Modares Journal of Biotechnology

Abstract Aim: Gastric cancer is the second common cause of cancer death worldwide. Cytokines are mediators of peptides that are involved in the regulation of immunological responses, inflammatory systemic responses, and repair responses to risk factors. Interleukins are cytokines that are produced on other lymphocytes. Interleukin-10, is one of the body's most important interleukin that to inhibit inflammatory and immune responses. Different polymorphisms are found in the promoter region of interleukin 10 gene, which by changing the rate of this gene expression, could been altered its function. In this present research, was studied of relation between (-1082G/A) polymorphism in interleukin 10 gene and gastric cancer.



Material and methods: Two groups consist of 50 patients and 50 controls, were selected as the study samples population and were taken blood samples from them. Next DNA extraction from samples, genotyping of this polymorphism was used by Tetra-ARMS-PCR. Then was analyzed the results.



Results: Samples genotyping was showed frequency of A and G alleles 74% and 26%, in patient groups and in control groups 68% and 32%, respectively. There was a significant association between GG genotype in this polymorphism and gastric cancer (P=0.013).



Conclusion: This study results shown that can be used (-1082G/A) polymorphism in interleukin 10 gene as a molecular biomarker for gastric cancer in Iranian patients’ population.

Abstract The activity of Wnt signaling pathway is increased in colorectal cancer. For this reason, finding new positive and negative regulators for this pathway is a treatment and diagnostic strategy of colorectal cancer. Our bioinformatics analysis indicated that hsa-miR-424 (miR-424) could be a possible regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway. Accordingly, the expression level of miR-424 in colorectal cancer tissues was elevated compared with normal pairs and the results of RT-qPCR showed a significant increase in miR-424 expression (p < 0.01). Then, molecular analyzes using Top/Fop Flash and RT-qPCR techniques indicated that miR-424 overexpression leads to increased Wnt pathway activity in the SW480 cell line. In addition, the small molecules IWP-2 and PNU-74654 were used to inhibit the Wnt signaling pathway, and the miR-424 overexpression suggested that exert its effect on the level of β-catenin complex degradation. Then, dual-luciferase assay validated the interaction between miR-424 and APC. Overall, our results suggest miR-424 is a positive regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway, and it could be a possible prognosis for colorectal cancer.

Abstract Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important causes of infection in medicine, which in recent years is known as an antibiotic resistant bacterium. One of the antibiotic resistance strategies of this bacterium is algD and PpyR genes expression for biofilm formation.


In recent years, it has been shown that using microorganisms, such as probiotics, is a method of pathogen bacterium harnessing, hence, in this study, for preventing biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa, E.coli Nissle 1917(EcN) probiotic bacterium is used, as a new treatment choice.


Due to direct relationship between antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation, strains with the


highest antibiotic resistance was chosen by antibiogram test. Then, in order to determine the inhibition rate of EcN bacterium in the formation of biofilm caused by P. aeruginosa bacterium, a biofilm formation test was performed.


At the end, to evaluate algD and PpyR genes expression, which were key parts of biofilm formation, in the presence of probiotic EcN bacterium, Real- time PCR method was used.


Based on the results of the biofilm formation test, EcN bacterium showed a high inhibitory effect on the formation of biofilm caused by P. aeruginosa bacterium.


.Also, in assessment of algD and PpyR genes expression in presence of EcN probiotic, a significant reduction in PpyR gene expression has been seen, in comparison with control group. The results of this study showed that EcN probiotic can act as a suitable new treatment option, to reduce P. aeruginosa biofilm formation.

Abstract In the last month of 2019, an unknown virus appeared in Wuhan, China. Sequencing studies have shown that the virus is a new member of the coronavirus family, which mostly causes a respiratory disease with pneumonia-like symptoms. The new coronavirus consists of 25 proteins, including 4 important structural proteins and 15 non-structural proteins. Spike protein is one of the most important structural proteins on the surface of the virus; It is highly glycosylated and plays a key role in the virus binding to the host cells. The binding of glycans to proteins affects their structure and function in two ways; They lead to proper protein folding, and can play an important role in protein interactions, and also, by covering the surface of the protein, it causes the virus to escape from the immune system. So it is obvious that the study of glycan structures becomes more important when either a vaccine is going to be designed or glycan structures have important roles in the folding, activity, and interaction of a protein. Therefore, since the spike protein is a non-functional structural protein, the study of glycan structures is important for two goals of vaccine design and investigating the role of glycans in protein interactions. In this article, we are going to review the most important findings on spike protein glycosylation and compare the amount of glycosylation in different viruses, indicating the importance of glycan structures in designing an effective vaccine.

