Occurrence of crown gall disease on Ficus benjamina in Fars and Isfahan provinces of Iran

Ficus benjamina, commonly known as weeping fig, Benjamin’s fig or Ficus tree is a species of flowering plant in the family of Moraceae. It is native to south and south-east Asia and Australia. Crown gall tumours were collected from branches of one-year-old weeping fig (F. benjamina L.) trees. A total of 50 strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens were isolated from diseased Ficus plants and their morphological, molecular and biochemical characteristics were studied; pathogenicity tests on tomato, F. benjamina and Bryophyllum daigremontianum were also conducted. Based on the biochemical characteristics, pathogenicity test and PCR amplification of 730?bp fragment using VCR\VCF primers, the tested bacterial strains were identified as A. tumefaciens. This is the first report of crown gall on F. benjamina in Isfahan and Fars provinces of Iran.     

A new ATP7B gene mutation with severe condition in two unrelated Iranian families with Wilson disease

Wilson disease is associated with a defect in copper metabolism and caused by different mutations in ATP7B gene. The aim of this study was to determine mutation frequency of ATP7B exons 8 and 14 in Wilson disease patients from the south of Iran. The exons 8 and 14 of ATP7B gene were analyzed in 65 unrelated Wilson disease patients by Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography, and samples with abnormal peak profile were selected for direct DNA sequencing. Seven out of 65 (10.8%) patients had mutations at exon 14, including c.3061-1G>A in four and c.3207C>A in three patients. In addition, four different mutations were identified at exon 8 of six patients (9.2%). Three of these mutations have been previously reported, including c.2304delC in two patients, c.2293G>A and 2304dupC each in one patient. Furthermore, a novel mutation, c.2335T>G (p.Trp779Gly), was identified in two unrelated patients. The patients with this novel mutation demonstrated severe neuropsychiatric condition. All together, 13 out of 65 (20%) patients had mutations within exons 8 and 14. We also identified a lower frequency of the most common mutations of exons 8 and 14 in the southern Iranian population.     

Homology modeling of human CCR5 and analysis of its binding properties through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation

In this study, homology modeling, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation were performed to explore structural features and binding mechanism of some inhibitors of chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5), and to construct a model for designing new CCR5 inhibitors for preventing HIV attachment to the host cell. A homology modeling procedure was employed to construct a 3D model of CCR5. For this procedure, the X-ray crystal structure of bovine rhodopsin (1F88A) at 2.80? resolution was used as template. After inserting the constructed model into a hydrated lipid bilayer, a 20ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was performed on the whole system. After reaching the equilibrium, twenty-four CCR5 inhibitors were docked in the active site of the obtained model. The binding models of the investigated antagonists indicate the mechanism of binding of the studied compounds to the CCR5 obviously. Moreover, 3D pictures of inhibitor-protein complex provided precious data regarding the binding orientation of each antagonist into the active site of this protein. One additional 20 ns MD simulation was performed on the initial structure of the CCR5-ligand 21 complex, resulted from the previous docking calculations, embedded in a hydrated POPE bilayer to explore the effects of the presence of lipid bilayer in the vicinity of CCR5-ligand complex. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Protein translocation across or insertion into membranes.     

Polarization Controlling of Multi Resonant Graphene-Based Microstrip Antenna

Plasmonics - In this paper, a graphene-based patch antenna is proposed. The antenna structure is designed so that each of the various antenna sections affected by chemical potential changes can...     

Smp76, a Scorpine-Like Peptide Isolated from the Venom of the Scorpion Scorpio maurus palmatus,with a Potent Antiviral Activity Against Hepatitis C Virus and Dengue Virus

Growing global viral infections have been a serious public health problem in recent years. This current situation emphasizes the importance of developing m     

The Combination of TGF-β3 and BMP-6 Synergistically Promotes the Chondrogenic Differentiation of Equine Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Stem cell therapy is a new approach in veterinary medicine for the treatment of complicated disorders such as articular...     

