Iranian Journal of Biotechnology

BACKGROUND: Q-PCR is the method of choice for PCR- based transcriptomics and validating microarray-based and RNA-seq results. Proper application of this technology requires proper normalization to correct as much as possible errors propagating during RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. OBJECTIVES: The investigation was performed to find stable reference genes in sunflower under shifting in ambient temperature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sequences of five well-known reference genes of Arabidopsis ( Actin , Ubiquitin , Elongation factor-1 , GAPDH , and SAND ) and one well-known reference gene inhuman, Importin , were subjected to BLASTX against sunflower databases and the relevant genes were subjected to primer designing for q-PCR...

BACKGROUND: In the CNS, glial cells are involved in neuroinflammation and neuropathic pain. The glial cells are activated by a variety of pathological conditions and release pro-inflammatory mediators, including nitric oxide (NO). Overexpression of iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and extra NO is detrimental to neurophysiology and neuronal viability. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effect of Gnidilatimonein isolated from D. mucronata and its leaves extract (as natural phytochemicals) on NO production in the LPS-induced primary glial cells...

BACKGROUND: STK11 mutation in LUAD affects immune cell infiltration in tumor tissue, and is associated with tumor prognosis. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to construct a STK11 mutation and immune-related LUAD prognostic model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The mutation frequency of STK11 in LUAD was queried via cBioPortal in TCGA and PanCancer Atlas databases. The degree of immune infiltration was analyzed by CIBERSORT analysis. DEGs in STK11 mut and STK11 wt samples were analyzed...

BACKGROUND: In animals and plants, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are crucial components of defense mechanisms, as they play a crucial role in innate immunity, which protects hosts from pathogenic bacteria. The CM15 has attracted considerable interest as a novel antibiotic against gram-negative and positive pathogens. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the permeation potential of the CM15 with membrane bilayers of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli ...

BACKGROUND: Over expression of Reteplase enzyme has already been studies in the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli ( E. coli ). However, the role different factors in its expresssin rate remained to be elucidated. OBJECTIVES: Optical cell density (OD), IPTG concentration, and expression time are highly effective in the protein expression rates. Therefore, we aimed to determine the optimum levels of these factors for reteplase expression using response surface methodology (RSM)...

BACKGROUND: Despite recent advances in recombinant biotherapeutics production using CHO cells, their productivity remains lower than industrial needs, mainly due to apoptosis. OBJECTIVES: Present study aimed to exploit CRISPR/Cas9 technology to specifically disrupt the BAX gene to attenuate apoptosis in recombinant Chinese hamster's ovary cells producing erythropoietin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The STRING database was used to identify the key pro-apoptotic genes to be modified by CRISPR/Cas9 technique...

BACKGROUND: SRC is a member of the membrane-associated non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase superfamily. It has been reported to mediate inflammation and cancer. However, the exact molecular mechanism involved is still not clear. OBJECTIVES: The current study was designed to explore the prognostic landscape of SRC and further investigate the relationship between SRC and immune infiltration in pan-cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Kaplan-Meier Plotter was used to detect the prognostic value of SRC in pan-cancer...

BACKGROUND: Bioleaching is a practical method to recover metals from low-grade mineral sulfides. The most frequent bacteria involved in the bioleaching of metals from ores are Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans . Experimental design is a method through which the optimum activity condition will be obtained, avoiding numerous trials and errors. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to optimize the bioleaching condition of two indigenous iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from the Meydouk mine, Iran, and evaluate their function in a semi-pilot operation in pure and mixed cultures...

BACKGROUND: In this study, chitosan with various deacetylation degrees was extracted from crayfish ( Astacus leptodactylus ) shells with the purpose of examining the effect of deacetylation on the characterization of chitosan. OBJECTIVES: Recycling of wastes has become an important issue with the advancement of shellfish processing technology. Therefore, this study examined the most important and conventional characterization parameters of chitosan extracted from crayfish shells and investigated whether crayfish chitosan can be an alternative to commercial products...

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in cellular mechanisms including transcription, translation, and apoptosis. NEAT1 is one of the essential types of lncRNAs in humans that can bind to active genes and modify their transcription. NEAT1 upregulation in various forms of cancer such as kidney cancer has been reported. Kidney cancer accounts for approximately 3% of all cancers worldwide and occurs almost twice as often in men as in women. OBJECTIVES: This study has been performed to knockout the NEAT1 gene using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique in the Renal Cell Carcinoma ACHN cell line and to evaluate its effects on cancer progression and apoptosis...

