50 results match your criteria: "Ankara University Biotechnology Institute[Affiliation]"

This research aims to assess the concentration of metals in human and canine placentas from the same geographic area and to investigate how these metal levels influence gene expression within the placenta. Placentas of 25 dogs and 60 women who had recently given birth residing in Ankara, Turkey were collected and subjected to metal analysis using ICP-OES. Placentas with detectable metal levels underwent further examination including Next Generation Sequencing, transcriptional analysis, single nucleotide polymorphism investigation, and extensive scrutiny across various groups.

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Background: Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a disease of the haematopoietic stem cells(HSCs) that is characterised by the uncontrolled proliferation and impaired differentiation of normal haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Several pathways that control the proliferation and differentiation of HSCs are impaired in AML. Activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling pathway has been shown in AML and beta-catenin, which is thought to be the key element of this pathway, has been frequently highlighted.

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The placental cholinergic system; known as an important factor in intracellular metabolic activities, regulation of placental vascular tone, placental development, and neurotransmission; can be affected by persistent organic pesticides, particularly organochlorine pesticides(OCPs), which can influence various epigenetic regulations and molecular pathways. Although OCPs are legally prohibited, trace amounts of the persistent dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane(DDT) are still found in the environment, making prenatal exposure inevitable. In this study, the effects of 2,4'-DDT and 4,4'-DDT; and its breakdown product 4,4'-DDE in the environment on placental cholinergic system were evaluated with regards to cholinergic genes.

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Pediocin and analogous bacteriocins, valued for thermal stability, serve as versatile antimicrobials in the food sector. Improving their resilience at high temperatures and deriving derivatives not only benefit food production but also offer broad-spectrum antimicrobial potential in pharmaceuticals, spanning treatments for peptic ulcers, women's health, and novel anticancer agents. The study aims to create mutant peptides capable of establishing a third disulfide bond or enhanced through cysteine substitutions.

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Heat resistance of spores of Clostridium perfringens 8238 (Hobbs Serotype 2), Bacillus cereus NCTC 11143 (4810/72), and Bacillus subtilis PS533, an isogenic derivative of strain PS832 (a 168 strain) was determined in ground beef at 95 °C. Spore purification was by centrifugation and washing with sterile distilled water (dH2O), followed by sonication and then Histodenz centrifugation for B. subtilis and C.

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Three-dimensional (3D) myocardial tissues for studying human heart biology, physiology and pharmacology have recently received lots of attention. Organoids as 3D mini-organs are created from multiple cell types (i.e.

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Differentiation and molecular characterization of endothelial progenitor and vascular smooth muscle cells from induced pluripotent stem cells.

Bioimpacts

February 2022

Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Laboratories for Stem Cells and Reproductive Medicine, Sihhiye, Ankara, 06410, Turkey.

Introduction: Pluripotent stem cells have been used by various researchers to differentiate and characterize endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) for the clinical treatment of vascular injuries. Studies continue to differentiate and characterize the cells with higher vascularization potential and low risk of malignant transformation to the recipient. Unlike previous studies, this research aimed to differentiate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and VSMCs using a step-wise technique.

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Research on immunotherapy in breast cancer treatment has recently gained importance. In this context, natural killer (NK) cells have been shown to kill cancer cells without affecting normal cells. Our study used the NK-92 cells that were stimulated with anti-CD226 antibodies (sNK-92) to increase their activity to target MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells.

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The thermal stability properties of pediocin at 310, 313, 323, 333, 343, and 348 K (37, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 75°C, respectively) are reported in this study. A theoretical approach, such as the molecular dynamics method, was used to analyze the structure. Molecular dynamics simulation confirms the stability of molecules with Cys.

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Introduction: Behçet syndrome (BS) is a chronic, multisystemic inflammatory condition with unanswered questions regarding its pathogenesis and rational therapeutics. A microarray-based comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of BS and identify any potential therapeutic targets.

Methods: Twenty-nine BS patients (B) and 15 age and sex-matched control subjects (C) were recruited.

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Natural killer (NK) cells are immune cells that have attracted significant attention due to their cytotoxic properties. They are believed to be highly effective in cancer therapy. In this study, anti-KIR2DL4 (Killer cell Immunoglobulin like Receptor, 2 Ig Domains and Long cytoplasmic tail 4) was used to stimulate the NK-92 activator receptor to increase their cytotoxicity on breast cancer cell lines.

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Obesity impairs reproductive capacity, and the link between imprinting disorders and obesity has been discussed in many studies. Recent studies indicate that a high-fat diet may cause epigenetic changes in maternal and paternal genes, which may be transmitted to offspring and negatively affect their development. On this basis, our study aims to reveal the changes in DNA methylation and DNA methyltransferase enzymes in the ovaries and testes of C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet and created a model of obesity, by comparing them with the control group.

