With the promising results of our study, the future potential of NC-loaded Fe-bLf in chemoprevention and in the treatment of human colon cancer, deserves further investigation for translational research and preclinical studies of other malignancies.

Our results confirmed that NCs internalized and changed the expression of selected miRNAs that further enhanced their uptake. The NCs activated both extrinsic, as well as intrinsic apoptotic pathways to induce apoptosis by targeting survivin in cancer cells and cancer stem cells, without inducing any nonspecific nanotoxicity. Apart from inhibiting angiogenesis and stem cell markers, NCs also maintained iron and calcium levels.

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An electrogenic bacterium was isolated from a marine coral, designated as strain JC435 and its taxonomic status examined by using a polyphasic approach. Results from the 16S rRNA gene sequence study showed that the isolate belonged to the genus Rhodococcus and formed a cluster with Rhodococcus ruber KCTC 9806 (99.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Rhodococcus aetherivorans JCM 14343 (99.3 %), respectively. Genome relatedness based on DNA-DNA hybridization to the type strains of closest-related species was less than 30 % and the ΔTm of >7 °C, suggesting that strain represents a new species of the genus Rhodococcus. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C18 : 1ω9c, C18 : 010-methyl and C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c. The polar lipids of strain JC435 were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, phosphatidylinositol, three unknown phospholipids and an unknown amino lipid. The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-8(H2), with 8 % of MK-7(H2) and 2 % of MK-9(H2) as minor components. Whole-cell hydrolysates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid, arabinose and galactose as the diagnostic diamino acid and sugars. Mycolic acids were detected. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain JC435 was 69.8 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic genotypic, physiological and chemotaxonomic analysis, strain JC435 is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus for which the name Rhodococcuselectrodiphilus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC435 (=KCTC 39856=LMG 29881=MCC 3659).

BackgroundGiven the estimate that 30% of our genes are controlled by microRNAs, it is essential that we understand the precise relationship between microRNAs and their targets. OncomiRs are microRNAs (miRNAs) that have been frequently shown to be deregulated in cancer. However, although several oncomiRs have been identified and characterized, there is as yet no comprehensive compilation of this data which has rendered it underutilized by cancer biologists. There is therefore an unmet need in generating bioinformatic platforms to speed the identification of novel therapeutic targets.DescriptionWe describe here OncomiRdbB, a comprehensive database of oncomiRs mined from different existing databases for mouse and humans along with novel oncomiRs that we have validated in human breast cancer samples. The database also lists their respective predicted targets, identified using miRanda, along with their IDs, sequences, chromosome location and detailed description. This database facilitates querying by search strings including microRNA name, sequence, accession number, target genes and organisms. The microRNA networks and their hubs with respective targets at 3'UTR, 5'UTR and exons of different pathway genes were also deciphered using the 'R' algorithm.ConclusionOncomiRdbB is a comprehensive and integrated database of oncomiRs and their targets in breast cancer with multiple query options which will help enhance both understanding of the biology of breast cancer and the development of new and innovative microRNA based diagnostic tools and targets of therapeutic significance. OncomiRdbB is freely available for download through the URL link http://tdb.ccmb.res.in/OncomiRdbB/index.htm.

Curing cancer is the greatest challenge for modern medicine and finding ways to minimize the adverse effects caused by chemotherapeutic agents is of importance in improving patient’s physical conditions. Traditionally, chemotherapy can induce various adverse effects, and these effects are mostly caused by the non-target specific properties of the chemotherapeutic compounds. Recently, the use of nanoparticles has been found to be capable of minimizing these drug-induced adverse effects in animals and in patients during cancer treatment. The use of nanoparticles allows various chemotherapeutic drugs to be targeted to cancer cells with lower dosages. In addition to this, the use of nanoparticles also allows various drugs to be administered to the subjects by an oral route. Here, locked nucleic acid (LNA)-modified epithelial cell adhesion molecules (EpCAM), aptamers (RNA nucleotide), and nucleolin (DNA nucleotide) aptamers have been developed and conjugated on anti-cancer drug-loaded nanocarriers for specific delivery to cancer cells and spare normal cells. Significant amounts of the drug loaded nanocarriers (92 ± 6 %) were found to distribute to the cancer cells at the tumour site and more interestingly, normal cells were unaffected in vitro and in vivo. In this review, the benefits of using nanoparticle-coated drugs in various cancer treatments are discussed. Various nanoparticles that have been tried in improving the target specificity and potency of chemotherapeutic compounds are also described.

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