stress in response to chemical carcinogens.
This case-control study aimed to determine any association between LSINCT5 rs2962586 polymorphism and bladder cancer.
A group of 150 patients with BC were compared with 143 subjects as a control group. Genotyping of the rs2962586 polymorphism was done using tetra- primer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS PCR) method.
Genotype and allele distribution were not significantly different between the case and control groups. Smoking was found to be the confounding risk factor for bladder cancer.
Considering the result of our analyses, it seems that LSINCT5 could not affect individual susceptibility to BC among Iranian patients, however, it can be considered as a disease predictor among smokers.

This study focused on isolation and identification of a Phenanthrene (Phe) degrader bacterium and optimization of environmental conditions for Phe degradation.
Enrichment technique was used for isolation and the most effective isolate; named AP was selected based on its Phe biodegradation abilities. The isolate was identified using morphological and biochemical tests as well as16S rDNA sequencing. The effects of various factors such as temperature, pH and C/N on bacterial growth and Phe degradation were investigated using protein assay (Bradford) and Gas Chromatography (GC), respectively.
The selected isolate was identified as Dietzia cinnamea AP. It was able to degrade Phe at pH 6-10 (optimum at 8), temperatures of 25 -45 °C (optimum at 35 °C) and NH4Cl concentrations of 0.5-2.5 gL-1 (optimum at 2 g L-1). By optimization of environmental parameters, within 10 days of fermentation, Phe degradation rate increased by more than 1.2 fold (from 60% to 73%).
D. cinnamea AP was found to be an appropriate candidate for bioremediation applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of D. cinnamea species that can degrade Phe.

By binding SHBG hormone to sex hormones, in addition to carrying them in the blood, they regulate the amount of tissue availability. Since the genetic changes in the structure of globulin affect it’s binding to hormones, so in this study the effects of single nucleotide change in exon 8 or rs 6259 in the incidence of prostate cancer is evaluated.
The study population included 120 patients with prostate cancer and 120 control subjects. After collecting blood samples, DNA was extracted by salting out the method in order to determine the genotype of individuals by RFLP-PCR method. According to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium genotypes and allele frequencies were calculated and a relationship between this variation and prostate cancer were evaluated and by using SPSS 23 software and the relationship between variations. The significance level was considered ≤0.05.
Results indicated that homozygous mutant genotype AA 2.58 (p value= 0.007, OR: 2.58, CI95%: 1.52-4.38) and heterozygous AG 1.18 times (p-value =0.5, OR: 1.18, CI95%: 0.38-3.61) increase chance of getting prostate cancer in carriers. But homozygous of wild genotype GG have the protective role against prostate cancer (p-value =0.005, OR: 0.385, CI95%: 0.23-0.65).
Therefore, Asn allele is one of the main factors in prostate cancer so it can be used as the non-invasive and suitable marker for early detection in susceptible individuals.

The potential of plants, as a safe and eukaryotic system, is considered in the production of recombinant therapeutic human protein today; but the expression level of heterologous proteins is limited by the post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) response in this new technology. The use of viral suppressors of gene silencing can prevent PTGS and improve transient expression level of foreign proteins. In this study, we investigated the effect of p19 silencing suppressor on recombinant human nerve growth factor expression in Nicotiana benthamiana.
The p19 coding region was inserted in the pCAMBIA using NcoI and BstEII recognition sites. Also, the cloned synthesized recombinant human NGF (rhNGF) fragment was cloned directly into PVX vector by ClaI and SalI restriction enzymes. The co-agroinfiltration of rhNGF with p19 viral suppressor of gene silencing was evaluated by dot-blot and SDS-PAGE. The amount of expressed rhNGF protein was calculated by AlphaEaseFC software.
Co-agroinfiltration of hNGF with P19 suppressor showed about forty-fold increase (8% total soluble protein (TSP)) when compared to the absence of P19 suppressor (0.2%TSP).
The results presented here confirmed that the use of P19 gene silencing suppressor derived from tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) could efficiently increase the transient expression of recombinant proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana manifold.

Clopidogrel is a standout amongst the most ordinarily recommended medications to avoid ischemic occasions taking after coronary disorder or stant position. However, impaired responses the therapy as well as resistance to the therapy have also been reported. Genetic variants play an important role in clopidogrel biotransformation of its active metabolite that may subsequently influence the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) 2C19 enzyme (CYP2C19) genotypes which are involved in the activation of clopidogrel in a random Iranian population of various ethnic groups (Persian, Azari, Kurd, etc.). Molecular analysis of CYP2C19 polymorphisms may be helpful in the determination of optimal antiplatelet therapy.
CYP2C19 (*1/*2/*3) variants were assessed by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Length Polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) assays in a representative sample of 154 Iranian patients with ischemic heart disease.
The frequencies of CYP2C19 *1 (normal genotype), *2 (heterozygote) and *3 (homozygote) were 112 (72.7%), 36 (23.4%) and 6 (3.9%), respectively.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations are more useful to be practiced in our country compared with other countries. Physicians should identify poor metabolizers for consideration of other antiplatelet medications or alternative dosing strategies.