Back to Old Books Toward Affordable Research: Homemade Phenol-Based Reagent for Triphasic RNA Purification.

Covid-19 crisis did hit many socio-economic aspects in the whole world. In the scientific research, the problem is getting even worse, since most of materials and consumable are allocated to the health sector. Many research laboratories around the world have big delay in receiving their purchases to accomplish their research projects.

Galectins dysregulation: A way for cancer cells to invade and pervade.

Galectins are sticky molecules that bind to β-galactoside. Their interactions render them essential players in many cellular processes. The imbalance of galectin expression was reported in many diseases.

Homemade plasmid Miniprep solutions for affordable research in low-fund laboratories.

As a consequence of Covid-19 pandemic, the basic lab consumables are in shortage, especially in the low-income countries. Thus, the main objective of the present study is to develop and evaluate homemade solution to isolate plasmid. To pursue this objective, RNase A was overexpressed in Bl21 DE3 cells (E.

Assessment of galectins -1, -3, -4, -8, and -9 expression in ovarian carcinoma patients with clinical implications.

Background And Aim: Galectins have been recently tackled by many researchers in the field of cancer due to their role in tumorigenesis, disease progression, and metastasis. Thus, they are currently involved in biomarkers research on several types of cancer. In ovarian cancers, few studies were carried out to evaluate galectins expression profiling.

In-house protocol: spin-based viral RNA purification.

A worldwide shortage of molecular biology consumables is in surge. This includes filter tips, nucleic acid purification kits, polymerases, reverse-transcriptase, and different types of reagents which are included in viral diagnostic kits. In developing countries, the problem is even worse, since there is few capital enterprise to adopt this kind of industry.

Impact of promoter SNP55 (rs2870820) on risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer.

Background: While large GWAS analyses have not found convincing associations between promoter SNP55 and gynaecological cancers, SNP55 is in linkage disequilibrium with two other functional SNPs in the same promoter, likely to obscure associations between single SNPs and cancer risk. Here, we assessed the impact of SNP55 on risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer, including sub-analyses stratified for other functional SNPs in the region.

Material And Methods: Using a custom LightSNiP assay, we genotyped SNP55 in two large hospital-based cohorts of patients with ovarian (n = 1,332) and endometrial (n = 1,363) cancer and compared genotypes to healthy female controls (n = 1,858).

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with attenuation of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in breast cancer through reduced expression of .

Background: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a well-characterized process of cell plasticity that may involve metabolic rewiring. In cancer, EMT is associated with malignant progression, tumor heterogeneity, and therapy resistance. In this study, we investigated the role of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) as a potential key regulator of EMT.

The Synonymous Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 315C>T SNP Confers an Adverse Prognosis in Egyptian Adult Patients with NPM1-/CEBPA-Negative Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Although the clinical features of isocitrate dehydrogenase () genetic aberrations have been well-characterized in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), definitive information on their prognostic significance is lacking. We aimed to explore the prognostic significance of gene alterations in an Egyptian cohort of adult patients with AML. Diagnostic peripheral blood samples from 51 AML patients were analyzed for the presence of mutations/SNPs in exon 4 of and genes using polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by direct sequencing.

Tumor cells interact with red blood cells via galectin-4 - a short report.

Background: The ability of tumor cells to invade and metastasize is relevant to the process of cancer progression and, as such, it represents an obstacle to cancer cure. So far, limited information is available on interactions between circulating tumor cells and blood cells. It is well-documented that galectin-4 is upregulated in many types of tumor cells and is involved in metastasis.

PIK3CA mutations in HER2-positive Breast Cancer Patients; Frequency and Clinicopathological Perspective in Egyptian Patients.

Missense mutations in PIK3CA are common in breast cancers. They mostly involve exons 9 and 20 which encode kinase and helical domains of the protein and may result in its activation. PIK3CA activating mutations were previously shown to predict lower pathologic complete response (pCR) in HER2-positive breast cancer cases undergoing neoadjuvant human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-targeting therapy.

