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Objective: Physical activity leads to changes in the level of gene expression in different kinds of cells, including changes in mitochondrial biogenesis in the myocardium in diabetic patients. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is a gene that plays an important role in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in serum levels and cardiac muscle expression of PGC-1α in diabetic rats in response to the administration of dichloroacetate (DCA) and endurance training. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 64 male Wistar rats were selected and randomly divided into eight groups after induction of diabetes with streptozotocin (STZ). The endurance training protocol was performed on a treadmill for 6 weeks. Intraperitoneal injection of DCA of 50 mg/ kg body weight was used for the inhibition of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase 4 (PDK4) in the myocardium. Gene expression were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test were used to statistically analyze the data. Results: The results of the study showed that PDK4 gene expression in the endurance training group, diabetes+endurance training group, diabetes+endurance training+DCA group and endurance training+DCA group was higher compared to the control group. Expression of PGC-1α was higher in the endurance training group compared to the control group but was lower compared to the control group in diabetes+endurance training+DCA group and diabetes+DCA group (P

Toxoplasma gondii is a common protozoan parasite, which infects warm-blooded mammals, including mice and humans, throughout the world. The negative effects of T. gondii infection on the human reproductive system have been documented, especially in females. However, only few studies have examined the effects of T. gondii infection on the male reproductive system. Previous research shows that T. gondii can induce DNA methylation in some gene promoters, which are key regulators of spermatogenesis. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of curcumin on the activity of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), as well as selected genes, involved in spermatogenesis in spermatogenic cells. In the spermatogenic cells exposed to T. gondii, there was a significant increase in DNMT1 and DNMT3A gene expression and a significant reduction in HSPA1A, MTHR, and DAZL gene expression, compared to the controls. The present results showed that curcumin could regulate changes in T. gondii-mediated gene expression. The effect of T. gondii on DNMT activity was also investigated in this study. A 40 % increase in DNMT activity was observed due to T. gondii infection. However, DNMT activity was restored by treatment with 20 μM curcumin for eight hours. The results revealed that T. gondii increases the NF-κB activity, compared to the control group. The increase in NF-κB activity, induced by T. gondii, was inhibited by curcumin. In conclusion, T. gondii, by increasing DNMT expression and activity, leads to an increase in NF-κB activity in cells. On the other hand, curcumin reduced DNA methylation, induced by T. gondii, owing to its NF-κB-inhibiting properties. Therefore, curcumin, as a hypomethylating agent, can be potentially used to alleviate the negative effects of T. gondii on the male reproductive system., EXCLI Journal;Vol. 19. 2020, pp.

Mansour Amin,1,2 Tahereh Navidifar,2,3 Farkhondeh Saleh Shooshtari,2,4 Mohammad Rashno,3,5 Mohammad Savari,1,2 Fatemeh Jahangirmehr,6 Mania Arshadi1 1Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 2Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 3Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 4Infertility Research and Treatment Center of Jahad Daneshgahi, Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran; 5Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 6Pain Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IranCorrespondence: Tahereh NavidifarCellular and Molecular Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Golestan Street, Ahvaz, IranTel +989307292597Email roya_67@ymail.comBackground: The ability of biofilm formation is an effective way for Acinetobacter baumannii survival from stressed conditions. This present study was aimed to evaluate the association between biofilm formation, structure, the expression levels of genes related to biofilm formation and biofilm-specific resistance of A. baumannii strains isolated from burn infections in Ahvaz, Iran.Methods: In this study, we assessed the antibiotic susceptibilities, ERIC-PCR typing, capacity of biofilm formation and biofilm structure of 64 A. baumannii isolates collected from burn infections. The distribution and the expression levels of genes involved in the biofilm formation including bap, ompA, abaI, pgaA and csuE were assessed by PCR and real-time PCR, respectively.Results: We classified A. baumannii isolates in 14 clonal types of ERIC-PCR. Most A. baumannii isolates were resistant to all antibiotics tested except to tigecycline and colistin and had the biofilm formation capability but with different capacities. There was a significant inverse relationship between resistance to antibiotic agents and biofilm formation. The biofilm matrix of 50 strains consisted of polysaccharides together with DNA or proteins. The genes involved in the biofilm formation were detected in both biofilm-forming and non-biofilm forming; however, the expression levels of these genes were higher in biofilm producers compared with non-producers.Conclusion: The biofilm cells exhibited dramatically decreased susceptibility to antibiotic agents; hence, they have great significance for public health. Therefore, the determination of antibiotic susceptibilities in biofilm and planktonic mode, molecular typing, and capacity of biofilm formation in clinical setting is essential.Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, biofilm formation, gene expression, biofilm structure &nbsp

One of the most important advances in biology has been the discovery that siRNA (small interfering RNA) is able to regulate the expression of genes, by a phenomenon known as RNAi (RNA interference). The discovery of RNAi, first in plants and Caenorhabditis elegans and later in mammalian cells, led to the emergence of a transformative view in biomedical research. siRNA has gained attention as a potential therapeutic reagent due to its ability to inhibit specific genes in many genetic diseases. siRNAs can be used as tools to study single gene function both in vivo and in-vitro and are an attractive new class of therapeutics, especially against undruggable targets for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The siRNA delivery systems are categorized as non-viral and viral delivery systems. The non-viral delivery system includes polymers; Lipids; peptides etc. are the widely studied delivery systems for siRNA. Effective pharmacological use of siRNA requires ‘carriers’ that can deliver the siRNA to its intended site of action. The carriers assemble the siRNA into supramolecular complexes that display functional properties during the delivery process.

Tahereh Navidifar,1,2 Mansour Amin,2,3 Mohammad Rashno41Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 2Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 3Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 4Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IranBackground: Sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics have been indicated to affect the biofilm formation in pathogens of nosocomial infections. This study aimed to investigate the effects of meropenem and tigecycline at their sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) on the biofilm formation capacity of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii), as well as the expression levels of genes involved in biofilm formation, quorum sensing, pili assembly and efflux pumps.Materials and methods: In this study, four non-clonal strains (AB10, AB13, AB32 and AB55), which were different from the aspects of antibiotic susceptibility and biofilm formation from each other were selected for the evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility, biofilm inducibility at sub-MICs of meropenem and tigecycline and the gene expression levels (the abaI, abaR, bap, pgaA, csuE, bfmS, bfmR, ompA, adeB, adeJ and adeG genes).Result: A significant increase in the MICs of all antibiotics was demonstrated in the biofilm cells in each four strains. The biofilm formation was significantly decreased in all the representative strains exposed to tigecycline. However, the biofilm inducibility at sub-MICs of meropenem was dependent on strain genotype. In concordance with these results, Pearson correlation analysis indicated a positive significant correlation between the biofilm formation capacity and the mRNA levels of genes encoding efflux pumps except adeJ, the genes involved in biofilm formation, pili assembly and quorum sensing following exposure to meropenem and tigecycline at their sub-MICs.Conclusion: These results revealed valuable data into the correlation between the gene transcription levels and biofilm formation, as well as quorum sensing and their regulation at sub-MICs of meropenem and tigecycline.Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, sub-MIC, meropenem, tigecycline, biofilm formation, gene expression