Association of two ARID5B gene variant single nucleotide polymorphisms with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the Egyptian population.

BACKGROUND: ARID5B SNPs have been linked to ALL in many research studies in which it was identified as a risk factor. From this context, we had great interest to investigate the relationship between ARID5B rs4948488 and ARID5B rs2893881 genotypes and ALL susceptibility and relapse in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analyzed for ARID5B rs4948488 and rs2893881 gene polymorphisms by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 80 ALL patients and 80 controls. RESULTS: Our results showed that the C/C genotype of ARID5B rs4948488 and A/G genotype and G-allele of rs2893881 were linked to higher ALL incidence. Regarding the relapse of ALL, rs4948488 C/C genotype and C-alleles were significantly associated with relapse of ALL. Meanwhile, rs4948488 C/C genotype and rs2893881 A/A genotype and A-allele are associated with T-ALL, while rs2893881 A/G genotype and G-allele are associated with B-ALL. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggested that ARID5B rs4948488 and rs2893881 SNPs might be used risk factors for genetic susceptibility for B-ALL and T-ALL, and that ARID5B s4948488 is related to relapse in ALL patients.
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Study of Breast Cancer Resistance Protein ABCG2 C421A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism RS2231142 in Multiple Myeloma.

Breast cancer resistance protein is an adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporter that belongs to the G-superfamily. It acts as an efflux pump that is crucial for cell protection against toxic compounds and xenobiotics such as procarcinogens. An individual's risk of developing carcinoma depends on genetic variations like single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that may cause alteration in gene expression and/or reductions in their activities. These changes may influence blood cells' exposure to toxic compounds and increase the susceptibility to multiple myeloma (MM). Our study aimed at investigating polymorphisms at position C421A of the ABCG-2 gene in MM for the first time in Egyptian patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analyzed for ABCG-2-C421A gene polymorphisms using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 50 MM patients and 50 control subjects. There is a statistically significant correlation between SNP-C421A of the ABCG-2 gene and the risk for MM (p = 0.0218). Preliminary studies suggest that SNP-C421A of the ABCG-2 gene can be helpful in predicting the risk of developing MM. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12288-022-01523-3.

Megaporous monolithic adsorbents for bioproduct recovery as prepared on the basis of nonwoven fabrics.

Megaporous adsorbents were prepared based on nonwoven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics and functionalized by covalent modification with polyvinylamine (PVAm) or monotriazinyl-ß-cyclodextrin-substituted polyvinylamine (PVAm-MCT-ß-CD). Mechanical properties of the resulting fabrics were maintained, as judged by tensile strength tests and scanning electron microscopy. Exceptional porosity (≥82%) and preserved hydrodynamic characteristics (Pe ≥ 63) indicated excellent structural stability when packed. The performance of the constructed adsorbents was evaluated with high molecular weight (proteins) and low molecular weight (dyes) model compounds. The static binding capacity (SBC) for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was 79.7 ± 1.3 and 92.9 ± 8.2 mg/g for PVAm-modified and PVAm-MCT-ß-CD-modified fabrics, respectively. The mentioned materials also adsorbed Orange II, an acidic dye (92.4 ± 2.6 and 101.9 ± 2.6 mg/g, respectively), indicating that the hydrophobicity was a prevailing binding mechanism operating at a pH close to isoelectric point. SBC for lysozyme and toluidine blue O (TBO, a basic dye) onto PVAm-MCT-ß-CD functionalized PET was 52.7 ± 5.1 and 73.3 ± 0.6 mg/g, respectively. TBOs have also shown some affinity for PVAm functionalized PET, but this was most likely to be mediated by hydrophobicity. On the other hand, operating at a superficial velocity of 90 cm/h, dynamic binding capacity for BSA was 11.4 ± 3.5 and 2.5 ± 0.6 mg/g indicating the importance of possible aggregation mechanisms during protein binding at equilibrium. Thus, PET-based adsorbents require further functional improvement for chromatography applications. However, the easy-to-construct, scalable nonwoven adsorbents deserve further attention as a potential alternative to packed-bed-chromatography adsorbents.

The role of tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 4 (TNFRSF4) gene expression in diagnosis and prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia.

OBJECTIVES: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is still challenging in predicting the prognosis due to its high heterogeneity. Molecular aberrations and abnormalities play a significant prognostic role in AML patients. Our aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic role of TNFRSF4 gene expression in AML patients and its potential effect on treatment protocols. METHODS: Bone marrow mononuclear cells were analyzed for TNFRSF4 expression by real-time quantitative PCR as well as of FLT3/ITD and NPM1 mutations in 80 newly diagnosed AML patients and 80 control subjects. RESULTS: TNFRSF4 was significantly overexpressed in the AML patients (p < 0.001). TNFRSF4 expression was associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes including treatment response, relapse free survival, and overall survival. On multivariate testing, TNFRSF4 high expression proved to be an independent prognostic marker for clinical remission and relapse free survival but not overall survival. CONCLUSION: TNFRSF4 expression was revealed as an unfavorable prognostic marker and might be a target for immunotherapy in the future.

