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Introduction. Adoptive immunotherapy based on chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) is considered as a promising direction in the treatment of solid malignant tumors. To produce genetically modified human T-lymphocytes, lenti/retroviral transduction is currently most often used. However, safety concerns associated with the viral vector production and possible unwanted genome modification limit the clinical utility of CAR-T cells. Therefore, non-viral transfection methods, in particular electroporation, using of DNA or RNA vectors, are being actively studied as a method for producing CAR-T lymphocytes.Aim. To evaluate in vivo antitumor activity of the new high-tech drug carplasmin, intended for CAR-T therapy of tumors expressing carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Materials and methods. Carplasmin was obtained by electroporation of activated human lymphocytes with plasmid DNA carrying the third generation CAR gene specific to CEA. The study was performed on a human colorectal cancer xenograft model obtained by intraperitoneal injection of CEA-positive HCT116 cell line to athymic Balb/c nude mice. Carplasmin treatment was carried out once a week, starting from the third day after HCT116 cell inoculation. Mice in the two control groups were treated with either electroporated lymphocytes without plasmid addition (pulse-lymphocytes) or RPMI-1640 culture medium (group without treatment).Results. In vivo, carplasmin demonstrated a pronounced antitumor effect. Seven weekly injections of the drug to inoculated mice led to a prominent effect of antitumor therapy: 80 % of the animals in the experimental group survived (with 40 % of the mice had a complete remission without signs of a detectable tumor), compared to 100 % death in the control group (without treatment).Conclusion. The results of preclinical efficacy studies demonstrate that carplasmin is a promising drug for the treatment of CEA-positive intraperitoneal tumors.

Introduction. Currently, there are conflicting data regarding the effect of the c.470T> C germline mutation in the CHEK2 gene on increasing the risk of breast cancer (BC), so it is necessary to conduct research on large samples of patients, including in the Russian population, in order to analyze the contribution of this mutation to the risk of cancer developing.The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of occurrence of the genetic variant c.470Т>С in the CHEK2 gene in the Russian population in patients with BC and patients with benign breast diseases (BBD) to assess the possible effect of this deoxyribonucleic acid damage on the likelihood of cancer occurrence.Materials and methods. The study included 2,787 patients with BC and 1,004 patients with BBD who underwent examination and treatment at the Russian Scientific Center of Roentgenoradiology of the Ministry of the Russian Federation from 2010 to 2018. Molecular genetic study was carried out by real-time polymerase chain reaction to determine the characteristic of the Russian population hereditary genetic variant c.470Т>С in the CHEK2 gene using a diagnostic panel that allows to determine three germline mutations: c.1100delC, c.444+1G>A and c.470Т>С in the CHEK2 gene.Results. In patients with BC the frequency of the mutation c.470T>C in the CHEK2 gene was 3.8 %, in patients with BBD this mutation was detected in 4.7 % of cases. The frequency of the genetic variant c.470T>C in high-risk groups was: 5.1 % – for BC patients with clinical signs of hereditary disease and 4.9 % – for patients with BBD with a family history of cancer. There were no statistically significant differences between the frequency of the mutation c.470T>C in the general groups of BC patients and patients with BBD and the corresponding frequency in the high-risk groups, as well as in the groups of BC patients and patients with BBD (p >0.05).Conclusion. The results of this study indicate the probable absence of a relationship between the presence of the mutation c.470Т>С in the CHEK2 gene and an increased risk of BC.

Background. Application of mathematical modeling for search for biologically active molecules is currently a promising scientific approach. Application of numerical algorithms for optimization of peptide sequences and molecular dynamics allowed to obtain modified peptide sequences that are functional analogs of the sequence of natural inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 p16INK4a.The study objective is to establish biological characteristics of peptide sequences of CDK 4/6 inhibitors obtained using mathematical modeling.Materials and methods. The studies were performed in vitro using tumor cell lines (MCF-7, А549, SKOV-3, НСТ116). Apoptosis level, cell distribution per cell cycle stages, changes in Bcl-2 expression, changes in the level of phosphorylated pRb under the effect of the studied molecules were investigated using flow cytometry. Proliferation dynamics of cell populations were studied using RTCA iCELLIgence biosensor technology.Results. Peptide sequences obtained using mathematical modeling decrease the level of phosphorylated pRb, Bcl-2 expression when applied to actively proliferating cells. These proteins serve as molecular targets for the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6–cyclin D complex, and changes in pRb and Bcl-2 levels might indicate inhibition of complex formation. Consequently, decreased proliferative activity and increased apoptosis were observed. Effectiveness of the peptide sequences depended on their molecular structure and type of the used cell line. Two (2) of the studied modified peptide sequences have higher antiproliferative and proapoptotic effect on tumor cells than native p16INK4a (90-97) sequence.Conclusion. Application of mathematical modeling for search and development of functionally active molecules allowed to create peptide sequences with stronger cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor effect than p16INK4a, the native inhibitor CDK4/6.

