Department of Medical Biochemistry (1990 - Present)
biochemistry
, University of Tehran, Iran
biochemistry
, Tarbiat Modares University,
chemistry
, Al-Zahra University / QA /,
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BackgroundLysine treatment decreased diabetic complications associated with type 2 diabetes in the rat models of diabetes and in vitro.
BackgroundReports indicate that saffron originated from Iran then introduced into mainland China through the earlier established trans-Tibet trade routes in ancient China. Based to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, saffron functions by promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, cooling blood and detoxi cation, as well as relieving depression for tranquilization. Modern medical research has demonstrated several properties of saffron including antitumor, antidepressant, enhancement of immunity, cardioprotection. Notably, recent studies introduce that saffron has a neuroprotective effect, speci cally in the treatment of Parkinson's disease in recent years. Nevertheless, the underlying molecular mechanism remains elusive s
The new Coronavirus, which was named SARS-CoV-2 is one of the members of the Coronavirus family, which induces Covid-19 or acute respiratory infection. This virus was firstly known in 2019 in Wuhan, China; and then, rapidly propagated around the world. In this review, we will present the structure and function of the Spike (S) protein in this virus and its receptors on the host cells. In addition to ACE2, which was initially identified as the cell surface receptor of this virus, it was observed that CD147 and GRP 78 also act as the receptors on host cells. Also, based on the mechanism of action, a brief introduction will present the drugs used to treat this Coronavirus. The drugs that target S protein, Proteinases; RNA-dependent RNA polymer
Acetaminophen and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) are being used as supportive care in patients suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The coagulopathy and cerebral hemorrhage have been recently reported in these patients. Prolonged acetaminophen use increases the international normalized ratio (INR) and the risk of bleeding among patients taking anti-coagulants. Inhibition of vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR) by acetaminophen and NAC in chronic applications has been reported, however, detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanism and binding sites are not clear. Herein, we built the homology model of human VKOR (hVKOR) using ITASSER server, confirmed, and applied it for docking analysis of its interaction with acetaminophen and its m
Different groups have reported the Crocin anticancer activity. We previously showed Crocin-induced apoptosis in rat model of breast and gastric cancers, through the increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspases activity, as well as the cell cycle arrest in a p53-dependent manner. Since Crocin antioxidant activity has been shown under different conditions, it is interesting to elucidate its apoptotic mechanism. Here, we treated two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, with Crocin. MTT and ROS assays, cell cycle arrest, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase3 activity were determined. PARP cleavage and expression of some proteins were studied using Western blotting and immunofluorescence. The results indicated stepwise ROS generation in cytosol and
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important member of the antioxidant defense system and is proposed as a therapeutic agent against the ROS-mediated diseases, and a therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Saffron carotenoids, crocin (Cro) and crocetin (Crt), are antioxidants with anticancer activity. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Cro/Crt on the SOD activity in both in vivo and in vitro models of breast cancer. Both Cro and Crt showed strong radical scavenging activity and SOD inhibition in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. The UV–Vis, circular dichroism and fluorometry studies proposed the binding of both Cro and Crt with SOD; the ΔG? of binding at 310 K was −8.6 and −4.4 kcal/mol, respectively. The dockin
The development of efficient drug delivery and imaging approaches is of great importance for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This is especially important for the triple-negative breast cancers for which chemotherapy is often the mainstay of treatment. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently attracted tremendous attention as nanocarriers that can be loaded with a wide variety of therapeutic as well as bioimaging agents. Herein, the Fe3O4 core UiO-66-NH2 MOF shell nanostructures, Fe3O4@MOF, were loaded with the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), and the loaded nanostructures were conjugated to highly fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) and then capped with the nucleolin-binding aptamer, AS1411. The Fe3O4@MOF-DOX-CDs-Apt nanocarriers
The principle role of α-crystallin is chaperoning activity that protect s other proteins against different stresses. High glucose concentration induces the osmotic stress and results in biomacromolecules glycation, which is subsequently cause their conformational and functional changes. Here, the roles of l-lysine (Lys) on the prevention of α-crystallin glycation in both in vitro and in vivo conditions are investigated. The catalase (CAT) activity was considered as a marker of α-crystallin functionality in both conditions. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with 0.1% of the Lys in drinking water. The purified α-crystallin was also incubated with glucose, in the presence or absence of the Lys and its structure-function was
Background: Saffron carotenoids have been known as powerful phytochemicals in breast cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-cancer properties of an important saffron carotenoid, crocin, on BT-474 which is a known HER2+ breast cancer cell line. Methods: The effect of crocin on cell viability was investigated using MTT assay. Apoptosis induction was studied via flow cytometry and Western blotting of caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-9. Involvement of unfolded protein response (UPR) was also investigated via RT-PCR study of the XBP1 gene. Results: The results showed that crocin treatment decreases the viability of BT-474 cells and induces early and late apoptosis in these cells. The mechanism of crocin action was t
Glycation is the process by which reducing sugars bind to proteins, nonenzymatically. Then, a cascade of glycation reactions begin, which ultimately ends up producing various glycation products. A mechanism that is particularly important in diabetes and aging. Some chemicals, herbal, and chemical chaperones inhibit glycation process, and can be used to prevent or delay various diabetic complications, such as cataract. Free amino acids, such as Gly and Lys, are a class of chemical chaperones, preserve protein folding both in vivo and in vitro. They have shown varying degrees of antiglycating effect, decrease blood glucose, and delay diabetic complications. Here, we review the glycation process and the role of amino acids on inhibition of in
Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent and can transdifferentiate into neural stem cells. We investigated the transdifferentiation of ADSCs to neural phenotype (NP) cells using selegiline and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). The perinephric and inguinal fat of rats was collected and used to isolate ADSCs that were characterized by immunophenotyping using flow cytometry. The ADSCs were differentiated into osteogenic and lipogenic cells. The NP cells were generated using 10−9 mM selegiline and characterized by immunocytochemical staining of nestin and neurofilament 68 (NF-68), and by qRT-PCR of nestin, neurod1 and NF68. Total protein of ADSCs and NP cells was extracted and their proteome patterns were examined using 2-DE.
