• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1362-1368
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• 2006

A new constitutive episomal expression vector, pGAPZ-E, was constructed and used for initial screening of eukaryotic target gene expression in Pichia pastoris. Two reporter genes such as beta-galactosidase gene and GFPuv gene were overexpressed in P. pastoris. The expression level of the episomal pGAPZ-E strain was higher than that of the integrated form when the beta-galactosidase gene was used as the reporter gene in P. pastoris X33. The avoiding of both the integration procedure and an induction step simplified the overall screening process for eukaryotic target gene expression in P. pastoris. Nine human protein targets from the Core 50, family of Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (http://www.nesg.org), which were intractable when expressed in E. coli, were subjected to rapid screening for soluble expression in P. pastoris. HR547, HR919, and HR1697 human proteins, which had previously been found to express poorly or to be insoluble in E. coli, expressed in soluble form in P. pastoris. Therefore, the new episomal GAP promoter vector provides a convenient and alternative system for high-throughput screening of eukaryotic protein expression in P. pastoris.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.465-484
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• 2004

Background : Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) inhibits the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells by inducing apoptosis. Methods : In this study, we investigated whether hypermethylation of IGFBP-3 promoter play an important role in the loss of IGFBP-3 expression in NSCLC. We also studied the mechanisms that mediate the silencing of IGFBP-3 expression in the cell lines which have hypermethylated IGFBP-3 promoter. Results : The IGFBP-3 promoter has hypermethylation in 7 of 15 (46.7%) NSCLC cell lines and 16 (69.7%) of 23, 7 (77.8%) of 9, 4 (80%) of 5, 4 (66.7 %) of 6, and 6 (100%) of 6 tumor specimens from patients with stage I, II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV NSCLC, respectively. The methylation status correlated with the level of protein and mRNA in NSCLC cell lines. Expression of IGFBP-3 was restored by the demethylating agent 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5'-aza-dC) in a subset of NSCLC cell lines. The Sp-1/ Sp-3 binding element in the IGFBP-3 promoter, important for promoter activity, was methylated in the NSCLC cell lines which have reduced IGFBP-3 expression and the methylation of this element suppressed the binding of the Sp-1 transcription factor. A ChIP assay showed that the methylation status of the IGFBP-3 promoter influenced the binding of Sp-1, methyl-CpG binding protein-2 (MeCP2), and histone deacetylase (HDAC) to Sp-1/Sp-3 binding element, which were reversed by by 5'-aza-dC. In vitro methylation of the IGFBP-3 promoter containing the Sp-1/Sp-3 binding element significantly reduced promoter activity, which was further suppressed by the overexpression of MeCP2. This reduction in activity was rescued by 5'-aza-dC. Conclusion : These findings indicate that hypermethylation of the IGFBP-3 promoter is one mechanism by which IGFBP-3 expression is silenced and MeCP2, with recruitment of HDAC, may play a role in silencing of IGFBP-3 expression. The frequency of this abnormality is also associated with advanced stages among the patients with NSCLC, suggesting that IGFBP-3 plays an important role in lung carcinogenesis/progression and that the promoter methylation status of IGFBP-3 may be a marker for early molecular detection and/or for monitoring chemoprevention efforts.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.101-111
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• 2018

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy of small intestine diagnosed in both childhood and adulthood. CD is caused by gluten, which produces gliadorphin during its digestion. The enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) breaks gliadorphin down nevertheless the last tripeptide remains and eventually inhibits DPP4, thus slowing down its process. Therefore, the idea is to produce an additional DPP4 enzyme which is crucial. Consequently, the functional DPP4 gene was cloned into pCDNA3 intermediate (FLAG+DPP4) vector and finally a recombinant plasmid pSB1C3 (Andersons promoters+FLAG+DPP4) was constructed using synthetic biology. Normally, a DPP4 inhibitor is used as a cure for diabetes. Another important concern was overexpression of DPP4, which might lead to diabetes, accordingly the work was also performed for the regulation of the DPP4 gene expression. In this regard, three types of Anderson promoters (strong, moderate and weak) were utilized to study the control overexpression. This is the first report of idealistic trial for control the exogenous DPP4 gene-expression by molecular biologic tools.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6721-6726
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• 2013

Background: Changes in DNA methylation patterns are believed to be early events in hepatocarcinogenesis. A better understanding of methylation states and how they correlate with disease progression will aid in finding potential strategies for early detection of HCC. The aim of our study was to analyze the methylation frequency of tumor suppressor genes, P14, P15, and P73, and a mismatch repair gene (O6MGMT) in HCV related chronic liver disease and HCC to identify candidate epigenetic biomarkers for HCC prediction. Materials and Methods: 516 Egyptian patients with HCV-related liver disease were recruited from Kasr Alaini multidisciplinary HCC clinic from April 2010 to January 2012. Subjects were divided into 4 different clinically defined groups - HCC group (n=208), liver cirrhosis group (n=108), chronic hepatitis C group (n=100), and control group (n=100) - to analyze the methylation status of the target genes in patient plasma using EpiTect Methyl qPCR Array technology. Methylation was considered to be hypermethylated if >10% and/or intermediately methylated if >60%. Results: In our series, a significant difference in the hypermethylation status of all studied genes was noted within the different stages of chronic liver disease and ultimately HCC. Hypermethylation of the P14 gene was detected in 100/208 (48.1%), 52/108 (48.1%), 16/100 (16%) and 8/100 (8%) among HCC, liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis and control groups, respectively, with a statistically significant difference between the studied groups (p-value 0.008). We also detected P15 hypermethylation in 92/208 (44.2%), 36/108 (33.3%), 20/100 (20%) and 4/100 (4%), respectively (p-value 0.006). In addition, hypermethylation of P73 was detected in 136/208 (65.4%), 72/108 (66.7%), 32/100 (32%) and 4/100 (4%) (p-value <0.001). Also, we detected O6MGMT hypermethylation in 84/208 (40.4%), 60/108 (55.3%), 20/100 (20%) and 4/100 (4%), respectively (p value <0.001. Conclusions: The epigenetic changes observed in this study indicate that HCC tumors exhibit specific DNA methylation signatures with potential clinical applications in diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, methylation frequency could be used to monitor whether a patient with chronic hepatitis C is likely to progress to liver cirrhosis or even HCC. We can conclude that methylation processes are not just early events in hepatocarcinogenesis but accumulate with progression to cancer.