Kaifee Arman

A highly sensitive and specific tetraplex PCR assay for soybean, poultry, horse and pork species identification in sausages: Development and validation

A tetraplex PCR assay was developed for a rapid and reliable identification of horse, soybean, poultry, and pork species in sausages simultaneously. The method merges the use of horse (Equus caballus), soybean (Glycine max), poultry (Gallus gallus), and pork (Sus scrofa) specific primers that amplify small fragments (horse; 85bp, soybean; 100bp, poultry; 183bp and pork; 212bp) of the mitochondrial cyt b, lectin, 12S rRNA and ATPase subunit 6 genes respectively. Good quality DNA was isolated from reference sausage to optimize the assay. Tetraplex analysis of the reference sausage samples showed that the detection limit of the assay was 0.01% for each species. Taken together, all data indicated that this tetraplex PCR assay was a simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective detection method for horse, soybean, poultry, and pork species in commercial sausages.

Expression patterns of miR-221 and its target Caspase-3 in different cancer cell lines

Caspases are important initiators and most well-known finishers of apoptosis. By changing the death propagation homeostatic equilibrium, their different expression patterns might trigger the progression of hazardous diseases like cancer. miR-221 is an oncogenic miRNA. It is known to have both anti-angiogenic and angiogenic effect. The aim of this work was to compare the expression levels of miR-221 and its target caspase-3 in different cancer cell lines and to find out a relationship between these two. We also tried to establish a prominent relationship between miR-221 and its role in apoptosis by studying their expression levels. Our results indicate that expression of caspase-3 is quite lower as compared to miR-221 expression in all of the selected cancer cell lines. As a result, we conclude that miR-221 may have a crucial role in repressing the expression of caspase-3 which may contribute to a lower apoptotic rate, thus supporting the selection of more aggressive cancer cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study related to the expression levels of caspase-3 and miR-221 in different cell lines at the same time. We expect that our study might pave the way for better understanding the role of miR-221 in apoptotic regulation of caspase-3.

ATP5B (ATP synthase, H+ transporting, mitochondrial F1 complex, beta polypeptide)

Review on ATP5B, with data on DNA/RNA, on the protein encoded and where the gene is implicated.

A new RAPD-PCR based analytical assay for detection of sea bass and sea bream treated with ionizing radiation

Random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) was used to evaluate the effects of irradiation on the DNA of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus aurata). Meats of sea bass and sea bream were exposed to 0.25, 0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 7 kGy of irradiation (dosage rate 1.31 kGy/h) in a gamma cell at room temperature of approximately 10°C. RAPD-PCR was carried out using DNA samples of both control and irradiated groups. Gel electrophoresis showed loss of some amplicons, especially in the upper long bands of irradiated samples. Due to DNA damage caused by irradiation, the visibility of bands decreased as the radiation dosage increased. This study can be used as a basis for screening of irradiated samples based on loss of specific bands for a specific amount of irradiation.

MCM3 (minichromosome maintenance complex component 3)

Review on MCM3, with data on DNA/RNA, on the protein encoded and where the gene is implicated.