99 results on '"Rafiq, Zahid"'
Search Results
2. Inhibition of MER proto-oncogene tyrosine kinase by an antisense oligonucleotide enhances treatment efficacy of immunoradiotherapy
- Author
-
Hu, Yun, Revenko, Alexey, Barsoumian, Hampartsoum, Bertolet, Genevieve, Fowlkes, Natalie Wall, Maazi, Hadi, Green, Morgan Maureen, He, Kewen, Sezen, Duygu, Voss, Tiffany A., Leyton, Claudia S Kettlun, Masrorpour, Fatemeh, Rafiq, Zahid, Puebla-Osorio, Nahum, Leuschner, Carola, MacLeod, Robert, Cortez, Maria Angelica, and Welsh, James W.
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Cystic Fibrosis: Understanding Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator Mutation Classification and Modulator Therapies
- Author
-
Saba Anwar, Jin-Liang Peng, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Yu-Ming Zhou, Qurban Ali, and Chong-Rong Qiu
- Subjects
cystic fibrosis ,fibrosis transmembrane regulator ,targeted mutation ,pathophysiology ,modulators ,Diseases of the respiratory system ,RC705-779 ,Medicine (General) ,R5-920 - Abstract
A common life-threatening hereditary disease, Cystic Fibrosis (CF), affects primarily Caucasian infants. High sweat-salt levels are observed as a result of a single autosomal mutation in chromosome 7 that affects the critical function of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR). For establishing tailored treatment strategies, it is important to understand the broad range of CFTR mutations and their impacts on disease pathophysiology. This study thoroughly investigates the six main classes of classification of CFTR mutations based on their functional effects. Each class is distinguished by distinct molecular flaws, such as poor protein synthesis, misfolding, gating defects, conduction defects, and decreased CFTR expression at the apical membrane. Furthermore, this paper focuses on the emerging field of CFTR modulators, which intend to restore CFTR function or mitigate its consequences. These modulators, which are characterized by the mode of action and targeted mutation class, have the potential to provide personalized therapy regimens in CF patients. This review provides valuable insights into the genetic basis of CF pathology, and highlights the potential for precision medicine methods in CF therapy by thoroughly investigating CFTR mutation classification and related modulators.
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. β-Lapachone promotes the recruitment and polarization of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) toward an antitumor (N1) phenotype in NQO1-positive cancers
- Author
-
Soumya Tumbath, Lingxiang Jiang, Xiaoguang Li, Taolan Zhang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Ye Zhao, Hao Zhou, Zhijun Yin, Tao Lu, Shu Jiang, Yaomin Chen, Xiang Chen, Yang-Xin Fu, and Xiumei Huang
- Subjects
CD8+ T cells ,neutrophil polarization ,NQO1 ,tumor infiltrated neutrophils ,β-Lapachone ,Immunologic diseases. Allergy ,RC581-607 ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is overexpressed in most solid cancers, emerging as a promising target for tumor-selective killing. β-Lapachone (β-Lap), an NQO1 bioactivatable drug, exhibits significant antitumor effects on NQO1-positive cancer cells by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) and enhancing tumor immunogenicity. However, the interaction between β-Lap-mediated antitumor immune responses and neutrophils, novel antigen-presenting cells (APCs), remains unknown. This study demonstrates that β-Lap selectively kills NQO1-positive murine tumor cells by significantly increasing intracellular ROS formation and inducing DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), resulting in DNA damage. Treatment with β-Lap efficiently eradicates immunocompetent murine tumors and significantly increases the infiltration of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) into the tumor microenvironment (TME), which plays a crucial role in the drug’s therapeutic efficacy. Further, the presence of β-Lap-induced antigen medium leads bone marrow-derived neutrophils (BMNs) to directly kill murine tumor cells, aiding in dendritic cells (DCs) recruitment and significantly enhancing CD8+ T cell proliferation. β-Lap treatment also drives the polarization of TANs toward an antitumor N1 phenotype, characterized by elevated IFN-β expression and reduced TGF-β cytokine expression, along with increased CD95 and CD54 surface markers. β-Lap treatment also induces N1 TAN-mediated T cell cross-priming. The HMGB1/TLR4/MyD88 signaling cascade influences neutrophil infiltration into β-Lap-treated tumors. Blocking this cascade or depleting neutrophil infiltration abolishes the antigen-specific T cell response induced by β-Lap treatment. Overall, this study provides comprehensive insights into the role of tumor-infiltrating neutrophils in the β-Lap-induced antitumor activity against NQO1-positive murine tumors.