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α induces changes in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) isoforms' expression in human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). OBJECTIVE: However, the underlying mechanism of TNF-α induced GR isoforms' expression in HNECs remains unclear. Here, we explored changes in inflammatory cytokines and glucocorticoid receptor alpha isoform (GRα) expression in HNECs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To explore the expression of TNF-α in nasal polyps and nasal mucosa of CRS, fluorescence immunohistochemical analysis was employed...

BACKGROUND: Microbial phytase is one of the most widely used enzymes in food industries like cattle, poultry, and aquaculture food. Therefore, understanding the kinetic properties of the enzyme is very important to evaluate and predict its behavior in the digestive system of livestock. Working on phytase is one of the most challenging experiments because of some problems, including free inorganic phosphate (FIP) impurity in phytate (substrate) and interference reaction of the reagent with both phosphates (product and phytate impurity)...

BACKGROUND: Laryngeal cancer (LC) remains one of the most common tumors of the respiratory tract, the exact pathogenesis remains unclear. MiRNA-106a-5p is aberrantly expressed in a variety of cancers and plays a pro- or anti-cancer role, but is indistinct in LC. OBJECTIVES: Showing the role of miRNA-106a-5p in the development of LC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used for miR-106a-5p measurement in clinical samples and LC cell lines (AMC-HN8 and TU212), first...

BACKGROUND: Reteplase (recombinant plasminogen activator, r-PA) is a recombinant protein designed to imitate the endogenous tissue plasminogen activator and catalyze the plasmin production. It is known that the application of reteplase is limited by the complex production processes and protein's stability challenges. Computational redesign of proteins has gained momentum in recent years, particularly as a powerful tool for improving protein stability and consequently its production efficiency...

BACKGROUND: Tomato mosaic disease, mainly caused by Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), is one of the devastating viral diseases which adversely affects tomato yield, globally. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been recently used as bio-elicitors to induce resistance against plant viruses. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this research was to apply PGPR in the tomato rhizosphere and to determine the response of plants challenged with ToMV infection, under greenhouse conditions...

BACKGROUND: Troponin T1 (TNNT1) is implicated in human carcinogenesis. However, the role of TNNT1 in ovarian cancer (OC) remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of TNNT1 on the progression of ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The level of TNNT1 was evaluated in OC patients based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Knockdown or overexpression of TNNT1 using siRNA targeting TNNT1 or plasmid carrying TNNT1 was performed in the ovarian cancer SKOV3 cell, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Tumor cells proliferation and apoptosis inhibition are the mechanisms through which the Colorectal Cancer (CRC) progression, metastasis and chemoresistance are promoted pathologically, offering clinical advantages for characterizing their molecular regulators. OBJECTIVES: In this study, to unravel the role of PIWIL2 as a potential CRC oncogenic regulator, we examined the effect of its overexpression on proliferation, apoptosis and colony formation of SW480 colon cancer cell line...

BACKGROUND: Dopamine (DA) is one of the most important catecholamine neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. The degeneration and deletion of dopaminergic neurons are closely linked to Parkinson's disease (PD) and other psychiatric or neurological diseases. Several studies have been suggesting that intestinal microorganisms are associated with the occurrence of central nervous diseases, including diseases that are closely related to dopaminergic neurons. However, the intestinal microorganism's regulation of dopaminergic neurons in the brain is largely unknown...

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of miR-141 and miR-200a is known to be associated with the differentiation of T helper 17 (Th17) cells, which are key players in the pathophysiology of autoimmune disorders. However, the function and governing mechanism of these two microRNAs (miRNAs) in Th17 cell skewing are poorly defined. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to identify the common upstream transcription factors and downstream target genes of miR-141 and miR-200a to obtain a better insight into the possible dysregulated molecular regulatory networks driving miR-141/miR-200a-mediated Th17 cell development...

BACKGROUND: Owing to the fact that the heart tissue is not able to repair itself. Biomaterial-based scaffolds are important cues in tissue engineering (TE) applications. Recent advances in TE have led to the development of suitable scaffold architecture for various tissue defects. OBJECTIVE: Given the importance of cellular therapy, it was the aim of the present study to differentiate cardio myocyte cells from human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) using suitable induction reagents (namely, 5-azacytidine and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)) on poly-caprolactone (PCL)/Poly aniline (PANI) Nano fibrous scaffolds prepared by electrospinning...