Clinically significant dysregulation of hsa-miR-30d-5p and hsa-let-7b expression in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer

Background: The cyclin E2 [CYCE2] is an important regulator in the progression and development of NSCLC, and its ectopic expression promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration in several tumors, including Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer [NSCLC]. However, the upregulation of CYCE2 in NSCLC cells suggested that it has a key role in tumorigenicity. In addition, the RAS family proteins as oncoproteins were activated in many major tumor types and its suitability as the therapeutic target in NSCLC was proposed. Considering the crucial role of microRNAs, it was hypothesized that altered expression of hsa-miR-30d-5p and hsa-let-7b might provide a reliable diagnostic tumor marker for diagnosis of NSCLC

Method: Real-time RT-PCR approach could evaluate the expression alteration of hsa-miR-30d-5p and hsa-let-7b and it was related to the surgically resected tissue of 24 lung cancer patients and 10 non-cancerous patients. The miRNAs expression was associated with clinicopathological features of the patients

Results: Hsa-miR-30d showed a significant downregulation [p=0.0382] in resected tissue of NSCLC patients compared with control group. Its expression level could differentiate different stages of malignancies from each other. The ROC curve analysis gave it an AUC=0.73 [p=0.037] which was a good score as a reliable biomarker. In contrast, hsa-let-7b was significantly overexpressed in tumor samples [p=0.03]. Interestingly, our findings revealed a significant association of hsa-let-7b in adenocarcinoma tumors, compared to Squamous Cell Carcinomas [SCC] [p<0.05]. Also, analysis of ROC curve of hsa-let-7b [AUC=0.74, p-value=0.042] suggests that it could be as a suitable biomarker for NSCLC

Conclusion: Together, these results suggest a possible tumor suppressor role for hsa-miR-30d in lung tumor progression and initiation. Moreover, upregulation of hsa-let-7b was associated with the tumor type

Association of rs12913832 in the HERC2 gene affecting human iris color variation

Introduction: Human eye colour as a physical trait is based on the developmental biology and genetic determinants of the structure known as the iris, which is part of the uveal tract of the eye. Prediction of human visible characteristics [EVCs] by genotyping informative SNPs in DNA as biological witness opens up a new avenue in the forensic genetic. Variation of iris color rely on the amounts of eumelanine and pheomelanin. The aim of this research was to determine and evaluate the frequency and the association of rs12913832 with prediction of human eye color in 53 volunteer of Iranian population samples

Methods: A selection of human body blood samples were collected from donors with informed consent in Clinic Ophthalmology of Baqiyatallah hospital. DNA was extracted from the samples using RGDE procedure. PCR primers for rs12913832 were designed to give amplicon sizes up to 189 bp and Single base extensions [SBE] were done by applying the SNaPshot Multiplex kit in 6 and mul reaction volumes. The results were analyzed with the SPSS 22.0 software package

Results: The frequency of eye color were achieved for brown 34%, blue 17% and intermediate colors 49%, respectively. The genotype frequencies of T/T, C/T and C/C in our population were 4.26%, 8.35% and 7.37%, respectively. The statistical analysis revealed the two genotypes including T/T and C/C had a significant associate with dark brown eyes and bright blue eyes, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of our method were determined 100% and 56.25%,respectively

Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that rs12913832 C>T polymorphism is associated with blue iris color in Iranian population. However, assessment SNP markers by using SNaPshot is a key tool for tracing unknown persons to get primarily information about genotypic and phenotypic characteristics

Transplanting p75-suppressed bone marrow stromal cells promotes functional behavior in a rat model of spinal cord injury

Bone marrow stromal cells [BMSC] have been successfully employed for movement deficit recovery in spinal cord injury [SCI] rat models. One of the unsettled problems in cell transplantation is the relative high proportion of cell death, specifically after neural differentiation. According to our previous studies, p75 receptor, known as the death receptor, is only expressed in BMSC in a time window of 6-12 hours following neural induction. Moreover, we have recently reported a decreased level of apoptosis in p75-suppressed BMSC in vitro. Therefore, our objective in this research was to explore the functional effects of transplanting p75:siRNA expressing BMSC in SCI rats. Laminectomy was performed at L1 vertebra level to expose spinal cord for contusion using weight-drop method. PBS-treated SCI rats [group one] were used as negative controls, in which cavitations were observed 10 weeks after SCI. pRNA-U6.1/Hygro- [group two, as a mock] and pRNA-U6.1/Hygro-p75 shRNA- [group three] transfected BMSC were labeled with a fluorescent dye, CM-DiI, and grafted into the lesion site 7 days after surgery. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnehan locomotor rating scale was performed weekly for 10 weeks. There was a significant difference [P