A New Approach to Produce Succinic Acid Through a Co-Culture System.

Microorganisms can produce a wide range of bio-based chemicals that can be used in various industrial applications as molecules of interest. In the present work, an analysis of the power production by pure culture, co-culture, and sequential culture was performed. In this study, both the mono-culture and the co-culture strategies of Actinobacillus succinogenes with Saccharomyces cerevisiae as carbon sources to produce succinic acid using glucose and fructose were examined. The cultures were performed in batch mode and a great attention was paid to the co-culture system to improve the biosynthetic pathway between A. succinogenes and S. cerevisiae by combining these two strains in a single fermentation process. Under microaerobic and anaerobic conditions, the process was characterized in terms of sugars concentration, cell density, metabolites, yield (mol-C products/ mol-C sugars), the temperature conditions for productivity, and pH. The results showed that the process could consume glucose and fructose and could adapt to different concentrations of the two sugars more quickly than by a single organism and the best results were obtained in a sequential co-culture recording 0.27 mol L-1 of succinic acid concentration and a volumetric productivity of 0.3 g L-1 h-1. Under the investigated operating conditions, the combination of these two strains in a single reactor produced a significant amount of succinic acid (0.70 mol-C SA/mol-C substrates). A simultaneous and sequential co-culture strategy can be a powerful new approach in the field of bio-based chemical production.

Photolytic degradation of the ß-blocker nebivolol in aqueous solution.

Nebivolol (NEB) is one of the top-sold prescription drugs belonging to the third generation of beta-blockers. However, so far, occurrence data in the environment are lacking. Within this study NEB has been found for the first time in effluent samples of wastewater treatment plants in Germany with an average concentration of 13 ng L-1. Its photodegradation behavior in the environment and in technical processes is largely unknown. To fill this gap, three different UV treatment procedures (UV-C at 254 nm, UV-B at 312 nm and UV-A at 365 nm) were investigated in three different matrices: pure water, pure water in presence of the hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenger tert.-butanol and real wastewater. No elimination was observed during UV-A treatment. In contrast, NEB degradation during UV-B and UV-C treatment followed pseudo first order reaction kinetics, with highest removal rate during UV-C treatment in pure water (k = 7.8 × 10-4 s-1). The rate constant for UV-C irradiation decreased to 2.9 × 10-4 s-1 in the presence of the OH scavenger and in the presence of the wastewater matrix. The rate constant for the UV-B lamp was 4.4 × 10-4 s-1, Three transformation products were identified after UV-B and UV-C photolytic degradation using high resolution mass spectrometry. The main photoreaction is the substitution of the fluorine atoms of NEB by hydroxyl groups. A photolytic cleavage of the CF bond can be excluded as the high bond dissociation energy of aromatic CF bonds (525 kJ mol-1), exceeds the energy of electromagnetic radiation applied in the present study (≥254 nm, i.e., max. 471 kJ E-1). The quantum yields for NEB degradation for the UV-C lamp achieved in pure water, the OH scavenged system and wastewater matrix were Φdeg = 0.53, 0.19 and 0.22, respectively. For UV-B Φdeg was 0.023 ± 0.003, noticeable differences in quantum yield were not found. The photooxidation involves reactive oxygen species such as superoxide and singlet oxygen. These oxidative species may be formed upon reaction of photo-excited NEB with oxygen.

Dependence of transformation product formation on pH during photolytic and photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin.

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with five pH dependent species in aqueous medium, which makes its degradation behavior difficult to predict. For the identification of transformation products and prediction of degradation mechanisms, a new experimental concept making use of isotopically labeled compounds together with high resolution mass spectrometry was successfully established. The utilization of deuterated ciprofloxacin (CIP-d8) facilitated the prediction of three different degradation pathways and the corresponding degradation products, four of which were identified for the first time. Moreover, two molecular structures of previously reported transformation products were revised according to the mass spectra and product ion spectra of the deuterated transformation products. Altogether, 18 transformation products have been identified during the photolytic and photocatalytic reactions at different pH values (3, 5, 7 and 9). In this work the influence of pH on both reaction kinetics and degradation mechanism was investigated for direct ultraviolet photolysis (UV-C irradiation) and photocatalysis (TiO2/UV-C). It could be shown that the removal rates strongly depended on pH with highest removal rates at pH 9. A comparison with those at pH 3 clearly indicated that under acidic conditions ciprofloxacin cannot be easily excited by UV irradiation. We could confirm that the first reaction step for both oxidative treatment processes is mainly defluorination, followed by degradation at the piperazine ring of CIP.