Background: Dysregulation of miRNAs is associated with breast cancer. Results: MiR-9 overexpression and transcriptome analysis reveals novel miR-9 targets, including MTHFD2, which can recapitulate anti-proliferative effects of miR-9 overexpression. Conclusion: MiR-9 displays tumor suppressor-like activity in breast cancer cells; MTHFD2 contributes to this activity. Significance: Understanding miR-9-directed regulation of the breast cancer transcriptome is important for diagnosis and therapeutics.

Mature microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding regulatory RNAs which can elicit post-transcriptional repression of mRNA levels of target genes. Here, we report the identification of 67 mature and 42 precursor miRNAs in the Schistosoma mansoni parasite. The evolutionarily conserved S. mansoni miRNAs consisted of 26 precursor miRNAs and 35 mature miRNAs, while we identified 16 precursor miRNAs and 32 mature miRNAs that displayed no conservation. These S. mansoni miRNAs are located on seven autosomal chromosomes and a sex (W) chromosome. miRNA expansion through gene duplication was suggested for at least two miRNA families miR-71 and mir-2. miRNA target finding analysis identified 389 predicted mRNA targets for the identified miRNAs and suggests that the sma-mir-71 may be involved in female sexual maturation. Given the important roles of miRNAs in animals, the identification and characterization of miRNAs in S. mansoni will facilitate novel approaches towards prevention and treatment of Schistosomiasis.

Subsequent studies using siRNA to knock down several candidate proteins from the 2D DIGE experiment identified RAN (a member of the RAS oncogene family) which significantly reduced the invasive capability of a model lung cancer cell line.We conclude that miR-29a has a significant anti-invasive and anti-proliferative effect on lung cancer cells in vitro and functions as an anti-oncomir. This function is likely mediated through the post-transcriptional fine tuning of the cellular levels of several proteins, both directly and indirectly, and in particular we provide some evidence that RAN represents one of these.

y These authors contributed equally.The success of a biomaterial depends on the nature of interaction and the progressive reaction between the biological components and the surface of the biomaterial. In order to control the interaction between the biomaterial and biological component, it is necessary to understand the factors that influence the protein adsorption and cell proliferation. Surface chemistry plays a crucial role in the success of any blood contacting biomaterial. Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is an interesting commonly used technique for tailoring surface characteristics while retaining bulk material properties. Two different films, namely polymer-like and silica-like coatings, with varying surface characteristics have been deposited from hexamethyldisiloxane, by PECVD, on 316L stainless steel. A correlation between the bulk plasma, interfacial adhesion of the coating to 316L steel, surface characteristics and biomolecule interaction is presented in this work. The interfacial adhesion strength analysis demonstrated that silica-like coatings have higher adhesion strength to 316L stainless steel than polymer-like coatings, caused due to the formation of a strong FeÀOÀSi and ÀCrÀOÀSi bonds. It was observed that the effect of nanoscale surface roughness (close to 6 nm) was less significant, and that the surface chemistry played a significant role in governing the fibrinogen adsorption. Highest fibrinogen adsorption on plain steel was due to the electrostatic interaction of the metal oxide layer with the protein. Hydrophobicity of the polymer-like film resulted in a higher fibrinogen binding than the silicalike films.

Considerable increases in productivity have been achieved in biopharmaceutical production processes over the last two decades. Much of this has been a result of improvements in media formulation and process development. Though advances have been made in cell line development, there remains considerable opportunity for improvement in this area. The wealth of transcriptional and proteomic data being generated currently hold the promise of specific molecular interventions to improve the performance of production cell lines in the bioreactor. Achieving this-particularly for multi-gene modification-will require specific, targeted and controlled genetic manipulation of these cells. This review considers some of the current and potential future techniques that might be employed to realise this goal.