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Structure and functions of Mer, an innate immune checkpoint
- Author
-
Eric Ubil and Kashif Rafiq Zahid
- Subjects
MerTK ,macrophage ,cancer ,immune ,MerTK inhibitors ,clinical trials ,Immunologic diseases. Allergy ,RC581-607 - Abstract
Immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic tool that promotes the elimination of cancerous cells by a patient’s own immune system. However, in the clinical setting, the number of cancer patients benefitting from immunotherapy is limited. Identification and targeting of other immune subsets, such as tumor-associated macrophages, and alternative immune checkpoints, like Mer, may further limit tumor progression and therapy resistance. In this review, we highlight the key roles of macrophage Mer signaling in immune suppression. We also summarize the role of pro-inflammatory (M1) and anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotypes in tumor onset and progression and how Mer structure and activation can be targeted therapeutically to alter activation state. Preclinical and clinical studies focusing on Mer kinase inhibition have demonstrated the potential of targeting this innate immune checkpoint, leading to improved anti-tumor responses and patient outcomes.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)
- Author
-
Batool, Aliza, primary, Farooq, Umar, additional, Shafi, Afshan, additional, Abbas, Naqi, additional, Rafiq, Zahid, additional, and Khan, Zulqurnain, additional
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Hypoxia-driven ncRNAs in breast cancer
- Author
-
Hashim H. Al-Zuaini, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Xiangyan Xiao, Umar Raza, Qiyuan Huang, and Tao Zeng
- Subjects
hypoxia ,HIFs ,breast cancer ,ncRNA ,miRNAs ,lncRNAs ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Low oxygen tension, or hypoxia is the driving force behind tumor aggressiveness, leading to therapy resistance, metastasis, and stemness in solid cancers including breast cancer, which now stands as the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. With the great advancements in exploring the regulatory roles of the non-coding genome in recent years, the wide spectrum of hypoxia-responsive genome is not limited to just protein-coding genes but also includes multiple types of non-coding RNAs, such as micro RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular RNAs. Over the years, these hypoxia-responsive non-coding molecules have been greatly implicated in breast cancer. Hypoxia drives the expression of these non-coding RNAs as upstream modulators and downstream effectors of hypoxia inducible factor signaling in the favor of breast cancer through a myriad of molecular mechanisms. These non-coding RNAs then contribute in orchestrating aggressive hypoxic tumor environment and regulate cancer associated cellular processes such as proliferation, evasion of apoptotic death, extracellular matrix remodeling, angiogenesis, migration, invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, metastasis, therapy resistance, stemness, and evasion of the immune system in breast cancer. In addition, the interplay between hypoxia-driven non-coding RNAs as well as feedback and feedforward loops between these ncRNAs and HIFs further contribute to breast cancer progression. Although the current clinical implications of hypoxia-driven non-coding RNAs are limited to prognostics and diagnostics in breast cancer, extensive explorations have established some of these hypoxia-driven non-coding RNAs as promising targets to treat aggressive breast cancers, and future scientific endeavors hold great promise in targeting hypoxia-driven ncRNAs at clinics to treat breast cancer and limit global cancer burden.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Alpha-1-antichymotrypsin as a novel biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy prediction in human diseases
- Author
-
Yanxia Jin, Weidong Wang, Qiyun Wang, Yueyang Zhang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Umar Raza, and Yongsheng Gong
- Subjects
Alpha-1-antichymotrypsin ,Inflammation ,Cancer ,Biomarker ,Diagnosis ,Prognosis ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 ,Cytology ,QH573-671 - Abstract
Abstract The glycoprotein alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (AACT), a serine protease inhibitor, is mainly synthesized in the liver and then secreted into the blood and is involved in the acute phase response, inflammation, and proteolysis. The dysregulation of AACT and its glycosylation levels are associated with tumor progression and recurrence, and could be used as a biomarker for tumor monitoring. In this review, we summarized the expression level, glycosylation modification, and biological characteristics of AACT during inflammation, neurodegenerative or other elderly diseases, and tumorigenesis, as well as, focused on the biological roles of AACT in cancer. The aberrant expression of AACT in cancer might be due to genetic alterations and/or immune by bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, AACT may serve as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker or therapeutic target in tumors. Furthermore, we found that the expression of AACT was associated with the overall survival of patients with human cancers. Decreased AACT expression was associated with poor survival in patients with liver cancer, increased AACT expression was associated with shorter survival in patients with pancreatic cancer, and decreased AACT expression was associated with shorter survival in patients with early lung cancer. The review confirmed the key roles of AACT in tumorigenesis, suggesting that the glycoprotein AACT may serve as a biomarker for tumor diagnosis and prognosis, and could be a potential therapeutic target for human diseases.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Enhanced tumor control and survival in preclinical models with adoptive cell therapy preceded by low-dose radiotherapy.