MDM2 promoter SNP55 (rs2870820) affects risk of colon cancer but not breast-, lung-, or prostate cancer.

Two functional SNPs (SNP285G > C; rs117039649 and SNP309T > G; rs2279744) have previously been reported to modulate Sp1 transcription factor binding to the promoter of the proto-oncogene MDM2, and to influence cancer risk. Recently, a third SNP (SNP55C > T; rs2870820) was also reported to affect Sp1 binding and MDM2 transcription. In this large population based case-control study, we genotyped MDM2 SNP55 in 10,779 Caucasian individuals, previously genotyped for SNP309 and SNP285, including cases of colon (n = 1,524), lung (n = 1,323), breast (n = 1,709) and prostate cancer (n = 2,488) and 3,735 non-cancer controls, as well as 299 healthy African-Americans.

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sunitinib malate, induces cognitive impairment in vivo via dysregulating VEGFR signaling, apoptotic and autophagic machineries.

Chemobrain refers to a cluster of cognitive deficits which affects almost 4-75% of chemotherapy-treated cancer patients. Sunitinib, an FDA-approved multityrosine kinase inhibitor, is currently used in treating different types of tumors. Despite being regarded as targeted therapy which blunts sustained angiogenesis in cancer milieu through inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) signaling, the latter has a cardinal role in cognition.

The Liver MicroRNA Expression Profiles Associated With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Genotype-4 Infection: A Preliminary Study.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been repeatedly shown to play important roles in liver pathologies, including hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Egypt has the highest hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rate worldwide, predominantly involving genotype-4.

Objectives: In this study, we attempted to characterize the miRNA profile of the poorly studied genotype 4 of HCV in chronically infected Egyptian patients to obtain a better understanding of the disease and its complications and help in the design of better management protocols.

Promoter SNPs rs116896264 and rs73933062 form a distinct haplotype and are associated with galectin-4 overexpression in colorectal cancer.

Galectin-4 is a member of the galectin family which consists of 15 galactoside-binding proteins. Previously, galectin-4 has been shown to have a role in cancer progression and metastasis and it is found upregulated in many solid tumours, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Recently, the role in the metastatic process was suggested to be via promoting cancer cells to adhere to blood vascular endothelium.

Induction of P3NS1 Myeloma Cell Death and Cell Cycle Arrest by Simvastatin and/or γ-Radiation.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of γ-radiation alone or combined with a cytotoxic drug, simvastatin, on viability and cell cycling of a myeloma cell line. P3NS1 myeloma cells were treated with the selected dose of simvastatin (0.1 μM/l) 24 hours prior to γ-irradiation (0.

Expression profiling of cancer-related galectins in acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of leukemia in adults with the lowest survival rate of all the leukemias. It is a heterogeneous disease in which a variety of cytogenetic and molecular alterations have been identified. Some galectins were previously reported to have important roles in cancer-like neoplastic transformation, tumor cell survival, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis.

Analysis of DNA-protein interactions: from nitrocellulose filter binding assays to microarray studies.

Determination of the sequence of the human genome and knowledge of the genetic code have allowed rapid progress in the identification of mammalian proteins. However, far less is known about the molecular mechanisms that control expression of human genes and about the variations in gene expression that underlie many pathological states, including cancer. This is caused in part by lack of information about the binding specificities of DNA-binding proteins and particularly regulative important molecules such as transcription factors.

Transcriptional activation of the beta-catenin gene at the invasion front of colorectal liver metastases.

beta-Catenin is a pivotal molecule of the Wnt-signalling pathway, involved in regulation of developmental and oncogenic processes as well as in intercellular adhesion. So far, beta-catenin has been thought to be regulated mainly at the protein level. Here, we provide evidence for a transcriptional mechanism of beta-catenin regulation at the invasion front of colorectal liver metastases.