Abstract Every year, more than 600,000 tons of rice husk are produced in rice mills in Iran, which are left in nature without proper use or burned. But, with biotechnological methods, it is possible to convert these agricultural wastes into compost with high content of nitrogen and minerals. Accelerating the production of high quality organic fertilizer and reducing the process time requires determining and studying the factors affecting the composting process. In this research, rotten wood waste in the presence of whey was used as an inoculum and the process was studied for one hundred days. The results showed that the process of rice husk composting decreased the ratio of carbon to nitrogen from 161.2 to 21.1 and also increased the nitrogen content from 0.28 to 1.33 percent. By studying temperature changes during the process, it was determined that the degradation of easily biodegradable compounds at the beginning of the process caused an increase in the population of microorganisms and an increase in temperature, and as the process continued, the temperature of the composting environment gradually decreased. On the other hand, the results indicated that the addition of tree bark fertilizer does not affect the quality of the compost content, but it changed the color of the product. The results of the evaluation of the produced compost showed that adding 10 percent by weight of compost to the soil had a significant effect on the length and weight of cowpea.

Abstract The study of protein-gold nanoparticles interaction has shown valuable role in medicine, including: drug delivery, vaccine design, biosensors, bioassays, and imaging. Anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) are short amino acid sequences that have important function in the medicinal treatment of multi drug resistant infections. Binding of AMPs to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is benefitable for long-term storage, targeted delivery into cells and reduction of drug dosage. This requires preserving the shape and size of the nanoparticles involved in the interaction. In this study, we investigated the interaction of AuNPs in concentration of 2.28 × 10^-7 M with three concentrations (0.8, 2, 4 µM) of the antimicrobial peptide Pexiganan in different volumes (2-100µL), in order to study the changes in the shape, charge and size of the particles involved in the interaction by UV-absorption spectroscopy, DLS and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In all three concentrations, with the increase in peptide concentration resulted from increasing the volume of peptide solution, the surface charge of the particles became more positive and the size of the particles increased, this was observed in the form of a new peak at the values ​​above 600 nm in the absorption spectrum of AuNPs, which is due to the interaction of the amin Π group of the amino acid lysine in peptide sequence with the surface of nanoparticles. As a result, the aggregation of AuNPs was observed at higher concentrations of peptide.

Abstract The use of productive microorganisms in the production of primary and secondary metabolites is part of the knowledge of microbial biotechnology, which is carried out with the aim of using huge cellular factories and considering their inherent and latent ability to produce products. Investigating and optimizing the factors affecting the synthesis of metabolites will increase the growth of the strain and the yield of the product. In this regard, in this research, by using the response surface method (RSM) and Box-Behnken design, the fermentation production of cephalosporin C by Acromonium chrysogenum PTCC 5271, and the effect of three factors on the fermentation process, including pH of Fermentation culture media, rice bran and magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles have been measured at three levels. The obtained results showed that changes in the concentration of magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles and rice bran in the fermentation media significantly affect the amount of antibiotics produced. The highest amount of Cephalosporin C produced (224 mg/l) was obtained in the culture containing 0.04 mg/l magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles, 2.5 g/l rice bran and pH of 6.5. The optimized values ​​for the factors were calculated as 0.0325 mg/l, 2.6162 g/l, and 6.4545 respectively by the Mini Tab program, and finally the mathematical model for the response variable was obtained. Based on the results of this research, magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles and rice bran are suitable substrates in fermentation culture media and biological processes.

Abstract Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with unique optical properties, such as easy operation and visualized assay, have a great ability to detect different types of analytes. Today, the use of gold nanoparticles has wide applications in the field of medicine and biotechnology, including the detection of microorganisms that cause contamination in water, air and food and it is considered a suitable alternative for chemical and physical methods. New technologies in the design of biosensors based on GNPs provide the ability to identify biological compounds accurately and quickly. One of these technologies is a detection sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which based on its optical properties, is capable of very sensitive and specific measurement of biomolecule interactions without time delay. This technology can quantify in a short time the properties of biomolecular mediators (such as oligonucleotides, proteins and bacteria) on the surface, including reaction speed, tendency and concentration of surface mediators. In this review, while investigating the surface plasmon properties of gold nanoparticles, the simple diagnostic applications of gold nanoparticles based on the localized surface plasmon (LSPR) method and detection in biomedicine.