Specification of Bacteriophage Isolated Against Clinical Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of resistant bacteria is being increasingly reported around the world, potentially threatening millions of lives. Amongst resistant bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most challenging to treat. This is due to emergent MRSA strains and less effective traditional antibiotic therapies to Staphylococcal infections. The use of bacteriophages (phages) against MRSA is a new, potential alternate therapy. In this study, morphology, genetic and protein structure of lytic phages against MRSA have been analysed. METHODS: Isolation of livestock and sewage bacteriophages were performed using 0.4 μm membrane filters. Plaque assays were used to determine phage quantification by double layer agar method. Pure plaques were then amplified for further characterization. Sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and random amplification of polymorphic DNA were run for protein evaluation, and genotyping respectively. Transmission electron microscope was also used to detect the structure and taxonomic classification of phage visually. RESULTS: Head and tail morphology of bacteriophages against MRSA were identified by transmission electron microscopy and assigned to the Siphoviridae family and the Caudovirales order. CONCLUSION: Bacteriophages are the most abundant microorganism on Earth and coexist with the bacterial population. They can destroy bacterial cells successfully and effectively. They cannot enter mammalian cells which saves the eukaryotic cells from lytic phage activity. In conclusion, phage therapy may have many potential applications in microbiology and human medicine with no side effect on eukaryotic cells.

Detection and characterization of viruses causing hand, foot and mouth disease from children in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common viral infection among infants and children. The major causative agents of HFMD are enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16). Recently, coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) infections were reported in neighboring countries. Infected infants and children may present with fever, mouth/throat ulcers, rashes and vesicles on hands and feet. Moreover, EV71 infections might cause fatal neurological complications. Since 1997, EV71 caused fatalities in Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to identify and classify the viruses which detected from the patients who presenting clinical signs and symptoms of HFMD in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia. From December 2012 until July 2013, a total of 28 specimens were collected from patients with clinical case definitions of HFMD. The HFMD viruses were detected by using semi-nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (snRT-PCR). The positive snRTPCR products were sequenced and phylogenetic analyses of the viruses were performed. 12 of 28 specimens (42.9%) were positive in snRT-PCR, seven are CVA6 (58.3%), two CVA16 (16.7%) and three EV71 (25%). Based on phylogenetic analysis studies, EV71 strains were identified as sub-genotype B5; CVA16 strains classified into sub-genotype B2b and B2c; CVA6 strains closely related to strains in Taiwan and Japan. In this study, HFMD in Seri Kembangan were caused by different types of Enterovirus, which were EV71, CVA6 and CVA16.

Biomarker profiling [Erbb2, P53, and PR] for Stage I of breast cancer

Breast cancer [BC] accounts for one of the major health problems around the world. Since the diagnosis process can have great effect on therapy outcomes, we studied the biomarkers specific to breast tumors stage I based on examining different Iranian patients. Cases from different stages were examined to discover their highly expressed proteins. In addition, pathologic evaluations were performed as the diagnosis procedure. Considering positive percentage of over-expressed protein in different stages in the population, it is guessed that over-expression of ErBb2 and PR are positively correlated, while P53 is in negative correlation with them. Therefore, these molecules can probably account for stage I biological marker. This study suggests that alterations in over-expression of specific biomarkers in different stages may be associated to the stage classification, and can help achieve more effective therapies of this malignancy

Her2/neu expression in Wilms' tumor and correlation with histopathologic findings

Wilms' tumor is an emberyonal tumor arising from remnants of immature renal tissue. Her2/neu is an onco-protein which mediates cellular proliferation, differentiation and survival. In the current study, we analyzed Her2/neu expression in 40 Wilms' tumors. The clinico-demographic data of 40 patients with Wilms' tumor were retrieved. Immunohistochemical staining for HER2/neu was performed. Her2/neuimmunoreactivity was evaluated by Canadian Consensus 2007 scoring system. Among the 38 specimens with epithelial component, 68.5% were positive for Her2/neu, whereas there was immunoreactivity in 37% of 38 blastemal, and 12% of 31 stromal components. The Her2/neu expression was significantly higher in early stages [81.5%] than in advanced stages [36.4%] in epithelial component, but not in other components. This study suggested that Her2/neuexpression is associated with epithelial cell differentiation accompanied by lower stages of tumor. No significant relationship was found between Her2/neu positivity and tumor size and patient's age and gender