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ABSTRACT Background The human SAT1 gene encodes spermidine/spermine N1‐acetyltransferase 1 (SSAT1), a regulatory biological catalyst of polyamine catabolism. Numerous essential biological processes, such as cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival, depend on polyamines like spermidine and spermine. Thus, SSAT1 is involved in key cellular activities such as proliferation and survival of cells and mediates various diseases including cancer. A plethora of studies established the involvement of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in numerous pathological conditions due to their ability to adversely affect the structure and subsequent function of the protein. Aims To date, an in silico study to identify the pathogenic missense SNPs of the human SAT1 gene has not been accomplished yet. This study aimed to filter the missense SNPs that were functionally detrimental and pathogenic. Methods and Results The rs757435207 (I21N) was ascertained to be the most deleterious and pathogenic by all algorithmic tools. Stability and evolutionary conservation analysis tools also stated that I21N variant decreased the stability and was located in the highly conserved residue. Molecular dynamics simulation revealed that I21N caused substantial alterations in the conformational stability and dynamics of the SSAT1 protein. Consequently, the I21N variant could disrupt the native functional roles of the SSAT1 enzyme. Conclusion Therefore, the I21N variant was identified and concluded to be an oncogenic missense variant of the human SAT1 gene. Overall, the findings of this study would be a great directory of future experimental research to develop personalized medicine.

IntroductionThe misuse of antibiotics in poultry farming is a global issue.ObjectiveThe focus of this study was the health risk assessment of consumers from the determination of ciprofloxacin (CIP), tetracycline (TC), and oxytetracycline (OTC) in broiler chicken in the raw, frozen, and boiled stages using solid-phase extraction, high-performance liquid chromatography, and ultraviolet detection (SPE-HPLC-UV).Materials and methodsChromatographic separation was achieved using 0.3% metaphosphoric acid and acetonitrile (1:10, v/v) for CIP at 280 nm and oxalic acid (0.01 M) and acetonitrile (1:1, v/v) for TC and OTC at 355 nm with different retention times. The method had an acceptable precision with good linearity, specificity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, accuracy, and stability.ResultsAmong a total of 252 raw samples, approximately 68.25%, 25.4%, and 7.54% contained CIP, TC, and OTC, respectively. Out of the positive raw samples, CIP exceeded the maximum residual limit (MRL) in 3.6% muscle, 14.3% liver and 17.9% skin samples, whereas TC and OTC were below the MRLs. The residual concentrations of these antibiotics were almost unchanged in frozen samples. After boiling the chicken samples, the TC and OTC residues were reduced significantly compared to CIP. Although the concentrations of CIP in boiled samples were above the MRL set by the European Union, these did not exceed the hazard index 1.ConclusionBased on these results, the exposure levels to antibiotics in broiler chicken meats may be considered to have a low risk for human health.

Silver Nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are progressively exercised as an antimicrobial agent among myriad applications. The rapid emergence of microbial resistance to conventional antibiotics by multidrug-resistant pathogens has become a threat to the global health community. Traditionally used herbal plants are good sources of bioactive phytochemicals and Galinsoga formosa is one of them. Thus, Ag-NPs are biologically synthesized, intending to evaluate the antibacterial activity of G. formosa. Disc diffusion assay was used to assess the antibacterial activity of leaf and flower crude extracts distinctly as well as of green synthesized Ag-NPs in vitro. The biosynthesis of Ag-NPs was primarily confirmed by brownish color solution and later by UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Ag-NPs synthesized from G. formosa leaf, and flower extract showed antibacterial activity against gram-positive (S. aureus, S. mutans, and S. epidermidis) and gram-negative (K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa) bacteria, where gram-negative bacteria were more sensitive than gram-positive bacteria. The highest zone of inhibition was observed against P. aeruginosa (13.33±0.58 mm) by applying Ag-NPs synthesized from G. formosa flower extract. In contrast, the lowest zone of inhibition was observed against S. epidermidis (6.33±0.58 mm). Antibacterial activity of Ag-NPs from flower and leaf extracts was considerably higher as compared to their respective crude extract. Further, Ag-NPs from the flower extract was exhibited more growth inhibitory response than the leaf extract. Hence, the findings of this research suggested that the synthesized Ag-NPs from G. formosa leaf and flower extract were exhibited antibacterial activity. Such synthesized Ag-NPs might help to develop new drug for combating against various diseases. [ J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther 2021; 4(2.000): 178-186]

