Cadmium Toxicity in Spermatogenesis and Protective Effects of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Carnitine in Adult Male Rats

In this study, the effects of cadmium toxicity and the protective effects of l-carnitine on spermatogenesis in Sprague–Dawley rat were evaluated. Animals were subdivided into five groups. Cadmium chloride (1-mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally during 16 days at intervals of 48 h between subsequent treatments. l-Carnitine (500 mg/kg b.w., IP) was pretreated in both of control and cadmium-injected rats. Animals were killed on day 17 after the first treatment. The left cauda epididymis was removed and immediately immersed into Hank’s balanced salt solution for evaluation of sperm count and viability. Following contamination with cadmium, a decrease in the number and viability of cauda epididymis sperm, the number of cell proliferation, and Johnsen Scores in the seminiferous tubules was observed. Consequently, l-carnitine treatment caused an increase in the number and viability of cauda epididymis sperm, the number of cell proliferation, and Johnsen Scores in the cadmium-induced group.     

Evaluation of the leptin receptor in human spermatozoa

Background  

Leptin, a 167 amino acid peptide hormone, profoundly effects reproduction exerting its biological effects via interaction with the leptin receptor (ObR) which is widely expressed on peripheral tissues. In this study, we have attempted to assess leptin receptor expression in the spermatozoa of fertile males and those diagnosed with male factor infertility; both at the mRNA or protein levels.     

A simple PCR-RFLP method for identification and differentiation of 11 Malassezia species

A PCR-RFLP method targeted toward 26S rDNA and with 2 restriction enzymes, CfoI and BstF51, was developed to identify 11 Malassezia species. Not only type and standard strains but also 13 clinical isolates were identified successfully in this study. The results of identifications were confirmed by DNA sequencing.     

Comparative Studies on the Interaction Between Bovine β-lacto-globulin Type A and B and a New Designed Pd(II) Complex with Anti-tumor Activity at Different Temperatures

Abstract An new water-soluble Pd(II) complex, 2,2'-bipyridin n-butyl dithiocarbamato Pd(II) nitrate has been synthesized. The Pd(II) complex has been characterized by elemental analysis and conductivity measurements as well as spectroscopic methods such as infrared, 1H NMR, and ultraviolet-visible. The interaction between this new design Pd(II)-complex, an anti-tumor component, with carrier proteins of β-lactoglobulin-A and -B (BLG-A and -B) were studied at different temperatures of 27, 37, 42, and 47 °C by fluorescence spectroscopy and far-UV circular dichroism (CD) spectrophotometric techniques. A strong fluorescence quenching interaction of Pd(II) complex with BLG-A and -B was observed at different temperatures. The binding parameters were evaluated by fluorescence quenching method. The thermodynamic parameters, including ΔH°, ΔS°, and ΔG° were calculated by fluorescence quenching method indicated that the electrostatic and hydrophobic forces might play a major role in the interactions of Pd(II) complex with BLG-A and -B, respectively. The distances between donors (Trps of the BLG-A and -B) and acceptor (Pd(II) complex) were obtained according to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Far-UV CD studies showed that the Pd(II) complex did not represent any significant changes in the secondary structures of BLG- A and -B. The difference in the interaction properties observed for BLG-A and -B with Pd(II) complex is related to the difference in the amino acid sequences between these two variants.     

MicroRNA in leukemia: Tumor suppressors and oncogenes with prognostic potential

Leukemia is known as a progressive malignant disease, which destroys the blood-forming organs and results in adverse effects on the proliferation and development of leukocytes and their precursors in the blood and bone marrow. There are four main classes of leukemia including acute leukemia, chronic leukemia, myelogenous leukemia, and lymphocytic leukemia. Given that a variety of internal and external factors could be associated with the initiation and progression of different types of leukemia. One of the important factors is epigenetic regulators such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (ncRNA). MiRNAs are short ncRNAs which act as tumor suppressor (i.e., miR-15, miR-16, let-7, and miR-127) or oncogene (i.e., miR-155, miR-17-92, miR-21, miR-125b, miR-93, miR-143-p3, miR-196b, and miR-223) in leukemia. It has been shown that deregulation of these molecules are associated with the initiation and progression of leukemia. Hence, miRNAs could be used as potential therapeutic candidates in the treatment of patients with leukemia. Moreover, increasing evidence revealed that miRNAs could be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in monitoring patients in early stages of disease or after received chemotherapy regimen. It seems that identification and development of new miRNAs could pave to the way to the development new therapeutic platforms for patients with leukemia. Here, we summarized various miRNAs as tumor suppressor and oncogene which could be introduced as therapeutic targets in treatment of leukemia.     

Survivin as a Target for Anti-cancer Phytochemicals According to the Molecular Docking Analysis

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Survivin is a unique member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family. Research has approved Survivin’s ability to interact...