- Author
-
Puebla-Osorio, Nahum, Fowlkes, Natalie Wall, Barsoumian, Hampartsoum B., Xega, Kristina, Srivastava, Gitika, Kettlun-Leyton, Claudia, Nizzero, Sara, Voss, Tiffany, Riad, Thomas S., Wong, Christina, Huang, Ailing, Yun Hu, Mitchell, Joylise, Mingee Kim, Rafiq, Zahid, Kewen He, Sezen, Duygu, Hsu, Ethan, Masrorpour, Fatemeh, and Maleki, Aurian
- Subjects
CHIMERIC antigen receptors ,ATOMIC force microscopy ,TREATMENT effectiveness ,TUMOR growth ,SURVIVAL rate - Abstract
Introduction: Effective infiltration of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells into solid tumors is critical for achieving a robust antitumor response and improving therapeutic outcomes. While CAR-T cell therapies have succeeded in hematologic malignancies, their efficacy in solid tumors remains limited due to poor tumor penetration and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) administered before T-cell therapy to enhance the antitumor effect by promoting CAR-T cell infiltration. We hypothesized that combining LDRT with T-cell therapy would improve tumor control and survival compared to either treatment alone. Methods: We investigated this hypothesis using two NSG mouse models bearing GSU or CAPAN-2 solid tumors. The mice were treated with engineered CAR-T cells targeting guanyl cyclase-C (GCC) or mesothelin as monotherapy or in combination with LDRT. Additionally, we extended this approach to a C57BL/6 mouse model implanted with MC38-gp100+ cells, followed by adoptive transfer of pmel+ T cells before and after LDRT. Tumor growth and survival outcomes were monitored in all models. Furthermore, we employed atomic force microscopy (AFM) in a small cohort to assess the effects of radiotherapy on tumor stiffness and plasticity, exploring the role of tumor nanomechanics as a potential biomarker for treatment efficacy. Results: Our results demonstrated enhanced tumor control and prolonged survival in mice treated with LDRT followed by T-cell therapy across all models. The combination of LDRT with CAR-T or pmel+ T-cell therapy led to superior tumor suppression and survival compared to monotherapy, highlighting the synergistic impact of the combined approach. Additionally, AFM analysis revealed significant changes in tumor stiffness and plasticity in response to LDRT, suggesting that the nanomechanical properties of the tumor may be predictive of therapeutic response. Discussion: The findings of this study highlight the transformative potential of incorporating LDRT as a precursor to adoptive T-cell therapy in solid tumors. By promoting CAR-T and pmel+ T-cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment, LDRT enhanced tumor control and improved survival outcomes, offering a promising strategy to overcome the challenges associated with CAR-T therapy in solid tumors. Additionally, the changes in tumor nanomechanics observed through AFM suggest that tumor stiffness and plasticity could be biomarkers for predicting treatment outcomes. These results support further investigation into the clinical application of this combined approach to improve the efficacy of cellbased therapies in patients with solid tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Advancements of Nanotechnology in Diagnostic Applications
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid, Patel, Pankaj, Kumar, Santosh, Sofi, Hasham S., Macossay, Javier, Sheikh, Faheem A., and Sheikh, Faheem A., editor
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. KIN17 promotes tumor metastasis by activating EMT signaling in luminal‐A breast cancer
- Author
-
Qiyuan Huang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Jinsi Chen, Xiangxiong Pang, Meifeng Zhong, Hongling Huang, Weifeng Pan, Jingxin Yin, Umar Raza, Jiamin Zeng, Xinhong Zhu, and Tao Zeng
- Subjects
EMT ,KIN17 ,Lum‐A breast cancer ,metastasis ,migration ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Abstract Background Breast cancer (BC), the most common cause of cancer death in women, overtook lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer worldwide in 2020. Although many studies have proposed KIN17 as a biomarker of tumorigenesis in different cancer types, its role in tumor metastasis, particularly in BC metastasis, has been underexplored. This study aimed to explore the role of KIN17 in BC metastasis. Methods Survival analyses was performed to identify the association between KIN17 expression and BC patient survival in silico. Using lentivirus constructs, we developed bidirectional KIN17 expression (KD, knockdown; OE, overexpression) cellular models of luminal‐A (Lum‐A) breast cancer MCF‐7 cells. We performed in vitro wound healing, transwell with and without Matrigel assays, and in vivo tail‐vein metastasis assay to evaluate the migration and invasion abilities of MCF‐7 with stable KIN17 knockdown or overexpression. Western blotting was performed to compare the changes in protein expression. Results We found that KIN17 expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS), relapse‐free survival (RFS), distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS) and post‐progression survival (PPS), particularly in Lum‐A breast cancer patients. Later, we found that KIN17 knockdown inhibited migration and invasion of MCF‐7 cells via regulating EMT‐associated signaling pathways in vitro and decreases metastatic spread of the disease in vivo. In contrast, KIN17 overexpression promoted migration and invasion of MCF‐7 cells in vitro and increased the metastatic spread of the disease in vivo. Conclusions Overall, our findings provide preliminary data which suggests KIN17 of importance to target in metastatic Lum‐A patients.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Neutrophils: Musketeers against immunotherapy
- Author
-
Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Umar Raza, Soumya Tumbath, Lingxiang Jiang, Wenjuan Xu, and Xiumei Huang
- Subjects
neutrophils ,immunotherapy ,immune checkpoints ,NETs ,EMT ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Neutrophils, the most copious leukocytes in human blood, play a critical role in tumorigenesis, cancer progression, and immune suppression. Recently, neutrophils have attracted the attention of researchers, immunologists, and oncologists because of their potential role in orchestrating immune evasion in human diseases including cancer, which has led to a hot debate redefining the contribution of neutrophils in tumor progression and immunity. To make this debate fruitful, this review seeks to provide a recent update about the contribution of neutrophils in immune suppression and tumor progression. Here, we first described the molecular pathways through which neutrophils aid in cancer progression and orchestrate immune suppression/evasion. Later, we summarized the underlying molecular mechanisms of neutrophil-mediated therapy resistance and highlighted various approaches through which neutrophil antagonism may heighten the efficacy of the immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Finally, we have highlighted several unsolved questions and hope that answering these questions will provide a new avenue toward immunotherapy revolution.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Comparison of nail changes in chronic kidney disease under haemodialysis with patients on oral maintenance therapy.