The effects of saffron carotenoids, crocetin (Crt) and crocin (Cro) on the structure, function and kinetics of catalase (CAT) were investigated. Both Crt and Cro quenched the fluorescence emission of CAT through the dynamic mechanism, but Crt (Ksv= 8.1 ? 104 mol−1) was more effective than Cro (Ksv= 0.6 ? 104 mol−1) at 300 ?K. The UV–vis and circular dichroism spectra showed conformational changes of CAT in the presence of both carotenoids, but with different degrees. Kinetic studies showed strong inhibition of CAT by Crt, while, different concentrations of Cro showed different effects. Our in vitro data showed that Crt treatment significantly (p = 0.002) reduced the CAT activity in MCF-7, up to 24 h. The in vivo resu
Objective: Inhibition of lipid metabolism in breast cancer has been suggested as an effective approach for cancer therapy. Saffron-derived crocetin (Crt) and crocin (Cro) with the known anticancer activity, have shown hypolipidemic effect in diabetes and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated the effect of Crt/Cro on lipid content in breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A multi-model approach involving in vivo, in vitro and in silico studies was applied. The 4T1-induced breast cancer in mice was used to investigate the effect of Crt/Cro on cholesterol (Chl) and triglyceride (TG) levels in serum and tumor tissues. The Chl/TG levels were also assessed in the cytosol of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines 6, 12 and 24 hr after Crt/C
This trial evaluated the potential impacts of saffron aqueous extract (SAE) and its main carotenoid on some of the atherosclerosis‐related gene expression and serum levels of oxidized low‐density cholesterol (ox‐LDL) and Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP‐1) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Participants of this randomized controlled trial included 84 CAD patients who categorized into three groups: Group 1 received crocin (30 mg/day), Group 2 SAE (30 mg/day), and Group 3 placebo for 8 weeks. Gene expression of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), 5'‐adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase (AMPK), Lectin‐like oxidized LDL receptor 1 (LOX1), nuclear factor kappa‐light‐chain‐enhancer of activated B cells (NF‐κB
Hyperglycemia is a hallmark of diabetes, which is associated with protein glycation and misfolding, impaired cell metabolism and altered signaling pathways result in endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). We previously showed that L-lysine (Lys) inhibits the nonenzymatic glycation of proteins, and protects diabetic rats and type 2 diabetic patients against diabetic complications. Here, we studied some molecular aspects of the Lys protective role in high glucose (HG)-induced toxicity in C2C12 myotubes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. C2C12 and 3T3-L1 cell lines were differentiated into myotubes and adipocytes, respectively. Then, they were incubated with normal or high glucose (HG) concentrations in the absence/presence of Lys (1 mM). To investigate the
Background and purpose: Molecular mechanisms of atherogenesis are considered to be emerging therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis prevention. Cell and animal studies have shown that crocetin can decelerate atherogenesis. However, the anti-atherogenic properties of crocetin in humans are still ambiguous. Methods and results: Fifty clinically diagnosed CAD patients were randomly divided into two parallel groups, crocetin and placebo, who received one capsule of crocetin (10 mg) and placebo per day, respectively, for two months. Serum circulating homocysteine (Hcy) [−1.09 (−1.64 to −0.54) μM, P = 0.001], heart-type fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP) [−2.07 (−2.72 to −1.43) ng mL−1, P = 0.001], intercellular adhesion molecule
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