Defining the mechanisms behind the hepatoprotective properties of curcumin.

As a critical cause of human dysfunctionality, hepatic failure leads to approximately two million deaths per year and is on the rise. Considering multiple inflammatory, oxidative, and apoptotic mechanisms behind hepatotoxicity, it urges the need for finding novel multi-targeting agents. Curcumin is a phenolic compound with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic roles. Curcumin possesses auspicious health benefits and protects against several diseases with exceptional safety and tolerability. This review focused on the hepatoprotective mechanisms of curcumin. The need to develop novel delivery systems of curcumin (e.g., nanoparticles, self-micro emulsifying, lipid-based colloids, solid lipid nanoparticles, cyclodextrin inclusion, phospholipid complexes, and nanoemulsions) is also considered.

The Association Between the 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor 2A Gene Variants rs6311 and rs6313 and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in the Iranian Kurdish Population.

Introduction: Sleep is one of the most significant parts of everyone's life. Most people sleep for about one-third of their lives. Sleep disorders negatively impact the quality of life. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a severe sleep disorder that significantly impacts the patient's life and their family members. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between rs6313 and rs6311 polymorphisms in the serotonin receptor type 2A gene and OSA in the Kurdish population. Materials and Methods: The study's population comprises 100 OSA sufferers and 100 healthy people. Polysomnography diagnostic tests were done on both the patient and control groups. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used to investigate the relationship between OSA and LEPR gene polymorphisms. Results: Statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between genotype frequencies of patient and control groups of rs6311 with OSA in dominant [odds ratio (OR) = 5.203, p < 0.001) and codominant models (OR = 9.7, p < 0.001). Also, there was a significant relationship between genotype frequencies of patient and control groups of rs6313 with OSA in dominant (OR = 10.565, p < 0.001) and codominant models (OR = 5.938, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Findings from the study demonstrated that the two polymorphisms rs6311 and rs6313 could be effective at causing OSA; however, there was no correlation between the severity of the disease and either of the two polymorphisms.

Association of Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism with Susceptibility to Asthma Disease in Western Iran.

Asthma is a complex disease caused by a combination of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma by inactivating bradykinin, substance P, and neurokinin A. It has been shown that the level of ACE variation in serum is associated with an insertion-deletion (I/D) polymorphism. So, this study aimed to investigate the association of these polymorphisms with asthma in western Iran. In this case-control study, 111 asthmatic patients as a case group and 80 healthy subjects as a control group were evaluated. The ACE gene polymorphism was determined by the PCR method. The relationship between genotypes done by the χ2 test and the relative risk of disease with genetic polymorphism (Odds Ratio) was performed using logistic regression. The frequency of I/D genotypes (included in II, ID, and DD) between patient and control groups had no significant difference. In addition, none of the genotypes in the patient and control groups show any significant differences between men and women. However, the frequency of ID and DD genotypes was considerably different between the male patient groups (over and under 40 years old). Hence, these genotypes are suggested to be a risk factor for asthma. The results of our study indicate that ACE gene polymorphism is not significantly associated with asthma in the west of Iran.

Paper Title "Hu7CG2: A Novel Humanized Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Biparatopic Nanobody".

Targeted therapy is an effective and appropriate approach with low side effects in cancer therapy compared with other treatment approaches. Epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR, is a favorable biomarker as targeted therapy because it overexpresses in several cancers. Monoclonal antibodies are common agents for targeted therapy. Nanobody is the smallest format of monoclonal antibodies with unique properties that include hiding epitope targeting, high stability, low production cost, and ease of connection to other components. The main challenge in targeted therapy by monoclonal antibodies is their immunogenicity due to their non-human nature. In this study, we designed, constructed, and evaluated a novel humanized anti- EGFR biparatopic nanobody, hu7CG2. The hu7CG2 was designed by grafting the complementarity-determining regions of two camelid anti- EGFR nanobodies known as 7C12 and EG2 to a universal scaffold and then connected with a glycine-serine linker. The results of antigen-binding activity and cell viability assays showed that the hu7CG2 inhibited the growth of EGFR overexpression tumor cells. The data showed that hu7CG2 might be a useful tool in the targeting and treatment of tumor cells.

Immunotoxins and nanobody-based immunotoxins: review and update.

Immunotoxins (ITs) are protein-based drugs that compose of targeting and cytotoxic moieties. After binding the IT to the specific cell-surface antigen, the IT internalises into the target cell and kills it. Targeting and cytotoxic moieties usually include monoclonal antibodies and protein toxins with bacterial or plant origin, respectively. ITs have been successful in haematologic malignancies treatment. However, ITs penetrate poorly into solid tumours because of their large size. Use of camelid antibody fragments known as nanobodies (Nbs) as a targeting moiety may overcome this problem. Nbs are the smallest fragment of antibodies with excellent tumour tissue penetration. The ability to recognise cryptic (immuno-evasive) target antigens, low immunogenicity, and high-affinity are other fundamental characteristics of Nbs that make them suitable candidates in targeted therapy. Here, we reviewed and discussed the structure and function of ITs, Nbs, and nanobody-based ITs. To gain sound insight into the issue at hand, we focussed on nanobody-based ITs.

EGFR and anti-EGFR nanobodies: review and update.

Targeted therapy is one of the favourable methods used in cancer treatment. Several recombinant proteins and small-molecules used for this aim include monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments and peptides. Nanobody (Nb) is a camelid antibody fragment that is very effective in targeted therapy. Recently, several anti-EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) Nbs have been developed and utilised for diagnosis and therapy of EGFR overexpressing tumours. Anti-EGFR Nbs are used in drug delivery systems, photodynamic therapy (PDT) and/or conjugated to other molecules such as quantum dots (QDs), nanoparticles, liposome, tumour penetration peptides, neural stem cells (NSCs) and chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells). In this review, we discussed the structure and function of EGFR and Nb, the current status of EGFR targeting, and recent developments in anti-EGFR Nbs. To gain sound insight into the issue at hand, we focused on the most powerful anti-EGFR Nbs.