Gene, Cell and Tissue
Volume:9 Issue: 3, Jul 2022

Exosomes are nano-extracellular vesicles that carry biological molecules, including DNA, RNAs, and proteins, throughout the body. They can modulate intercellular communications and play key roles in signaling pathways and physiological responses. In the current review, we focused on exosomal miRNAs’ roles in cancer development.

This research was garnered from a large number of reports published in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer, Islamic Science Citation, and Magiran databases from 2000 to 2021. The keywords used were exosome, cancer, and microRNA.

The roles of exosomes in disease development and cancer have been investigated in several studies. It is revealed that exosome components such as microRNAs contribute to cancer-related processes, including cancer cell proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis.

The findings showed that we could propose exosomes as cancer therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers.

Hair loss is an emotional and stressful condition with an unpredictable profound impact on the social interactions of patients.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of grape sap on apoptosis in hair follicles.

This experimental study was performed on 126 male Wistar rats within a weight range of 30 ± 250 g. The rats were assigned into seven groups, namely bleomycin group, normal saline group, grape sap group (1 mg/kg), grape sap group (10 mg/kg), grape sap group (100 mg/kg), minoxidil group, and minoxidil plus grape sap group (100 mg/kg). The rats received bleomycin (1.7 mL/kg, four times with the interval of 5 days) and then were treated with grape sap for 21 days. The skin samples were taken from rats on days 7, 14, and 21 (i.e., the last day of the treatment).

The results showed a significant increase in the groups treated with grape sap, compared to the bleomycin-treated group in terms of the number of follicles, sebaceous glands, and blood vessels at the base of every follicle, hair growth length, total antioxidant capacity, and BCL2 gene expression. The use of grape sap showed beneficial effects on the reduction of hair fall.

According to the results, it seems that grape sap can be employed as a non-chemical drug due to its rich compounds, especially antioxidants, and decreases apoptosis in hair follicle cells through increasing the expression ratio of BCL2/BAX, thereby stimulating hair growth.

LncRNAs have been shown to be implicated in the initiation and progression of gastric cancer (GC). Here, the transcription levels of the AK023391 and FOXO3a genes, as well as their relationship with clinical traits, were examined in GC.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 50 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) GC tumor and 50 normal tissues. The RNA levels of the FOXO3a and AK023391 genes encoding lncRNAs were evaluated by real-time RT-PCR.

A significant difference was observed in themRNA level of AK023391 between GC tumor and normal tissues (Mean difference = 2.683, P = 0.0371). The transcription level of FOXO3A showed no remarkably significant difference between GC and normal tissues (Mean difference = 0.9177, P = 0.2199). In addition, AK023391 and FOXO3a mRNA expression levels showed no significant associations with the clinicopathologic features of GC. Also, we found no significant correlation between the expressions of AK023391 and FOXO3a in GC tissues (R = 0.014; P = 0.34).

Our finding suggested that there might be a significant relationship between the expression level of AK023391 and GC. Our results also showed that there was no correlation between the mRNA levels of the AK023391 and FOXO3a genes in GC tissues.

Breast cancer is the most common female cancer that, despite recent progress, its existing therapies do not have sufficient efficiency, and scientists are trying to find complementary therapies. Medicinal plants, such as pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), attract a great deal of attention in this regard.

The present study aimed to assess the anticancer effects of pomegranate peel alcoholic extract (PPE) in the mouse cellular model (4T1) of breast cancer and investigate the related molecular mechanism of antiproliferative effects of the extract through the evaluation of the expression level of apoptosis genes (ie, BAX and BCL2).

For the accomplishment of the study objectives, after the preparation of PPE, an evaluation of cellular cytotoxicity was carried out using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. According to the MTT assay, the cells were treated for 24 h with selective doses of the extract. Then, ribonucleic acid extraction, complementary deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, and gene expression analysis of BAX and BCL2 using real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed in this study.

The results showed that PPE reduced cancer cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The molecular analysis indicated that observed cell death could be due to an increase in the BAX/BCL2 ratio.