The pandemic situation of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global threat on our current planet, with its rapid spread and high mortality rate. Sarcoidosis patients are at high risk to COVID-19 severity for having lung injuries as well as treating with immunosuppressive agents. So, physicians are in dilemma whether they should use immunosuppressive agents or not for the patients with sarcoidosis history and COVID-19 infection. Therefore, common factors should be identified to provide effective treatment. For determining the common genes between COVID-19 and sarcoidosis, GSE164805 and GSE18781 were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Common upregulated genes were identified by using R language to investigate their involved pathways and gene ontologies (GO). With the aid of the STRING Cytoscape plugin tool, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) network was constructed. From the PPIs network, Hub genes and essential modules were detected by using Cytohubba, and MCODE respectively. For hub genes, TFs, TFs-miRNA, and drug, interaction networks were built through the NetworkAnalyst web platform. A total of 34 common upregulated genes were identified and among them, five hub genes, including TET2, MUC5AC, VDR, NFE2L2, and BCL6 were determined. In addition, a cluster having VDR and NFE2L2 was detected from the PPIs network. Moreover, 32 transcription factors and 9 miRNA were recognized for hub genes. Furthermore, vitamin D and some of its analogous compounds were obtained from the drug interaction network. In conclusion, hub genes identified in this study might have potential roles in modulating COVID-19 infection and sarcoidosis. However, further studies are required to corroborate this study.

Breast cancer (BC) is considered the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Accurate diagnosis is thus of utmost importance to avoid the burden of BC. Ankyrin 2 (ANK2) encodes the structural membrane adapter protein ankyrin-B, which is ubiquitously expressed in the human body. In this study, bioinformatics tools were used to determine whether ANK2 could be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in BC. ANK2 expression was analyzed using ONCOMINE, UALCAN, GEPIA2, and GENT2. Data from these servers showed the downregulated expression of ANK2 in BC relative to that in normal tissue. Further, downregulated ANK2 expression was found in such conditions as estrogen receptor-negative, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive, positive nodal status, basal-like tumor, and triple-negative breast cancer, according to the data from the bc-GenExMiner v4.5 server. Analysis of 18 BC studies retrieved from the cBioPortal database revealed 88 missense mutations with 0.46%–5.09% copy number alterations in the ANK2 gene sequence. Additionally, a positive correlation between downregulated ANK2 expression and reduced survival probability of BC patients was revealed by a Kaplan–Meier plotter. Moreover, chordin-like 1, a tumor suppressor, was highly co-expressed with ANK2, as shown by the ONCOMINE, UCSC Xena, and GEPIA2 tools. The signaling pathways and gene ontologies of ANK2 and its co-expressed genes were identified using the Enrichr platform. The present results suggest that the ANK2 may serve as a biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic purposes in BC.

Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) stands out as one of the most formidable malignancies and exhibits an exceptionally unfavorable clinical prognosis due to the absence of well‐defined diagnostic indicators and its tendency to develop resistance to therapeutic interventions. The primary objective of this present study was to identify extracellular matrix (ECM)‐related hub genes (HGs) and their corresponding molecular signatures, with the intent of potentially utilizing them as biomarkers for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic applications. Methods Three microarray datasets were sourced from the NCBI database to acquire upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs), while MatrisomeDB was employed for filtering ECM‐related genes. Subsequently, a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was established using the STRING database. The created network was visually inspected through Cytoscape, and HGs were identified using the CytoHubba plugin tool. Furthermore, enrichment analysis, expression pattern analysis, clinicopathological correlation, survival analysis, immune cell infiltration analysis, and examination of chemical compounds were carried out using Enrichr, GEPIA2, ULCAN, Kaplan Meier plotter, TIMER2.0, and CTD web platforms, respectively. The diagnostic and prognostic significance of HGs was evaluated through the ROC curve analysis. Results Ten genes associated with ECM functions were identified as HGs among 131 DEGs obtained from microarray datasets. Notably, the expression of these HGs exhibited significantly (p 0.75) and prognostic (AUC > 0.64) purposes. Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation between immune cell infiltration and the expression of most HGs. Lastly, our study identified nine compounds with significant interaction profiles that could potentially act as effective chemical agents targeting the identified HGs. Conclusion Taken together, our findings suggest that COL1A1, KRT19, MMP1, COL11A1, SDC1, ITGA2, COL1A2, POSTN, FN1, and COL5A1 hold promise as innovative biomarkers for both the diagnosis and prognosis of PC, and they present as prospective targets for therapeutic interventions aimed at impeding the progression PC.