Epigenetic changes in oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes contribute to carcinogenesis. Understanding the epigenetic and genetic components of tumor immune evasion is crucial. Few cancer genetic mutations have been linked to direct correlations with immune evasion. Studies on the epigenetic modulation of the immune checkpoints have revealed a critical interaction between epigenetic and immune modulation. Epigenetic modifiers can activate many silenced genes. Some of them are immune checkpoints regulators that turn on immune responses and others turn them off resulting in immune evasion. Many forms of epigenetic inheritance mechanisms may play a role in regulation of immune checkpoints including: covalent modifications, noncoding RNA and histone modifications. In this review, we will show how the potential interaction between epigenetic and immune modulation may lead to new approaches for specific epigenome/immunome-targeted therapies for cancer.

A series of ZnO and ZnO/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) catalysts were prepared using sol–gel method. An X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the existence of the wurtzite ZnO phase, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation revealed the formation of spherical ZnO and ZnO/PVA nanoparticles. The decomposition of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) induced by the synthesized pure ZnO and ZnO/PVA nanoparticles was studied under ultraviolet–visible irradiation. Among the catalysts evaluated, ZnO/5PVA was the most active in the decomposition of MB, whereas ZnO/7PVA was the most active catalyst in the decomposition of MO. Moreover, an investigation of the biological activity of pure ZnO and ZnO/PVA indicated that ZnO/5PVA exhibited the best performance in lowering the glucose level in diabetic rats.

Serum and to a larger extent sputum MMP-2 appear to be potential noninvasive markers for detecting lung cancer.

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). IntroductionHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the fifth most common cancer and the third most leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. 1 High morbidity observed in HCC is majorly attributed to the lack of early detection markers and poor prognosis. Hence, exploration of novel frontiers in HCC diagnosis and therapeutics remains to be high priority research areas. 2,3 HCC represents a public health problem in Egypt. It constitutes 70.48% of all liver tumors among Egyptians, representing the second most common malignancy after bladder cancer in men and breast cancer in women and the second most common cause of death in men. 4,5 Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used tumor biomarker for HCC diagnosis. However, it has low sensitivity and specificity. This highlights the need for other methods that would be minimally invasive, simple, and reliable. 6 MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs, which play a central role in sequence specific posttranscriptional gene attenuation. 7 They are involved in various fundamental cellular processes as well as carcinogenesis. Moreover, miRNAs are highly stable in serum due to their resistance to RNase, extreme pH, and temperature. Therefore, they have been identified as candidate AbstractThere is an obvious need to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma using novel non-invasive and sensitive biomarkers. In this regard, the aim of this study was to evaluate and correlate both relative quantification of microRNA-7 using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and quantitative analysis of selenoprotein P using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in sera of hepatocellular carcinoma patients, chronic liver disease patients, as well as normal healthy subjects in order to establish a new diagnostic biomarker with a valid non-invasive technique. In addition, this study aimed to investigate whether changes in selenium supply affect microRNA-7 expression and selenoprotein P levels in human hepatocarcinoma cell line (HepG2). The results showed a highly significant decrease in serum microRNA-7 relative quantification values and selenoprotein P levels in malignant group in comparison with benign and control groups. The best cutoff for serum microRNA-7 and selenoprotein P to discriminate hepatocellular carcinoma group from benign and control groups was 0.06 and 4.30 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, this study showed that changes in selenium supply to HepG2 cell line can alter the microRNA-7 profile and are paralleled by changes in the concentration of its target protein (selenoprotein P). Hence, serum microRNA-7 ...

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