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid, Hoor, Shahana, Khan, Samee Ullah, Anwar, Ahsan, Kousar, Humaira, and Shafi, Urfa
- Subjects
- *
CHRONIC kidney failure , *HEMODIALYSIS patients , *SEX factors in disease , *CHRONICALLY ill , *TEACHING hospitals - Abstract
Objective To compare the frequency of nail changes in Chronic Kidney Disease patients undergoing haemodialysis with patients on maintenance therapy. Methods This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out at Dermatology and Nephrology Department, Sahiwal Teaching Hospitals, Sahiwal, after approval from Institutional Ethical Review Committee. A total of 158 patients with chronic kidney disease of either sex and age were divided into two groups: Group A (patients under regular haemodialysis) Group B (patients on oral therapy). Patient's demographic, clinical and laboratory data were recorded in predesigned proforma. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 28. Results Out of total 158 patients, male female ratio was 1.1:1 and majority of patients (63.3%) were above age of 40 years. Most commonly reported nail changes in both groups were absence of lunula (65%, 57%), longitudinal ridging (54%, 58%) and onycholysis (45%, 35%) but variations were observed in their frequencies. There was no statistically significant difference in nail changes of both groups. Conclusion Patients with CKD undergoing HD therapy have slight higher frequency of nail changes compared to patients on maintenance therapy. Further studies with large sample size may elaborate Results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
14. Systems biology based meth-miRNA–mRNA regulatory network identifies metabolic imbalance and hyperactive cell cycle signaling involved in hepatocellular carcinoma onset and progression
- Author
-
Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Mingyang Su, Abdur Rehman Raza Khan, Shiming Han, Gou Deming, and Umar Raza
- Subjects
Systems biology ,miRNA–mRNA regulatory network ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Tumor progression ,Metabolic pathways ,Cell cycle signaling ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 ,Cytology ,QH573-671 - Abstract
Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading cause of cancer associated deaths worldwide. Independent studies have proposed altered DNA methylation pattern and aberrant microRNA (miRNA) levels leading to abnormal expression of different genes as important regulators of disease onset and progression in HCC. Here, using systems biology approaches, we aimed to integrate methylation, miRNA profiling and gene expression data into a regulatory methylation-miRNA–mRNA (meth-miRNA–mRNA) network to better understand the onset and progression of the disease. Methods Patients’ gene methylation, miRNA expression and gene expression data were retrieved from the NCBI GEO and TCGA databases. Differentially methylated genes, and differentially expressed miRNAs and genes were identified by comparing respective patients’ data using two tailed Student’s t-test. Functional annotation and pathway enrichment, miRNA–mRNA inverse pairing and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) were performed using DAVID, miRDIP v4.1 and GSEA tools respectively. meth-miRNA–mRNA network was constructed using Cytoscape v3.5.1. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were performed using R script and significance was calculated by Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. Results We identified differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs, and differentially methylated genes in HCC as compared to normal adjacent tissues by analyzing gene expression, miRNA expression, and methylation profiling data of HCC patients and integrated top miRNAs along with their mRNA targets and their methylation profile into a regulatory meth-miRNA–mRNA network using systems biology approach. Pathway enrichment analyses of identified genes revealed suppressed metabolic pathways and hyperactive cell cycle signaling as key features of HCC onset and progression which we validated in 10 different HCC patients’ datasets. Next, we confirmed the inverse correlation between gene methylation and its expression, and between miRNA and its targets’ expression in various datasets. Furthermore, we validated the clinical significance of identified methylation, miRNA and mRNA signatures by checking their association with clinical features and survival of HCC patients. Conclusions Overall, we suggest that simultaneous (1) reversal of hyper-methylation and/or oncogenic miRNA driven suppression of genes involved in metabolic pathways, and (2) induction of hyper-methylation and/or tumor suppressor miRNA driven suppression of genes involved in cell cycle signaling have potential of inhibiting disease aggressiveness, and predicting good survival in HCC.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. KIN17 promotes cell migration and invasion through stimulating the TGF‐β/Smad2 pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma
- Author
-
Zichang Dai, Qiyuan Huang, Xueran Huang, Chuiyu Zhu, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Tiancai Liu, Qiuyan Li, Chunmei Wu, Minghui Peng, Xiangyan Xiao, Umar Raza, Nan Yu, and Tao Zeng
- Subjects
Cancer Research ,Molecular Biology - Abstract
