Global Congress on Nucleic Acids: Biology, Health & Diseases August 04-05, 2016 New Orleans, LA, USA

Gouda K Helal has completed his PhD research in Neuro-Pharmacology Department at Epply Cancer Institute, The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, Neb, USA. He is currently, a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals. His research interests includes: Identification and isolation of RNA and DNA adducts, the roles of metallothionein in brain tumor progression, the role of natural products in protection of cerebellum against oxidative stress insults and the role of exosomal nucleic acids in cancer initiation and progression.

Introduction: High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most lethal gynecological cancer with most patients (75%). One reason for this high lethality rate is the lack of appropriate biomarkers for the early stages and the majority of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages. Emerging data shows that miRNAs in tumor exosomes are involved in the pathogenesis of HGSOC, and may contribute to its aggressive metastasis. In this study, we hypothesized that by profiling the microRNA expression, we could find novel biomarkers and targets for novel therapeutics in HGSOC. Methods: Here, we isolated exosomes from three ovarian cancer (OC) cell lines and one normal ovarian cell line. These exosomes are characterized by Western blot and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA). Then we evaluated the ncRNA cargo which was differentially expressed in exosomes versus their cells of origin using the Affymetrix Gene Chip miRNA 4.0 microarrays. Results: A subset of five miRNAs (miR-940, miR-1281, miR-1825, miR-3921, and miR-6877-3p) showing significant up-regulation in OC-derived exosomes, than their donor cells or normal exosomes were observed. As an initial step toward understanding the function of the preferentially exported miRNAs, we employed DIANA microT-CDS to determine the genes being targeted by these miRNAs. Functional analysis of these genes revealed that the most enriched pathways targeted by at least 3 of these miRNAs were adherent junction and pathways in cancer. Conclusion: Our results indicate that OC-derived exosomes have unique miRNA expression signatures. These results provide a starting point in future for more in-depth studies of tumor-derived OC exosomes, which will aid our understanding of tumor, tumor microenvironment and new effective therapies or non-invasive biomarkers for OC that may be translated into clinical applications.

Michaela Krafcikova has completed her Master’s degree in the field of Molecular Biophysics at the Masaryk University, Czech Republic. At present, she is a first year PhD student of Biomolecular Chemistry (Masaryk University, Czech Republic). Her research focuses on role of G-quadruplex motifs in regulation of gene expression. She co-authored one paper (Slaninova et al. 2016).

Michaela Krafcikova has completed her Master’s degree in the field of Molecular Biophysics at the Masaryk University, Czech Republic. At present, she is a first year PhD student of Biomolecular Chemistry (Masaryk University, Czech Republic). Her research focuses on role of G-quadruplex motifs in regulation of gene expression. She co-authored one paper (Slaninova et al. 2016).

Rabail Razi has completed her BsHons from University of the Punjab, Lahore. She has done her research work in Bioinformatics and has been working on Hypertension since more than one year. She has written chapters in a couple of books. She is pursuing her further studies (Master’s) in Bioinformatics.

Hypertension is a pathological condition diagnosed with persistent and chronic blood pressureelevations. Under normal conditions the values are less than 120/80 mmHg most of the timebut in hypertension they elevate up to 140/90 mmHg or above sometimes. Recently WHO stated that about 18% of Pakistani population is affected by hypertension but unluckily inPakistan it is not considered as such a problem by majority of the people. Even if it is diagnosedand treated, the treatment may or may not result in cure depending upon SNPs in theconcerned genes and active sites of the targets. 8 protein molecules involved in hypertension were selected; their 3D structures from protein database as well as the 3D structures of the antihypertensives, commonly used against them, were obtained from ligand databases. Docking between the targets and our ligands using onlinedocking server was done. The same procedure was carried out using active compounds, used inherbal medicines, as our ligands, in addition to finding the active compounds from various plantsources. Then SNPs in the genes of the selected targets were searched and comparativeanalysis was done to find the efficacy of the active compounds used in both allopathic andhomeopathic medicines with respect to Pakistani population. According to the results obtained there were active compounds that were comparatively betterto be used in case of certain SNPs. So, genetic data should be considered while treatment, moreover, certain plants (parts) can directly be used as a cheaper source of cure.