Background:Aiming the continuity of the studies of Austroplenckia populnea, Brazilian species of the Celastraceae family, in the present study, it was investigated the effect of crude extracts obtained with ethanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform and two purified constituents, proanthocyanidin A and 4’-O-methylepigallocatechin, both isolated from its samaras, on cancer cell proliferation assays.Materials and Methods:The human cancer cells lines MCF-7 (ductal breast carcinoma), A549 (lung cancer), HS578T (ductal breast carcinoma) and non-cancer HEK293 (embryonic kidney cells) were treated with different concentrations of extracts and constituents and the effect was observed through the acid phosphatase method. The chemical structures of the purified compounds were identified by the respective IR and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data.Results:While crude extracts from samaras of the folk medicine A. populnea can trigger cell proliferative effects in human cell lines, the purified compounds (proanthocyanidin A and 4’-O-methyl-epigallocatechin) isolated from the same extracts can have an opposite (anti-proliferative) effect.Conclusion:Based on the results, it was possible to suggest that extracts from samaras of A. populnea should be further investigated for possible cancer-promoting activities; and the active extracts can also represent a source of compounds that have anti-cancer properties.

INTRODUCTIONRespiratory cytology has been widely used for the last many decades in diagnosis of both neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions. Sputum and bronchoscopic material have been found to be very useful especially in the detection of pulmonary malignancies. "Sputum cytology is a simple, accurate, reliable, cost-effective and noninvasive procedure for the assessment of respiratory diseases, including pre-invasive and invasive pulmonary malignancies. 1,2 ABSTRACT Background: The main advantage of sputum cytology is its simplicity, non-invasiveness and minimal discomfort to the patient. Though, the sputum is evaluated in the diagnosis of lung cancer, the report on the same in the South Indian population was lacking. Therefore, the present study has been undertaken to evaluate the role of sputum in the diagnosis of lung cancer in South Indian population. Methods: The material consisted of sputum samples from 133 patients and was collected in clean wide mouthed disposable plastic containers. Patients were asked to collect sputum the next morning after washing the mouth properly. The sputum was immediately brought to the laboratory and poured into a watch glass. Four smears were prepared from each sample, out of which two smears were immediately fixed in methanol and the other two were airdried. The methanol fixed smears were stained with Papanicolaou stain. Out of the two air dried smears, one was stained with May Grunwald Giemsa and the other with Gabbot's method for AFB. The smears were screened for malignant cells and a cytological diagnosis was made. The cytological diagnosis was correlated with the histopathological diagnosis. The data obtained were represented as mean percentages. Results: The observation of sputum smears showed numerous pleiomorphic keratinized squamous cells, keratinized squamous cell with hyper chromatic nucleus in well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, pleiomorphic cells having vacuolated cytoplasm and vesicular nucleus with prominent nucleoli as in adenocarcinoma of the lung, cells arranged in small clusters and having scanty cytoplasm in small cell carcinoma and cells are slightly larger than lymphocyte with scanty cytoplasm and hyper chromatic, grooved nuclei in small cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Cytology of sputum is extremely useful and highly sensitive. The diagnostic accuracy is directly proportional to the number of samples. Sputum cytology is highly sensitive for the centrally located squamous cell carcinoma rather than the peripherally located adenocarcinoma. Properly collected, simple sputum examination alone can give results similar to other highly expensive methods like bronchoscopic material for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Background: Panoramic radiography is one of the most commonly used radiographic methods to complement clinical examination. Ionizing radiation is a well-known mutagen and carcinogen in the human population. So this study was undertaken to evaluate the possible genotoxic effects of panoramic radiation by assessing the frequency of micronuclei formation in the exfoliated buccal epithelium. Methods: 50 patients of either sex in the age range of 15 to 75 years with apparently normal oral mucosa with no adverse habits and without any oral lesions were included in the present study after their consent. Buccal epithelial cells were obtained from the buccal mucosa by scraping with the toothbrush immediately before and after 10 ± 2 days of exposure to panoramic radiography. Cytological preparations were stained and observed under microscope. Student's paired't' test was used for the comparison between mean frequency of micronuclei in buccal epithelial cells in patients before and after panoramic radiography. Results: Significant increase (P <0.0001) in the frequency of cells with micronuclei and total number of micronuclei after panoramic radiography was detected. Conclusion: The X-radiation emitted during panoramic radiography does induce some genotoxic changes in the form of increased frequency of micronuclei in target buccal epithelial cells.