Background. The search for molecular markers of colon diseases allowing highly specific and sensitive identification and differentiation of pathological processes is a clinically important problem. Expression levels of genes responsible for proliferation can reflect the changes in the affected tissues. The study objective is to perform comparative analysis of molecular and genetic markers of proliferative activity in benign and malignant neoplasms of the colon. Materials and methods. Analysis of the changes in proliferation markers (CCND1, с-MYC, Ki-67, HER2neu, TERT) in adenocarcinoma of the colon (n = 259), resection margin (about 15–20 cm from the tumor lesion) (n = 251), unchanged colon mucosa from healthy donors (n = 247), polyps (n = 28), unchanged colon mucosa intestinal polyposis (10–15 cm from the polyp) (n = 75) was performed using RT-PCR. Results and conclusion. It was shown that morphologically unchanged tissue of intestinal mucosa in malignant tumors has significant differences from normal tissue of healthy donors. Significant differences in the level of expression of genes responsible for the processes of proliferation, с-MYC, CCND1, TERT were found in benign hyperproliferative diseases (polyps). Moreover, these changes were specific to the type of pathological process, which allows us to consider these genes as the most promising candidates in the development of a differential method for diagnosing colon diseases.

Despite the sufficient amount of data accumulated in the literature, there are still no factors, on the basis of which it would be possible to estimate the regional lymph nodes status in breast cancer with a high degree of accuracy. The review presents literature data relating to the influence of clinicopathological, molecular-biological and genetic characteristics of primary tumor on lymph node metastases. Data of 66 foreign and Russian articles are included.

Introduction. A diversity of axillary pathologies was a prerequisite for the development of a new differential approach to diagnosing such conditions. There are new technologies (pre- and intraoperative radionuclide studies, molecular genetic techniques), that have shown themselves, along with classical methods (physical examination, mammography, X-ray and ultrasound studies).Materials and methods. The subject of the analysis is the results of a comprehensive examination of 502 women aged 22 to 84 years. Different groups were comprehensively examined using both X-ray, ultrasound, radionuclide, and molecular genetic (polymerase chain reaction) studies.Results. The molecular genetic and cytological studies could provide the actual results in 95 and 84% of cases, respectively; but a com- prehensive clinical study and X-ray ultrasound computed tomography could yield them in marginal metastases in only 65.3%. Conclusion. The authors have proposed the optimal diagnostic algorithm for examination in the ambulatory-outpatient network and specialized institutions.

The viral nature of many female genital cancers is now beyond question; however, the role of viral infection in the pathogenesis of breast cancer (BC) has not been adequately investigated. The paper defines the importance of a number of viruses in the etiopathogenesis of on- cogynecological diseases. It presents the results of examining 60 patients with Stages I-IV BC and 30 patients with fibrocystic mastopathy, in whom the presence of DNA-containing virus genomes in tumor tissue was compared, and the data of polymerase chain reaction study of genital tract smears. It is shown that human papillomaviruses and cytomegaloviruses do not play a fundamental role in the develop- ment of BC; there is no valid evidence for Epstein–Barr virus.

The viral nature of many female genital cancers is now beyond question. By taking into account this fact, the problem of qualitative assessment ofthenatureofcervicalintraepithelialneoplasia(CIN)anditsfocusonprogressiontoinvasivecarcinomabecomesquitenatu ral.Studiesof a number of biological markers of carcinogenesis have recently provided a possibility for prospective prediction. The paper con siders the as- pects of importance of the molecular biological markers of proliferation and apoptosis in the etiopathogenesis of genital cancers. It gives the results of examinations of 16 patients with histologically verified squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix uteri, 40 patients di agnosed as having CIN of different grades (CIN-1, CIN-2, CIN-3 — squamous cell carcinoma in situ), and 6 patients with the morphologically unaltered cervi- calepithelium,whosecervicalscrapeswereanalyzedfortheexpressionofthemRNAgenesССNB1,Ki-67,BA G,BCL-2,ESR1,andPRG. It is shown that the molecular genetic findings may be new prognostic markers that reflect the possible disease developmental pathways, sug- gesting the need for further investigation of biomarkers in order to prevent malignancies and to reduce their morbidity.