Background: Chemotherapy is one of the common approaches in treatment of cancers, especially leukemia. However, drug resistance phenomena reduce the likelihood of treatment success. Resveratrol is a herbal compound which through complicated processes makes some selected cells sensitive to treatment and induction of apoptosis. In the present study, the effects of resveratrol on the expression of miR 15a and miR16-1 and apoptosis in the CCRF-CEM cell line were investigated. Materials and Methods: The CCRF-CEM cell line was cultured under standard conditions and changes in miR 15a and miR 16-1 expression were analyzed by real time-PCR technique, with attention to reveratrol dose and time dependence. Also, apoptosis is evaluated by flow cytometry using annexin V and PI. Results: CCRF-CEM cells underwent dose-dependent apoptotic cell death in response to resveratrol. MiR 15a and miR 16-1 expression was up-regulated after 24 and 48 hours resveratrol treatment (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results of our study indicate that resveratrol induces apoptosis in a time and dosedependent manner in CCRF-CEM cells. Also, increased expression level of miR 16-1 and miR 15a by means of resveratrol in CCRF-CEM cells might have a role in apoptosis induction and predisposition. According to our results resveratrol can be regarded as a dietary supplement to improve efficacy of anti-leukemia therapies.

Background: Osteoblastic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is the principal stage during the restoration and regeneration of bone tissue. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation play a key role in the differentiation process of stem cells. In this study, the methylation status of the promoter region of ZBTB16and Twist1 genes and their role in controlling osteoblastic differentiation in MSCs was investigated during the osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs.Methods: The MSCs were cultured under standard conditions and differentiated into the osteoblasts. We had three treatment groups including 5-azacytidine (methylation inhibitor), metformin (Twist-inhibitor), and procaine (Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor) and a nontreated group (control). Methylation level of DNA in the promoter regions was monitored by methylation specific-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Also, the mRNA levels of key genes in osteoblastic differentiation were measured using real-time PCR.Results: ZBTB16 gene expression was upregulated, and promoter methylation was decreased. For Twist1 messenger RNA (mRNA) level decreased and promoter methylation increased during osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs. 5-Azacytidine caused a significant reduction in methylation and increased the mRNA expression of ZBTB16 and Twist1. Metformin repressed the Twist1 expression, and therefore osteoblastic differentiation was increased. On the opposite side, procaine could block the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway, as a consequence the gene expression of key genes involved in osteoblastic differentiation was declined. Conclusion:We found that methylation of DNA in the promoter region of ZBTB16 and Twist1 genes might be one of the main mechanisms that controlling the gene expression during osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs. Also, we could find an association between regulation of Twist1 and ZBTB16 genes and osteoblastic differentiation in MSCs by showing the relation between their expression and some key genes involved in osteoblastic differentiation. In addition, we found a connection between the Twist1 expression level and osteoblastic differentiation by using a Twistinhibitor (metformin). K E Y W O R D S DNA methylation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), osteoblastic differentiation, Twist1, ZBTB16 J Cell Physiol. 2019;234:6230-6243. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcp 6230 |

Cancer stem cells obtain energy demand through the activation of glycolysis and lipolysis. It seems that the use of approached targeting glycolysis and lipolysis could be an effective strategy for the inhibition of cancer stem cells. In the current experiment, we studied the potential effect of glycolysis and lipolysis inhibition on cancer stem cells differentiation and mesenchymal–epithelial-transition capacity. Cancer stem cells were enriched from human ovarian cells namely SKOV3 by using MACS technique. Cells were exposed to Lonidamine, an inhibitor of glycolysis, and TOFA, a potent inhibitor of lipolysis for 7 days in endothelial differentiation medium; EGM-2 and cell viability was studied by MTT assay. At the respective time point, the transcription level of genes participating in EMT such as Zeb -1, -2, Vimentin , Snail -1, -2 and VE - cadherin were measured by real-time PCR analysis. Our data noted that the inhibition of lipolysis and glycolysis could decrease cell viability compared to the control of cancer stem cells. The inhibition of glycolysis prohibited the expression of Zeb -1, Snails , and Vimentin while increased endothelial differentiation rate indicated by the expression of VE - cadherin . In contrast, the inhibition of lipolysis increased EMT associated genes and reduced endothelial differentiation rate by suppressing the transcription of VE - cadherin . Notably, the simultaneous inhibition of glycolysis and lipolysis had moderate effects on the transcription of EMT genes. We concluded that the modulation of the metabolic pathway of glycolysis in ovarian CSCs is more effective than the inhibition of lipolysis in the control of angiogenesis potential and stemness feature.

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Chemotherapy is the most common method to treat leukemia as well as other types of human cancers. However, drug resistance has remained as the main challenge against the efficacy of treatments. Furthermore, having various adverse effects, chemotherapy drugs are becoming replaced by natural modalities for cancer therapy. In this regard, herbal components such as resveratrol and prednisolone have been identified to sensitize the leukemic cells to programmed cell death through a set of complex processes. In this study, we have examined DNA methylation on the human multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) as a well-known marker for cellular drug resistance. We evaluated the effect of resveratrol and prednisolone on DNA methylation patterns of MDR1 gene promoter in the CCRF-CEM cell line as a representative for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The study was aimed to clarify whether the MDR1 gene expression is regulated via DNA promoter methylation as a potential underlying mechanism, following exposure to resveratrol and prednisolone. Our data revealed that despite a strong influence to down-regulate the MDR1 expression, Resveratrol and Prednisolone did not alter the methylation pattern, suggesting other regulatory mechanisms in controlling the MDR1 expression in CCRF-CEM cell line. Unchanged status of DNA methylation of MDR1 gene may suggest that Resveratrol and Prednisolone causes the gene expression changes through a distinct mechanism which requires further studies to be understood. A more detailed understanding of the mechanisms beyond the regulation of the genes involved in cancer formation will help to design novel therapeutic strategies to fight the human cancers.