KIN17 DNA and RNA binding protein (Kin17) is involved in the regulation of tumorigenesis of diverse human cancers. However, its role in the cancer progression and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry staining were used to investigate the expression pattern of KIN17 and its prognostic value in HCC patients. The transwell, wound-healing assay was employed to determine the effects of KIN17 on migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro. The tail veins model was employed to determine the effects of KIN17 on lung metastasis in vivo. The biological mechanisms involved in cell migration and invasion regulated by KIN17 were determined with Western blot analysis method. KIN17 expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues, with particularly higher in portal vein tumor thrombus and intrahepatic metastasis tissues. Patients with higher KIN17 expression experienced poor overall and disease free survival. KIN17 knockdown in HuH7 and HepG2 cells significantly reduced cell migration and invasion abilities, whereas its overexpression promoted migration and invasion in MHCC-97L and HepG2 cells in vitro and in vivo. In HuH7 and HepG2 cells, KIN17 knockdown inhibited the TGF-β/Smad2 pathway. In contrast, KIN17 overexpression stimulated TGF-β/Smad2 pathway in MHCC-97L and HepG2 cells, along with the genes involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. These findings suggest that KIN17 promotes migration and invasion in HCC cells by stimulating the TGF-β/Smad2 pathway. KIN17 could be a promising prognostic biomarker, as well as a potential therapeutic target in HCC.
- Published
- 2022
16. Treatment of Pediatric Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor: The Experience from China Children’s Medical Center
- Author
-
Youhong Dong, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Yidi Han, Pengchao Hu, and Dongdong Zhang
- Subjects
inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor ,China Children’s Medical Center ,risk stratification ,anaplastic lymphoma kinase ,Pediatrics ,RJ1-570 - Abstract
Background: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor with intermediate malignancy that tends to affect children primarily. To date, no standardized therapies exist for the treatment of IMT. This study aimed to share experience from China Children’s Medical Center for the explorative treatment of IMT. Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed IMT between January 2013 and December 2018 were included. Patients were grouped according to surgical margins and Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group (IRSG) staging. The clinical characteristic, therapeutic schedules, treatment response and clinical outcome were described. Results: Six patients were enrolled in this study, including two boys and four girls, with a median age of 57 months (range 10–148 months). Among them, five patients were anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive. Four patients achieved complete remission and two patients attained partial remission after treatment with this protocol. All patients were alive after a median follow-up of 4 years (range 3–7 years). The most common treatment-related adverse reaction was myelosuppression. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that IMT has a good prognosis and the treatment selected according to risk stratification was effective and feasible.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. Hypoxia-driven ncRNAs in breast cancer
- Author
-
H. Al-Zuaini, Hashim, primary, Rafiq Zahid, Kashif, additional, Xiao, Xiangyan, additional, Raza, Umar, additional, Huang, Qiyuan, additional, and Zeng, Tao, additional
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. In Small Boxes.
- Author
-
RAFIQ, ZAHID
- Subjects
- IN Small Boxes (Short story), RAFIQ, Zahid
- Published
- 2024
19. mTOR/HDAC1 Crosstalk Mediated Suppression of ADH1A and ALDH2 Links Alcohol Metabolism to Hepatocellular Carcinoma Onset and Progression in silico
- Author
-
Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Shun Yao, Abdur Rehman Raza Khan, Umar Raza, and Deming Gou
- Subjects
hepatocellular carcinoma ,tumor progression ,metabolic imbalance ,mTOR signaling ,alcohol metabolism ,ADH1A ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is ranked the third deadliest cancer worldwide whose molecular pathogenesis is not fully understood. Although deregulated metabolic pathways have been implicated in HCC onset and progression, the mechanisms triggering this metabolic imbalance are yet to be explored. Here, we identified a gene signature coding catabolic enzymes (Cat-GS) involved in key metabolic pathways like amino acid, lipid, carbohydrate, drug, and retinol metabolism as suppressed in HCC. A higher expression of deregulated Cat-GS is associated with good survival and less aggressive disease state in HCC patients. On the other hand, we identified mTOR signaling as a key determinant in HCC onset and progression, whose hyperactivation is found associated with poor survival and aggressive disease state in HCC patients. Next, out of Cat-GS, we established two key regulators of alcohol metabolism, alcohol dehydrogenase 1A (ADH1A) and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), as being transcriptionally suppressed by histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) at the downstream of mTORC1 signaling. Suppressed ADH1A and ALDH2 expression aligns well with HCC-specific molecular profile and can efficiently predict disease onset and progression, whereas higher ADH1A and ALDH2 expression is associated with good survival and less aggressive disease state in HCC patients. Overall, our in silico findings suggest that transcriptional suppression of alcohol metabolism regulators, ADH1A and ALDH2, at the downstream of mTOR signaling is, in part, responsible for triggering oncogenic transformation of hepatocytes resulting in disease onset and progression in HCC.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. The Mannequin.
