Cross-talk between EGFR and IL-6 drives oncogenic signaling and offers therapeutic opportunities in cancer.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a known target in cancer therapy and targeting the receptor has proven to be extremely successful in treating cancers that are dependent on EGFR signaling. To that effect, targeted therapies to EGFR such as Cetuximab, Panitumumab-monoclonal antibodies and Gefitinib, Erlotinib-tyrosine kinase inhibitors have had success in therapeutic scenarios. However, the development of resistance to these drugs makes it necessary to combine anti- EGFR therapies with other inhibitors, so that resistance can be overcome by the targeting of alternate signaling pathways.

Chasing the personalized medicine dream through biomarker validation in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health burden worldwide. The optimal approach to the diagnosis, management, and treatment of CRC involves multidisciplinary and integrated management practices. The field is rapidly changing because of recent advancements in delineating the molecular basis of tumorigenesis, introduction of targeted therapy, varied patient response to mainstay chemotherapeutics, biological drugs, and the effective combination regimes being used for treatment.

Studies to Prevent Degradation of Recombinant Fc-Fusion Protein Expressed in Mammalian Cell Line and Protein Characterization.

Clipping of recombinant proteins is a major issue in animal cell cultures. A recombinant Fc-fusion protein, VEGFR1(D1-D3)-Fc expressed in CHOK1SV GS-KO cells was observed to be undergoing clippings in lab scale cultures. Partial cleaving of expressed protein initiated early on in cell culture and was observed to increase over time in culture and also on storage.

Regioselective synthesis of phenanthrenes and evaluation of their anti-oxidant based anti-inflammatory potential.

Regioselective synthesis of 9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol (1) and 9,10-dihydro-2,7-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,5-diol (2) was achieved using regioselective methylation, Wittig reaction, intramolecular cyclization and hydrogenation as key steps. The synthesis was successfully completed in total of 15 steps with 3.3% overall yield in case of 1 and in total of 13 steps with 9.

Genome-wide disease association study in chewing tobacco associated oral cancers.

With a view to identify genomic risk variants in chewing-tobacco associated oral cancer patients, a genome-wide association study was conducted in patients of Indian ethnicity with long term tobacco chewing habit. We analyzed 55 oral cancer patients and 92 healthy controls for single nucleotide polymorphisms, using high throughput microarray Illumina Infinium II Assay platform and Human CNV370k-bead chip containing 370,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. The PLINK software platform defined 298 SNPs with minor allele frequency of several genes significantly increased in oral cancer patients as compared to the controls (p<0.

Generation of an expressed sequence tag (EST) library from salt-stressed roots of Jatropha curcas for identification of abiotic stress-responsive genes.

Improving salinity and drought tolerance of crop plants has been an important aim of modern agricultural development, which depends on understanding the functions of genes expressed during the process of stress adaptation. EST resources are an efficient and cost-effective solution to gene discovery. Jatropha curcas is emerging as the most promising tree oil seed as a source of biodiesel.

RET gene mutations and polymorphisms in medullary thyroid carcinomas in Indian patients.

Germline mutations of RET gene are pathognomonic of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN; MEN 2A/MEN 2B) and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC), constituting 25% of medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTCs). We investigated RET gene mutations and polymorphisms at exons 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16 in 140 samples, comprising 51 clinically diagnosed MTC patients, 39 family members of patients and 50 normal individuals. The method of choice was PCR and direct nucleotide sequencing of the PCR products.

VEGF-C differentially regulates VEGF-A expression in ocular and cancer cells; promotes angiogenesis via RhoA mediated pathway.

Vascular angiogenesis is regulated by a number of cytokines of which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A/and its receptor vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) play an indisputable role. Similarly lymphangiogenesis is regulated by VEGF-C and its receptor VEGFR3. Currently for treating vasculogenesis diseases such as proliferative retinopathies and cancer, a number of anti-VEGF-A therapies are approved for clinical use.

Molecular approaches to improvement of Jatropha curcas Linn. as a sustainable energy crop.

