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Objectives: The current study aimed to correlate OCT1 (organic cation transporter 1) polymorphisms with metformin response variability in Iraqi women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and determine the impact of OCT1 polymorphism. PCOS, an endocrine metabolic disorder, can seriously impact female health including infertility. Although its cause is unclear, it is usually known to be associated with hormonal imbalances. OCT1 is essential for metformin absorption in the liver. Recent research shown that OCT1 polymorphisms affects metformin responsiveness., Methods: In the present work, a prospective case-control study was conducted at Department of Infertility, Karbala Teaching Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology. 100 PCOS patients and 50 healthy controls aged 20-40 were enrolled. Consultant gynecologist diagnosed PCOS patients using Rotterdam criteria and recommended metformin 500 mg twice daily for 3 months. At the start of the trial and after 3 months, all patients and healthy controls underwent hormonal, biochemical and genetic tests., Results: The similar allelic frequencies of OCT1 polymorphism in PCOS and control groups was observed. Most patients with reference wild type alleles (C) showed considerable hormonal and metabolic responses to metformin, while those with mutant alleles (T) showed non-significant responses., Conclusion: FSH, prolactin and testosterone hormonal levels may be considered as candidate biomarkers for PCOS detection and metformin related biomedical respond., Competing Interests: None., (IJBMB Copyright © 2024.)

Identification of the molecular structure and novel biophysiological functions of plant cystatins or phytocystatins is of great interest in the field of molecular biology. The important requirements for these are the efficient production, purification and correctly folded forms of these proteins. We report here the cloning, easy expression and characterization of a sunflower multicystatin (SMC) as a functional fusion protein in E. coli. For the first time, the amplified cystatin coding region was expressed as a part of maltose-binding fusion protein using pMALc2X over-expression vector in TB1 strain of E. coli without affecting the recombinant bacterial growth. In comparison to the previously prepared recombinant SMC (rSMC), a high amount (-44 mg/L of bacterial cell culture) of purified fused SMC (fSMC) was obtained using single-step purification method. fSMC strongly inhibited papain activity in vitro as compared to Celosia single-domain cystatin. Purified fSMC may be used for basic biochemical, pharmacological or clinical studies without the cleavage of its fusion parts.

In a basic research to determine the morpho-molecular interactions of plant tissues with EcoRI DNA restriction enzyme, it was demonstrated that this protein is capable of entering the sunflower and maize leaf cells using a plant tissue-abrading material and cleaving the genomic DNA at specific sites. This was inferred from the analysis of morphological patterns of EcoRI-treated leaf areas as well as using some molecular tests, including the cleavage pattern analysis of genomic DNA isolated from treated locations followed by ligation of cleaved fragments into EcoRI site of a DNA cloning vector system. The overall results indicated that the specific restriction of genomic DNA may happen following the entrance of EcoRI protein most likely into the nucleus of plant cells.