Research in Molecular Medicine
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Feb 2015

Recently new reports have proved the pluripotency of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) derived from male gonad. This pluripotent stem cells resembled Embryonic stem cells recognized as Embryonic Stem like cells (ES like cells). ES like cells forms sharp edge colonies that are immunopositive to pluripotency markers and have differentiation capacity to Ectodermal, Mesodermal and Endodermal layers. ES like cells may have therapeutique application in tissue engineering and treatment for disease because of their ability to differentiation into various cell types. Embryonic stem like cells derived culturing of spermatogonial cells which has self-renewal and differentiation capacity to all three germ layers make them as a new and unlimited source for cell therapy strategies. The perspective of pluripotency and differantiaion ability of ES like cells obtained in mice has clinical application in other species particularly in humans that solves many problems of cell therapy in regenerative medicine. These characteristics propose the therapeutic use of spermatogonial stem cells as a possible alternative source for generation of various cell types that are usful in treatment of degenerative diseases.

Backgroud: Protein-protein interaction, plays a key role in signal transduction in signaling pathways. Different approaches are used for prediction of these interactions including experimental and computational approaches. In conventional node-edge protein-protein interaction networks, we can only see which proteins interact but ‘structural networks’ show us how these proteins interact which can give us so much information about the network. Structural networks help us understand the molecular basis of cellular functions and regulatory mechanisms in signaling pathways. In this study, we aimed to construct a structural network for a part of cAMP signaling pathway which has PKA (cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit alpha) as the hub. A part of cAMP signaling pathway was selected from kegg database and interactions of PKA as hub protein with some of its partners were achieved using Hex8.00 software. The interfaces of the resulted complexes were predicted by KFC2 server. Hex8.00, as a docking software, gave us the complexes from the interaction of PKA with 15 proteins of its partners. For each complex, the KFC2 server gave us the amino acid composition of the interfaces. Using this amino acid composition, we draw a structural network which shows the binding sites on PKA surface. We have constructed a structural network for cAMP signaling pathway which shows how PKA interacts with its partners. This network can be used for understanding the mechanisms of signal transduction and also for drug design purposes.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of methanolic extract of Achillea millefolium L. (MEA) on the antiproliferative activity of bleomycin on human prostate cancer and normal skin cells. Human prostate cancer cell (DU-145) and human non-malignant fibroblast cell (HFFF2) were treated with MEA at various concentrations (20, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 µg/ml), bleomycin alone and with their combinations. Further their MEA and bleomycin effects on cell viability were evaluated. Free radical scavenging property was determined for this herbal extract. The combination of Achillea millefolium with bleomycin increased significantly inhibition of cell growth in cancer cell. MEA enhanced significantly cytotoxicity induced by bleomycin with 60% and 49% in survival rate at doses 1000 and 2000 µg/ml, respectively, while it was 85% in bleomycin-treated cells. MEA did not exhibit any cytotoxicity on HFFF2 cells. Study suggests that Achillea millefolium enhanced the cell toxicity induced by bleomycin in the prostate cancer cell without any significant toxicity on normal cell.

Gene identification represents the first step to a better understanding of the physiological role of the underlying protein and disease pathways, which in turn serves as a starting point for developing therapeutic interventions. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a hereditary metabolic disorder characterized by high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Hypercholesterolemia is a quantitative trait that is controlled by interactions among several quantitative trait loci. Many biological data is presented in the context of biological networks and evaluation of biological networks is considered as the essential key to understanding complex biological systems. In this research, we used combination of information about quantitative trait loci of hypercholesterolemia with information of gene ontology and protein–protein interaction network for identification of genes associated with hypercholesterolemia. For this disease, we introduced 16 new genes which were in quantitative trait loci regions and were associated with the hypercholesterolemia disease in terms of gene ontology characteristics.

There are some reports in the literature showing that hypothalamus synthesizes and secretes amino acid neurotransmitters. According to several studies, elevated serum levels of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a potent inhibitory neurotransmitter, have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of neural diseases. The purpose of this research was to estimate the effects of curcumin on GABA’s level in rat''s hypothalamus. We used a standard animal model of rats (n=18) with mean weight 190-210 g, to determine the effects of administration of curcumin at the end of the experimental period, one week, two weeks, four weeks and eight weeks, at doses of 250 mg/kg and 625 mg/kg on GABA level in hypothalamus. On the day of experiment, hypothalamus was extracted and homogenized through a 10 -µm filter, rinsed with PBS, re-filtered, and centrifuged at 1200 rpm for 15 min. Then rat hypothalamus was weighed, and homogenized (10% w/v) in 0.1 M PBS with poltroon homogenizer at pH 7.4. Homogenates were used immediately for determination of GABA level. Quantifications of GABA in all samples were performed by enzymatic method. Our results indicate that curcumin has a potential to increase GABA content in the rats'' hypothalamus. These results suggest that curcumin holds promise as a natural agent to control or decrease the signs of lack of GABA level. Curcumin may be used clinically as a neuro-protective drug for treatment of patients suffering from neuron damage.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the causing agent of many hospital infections and metallo-beta-lactamases (MBL) are being reported with increasing frequency. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) and VIM-1 gene in multidrug-resistant strains of P. aeruginosa isolates and to compare the methods of phenotypic and molecular detection. In 2011- 2012, 50 samples of non – duplicate P. aeruginosa were isolated from intensive care units and tested for MBL production using phenotypic methods. Minimal Inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by commercial micro dilution panels. The presence of metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) genes was established by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers targeting the bla (VIM) genes. We used 50 clinical isolates amongst which 18 (%36) were found resistant to imipenem. Productions of MBL were detected in 15 (30%) isolates applying phenotypic method. PCR assay showed that 9 (18%) isolates carried aVIM-1 gene. MBL- producing strains were shown 100% resistant to cefepime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and imipenem. Amikacin and ofloxacin appeared to be the most active antimicrobial agent. These findings demonstrate the emergence of bla (VIM-1) producing P. aeruginosa in North of Iran. VIM metallo-beta-lactamases producing P. aeruginosa strains can cause serious infections that are difficult to treat, therefore, there is a need for rapid identification and the timely implementation of infection control measures in combination with systematic surveillance to monitor its potential clonal spread.

Fluoride (F−) is a trace element that is incorporated into bone mineral during bone formation. This study assessed the effect of increasing Fluoride doses on the bone formation and microarchitecture on the Femur of rats by histological, and histometrical methods. A total of 16 rats was divided into one group of control and three groups of animals that received 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 mg/kg of Fluoride daily for 3 weeks by gavage. Rats which were exposed to inorganic Fluoride in drinking water produced significantly more levels of bone lesions than the controls. Numerous osteocyte lacunae buried at various depths were evident, and the lacunar walls were irregular with mineralized segments running in all directions. The trabeculae of cancellous bone in these animals contained large amounts of osteoid. The results of the present study indicated that the ingestion of Fluoride affected morphological changes in the Femur of rats.