With the increase in crude oil prices, climate change concerns and limited reserves of fossil fuel, attention has been diverted to alternate renewable energy sources such as biofuel and biomass. Among the potential biofuel crops, Jatropha curcas L, a non-domesticated shrub, has been gaining importance as the most promising oilseed, as it does not compete with the edible oil supplies. Economic relevance of J.

9,10-dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol, from Eulophia ochreata, inhibits inflammatory signalling mediated by Toll-like receptors.

Background And Purpose: 9,10-Dihydro-2,5-dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol (RSCL-0520) is a phenanthrene isolated from Eulophia ochreata, one of the Orchidaceae family, known by local tradition to exhibit medicinal properties. However, no anti-inflammatory activity or any molecular mechanisms involved have been reported or elucidated. Here, for the first time, we evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties of RSCL-0520 on responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and mediated via Toll-like receptors (TLRs).

A novel dermal tissue construct: development and in vitro characterization.

A dermal tissue construct composed of human dermal fibroblasts and a chitosan sponge has been developed, targeted towards the treatment of diabetic nonhealing ulcers. The construct has been designed in a way that the dermal fibroblasts are arranged as a three-dimensional sheet adhered entirely on one side of the chitosan sponge. This design would allow maximal diffusion of growth factors from the cells to the wound bed when the construct is applied on the wound with the cellular sheet side making contact with the wound bed.

Yeast functional screen to identify genetic determinants capable of conferring abiotic stress tolerance in Jatropha curcas.

Background: Environmentally inflicted stresses such as salinity and drought limit the plant productivity both in natural and agricultural system. Increasing emphasis has been directed to molecular breeding strategies to enhance the intrinsic ability of plant to survive stress conditions. Functional screens in microorganisms with heterologous genes are a rapid, effective and powerful tool to identify stress tolerant genes in plants.

A panel of tests to standardize the characterization of human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem cells offer a renewable source of a wide range of cell types for use in research and cell-based therapies. Characterizing these cells provides important information about their current state and affords relevant details for subsequent downstream manipulation. Prior to considering therapeutic applications, it is crucial that the cells are surveyed at a genetic and proteomic level during the extensive propagation, expansion and differentiation.

Heart development: the battle between mesoderm and endoderm.

Recent years have seen a surge of scientific research examining the interdependence of one germ layer in the development of the other, both in vivo and in vitro. For example, the endoderm is believed to play a crucial role in the formation of mesoderm and subsequent maturation of cells belonging to the mesodermal lineage. Our understanding of this complex relationship is continuously growing with reinterpretation of earlier concepts and apprehension of newer hypotheses into the biology of embryonic development.

Similar pattern in cardiac differentiation of human embryonic stem cell lines, BG01V and ReliCellhES1, under low serum concentration supplemented with bone morphogenetic protein-2.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can differentiate into cardiomyocytes, but the efficiency of this process is highly variable. So, developing generic differentiation protocols and their empirical testing on a range of independently derived hESC lines pose a daunting challenge due to considerable diversity in culture methods practiced between lines. Maintenance of BG01V and ReliCellhES1 has routinely been on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeder layers using manual passaging.

Assessment of pluripotency and multilineage differentiation potential of NTERA-2 cells as a model for studying human embryonic stem cells.

Embryonal carcinoma cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from teratocarcinomas and are considered to be the malignant counterparts of human embryonic stem cells. As there are few reliable experimental systems available to study the molecular mechanisms governing normal embryogenesis, well-characterized human embryonal carcinoma stem cell lines may provide a robust and simple model to study certain aspects of pluripotency and cellular differentiation. Here, we have analysed NTERA-2 cL.

Characterization and in vitro differentiation potential of a new human embryonic stem cell line, ReliCellhES1.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an exceptionally useful tool for studies of human development and represent a potential source for transplantation therapies. At present, only a limited number of hESCs lines representing a very small sample of genetic diversity of the human populations are available. Here, we report the derivation and characterization of a new hESC line, ReliCellhES1.