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Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor function. The etiology of PD is unknown and routine therapies temporarily relieve the symptoms. Neuroprotective based therapies preserve the remaining neurons and prevent the progression of PD. Artemisia sieberi has anti-cancer and neuroprotective effects. The CoQ10 also is an antioxidant that has proven anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In order to study the effect of Artemisia and CoQ10 on the PD cellular model, the present research was designed. Methods: PC12 cells were treated with different concentrations of 6-hydroxydopamine. Then the cells divided into the control (cells were not treated), DMSO group and experimental groups treated with the different concentrations of Artemisia sieberi extracts, CoQ10 and combination of them for 24h. The viability of the cells, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and p53 expression were evaluated. Results: Artemisia at a concentration of 200μg/ml and CoQ10 at a concentration of 75μg/ml significantly increased cell viability in the treated groups after 24h. Their combination showed better and more significant results compared to each alone. Hoechst staining showed significantly reduced apoptosis in treated cells. ROS generation reduced in the treated groups with better results for the combination-treated groups. The same results acquired for the expression of P53 in the treated cells. Conclusion: Regarding the results of both Artemisia and CoQ10, it could be concluded that they act synergistically with possible similar pathways. Although the Artemisia itself showed significant results, it seems that the combination method might have more therapeutic effects.

In the current study, electrospun poly(e-caprolactone)-gelatin (PCL-Gel) fibrous scaffolds containing magnesium oxide (MgO) particles and preseeded with human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) were developed to use as wound care material in skin tissue engineering applications. Electrospun fibers were fabricated using PCL-Gel (1:1 [wt/wt]) with different concentrations of MgO particles (1, 2, and 4 wt%). The fibrous scaffolds were evaluated regarding their microstructure, mechanical properties, surface wettability, and in vitro and in vivo performances. The full-thickness excisional wound model was used to evaluate the in vivo wound healing ability of the fabricated scaffolds. Our findings confirmed that the wounds covered with PCL-Gel fibrous scaffolds containing 2 wt% MgO and preseeded with hEnSCs have nearly 79% wound closure ability while sterile gauze showed 11% of wound size reduction. Our results can be employed for biomaterials aimed at the healing of full-thickness skin wounds.

Breast cancer (BC) is a multistep disease that is thought to result from an interaction between genetic background and environmental factors. In Iran, one of the strongest risk factors for developing BC is a positive family history of the disease. Recently, various polymorphisms of E-cadherin (CDH1) and TERT have been found to be associated with increased BC risk worldwide. This study aimed to analyze the association of CDH1 and TERT single-nucleotide polymorphisms with susceptibility to familial BC (FBC) risk in the Iranian patients. One hundred five patients with FBC and 110 non-FBC (NFBC) were genotyped to elucidate the potential association between CDH1 rs5030625 polymorphism and TERT rs2736098 polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Then, results were evaluated by electrophoresis and Epi Info(™) 2012 software. A significant association was found between CDH1 rs5030625 GAGA genotype and FBC risk. Compared with the control group, the FBC patients had a lower frequency of GG genotype (69% vs. 85%) and a higher frequency of GAGA (5% vs. 2%, P 0.02). Furthermore, the patients with FBC had a lower frequency of TERT rs2736098 GG genotype (38% vs. 49%, P = 0.001) and a higher frequency of rs2736098 AA genotype (12% vs. 5%, P = 0.001) compared with the NFBC. In contrast, the TERT rs2736098 GG genotype potentially increased the recurring risk of FBC (odds ratio = 3.17, P 0.01). Allele genotypic frequencies in the FBC patients differed from those of the controls. Interestingly, tumors in FBC patients with rs2736098 GG genotype and rs5030625 GAGA exhibited higher mitotic activity, higher grade, lower estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor than the other genotypes. In conclusion, CDH1 rs5030625 GAGA genotype and TERT rs2736098 GG genotype in combination with clinical parameters may be prognostic factors rather than susceptibility factors during the progression of FBC.

In the current study, electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone)-gelatin (PCL-Gel) fibrous scaffolds containing magnesium oxide (MgO) particles and preseeded with human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) were developed to use as wound care material in skin tissue engineering applications. Electrospun fibers were fabricated using PCL-Gel (1:1 [wt/wt]) with different concentrations of MgO particles (1, 2, and 4 wt%). The fibrous scaffolds were evaluated regarding their microstructure, mechanical properties, surface wettability, and in vitro and in vivo performances. The full-thickness excisional wound model was used to evaluate the in vivo wound healing ability of the fabricated scaffolds. Our findings confirmed that the wounds covered with PCL-Gel fibrous scaffolds containing 2 wt% MgO and preseeded with hEnSCs have nearly 79% wound closure ability while sterile gauze showed 11% of wound size reduction. Our results can be employed for biomaterials aimed at the healing of full-thickness skin wounds.