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid
- Subjects
- MANNEQUIN, The (Short story), RAFIQ, Zahid
- Published
- 2024
21. Cognitive Function and Serum Hormone Levels Are Associated with Gray Matter Volume Decline in Female Patients with Prolactinomas
- Author
-
Shun Yao, Jian Song, Junfeng Gao, Pan Lin, Ming Yang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Yan Yan, Chenglong Cao, Pan Ma, Hui Zhang, Zhouyue Li, Cheng Huang, Huichao Ding, and Guozheng Xu
- Subjects
prolactinomas ,voxel-based morphometry ,gray matter volume ,cognitive impairments ,dysfunctional hormones ,Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system ,RC346-429 - Abstract
Background and objectiveCognitive impairments have been reported in patients with hyperprolactinemia; however, there is a lack of knowledge of brain structure alterations relevant to hyperprolactinemia in prolactinomas. Thus, we aimed to identify changes in brain structure in prolactinomas and to determine whether these changes are related to cognitive performance and clinical characteristics.MethodsParticipants were 32 female patients with prolactinomas and 26 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, education, and handedness. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, neuropsychological assessments, and clinical evaluations. Voxel-based morphometry analysis was used to identify changes in gray matter volume (GMV). Partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were performed to determine the relationship between GMV, cognition, and clinical characteristics.ResultsCompared to HC, patients with prolactinomas demonstrated a decrease in GMV in the left hippocampus, left orbitofrontal cortex, right middle frontal cortex (MFC), and right inferior frontal cortex (IFC). In addition, patients performed worse than controls on tests for verbal memory and executive function, and this was significantly related to the GMV of the left hippocampus and right MFC, respectively. Moreover, in the patients, we found a negative relationship between serum prolactin levels and the GMV of the left hippocampus and right IFC, whereas a positive relationship was found between the GMV of the left hippocampus and serum levels of estradiol and luteinizing hormone.ConclusionIn patients with prolactinomas, specific brain structure abnormalities have been identified and are associated with cognitive impairments and dysfunctional hormones. This study enhances our understanding of brain structure changes that may occur with prolactinomas and provides novel and fundamental evidence for previous behavioral findings relevant to hyperprolactinemia.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. High-throughput and high-accuracy diagnosis of multiple myeloma with multi-object detection
- Author
-
Liye Mei, Hui Shen, Yalan Yu, Yueyun Weng, Xiaoxiao Li, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Jin Huang, Du Wang, Sheng Liu, Fuling Zhou, and Cheng Lei
- Subjects
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Article ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of blood cancer where plasma cells abnormally multiply and crowd out regular blood cells in the bones. Automated analysis of bone marrow smear examination is considered promising to improve the performance and reduce the labor cost in MM diagnosis. To address the drawbacks in established methods, which mainly aim at identifying monoclonal plasma cells (monoclonal PCs) via binary classification, in this work, considering that monoclonal PCs is not the only basis in MM diagnosis, for the first we construct a multi-object detection model for MM diagnosis. The experimental results show that our model can handle the images at a throughput of 80 slides/s and identify six lineages of bone marrow cells with an average accuracy of 90.8%. This work makes a step further toward full-automatic and high-efficiency MM diagnosis.
