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The melatonin hormone secreted by the pineal gland is involved in physiological functions such as growth and maturation, circadian cycles, and biological activities including antioxidants, anti‐tumor, and anti‐ischemia. Melatonin not only interacts with proteins but also has functional effects on regulatory RNAs such as long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). In this study, we overview various physiological and pathological conditions affecting melatonin through lncRNA and miRNA. The information compiled herein will serve as a solid foundation to formulate ideas for future mechanistic studies on melatonin. It will also provide a chance to more clarify the emerging functions of the non‐coding transcriptome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the common degenerative articular disorders that are related to decreased quality of life. Currently, novel biologic therapeutic approaches are introduced in the literature for OA management. In this study, the clinical efficiency of Dextrose prolotherapy, plateletrich plasma (PRP) and autologous conditioned serum (ACS) injection on the level of pain and function in Knee OA were compared. A randomized clinical trial was directed on 92 knee OA patients. Patients were randomly divided into three groups: 30 were received dextrose prolotherapy once in a week for three weeks, 30 received autologous PRP for two times with seven days interval, and in the remaining 32 patients 2ml of ACS were injected two times every seven days. Study participants were measured through the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) score, the visual analogue scale (VAS), at baseline, 1 and 6 months post-intervention. Both ACS and PRP treated patients showed improvement in pain intensity and knee function during 1 and 6 months pursue; however, this progress was more significant in the ACS group. Dextrose prolotherapy showed no substantial changes in pain and function of the affected knee in treated patients. Treatment of Knee OA with ACS and PRP injections are associated with pain reduction and knee function improvement. Not only, ACS therapy is more effective than that of PRP, but also due to its less variability in processing and less reported side effects, it could be considered as a safe and effective non-surgical alternative for OA management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• AS is an inflammatory and autoimmune disorder with unknown etiology. • MetS induces reactive oxygen species production in inflammatory conditions. • Oxidative stress can affect the pathophysiology of Ankylosing Spondylitis. • Pathogenesis of AS probably mediated by inflammation in AS patients with MetS. Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the spine and sacroiliac joints with unidentified etiology closely associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Recent studies have reported that immunological and oxidative stress factors are implicated in AS pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidative and immunological factors in AS patients with or without MetS compare to control group. Real-Time PCR measured expression level of cytokines, transcription factors and related miRNAs. In addition, Th17 and Treg frequencies and cytokines secretion were evaluated by flowcytometry and ELISA methods, respectively. The oxidative stress biomarkers were also assessed with biochemical methods. In AS patients with MetS, higher Th17 and lower Treg frequency were observed. Increased levels of NF-kB and AP-1 mRNA expression were seen in AS patients with MetS (p = 0.0263 and p = 0.0104, respectively). MiR-146a and miR-223 were significantly decreased (p = 0.0005, p = 0.0161, respectively) and increase in miR-21 (p = 0.0002) was observed in AS patients with MetS compared to AS patients without MetS. Additionally, the secretion of TNF-α (p = 0.0167), IL-1β (p = 0.303), CCL2 (p = 0.0254), CCL3 (p = 0.0119), CXCL8 (p = 0.0364), adiponectin (p = 0.0183) and the levels of SOD (p = 0.0421), NO (p = 0.0451) and CAT (p = 0.0128) were increased in AS patients with MetS. We were not observed significant differences in TOS and GPX levels between studied groups. The higher levels of oxidative stress and immunological inflammatory markers in AS patients with MetS provide further evidences on the oxidative stress and immunological relationship in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The interaction between three anti-c-Met scFvs (ES1, ES2, and ES3) and this peptide was studied using SPR technique. • Kinetic parameters showed that ES1 has the highest affinity toward c-Met peptide. • Hydrophobic forces play major role in the interaction of c-Met with ES1 and the binding procedure was endothermic. Mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met) has been recently regarded as an attractive target for the treatment of cancer. Our previous study showed that c-Met-specific single chain fragment variables (scFvs) can be considered as a promising therapy for cancer, however, their molecular interaction with c-Met protein have not been assessed. Accordingly, in the current study we aim to evaluate the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of c-Met interaction with these scFvs as anticancer agents by means of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. Phage-scFvs were immobilized on the 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid gold chips after carboxylic groups activation by N-ethyl-N-(3-diethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide and, then the c-Met binding to each scFvs (ES1, ES2, and ES3) at different concentrations (ranging from 20 to 665 μM) was explored. Kinetic studies revealed that ES1 has the highest affinity (K D = 3.36 × 10−8) toward its target at 25°C. Calculation of thermodynamic parameters also showed positive values for enthalpy and entropy changes, which was representative of hydrophobic forces between c-Met and ES1. Furthermore, the positive value of Gibbs free energy indicated that c-Met binding to ES1 was enthalpy-driven. Taken together, we concluded that produced ES1 can be applied as promising scFv-based therapy for diagnosis or targeting of c-Met in various cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]