Evaluation of the therapeutic potential effect of Fas receptor gene knockdown in experimental model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Aim: Stimulation of Fas death receptor is introduced as a major cause of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progression through suppression of cell viability. Therefore, the blocking of death pathways is hypothesised to be express new approaches to NASH therapy. For this purpose, current experiment applied synthetic small interference RNA (SiRNA) to trigger Fas death receptor and to show its potential therapeutic role in designed NASH model.

Methods: Male mice were placed on a western diet (WD) for 8 weeks and exposed to cigarette smoke during the last 4 weeks of feeding to induce NASH model. In the next step, Fas SiRNA was injected to mice aiming to examine specific Fas gene silencing, after 8 weeks. As a control, mice received scrambled SiRNA. Reversible possibility of disease was examined by 3 weeks of recovery.

Results: Analysis of data is accompanied with the significant histopathological changes (steatosis, ballooning and inflammation), increased lipid profile and hepatic enzyme activities (AST, ALT, ALP) plus TBARS as well as decreased antioxidants levels in NASH model. Upon Fas-SiRNA injection, almost all measured parameters of NASH such as overexpression of Fas receptor, caspase3, NF-kB genes and marked increase of hepatic TNF-α were significantly restored and were remained nearly unchanged following recovery liking as scrambled groups.

Conclusions: The suppression of Fas receptor signalling subsequent RNAi therapy may represent an applicable strategy to decline hepatocyte damages and so NASH progression in mice.     

Survival of acid-adapted and non-adaptedStaphylococcus aureus in various food samples

Resistance ofStaphylococcus aureus to acid pH was studied.Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 was acid-adapted at pH 5.0 in tryptic soy broth (TSB) for 4 h. Commercial products, mayonnaise pH 3.57, rape pH 3.72, fatty yogurt pH 4.01, were purchased from a local supermarket, and kisir köfte pH 4.9 samples were prepared by us. All of the samples were inoculated with acid-adapted or non-adapted cells ofS. aureus. In un-inoculated mayonnaise, rape, fatty yogurt, and kisir köfteS. aureus was not detected. The viable population of S. aureus in mayonnaise declined quickly when stored at 4 or 25 °C. After 48 h of storage, no viable cells were recovered from mayonnaise inoculated with acid-adapted or non-adapted ATCC 6538 at 25 °C. Acid-adapted cells were recovered in greater numbers than non-adapted cells during storage at 4 or 25 °C. After 24 h of storage, no viable cells were recovered from rape and yogurt inoculated with acid-adapted and non-adapted ATCC 6538 at 4 and 25 °C. Acid-adaptedS. aureus survived in kisir köfte during 48 h. After 72 h of storage, no viable cells were recovered from kisir köfte inoculated with acid-adapted and non-adapted ATCC 6538 at 25 °C and 4 °C.     

Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cell (BMDSC) Transplantation Improves Fertility in a Murine Model of Asherman's Syndrome

Asherman''s Syndrome is characterized by intrauterine adhesions or fibrosis resulting as a consequence of damage to the basal layer of endometrium and is associated with infertility due to loss of normal endometrium. We have previously shown that bone marrow derived stem cells (BMDSCs) engraft the endometrium in mice and humans and Ischemia/reperfusion injury of uterus promoted BMDSCs migration to the endometrium; however, the role of BMDSCs in Asherman''s syndrome has not been characterized. Here a murine model of Asherman''s syndrome was created by traumatizing the uterus. We evaluate stem cell recruitment and pregnancy after BMDSCs transplantation in a model of Asherman''s syndrome. In the Asheman''s syndrome model, after BMDSC transplant, the Y chromosome bearing CD45-cells represented less than 0.1% of total endometrial cells. Twice the number of Y+CD45- cells was identified in the damaged uterus compared to the uninjured controls. There was no significant difference between the damaged and undamaged uterine horns in mice that received injury to a single horn. In the BMDSC transplant group, 9 of the 10 mice conceived, while only 3 of 10 in the non-transplanted group conceived (Chi-Square p = 0.0225); all mice in an uninjured control group conceived. The time to conception and mean litter size were not different between groups. Taken together, BMDSCs are recruited to endometrium in response to injury. Fertility improves after BMDSC transplant in Asherman''s Syndrome mice, demonstrating a functional role for these cells in uterine repair. BMDSC transplantation is a potential novel treatment for Asherman''s Syndrome and may also be useful to prevent Asherman''s syndrome after uterine injury.     