- Published
- 2022
23. Micropapular sarcoidosis on photo exposed areas: A case report.
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid and Shafi, Urfa
- Subjects
- *
SARCOIDOSIS , *CHRONIC granulomatous disease , *ERYTHEMA nodosum , *ETIOLOGY of diseases , *MIDDLE age , *ORGANS (Anatomy) - Abstract
Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology involving multiple organs of body. Cutaneous sarcoidosis varied in morphology with follicular, papular, nodular plaque, lupus pernio and erythema nodosum are the commonest forms. We herein present a case of a middle age male who presented with micropapular lesion on photo exposed areas which turn out to be cutaneous sarcoidosis on histopathology. There was no systemic involvement. Multidisciplinary and comprehensive management approach is required in such cases. Patients' clinical features improved considerably after treatment with topical and systemic corticosteroids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
24. Comparison of efficacy of electrocautery vs. cryotherapy in the treatment viral warts
- Author
-
Anwar, Ahsan, primary, Rafiq, Zahid, primary, and Us Salam, Sana, primary
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. Ultrasensitive Photoelectrochemical Biosensor for DNA 5-Methylcytosine Analysis Based on Co-Sensitization Strategy Combined with Bridged DNA Nanoprobe
- Author
-
Chuiyu Zhu, Xiao Tian, Qiuyan Li, Zichang Dai, Lina Wang, Huamin Liu, Chenghong Li, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Chunmei Wu, Hui Huang, Lichao Fang, Qiyuan Huang, Feixue Liu, Jun Deng, Yan Li, Tao Zeng, and Junsong Zheng
- Subjects
Analytical Chemistry - Abstract
Altered DNA methylation in the form of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) patterns is correlated with disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment response. Therefore, accurate analysis of 5-mC is of great significance for the diagnosis of diseases. Here, an efficient enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor was designed for the quantitative analysis of DNA 5-mC based on a cascaded energy level aligned co-sensitization strategy coupling with the bridged DNA nanoprobe (BDN). Firstly, Au nanoparticle/graphite phase carbon nitride/titanium dioxide (AuNPs/g-C
- Published
- 2022
26. Photoelectrochemical Biosensor Based on 3d Bridged DNA Nanoprobe and Dual-Signal Amplification for Ultra-Sensitive Detection of DNA 5-Methylcytosine
- Author
-
junsong zheng, Chuiyu Zhu, Xiao Tian, Qiuyan Li, Lina Wang, Huamin Liu, Chenghong Li, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Chunmei Wu, Hui Huang, Lichao Fang, Qiyuan Huang, Feixue Liu, Jun Deng, Wenbin Liang, and Tao Zeng
- Subjects
History ,Polymers and Plastics ,Business and International Management ,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering - Published
- 2022
27. Treatment of Pediatric Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor: The Experience from China Children's Medical Center
- Author
-
Youhong Dong, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Yidi Han, Pengchao Hu, and Dongdong Zhang
- Subjects
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health - Abstract
Background: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor with intermediate malignancy that tends to affect children primarily. To date, no standardized therapies exist for the treatment of IMT. This study aimed to share experience from China Children’s Medical Center for the explorative treatment of IMT. Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed IMT between January 2013 and December 2018 were included. Patients were grouped according to surgical margins and Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group (IRSG) staging. The clinical characteristic, therapeutic schedules, treatment response and clinical outcome were described. Results: Six patients were enrolled in this study, including two boys and four girls, with a median age of 57 months (range 10–148 months). Among them, five patients were anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive. Four patients achieved complete remission and two patients attained partial remission after treatment with this protocol. All patients were alive after a median follow-up of 4 years (range 3–7 years). The most common treatment-related adverse reaction was myelosuppression. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that IMT has a good prognosis and the treatment selected according to risk stratification was effective and feasible.
- Published
- 2021
28. POTENTIAL USE OF QUINOA FOR YOGHURT PREPARATION
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid, primary and Murtaza, Shamas, additional
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. <scp>KIN17</scp> promotes tumor metastasis by activating <scp>EMT</scp> signaling in luminal <scp>‐A</scp> breast cancer
- Author
-
Qiyuan Huang, Hongling Huang, Jingxin Yin, Jinsi Chen, Xiangxiong Pang, Umar Raza, Meifeng Zhong, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Tao Zeng, Jiamin Zeng, Xinhong Zhu, and Weifeng Pan
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ,Breast Neoplasms ,migration ,medicine.disease_cause ,Metastasis ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Breast cancer ,In vivo ,Cell Line, Tumor ,Biomarkers, Tumor ,medicine ,metastasis ,Humans ,Neoplasm Invasiveness ,Neoplasm Metastasis ,KIN17 ,Lung cancer ,RC254-282 ,Matrigel ,Gene knockdown ,business.industry ,EMT ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,Lum‐A breast cancer ,RNA-Binding Proteins ,Cancer ,Original Articles ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,DNA-Binding Proteins ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,030104 developmental biology ,Oncology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,MCF-7 Cells ,Cancer research ,Original Article ,Carcinogenesis ,business - Abstract
Background Breast cancer (BC), the most common cause of cancer death in women, overtook lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer worldwide in 2020. Although many studies have proposed KIN17 as a biomarker of tumorigenesis in different cancer types, its role in tumor metastasis, particularly in BC metastasis, has been underexplored. This study aimed to explore the role of KIN17 in BC metastasis. Methods Survival analyses was performed to identify the association between KIN17 expression and BC patient survival in silico. Using lentivirus constructs, we developed bidirectional KIN17 expression (KD, knockdown; OE, overexpression) cellular models of luminal‐A (Lum‐A) breast cancer MCF‐7 cells. We performed in vitro wound healing, transwell with and without Matrigel assays, and in vivo tail‐vein metastasis assay to evaluate the migration and invasion abilities of MCF‐7 with stable KIN17 knockdown or overexpression. Western blotting was performed to compare the changes in protein expression. Results We found that KIN17 expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS), relapse‐free survival (RFS), distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS) and post‐progression survival (PPS), particularly in Lum‐A breast cancer patients. Later, we found that KIN17 knockdown inhibited migration and invasion of MCF‐7 cells via regulating EMT‐associated signaling pathways in vitro and decreases metastatic spread of the disease in vivo. In contrast, KIN17 overexpression promoted migration and invasion of MCF‐7 cells in vitro and increased the metastatic spread of the disease in vivo. Conclusions Overall, our findings provide preliminary data which suggests KIN17 of importance to target in metastatic Lum‐A patients., KIN17 expression is associated with poor overall survival (OS), relapse‐free survival (RFS), distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS) and post‐progression survival (PPS), particularly in luminal‐A breast cancer patients. KIN17 knockdown inhibits whereas its overexpression promotes migration and invasion of MCF‐7 cells via regulating EMT‐associated signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo.