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Biofilm structures, which are the predominant form of microbial life, are a formation that allows pathogenic microorganisms to remain alive by colonizing in different tissues and organs in the human body, as well as on inanimate surfaces. One of the important criteria in the fight against biofilm structures is the weakening of the exopolymeric matrix (EPS). Although it is known that extracellular DNA (eDNA) is one of the most abundant macromolecules in EPS in enterococcal biofilms, its function in biofilm structure is controversial.

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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain major causes of global mortality in the world. Genetic approaches have succeeded in discovery of the molecular basis of an increasing number of cardiac diseases. Genome editing strategies are one of the most effective methods for assisting therapeutic approaches.

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B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is a heterogeneous leukemia subgroup. It has multiple sub-types that are likely to be classified by prognostic factors. Following a systematic literature review, this study analyzed the genes correlated with BCP-ALL prognosis ( and , specifically their nucleotide variations and expression profiles in pediatric BCP-ALL samples.

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DNA methylation plays important roles during spermatogenesis. This mechanism includes maintenance and de novo methylation which are catalysed by DNA methyltransferase enzymes. DNMT1 plays role in maintenance methylation, while DNMT3A, DNMT3B and DNMT3L are primarily responsible for de novo methylation.

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Background: Mitochondrial diseases are a clinically heterogeneous group of rare hereditary disorders that are defined by a genetic defect predominantly affecting mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondrial diseases are caused by mutations of genes encoded by either nuclear DNA or mitochondrial DNA. Hundreds of different mitochondrial DNA point mutations and large-scale mitochondrial DNA rearrangements have been shown to cause mitochondrial diseases including Kearns–Sayre syndrome, Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, Leigh syndrome, myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers, mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis stroke.

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The effects of culture media on DNA methylation process, which is one of the epigenetic mechanisms, have not been clearly elucidated although it is known that in vitro culture conditions alter epigenetic mechanisms. This study was designed to address the question: does embryo culture media approach, sequential or single step, differentially affect DNA methylating enzymes and global DNA methylation. Mouse zygotes were cultured either in single step or sequential culture media until the blastocyst stage and in vivo developed blastocyst were utilized as control.

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Skeletal muscle is an electrically and mechanically active tissue that contains highly oriented, densely packed myofibrils. The tissue has self-regeneration capacity upon injury, which is limited in the cases of volumetric muscle loss. Several regenerative therapies have been developed in order to enhance this capacity, as well as to structurally and mechanically support the defect site during regeneration.

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Background And Objectives: The HUC-HEART Trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02323477) was a controlled, prospective, phase I/II, multicenter, single-blind, three-arm randomized study of intramyocardial delivery of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (HUC-MSCs) combined with coronary artery bypass-grafting (CABG) in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy (CIC). The trial aimed to assess (i) the safety and the efficacy of cell transplantation during one-year follow-up, (ii) to compare the efficacy of HUC-MSCs with autologous bone-marrow- derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) in the same clinical settings.

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O-linked N-acetyl-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a post-translational protein modification that regulates cell signaling and involves in several pathological conditions. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) catalyzes the attachment, while O-GlcNAcase (OGA) splits the GlcNAc molecules from the serine or threonine residues of the nuclear and cellular proteins. The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) is a small branch of glycolysis that provides a substrate for the OGT and serves as a nutrient sensor.

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Determination of a stem cell source with sufficient myogenic differentiation capacity that can be easily obtained in large quantities is of great importance in skeletal muscle regeneration therapies. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are readily available, can be isolated from fat tissue with high yield and possess myogenic differentiation capacity. Consequently, ASCs have high applicability in muscle regenerative therapies.

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Bioethical issues in genome editing by CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

Turk J Biol

April 2020

Tissue Engineering, Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology Laboratory, Ankara University Faculty of Science,Ankara University Biotechnology Institute, Ankara University Stem Cell Institute, Ankara Turkey.

Genome editing technologies have led to fundamental changes in genetic science. Among them, CRISPR-Cas9 technology particularly stands out due to its advantages such as easy handling, high accuracy, and low cost. It has made a quick introduction in fields related to humans, animals, and the environment, while raising difficult questions, applications, concerns, and bioethical issues to be discussed.

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Purpose: Chemical fixation is a critical step to retaining cellular targets as naturally as possible. Recent developments in microscopy allow sophisticated detection and measuring techniques with which spatio-temporal molecular alterations are conceivable. In this study, we compare two members of aldehyde fixatives [i.

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A key challenge in skeletal muscle tissue engineering is the choice of a proper scaffolding material as it should demonstrate elastic behavior to withstand and support the dynamic loading of the tissue microenvironment while being biodegradable and biocompatible. In this study, we tested the applicability of a novel biodegradable polyurethane (PU) elastomer chain extended with fibrinogen (Fib) to fulfill these requirements. Biodegradable polyurethane-fibrinogen (PU-Fib) elastomers were synthesized by step-wise condensation polymerization.

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