Overall, PPE can be proposed as a potential complementary therapy for breast cancer. However, further studies on animal models and clinical trials are needed to verify the clinical usage of such complementary drugs.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common disease in the elderly that is associated with impaired metabolism and biology of the hippocampus. Although the role of exercise and natural antioxidants in improving the disease has been reported, the role of muscle contraction-related physical activity along with royal jelly (RJ) consumption is not yet well understood.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of training on positive slope (ETPS) and negative slope (ETNS) with royal jelly (RJ) consumption on O-6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and ATPase gene expression levels in the hippocampus tissue of trimethyltin (TMT)-induced AD rats.

In this experimental trial, 36 male Sprague-Dawley AD rats (induced with 8 mg/kg TMT) were divided into (1) control + normal saline/royal jelly solvent) (Sh); (2) ETPS; (3) ETNS; (4) ETPS + RJ; (5) ETNS + RJ, and (6) RJ groups. Six rats were placed in the healthy control (HC) group. Then the training groups trained on ( + 15 and -15) slopes for eight weeks, five sessions per week, and each session lasted 60 minutes at a speed of 16 m/min. The royal jelly (RJ) groups received 100 mg/kg royal jelly per day by intraperitoneal injection.

ETNS, ETPS, ETPS + RJ, and ETNS + RJ increased MGMT gene expression (P ≤ 0.05). ETPS and ETPS + RJ also increased ATPase gene expression (P≤0.05). However, RJ had no significant effect on increasing MGMT and ATPase gene expression in the hippocampus tissue of AD rats (P ≥ 0.05).

It seems that the improvement of DNA damage markers and energy levels depends on the type of contraction. Although training on positive and negative slopes with royal jelly consumption has an interactive effect on DNA repair markers, training on a positive slope and royal jelly consumption has an interactive effect on ATPase gene expression.

There is evidence that the incidence of trisomy 21 has a direct linear relationship with maternal age, and older women are at a higher risk for giving birth to neonates with Down syndrome (DS).

The present study aimed to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of combined first-trimester screening (FTS) for DS in women of different ages in Southwest Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, FTS was conducted on 7192 pregnant women in the 11th to 13th week of gestational age, referred to the Narges Medical Genetics and Prenatal Diagnosis Laboratory, Ahvaz, Iran. Amniocentesis and cytogenetic analysis were performed in all women with an estimated risk of 1 in 100 and above.

The FTS detection rate of DS was 83.3%, with the false positive rates of 2.1% and 13.5% in young women and those over 35 years, respectively. A significant correlation (r = 0.137, P < 0.001) was observed between the high risk of DS (1:100) and maternal age. The high risk of DS was found to be higher in women over 35 years of age than those under 35 years old (6.67% vs. 1.95%). Total DS prevalence was 2.64 per 1000 cases. The prevalence of DS in women under and over 35 years of age was 1.95 and 6.67 per 1000 pregnancies, respectively.

First-trimester screening is an effective method for estimating the risk of DS in women under or over 35 years of age. Although an advanced maternal age is associated with a higher prevalence of DS, clinicians should recommend FTS as the first-line screening method regardless of maternal age.

Extraction by conventional methods such as Soxhlet requires a long time and the possibility of damage to heatsensitive compounds.

In this study, modern ultrasoundmethods used to perform and investigate the antibacterial properties of plant extracts were compared.

The extracts of Mentha piperita, Rosmarinus officinalis, and Withania somnifera were prepared by an ultrasound device. Ten Escherichia coli strains were isolated from poultry stool samples. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) plant extracts against E. coli were determined using the microdilution method.

The results showed that the lowest inhibitory concentrations of rosemary, peppermint, and wind cheese extracts prepared by ultrasound were equal to 3.1 mg/mL, while the highest inhibitory concentrations of these extracts were equal to 25, 25, and 50 mg/mL, respectively. The lowest lethal concentrations of rosemary, peppermint, and wind cheese extracts were 6.25 mg/mL, while the highest inhibitory concentrations of these extracts were 25, 25, and 50 mg/mL, respectively. The lowest bactericidal concentrations of rosemary, peppermint, and wind cheese extracts prepared by ultrasonic waves were equal to 6.25 mg/mL, while the highest lethal concentrations of these extracts were equal to 50, 25, and 100 mg/mL, respectively.

According to the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the use of ultrasonic waves is a fast, effective, and economical method for extracting plant components. In addition, the methanolic extract of peppermint has the most inhibitory and lethal properties.