- Published
- 2021
30. Evidence of Multiple Disease Resistance (MDR) and implication of meta-analysis in marker assisted selection.
- Author
-
Farhan Ali, Qingchun Pan, Genshen Chen, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, and Jianbing Yan
- Subjects
Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Meta-analysis was performed for three major foliar diseases with the aim to find out the total number of QTL responsible for these diseases and depict some real QTL for molecular breeding and marker assisted selection (MAS) in maize. Furthermore, we confirmed our results with some major known disease resistance genes and most well-known gene family of nucleotide binding site (NBS) encoding genes. Our analysis revealed that disease resistance QTL were randomly distributed in maize genome, but were clustered at different regions of the chromosomes. Totally 389 QTL were observed for these three major diseases in diverse maize germplasm, out of which 63 QTL were controlling more than one disease revealing the presence of multiple disease resistance (MDR). 44 real-QTLs were observed based on 4 QTL as standard in a specific region of genome. We also confirmed the Ht1 and Ht2 genes within the region of real QTL and 14 NBS-encoding genes. On chromosome 8 two NBS genes in one QTL were observed and on chromosome 3, several cluster and maximum MDR QTL were observed indicating that the apparent clustering could be due to genes exhibiting pleiotropic effect. Significant relationship was observed between the number of disease QTL and total genes per chromosome based on the reference genome B73. Therefore, we concluded that disease resistance genes are abundant in maize genome and these results can unleash the phenomenon of MDR. Furthermore, these results could be very handy to focus on hot spot on different chromosome for fine mapping of disease resistance genes and MAS.
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. GhCAX3 gene, a novel Ca(2+)/H(+) exchanger from cotton, confers regulation of cold response and ABA induced signal transduction.
- Author
-
Lian Xu, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Liangrong He, Wenwen Zhang, Xin He, Xianlong Zhang, Xiyan Yang, and Longfu Zhu
- Subjects
Medicine ,Science - Abstract
As a second messenger, Ca(2+) plays a major role in cold induced transduction via stimulus-specific increases in [Ca(2+)]cyt, which is called calcium signature. During this process, CAXs (Ca(2+)/H(+) exchangers) play critical role. For the first time, a putative Ca(2+)/H(+) exchanger GhCAX3 gene from upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum cv. 'YZ-1') was isolated and characterized. It was highly expressed in all tissues of cotton except roots and fibers. This gene may act as a regulator in cotton's response to abiotic stresses as it could be up-regulated by Ca(2+), NaCl, ABA and cold stress. Similar to other CAXs, it was proved that GhCAX3 also had Ca(2+) transport activity and the N-terminal regulatory region (NRR) through yeast complementation assay. Over-expression of GhCAX3 in tobacco showed less sensitivity to ABA during seed germination and seedling stages, and the phenotypic difference between wild type (WT) and transgenic plants was more significant when the NRR was truncated. Furthermore, GhCAX3 conferred cold tolerance in yeast as well as in tobacco seedlings based on physiological and molecular studies. However, transgenic plant seeds showed more sensitivity to cold stress compared to WT during seed germination, especially when expressed in N-terminal truncated version. Finally, the extent of sensitivity in transgenic lines was more severe than that in WT line under sodium tungstate treatment (an ABA repressor), indicating that ABA could alleviate cold sensitivity of GhCAX3 seeds, especially in short of its NRR. Meanwhile, we also found that overexpression of GhCAX3 could enhance some cold and ABA responsive marker genes. Taken together, these results suggested that GhCAX3 plays important roles in the cross-talk of ABA and cold signal transduction, and compared to full-length of GhCAX3, the absence of NRR could enhance the tolerance or sensitivity to cold stress, depending on seedling's developmental stages.
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. Retinal Vasculitis as Early Manifestation of Juvenile Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
- Author
-
Hoor, Shahana, Rafiq, Zahid, and Jamil, Ahmad Zeeshan
- Subjects
- *
VASCULITIS , *SYSTEMIC lupus erythematosus , *AUTOIMMUNE diseases , *OCULAR manifestations of general diseases , *MULTIPLE organ failure - Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder involving multiple organ systems with variability in its clinical features and complexity of disease course. