Objective(s): Our previous study showed that a newly designed tracer radioiodinated 6- (3-morpholinopropoxy) -7-ethoxy-4- (3' - iodophenoxy) quinazoline ([125I] PYK) is promising for the evaluation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) status and prediction of gefitinib treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.EGFR is over-expressed and mutated also in glioblastoma. In the present study, the expressions and mutation of EGFR were tested with [125I] PYK in glioblastoma in vitro and in vivo to determine whether this could be used to predict the sensitivity of glioblastoma to gefitinib treatment.Methods: Glioblastoma cell lines with different expression of EGFR were tested. Growth inhibition of cell lines by gefitinib was assessed by the 3- (4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay. Uptake levels of [125I] PYK were evaluated in cell lines in vitro. Tumor targeting of [125I] PYK was examined by a biodistribution study and imaging by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).Results: High concentrations of gefitinib were needed to suppress EGFR-mediated proliferation. The uptake of [125I] PYK in cell lines in vitro was low, and showed no correlation with EGFR expression or mutation status. Biodistribution study and SPECT imaging with [125I] PYK for xenografts showed no [125I] PYK uptake.Conclusion: The results showed prediction of gefitinib effectiveness was difficult in glioblastoma by [125I] PYK, which might be due to the complicated expression of EGFR status in glioblastoma. Thus, new tracers for sites downstream of the mutant EGFR should be investigated in further studies.

Background: Odontogenic cysts and tumors develop from the dental follicle of asymptomatic impacted teeth. Odontogenic tissues express the epidermal growth factor receptor family (EGFR), which mediates cell proliferation, survival, and neoplastic differentiation. The present study aimed to compare the immunohistochemical expression of EGFR and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in the dental follicle of impacted wisdom teeth with normal and abnormal radiographic size.Methods: In this analytical study, immunohistochemical staining of EGFR and HER2 was performed on 30 normal and 30 abnormal follicles of impacted third molars. Follicles with a width of <2.5 mm were considered normal, whereas those with a width of ≥2.5 mm were regarded as abnormal. The immunoreactive score (IRS) was used to report the expression levels of EGFR and HER2. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software. Age and sex were compared in normal and abnormal groups with independent t test and Chi square test, respectively. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The EGFR and HER2 overall expression was high in all normal and abnormal follicles. The comparison of the percentage of stained cells and intensity of EGFR and HER2 staining in normal and abnormal follicles were not significantly different (P=0.73, P=0.63, P=0.95, respectively). Conclusion: Due to the high expression of EGFR and HER2 in normal and abnormal follicles, as well as the lack of significant differences in these two groups, the radiographic size of dental follicles might not indicate the potential capabilities of their cells, and more research in this field is recommended.

Background: Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor is observed in 50 – 70% of colorectal carcinomas and is associated with poor prognosis. The objective of this study was to analyze whether epidermal growth factor receptor expression predicts tumor response and sphincter preserving in patients treated with preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Methods: This study was conducted on 34 patients with locally-advanced rectal adenocarcinoma who were treated with preoperative chemo radiation therapy. The patients had histologicallyproven adenocarcinoma of the rectum with the inferior margin of the tumor located no farther than 6 cm from the anal verge. Preoperative radiotherapy was delivered to the pelvis with 60CO to 50.4 Gy. All patients received simultaneous chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, 300 mg/m2 IV infused over 24 hr during radiotherapy on days 1 – 5 every week; 28 patients received oxaliplatin 50 – 60 mg/m2 weekly during radiotherapy. The patients were restaged by physical examination and pelvic CT, between four and six weeks later. Then, they were referred to a surgeon who was expert in gastrointestinal cancer surgery. Subsequently, postsurgical specimen was histopathologically examined and graded according to the Mandard criteria for assessment of pathologic response after neo-adjuvant chemoradiation. Immunohistochemistry for epidermal growth factor receptor was determined at the preradiation biopsy and was evaluated according to the extension and staining intensity. Results: Fourteen (41%) out of 34 tumors were epidermal growth factor receptor positive. Twenty (59%) patients responded to pelvic preoperative chemoradiation. Sixteen (47%) patients achieved complete response with no residual tumor in the resected specimen; four (12%) were downstaged (partial response). Response to pelvic radiotherapy was observed in 80% of those negative for epidermal growth factor receptor and in 28% of those with positive epidermal growth factor receptor (P = 0.005). Only two of 14 positive epidermal growth factor receptor patients achieved a complete response, while 14 of 20 of the negative epidermal growth factor receptor patients developed complete response. In our study, the sphincter preservation rate was 43% in positive epidermal growth factor receptor patients and 80% in those who did not express epidermal growth factor receptor (P = 0.036). Conclusion: Epidermal growth factor receptor expression in the diagnostic biopsy of locallyadvanced rectal cancer treated with chemoradiation therapy may serve as an important predictor of complete response to preoperative treatment.

