[New-generation monoclonal antibodies and inhibitors in the treatment of gastric cancer: recent findings and future perspectives]

Gastric cancer [GC] is the fourth most common disease worldwide and approximately one million people are diagnosed as having gastric adenocarcinoma. Each year, nearly 700,000 people lose their lives because of GC. Several altered molecular pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of GC, which can be targeted by specific monoclonal antibodies [mAbs]. In recent years, the use of mAbs has provided considerable success in the treatment of cancer. Such mAbs are laboratory-produced molecules that incur changes to precisely bind to specific sites. These drugs are similar to naturally produced antibodies as part of our immune system's response. They play an important role in the treatment of many diseases, such as the different types of cancer. In cancer therapy, bispecific antibodies are used for targeting immune effector cells to destruct tumor cells [cancer immunotherapy] or neutralize two different pathways through inactivation on the level of either receptors or ligands. It seems that the development of this type of therapeutic agents to effectively treat a variety of cancers such as GC, is inevitable. The aim of the present study was to describe molecular-targeted therapy by using new-generation mAbs and inhibitors for the treatment of GC

[Long non-coding RNAs as novel biomarkers of gastric cancer]

Gastric cancer [GC] is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Long non-coding RNAs [LncRNAs], a small class of molecules that are transcribed as non-coding RNAs with lengths ranging from [200 nt to 100 kb have no protein coding capacity. Ectopic expression of LncRNAs, plays an important role in the development of GC. These molecules are involved in physiological cellular processes such as genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, maintenance of pluripotency and organogenesis through making changes in chromatin, transcription, translation, and processing. It has been known that LncRNAs act as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Some studies show that LncRNAs could interact with miRNA and block miRNA access to their mRNA targets. Recent studies have shown that LncRNAs involve in tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, proliferation, migration and differentiation, and apoptosis. They can be used as novel biomarkers for the early detection of GC as well as therapeutic targets. In this study we aimed to describe the latest findings about the role of LncRNAs in the development of GC

Helicobacterpylori and gastric cancer: peptide-based new therapeutic strategies

Helicobacter pylori [H. pylori] is the most important pathogens with the ability to persist for decades in the stomach; and it is considered as the most common agent for gastric cancer

The development of disease depends on factors such as strain-specific bacterial constituents, host susceptibility and environmental cofactors

Eradication of H. pylori can not only remarkably reduce the risk of relapse of peptic ulcers but also decrease the risk of gastric cancer in infected individuals with no severe injury or malignant tumor. In most cases, the gastric MALT lymphoma can be completely treated by the eradication of H. pylori infection

The use of anti-H pylori or anti-cancer therapeutic peptides, may be an effective strategy for the prevention of gastric cancer

Therefore, this review was aimed to assess literature regarding H. pylori virulence factors associated with gastric cancer as well as new therapeutic methods based on peptides

new generation of cold-shock vector derived from pCold I [pCold I-LZ] for expression of recombinant peptides and proteins

Finding shows that there were several problems in the treatment of Helicobacterpylori infection such as the emergence of resistance to the antibiotics, the risk of recrudescence, and the high cost of treatment. The ineffectiveness of conventional treatment mechanisms against cancer cells reveals the importance of peptides as a novel therapeutic approach. However, the short length of peptides was a restriction factor to realise this approach. As a result, one or more amino acid residues were added during the cloning process that leads to the loss of the original peptide folding. The aim of study was to change the structure of the pCold I vector using site-directed mutagenesis in order to do the directional cloning of each target gene and express/purify the small peptides and native proteins without any additional N-terminus amino acids. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed by plasmid amplification in two individual PCR reactions. Two PCR products were mixed and denatured to separate the nascent strands of plasmid DNA from the parental ones. Slow cooling conditions were used to allow reannealing of PCR products. The products were digested with Dpnl that digests methylated parental strands, and then transformed into E.coli DH5a. The mutant plasmid was identified by digestion with Ndel and Peel and sequencing. The mutant plasmids were not digested by Ndel. The presence of mutation was also confirmed by sequencing. In mutant vector the cut sites of both the first restriction enzyme at the multiple cloning site [at the nucleotide level] and factor Xa [at the amino acid level] became the same. The modified vector can be widely used for a fast and more convenient cloning and expression of the native proteins and short peptides, including anti-H.pylori peptides and anti-angiogenesis, gastric anti-CSCs and anti-metastatic peptides

Inactivation of model viruses suspended in fresh frozen plasma using novel methylene blue based device

There is a concern on safety of human Fresh Frozen Plasma [FFP] as it is a source of some medicinal products. The possibility of transmission of blood-borne are reported often due to emerging viruses. There are some Pathogen Reduction Technologies [PRT] to inactivate viruses. Methylene Blue [MB] based method is one of them. The aim of this study was to examine new designated device to inactivate model viruses. Four model viruses were used in this study: Vesicular stomatitis virus [VSV], Herpes Simplex Virus I [HSV-1], Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus [BVDV] and Polio Virus. 50% Tissue Culture Infective Dose [TCID 50] and Reed-Muench Methods were used to titer the viruses. MB in two final concentration of 0.1 microM and 1 microM and illumination in about 627 nm with red LED [Lamp Emitting Diode] for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes were used. Three replicates employed for each experiments. 1 microM concentration of MB showed more effective than 0.1 microM in all designed illumination period for inactivation of HSV, VSV and BVDV. This method also demonstrated best results for enveloped model viruses. The most Log reduction for HSV, VSV and BVDV were 6.28, 5.54 and 6.22, respectively. For HSV and BVDV inactivation, the best illumination period was 45 minutes. Model viruses showed sensitivity combination of MB and illumination using red LEDs. As results show this device could inactivate model viruses and reduce their titer very close to approved commercial devices, in compare