Systemic Inflammation in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Involves Follicular T-Helper,Th17- and Activated B-Cells and Correlates with Progression

Pathology studies of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) indicate a major role of inflammation including Th17-cells and meningeal inflammation with ectopic lymphoid follicles, B-cells and plasma cells, the latter indicating a possible role of the newly identified subset of follicular T-helper (T_FH) cells. Although previous studies reported increased systemic inflammation in progressive MS it remains unclear whether systemic inflammation contributes to disease progression and intrathecal inflammation. This study aimed to investigate systemic inflammation in progressive MS and its relationship with disease progression, using flow cytometry and gene expression analysis of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺T-cells, B-cells, monocytes and dendritic cells. Furthermore, gene expression of cerebrospinal fluid cells was studied. Flow cytometry studies revealed increased frequencies of ICOS⁺T_FH-cells in peripheral blood from relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and secondary progressive (SPMS) MS patients. All MS subtypes had decreased frequencies of Th1 T_FH-cells, while primary progressive (PPMS) MS patients had increased frequency of Th17 T_FH-cells. The Th17-subset, interleukin-23-receptor⁺CD4⁺T-cells, was significantly increased in PPMS and SPMS. In the analysis of B-cells, we found a significant increase of plasmablasts and DC-SIGN⁺ and CD83⁺B-cells in SPMS. ICOS⁺T_FH-cells and DC-SIGN⁺B-cells correlated with disease progression in SPMS patients. Gene expression analysis of peripheral blood cell subsets substantiated the flow cytometry findings by demonstrating increased expression of IL21, IL21R and ICOS in CD4⁺T-cells in progressive MS. Cerebrospinal fluid cells from RRMS and progressive MS (pooled SPMS and PPMS patients) had increased expression of T_FH-cell and plasmablast markers. In conclusion, this study is the first to demonstrate the potential involvement of activated T_FH-cells in MS. The increased frequencies of Th17-cells, activated T_FH- and B-cells parallel findings from pathology studies which, along with the correlation between activated T_FH- and B-cells and disease progression, suggest a pathogenic role of systemic inflammation in progressive MS. These observations may have implications for the treatment of progressive MS.     

Functional Polymorphisms of FAS and FASL Gene and Risk of Breast Cancer – Pilot Study of 134 Cases

Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) system is one of the key apoptotic signaling entities in the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. De-regulation of this pathway, i.e. by mutations may prevent the immune system from the removal of newly-formed tumor cells, and thus lead to tumor formation. The present study investigated the association between −1377 G/A (rs2234767) and −670 A/G (rs1800682) polymorphisms in Fas as well as single nucleotide polymorphisms INV2nt −124 A/G (rs5030772) and −844 C/T (rs763110) in FasL in a sample of Iranian patients with breast cancer. This case-control study was done on 134 breast cancer patients and 152 normal women. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples. The polymorphisms were determined by using tetra-ARMS-PCR method. There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution of FAS rs2234767 polymorphism between cases and controls. FAS rs1800682, FASL rs5030772, and FASL rs763110 genotypes showed significant associations with an increasing risk of breast cancer (odds ratio OR = 3.18, P = 0.019; OR = 5.08, P = 0.012; OR = 2.40, P = 0.024, respectively). In conclusion, FAS rs2234767 was not associated with breast cancer risk. Though, FAS rs1800682, FASL rs5030772, and FASL rs763110 polymorphisms were associated with the risk of breast cancer in the examined population.     

Identification and Validation of a Putative Polycomb Responsive Element in the Human Genome

Epigenetic cellular memory mechanisms that involve polycomb and trithorax group of proteins are well conserved across metazoans. The cis-acting elements interacting with these proteins, however, are poorly understood in mammals. In a directed search we identified a potential polycomb responsive element with 25 repeats of YY1 binding motifthatwe designate PRE-PIK3C2B as it occurs in the first intron of human PIK3C2B gene. It down regulates reporter gene expression in HEK cells and the repression is dependent on polycomb group of proteins (PcG). We demonstrate that PRE-PIK3C2B interacts directly with YY1 in vitro and recruits PRC2 complex in vivo. The localization of PcG proteins including YY1 to PRE-PIK3C2B in HEK cells is decreased on knock-down of either YY1 or SUZ12. Endogenous PRE-PIK3C2B shows bivalent marking having H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 for repressed and active state respectively. In transgenic Drosophila, PRE-PIK3C2B down regulates mini-white expression, exhibits variegation and pairing sensitive silencing (PSS), which has not been previously demonstrated for mammalian PRE. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that PRE-PIK3C2B functions as a site of interaction for polycomb proteins.     

Effects of the mTOR and AKT genes polymorphisms on systemic lupus erythematosus risk

Molecular Biology Reports - The systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, leading to inflammatory response and systemic consequences. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is...