Molecular Biology Research Communications
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Mar 2019

This meta-analysis aimed to provide an up-to-date comprehensive evaluation on the association between the MDM2 40bp indel polymorphism and cancer susceptibility. Eligible studies were retrieved by searching Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar databases up to August 27, 2018. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of association between the polymorphism and cancer risk. The findings of this meta-analysis revealed that the 40bp indel polymorphism significantly increased the risk of overall cancer risk in heterozygous (OR=1.06, 95%CI=1.01-1.11, P=0.016) and ID+DD (OR=1.07, 95%CI=1.01-1.14, P=0.027) genotypes. Stratified analysis by cancer type proposed that the study indel variant significantly associated with the risk of gastrointestinal cancer in heterozygous (OR=1.18, 95%CI=1.06-1.32, P=0.003) and ID+DD (OR=1.18, 95%CI=1.06-1.30, P=0.002) genotypes. The present findings showed a significant association between the MDM2 40bp indel polymorphism and overall cancer risk as well as gastrointestinal cancer susceptibility. Larger and well-designed researches are required to validate the findings association in detail.

In this study 90 individuals of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were developed by crossing subspecies of japonica rice cultivar, ‘Nagdong’ and an indica type cultivar, ‘Cheongcheong’. These individuals were used to identify the quantitative trait loci of panicle traits using SSR markers. A genetic linkage map was constructed using one hundred fifty four simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers covering distance of 1973.6 cM of the whole genome with mean distance of 13.9 cM among markers. QTLs were mapped using composite interval mapping method, nineteen QTLs were recognized for the panicle traits on chromosomes 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 with individual QTL explained 8.8% to 37.9% of phenotypic variation. Two pleiotropic effects loci were found on chromosomes 4 and 6. These QTLs affecting leaf traits, panicle traits and panicle branch traits would be beneficial to high-yield rice improvement.

An elevated cholesterol level might lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Statins block the cholesterol synthesis pathway in the liver. Atorvastatin is the most widespread statin worldwide and, its chemical synthesis requires toxic catalysts, resulting in environmental pollution. Hence, enzymatic synthesis of atorvastatin is desirable. This process could be done by Lactobacillus kefir alcohol dehydrogenase (LKADH). Therefore, recombinant enzyme secretion by Escherichia coli using signal peptides (SPs) might result in easy production and purification. To achieve this objective, we used some online bioinformatics web servers to evaluate the suitable SPs for translocation of LKADH into extracellular spaces. “Signal Peptide Website” and “UniProt” were utilized to retrieve the SPs and LKADH sequences. “SignalP 4.1” was used to determine SPs and their cleavage site location and the results were rechecked by “Philius”. Physicochemical features of SPs were evaluated by “ProtParam”, then solubility of their fusion with LKADH was assessed by “Protein-sol”. Finally, secretion pathway and sub-cellular localization of the selected stable and soluble LKADH fusions were predicted by “PRED-TAT” and “ProtCompB”. Amongst the 41 evaluated SPs, only LPTA_ECOLI, SUBF_BACSU, CHIS_BACSU, SACB_BACAM, CDGT_BACST and AMY_BACLI could translocate LKADH out of cytoplasm. The six selected SPs in the result section were suitable to design a soluble secretory LKADH that accelerate its scale-up production and might be useful in future experimental researches.

ERCC5 plays crucial role in excision repair DNA damage induced by UV in NER pathway. Single neuleotide polymorphism in ERCC5 were responsible for different cancers.Therefore, current study evaluated the relationship between ERCC5 (rs1047768 T>C) polymorphism and the risk of breast cancer in Pakistani population. The rs1047768 polymorphism was screened among 175 females including one hundred breast cancer cases and age matched seventy-five healthy controls. Genotyping was performed with Tetra amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS) PCR and products were observed through electrophoresis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) investigating relationship between genotypes, clinical parameters and risk of breast cancer. Statistical analysis exhibited significant relationship between the TC genotype (OR=7.2, 95% CI=1.5-34.3) and increased breast cancer risk. Moreover, family history (OR=6.25; 95% CI= 2.61-15.00) and late menopause (OR=2.41; 95% CI=1.20-4.83) were found to be breast cancer associated risk factors. In conclusion, ERCC5 (rs1047768 T>C) polymorphism may contribute towards increased risk of breast cancer in Pakistani population.

The current study is focused on determining the mRNA expression levels of tetranectin, to detect oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and thus aiding in its classification at an early stage. RNA was isolated and cDNA synthesis was performed from the saliva samples of the patients and healthy individuals. A semiquantitative PCR based analysis was performed prior to quantitative and expression based analysis using Real time PCR. The study showed that the mRNA levels are much lesser in patients suffering from dysplastic and metastatic tumors as compared to healthy individuals (P≤0.05). This study can be a breakthrough in medical and dentistry studies. One of the most common malignant carcinomas, OSCC is a type of cancer of the mouth. Though surgical methods have been quite effective in delaying the metastasis, the detection methods using histology parameters are not very efficient and the disease is diagnosed generally in the last stages of the cancer. Tetranectin is a protein biomarker which has been used for detection of several cancers including oral cancer where the protein quantity is calculated.

The bacteria which are members of the genus Bacillus are known to produce a wide variety of antimicrobial substances and bacteriocins. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of these bacteriocins on eukaryotic cells such as fungi, yeast and plant seeds. Several strains were screened for antifungal activities and identified by the means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the 16s rRNA gene and sequencing. Our experiments showed that the Bacillus pumilus ZED17 and DFAR8 strains, had antifungal activities against Rhizoctonia solani and selected for further investigations. Extracellular peptides produced by these strains were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and dialysis. Addition of these peptides to Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium inoculated with R. solani indicated significant inhibition of the fungal growth. The antifungal peptides were thermo-stable and remained active after boiling at 100˚C for 15 min. The molecular weight of the peptide with antifungal activity was estimated by electrophoresis on the Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Poly Acrylamide Gel (SDS-PAGE) as about 5 KDa. Structural nature of this peptide was determined after gel extraction by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Moreover, this peptide showed inhibiting effect on seeds germination of some herbs. This peptide could be applied to control herbal fungal disease induced by R. solani which is a broad host range plant pathogen fungus and its inhibition is very important. The peptide also prevents seed germination. Hence, it can be appropriate for inhibiting weeds growth. No significant effect against Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans was observed.