Introduction: As we know assisted reproductive technology has become the frontier of infertility treatment. Also, the core of an assisted reproduction program is oocyte quality because one of the best ways to improve embryo quality is to improve oocyte quality. There are several ways to improve the quality of maturation and development of embryos, one way is using of different factors in media such as; cytokines and growth factors. This study was, therefore, set up to investigate the effect of LIF together with EGF on rate of maturation and fertilization of mouse oocytes.Materials and Methods: Germinal vesicle oocytes were randomly assigned to four treatment groups. The base culture medium was Waymouth. Oocytes in treatment groups were cultured in the same medium supplemented with 1000IU/ml leukemia inhibitory factor (Treatment 1), 10ng/ml recombinant human epidermal growth factor (Treatment 2), and 1000IU/ml LIF+ 10ng/ml rhEGF (Treatment 3). After 24 and 48 h on treatment, the significance of differences in maturation was evaluated by the one way analysis of variance. Step 2: MΠ oocytes were randomly divided to four treatment groups. The base culture medium was HTF. Oocytes in treatment groups were cultured in the same medium supplemented with 1000IU/ml LIF (Treatment 1), 10ng/ml rhEGF (Treatment 2) and 1000IU/ml LIF+ 10ng/ml rhEGF (Treatment 3). After that capacitated spermatozoa were added to every drop. After 4-6 h all of the oocytes transferred in HTF+ 10% HSA for culture. After 24 and 48 h embryonic development to 8-cell were evaluated and data were evaluated using one way analysis of variance.Results: In the EGF group, maturation improved significantly than LIF group (p<0.05). On the other hand the rate of 8-16 cell embryos formation after 48 h culture in LIF group was significantly higher than those supplemented with EGF.Conclusion: Therefore, in vitro maturation of GV oocytes was improved in the presence of EGF but LIF is able to improvement of fertilization.

Background: Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) is a monomer polypeptide, which is produce from different tissue in human. It has many applications in medicine and Pharmaceutical Science. The main source of EGF is Parotid gland. Production of EGF from animal’s source has many disadvantages and it is not suitable for human applications. The best way for production of this protein is recombinant DNA technology, batch fermentation and High cell density culture for E. coli. In this study, we report the heterologous over-expression of EGF in E. coli BL21 (DE3).Methods: Escherichia coli is the most widely used host for producing recombinant proteins. Using BL21 derived strain can reduce proteolyses of heterologous protein. In this study we increased several times recombinant human EGF production in E. coli BL21 (DE3) by optimization media and temperature in induction duration. For this reason the transformed BL21 (DE3) with pET28a including synthetic gene kinetic cell growth and rhEGF production investigated at three different medium like LB, TB and 32Y with different temperatures such as 24, 28, 32 and 37oC. The results of experiments were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and cell growth and recombinant protein production kinetics.Results: The optimal expression of EGF in E. coli can be easily achieved when the growth conditions are properly controlled. Media components, induction time, growth temperature, and IPTG concentration have profound effects on the way in which recombinant protein is produced. In this study the maximum expression was obtained from TB medium at 28oC with IPTG concentration of 0.1mM. The last OD600 and dry cell weight at this condition was 12.2 and 5.61 g/L respectively. The final yield was 32% of total soluble proteins, which has an important value for EGF production in Escherichia coli.Conclusion: Using rich medium like TB and decrease temperatures can improve the amount of protein considerably.