The frequency of Familial Mediterranean fever gene mutations and genotypes at Kirikkale and comparison with the mean of regional MEFV mutation frequency of Turkey

In this study we have retrospectively analysed the mutation spectrum of the 351 Familial Mediterranean fever patients referred to K?r?kkale University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Genetics Laboratory over a period of 5 years and compared them with Turkey’s mean. We have found 11 different mutations, including rare mutations such as F479L, K695R, M680I(G/A) and 45 different genotypes showing the heterogeneity of MEFV mutations in Central Anatolia. The most three prevalent mutations were M694V (14.8 %), E148Q (7.1 %) and M680I(G/C) (4.1 %) in accordance with the literature. We have also investigated R202Q in our routine molecular diagnosis. Mutation causing R202Q (c.605G > A) change was described as a frequent polymorphism and G allele was found in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with M694V. There are limited number of studies investigating R202Q, some of them implicate that its homozygote state is disease causing. We showed the high frequency of R202Q (23.7 %) with and without M694V in all the groups analysed and its high LD rate with M694V in the diagnosed group. Our study is reflecting the mutational heterogeneity of MEFV and summarize mutational spectrum of Turkey’s geographical regions and overall Turkey.     

Association between 1603C>T polymorphism of DBH gene and bipolar disorder in a Turkish population

Objectives

Dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) is the enzyme responsible for the conversion of dopamine (DA) to norepinephrine (NE, noradrenaline) which is a key neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Bipolar disorder is a major psychiatric disorder. The present study was designed to explore the associations of polymorphisms of DBH gene in Turkish patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods

− 1021C>T (rs1611115) polymorphism in promoter region, 444G>A (rs1108580) polymorphism in exon 2 and 1603C>T (rs6271; C535R) polymorphism in exon11 of DBH gene were analyzed in 106 patients with bipolar disorder and 106 healthy subjects by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis.

Results

The results showed statistically significant associations for genotypic and allelic distribution between the 1603C>T polymorphism and bipolar disease (p = 0.0012 and p = 0.034, respectively). There was no association observed between the genotype and allelic frequencies for − 1021C>T and 444G>A polymorphisms and bipolar disorder.

Conclusions

Our data suggests that the 1603C>T polymorphism of the DBH gene is associated with susceptibility to bipolar disorder in a Turkish population.     

Checklist of Wadi Hassan flora,Northeastern Badia,Jordan

In this study, we survey the plant diversity of Wadi Hassan, which is located in the Northeastern Badia of Jordan, about 120 km east of Amman. All plant species were collected and herbarium specimens have been prepared, identified and deposited at the University of Jordan herbarium(Department of Biology,Faculty of Science). The final plant checklist includes 206 species belonging to 138 genera and 35 families.The most diverse families are Compositae(20.5%), Cruciferae(10.2%), Leguminosae(8.3%) and Boraginaceae(6.8%), followed by Caryophyllaceae and Gramineae(5.4%). These six families represent 60% of the total families recognized in the study area, while nine families each are represented by only one species. Most plants recorded are annual plants(61%), some plants are hemicryptophtes(18%) and camaephytes(15%), while the least frequent life form class was the phanerophyte shrub and perennial(0.5%). Chorological characteristics of the recorded flora show that Saharo-Arabian Region elements, IranoTuranian elements and Mediterranean elements constitute(58%) of the total flora. This research shows that even small portion of the Jordan Badia such as the Wadi Hassan plant community has high species diversity. Thus, we recommended further of the unexplored Wadi plants communities of the Jordan Badia.     

DNA splicing of mitochondrial group I and II introns in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Summary In this paper we report the precise excision of the group I intron aI2b from the cox1 gene and of the group II intron bI from the cob gene fo the Schizosaccharomyces pombe strain 50. We present evidence that DNA excision of both intron DNA sequences is under nuclear control. Attempts to remove the first cox1 intron (aI1) have failed so far, but a deletion of approximately 200 bp in the open intronic reading frame demonstrates that it is not essential for normal cellular functions.Abbreviations cox1, cox2, cox3 genes encoding subunits 1, 2 and 3 of cytochrome c oxidase - cob gene encoding apocytochrome b - rns and rnl genes encoding the small and large ribosomal RNA - atp6, atp8 and atp9 genes encoding subunits 6, 8, and 9 of the ATP synthase complex - urfa unassigned reading frame a - aI1, aI2a, aI2b, aI3 introns in the cox 1 gene of S. pombe - bI intron in the cob gene - del-aI2b and del-bI respiratory competent strains in which the respective introns have been deleted by DNA splicing     

Theoretical studies on metal porphyrin halides: geometrical parameters and nonlinear optical responses

The geometrical parameters and static electric properties of several metal porphyrin halides, including Fe(III) porphine chloride (FePCl), Fe(III) porphine bromide (FePBr), Fe(III) tetraphenylporphine chloride (FeTPPCl), aluminum phthalocyanine chloride (AlPcCl), gallium(III) phthalocyanine chloride (GaPcCl), and manganese(III) phthalocyanine chloride (MnPcCl), were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) methods. It was observed that FePBr and MnPcCl showed the highest total hyperpolarisabilities among the studied porphyrins. To investigate the effect of substituted phenyl groups on the nonlinear optical (NLO) responses of porphyrins, the optical properties of FeTPPCl and FePCl were compared using UBLYP/cc-pVDZ+LanL2DZ level of theory. Moreover, the polarised continuum model (PCM) was employed to study the influence of solvation on the optical properties of FePCl.