Iranian South Medical Journal
Year:2021 | Volume:24 | Issue:5|Papers Count:5

Background: ncRNAs have been identified as oncogenic drivers and tumor suppressors in any type of cancer. Although many classes of ncRNAs have been reported, most studies have been performed on microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs can regulate several target genes and affect important processes such as homeostasis, angiogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Located in the p75NTR gene, miR-6165 is known to induce apoptosis in colorectal cell lines, and one study proposed a tumor suppressive role in colorectal cancer. However, its mechanism of action in breast cancer is not completely understood yet. Therefore, this study aimed to consider the expression level and the effect of miR-6165 on the proliferation and migration in breast cancer. Material and methods: Fifty tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues were examined in the study. miR-6165 levels were evaluated by qPCR in breast cancer cell lines and tumor tissues. Pre-mir-6165 was cloned in the pEGFPN1 vector. Next, human breast cancer MCF7 cells were cultured and pre-miR-6165 vector was transfected to breast cancer line. The effects on cell proliferation and migration were investigated with MTT assay and scratch test, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis was performed through enrichment and hub genes finding for miRNA targets. Results: miR-6165 was overexpressed in breast cancer tumor tissues and cell lines. High expression of miR-6165 was directly related to the metastasis. miR-6165 increased proliferation and migration in breast cancer cell line. Conclusions: miR-6165 may function as an oncomir and increase the growth and migration of cells which may consequently serve as a therapeutic goal for breast cancer.

Background: Response variables in most medical and health-related research have an ordinal nature. Conventional modeling methods assume predictor variables to be independent, and consider a large number of samples (n) compared to the number of covariates (p). Therefore, it is not possible to use conventional models for high dimensional genetic data in which p > n. The present study compared the predictive performance of decision trees, ordinal forest, and L1 penalized continuation ratio regression. Materials and Methods: In the present study, three data sets were used. The B-cell data contained 12, 625 gene expression data related to 128 patients with four ordinal levels of response variables. The HCC data related to liver cancer included 1469 genes of 56 patients with three ordinal levels of response variables. The Heart data contained information of five variables in 294 patients undergoing angiography with five ordinal levels of response variables. The performance of the methods was compared based on the same training and test datasets using indicators such as accuracy, gamma, and kappa. Results: For two high-dimensional data sets, the ordinal forest model had a higher predictive ability while for the low-dimensional data set, the L1 penalized continuation ratio model had a better predictive performance. Conclusion: The selection of the best prediction model depends on the data set, and for each data, different methods should be considered to achieve the best model.

Background: White spot syndrome virus (wssv) is the causing agent for white spot disease in shrimp and many crustaceans. This disease is highly contagious and can cause death within 3–, 10 days under normal culture conditions. Therefore, early diagnosis of the virus is a necessity. Materials and Methods: Primers were designed for three regions of the virus genome and one region of the shrimp genome so that they could function together in a reaction. DNA was extracted from 40 samples of shrimp suspected of white spot disease. Primers were then optimized individually to detect white spot virus and after selecting the most suitable one, the virus was detected simultaneously by two pairs of primers. Shrimp genome replication primers were also used as internal control. Results: Among the designed primers, three pairs of primers were selected that amplified one fragment of the shrimp genome and two fragments of the virus genome. Of the 40 samples examined, 28 samples were positive (infected with the virus) and 12 samples were negative, which completely matched the results obtained with the reference kit. Conclusion: To detect white spot virus, examination of two regions of the virus genome is sufficient and reduces the possibility of false negatives. It is also effective to use the shrimp genome to control DNA extraction and PCR steps. The single-step method (PCR) is preferable to the two-step method (Nested PCR) due to its reduced probability of contamination and ease of use.

Bivalves are a class of marine mollusks with high nutritional value in addition to various medicinal products. The Persian Gulf is home to 224 species from 29 families of bivalves identified so far. Based on research conducted in the Persian Gulf or other parts of the world, bioactive compounds exist in their shell and soft tissue. In this review article, we reviewed biomedical research related to bivalves. To this end, after classifying the species in the Persian Gulf, articles related to the evaluation of biomedical applications of bivalves in reputable journals in PubMed and Google Scholar databases were included in this study. Research has shown the presence of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and anti-microbial compounds in bivalves. They have also been used to produce bioadhesives. Many studies have also used them as biomarkers for monitoring environmental pollution. Due to the species diversity of the Persian Gulf and the biomedical potentials of bivalves, more purposeful and practical research is needed for the production and extraction of medical and health products.

A surprisingly large number of sea snail species are venomous. Cone snail venoms are produced in a lengthy tubular duct from a complex venom gland and form a cocktail of many toxins, particularly conotoxins which have high potency and specificity for their target specific receptors. They inhibit various channels, neuromuscular receptors or hormones of the victim, and interfere in the transmitted signals of the prey, or dissuade predators. Cone snails have an amazing ability to quickly convert between two different types of defense-evoked and predation-evoked venoms in response to defensive or predatory stimuli. Various conotoxins and conopeptides such as α,-conotoxins, σ,-conotoxins, ω,-conotoxins, μ,-conotoxins, ψ,-conotoxins, τ,-conotoxins, δ,-conotoxins, κ,-conotoxins and conkunitzins, conantokins, contryphans, Ac1 conotoxins, conoinsulins, granulin-like conotoxins from conoides,augerpeptides derived from the venom peptide family Terebridae,turripeptides from the venom peptide family Turridae,crassipeptides venom peptides from Crassispirids,clathurellipeptides from venomous micro-conoides Clathurellidae, and other toxins such as RFamide peptides and endogenous neuropeptide-like peptides such as conopressins, as well as contulakins have been found in cone snail venoms, which have demonstrated remarkable biological and pharmacological functions. Given the approval of some conotoxins, such as the analgesic medication ziconitide (Prialt®, ) in clinical trials as well as their biomedical potential, current research has focused on these toxins. The use of integrated venomics approaches has dramatically accelerated the detection of conotoxin sequences. It is anticipated that a better understanding and identification of conotoxins and other toxins derived from other sea snails will lead to their use for the treatment of diseases to which humans have succumbed.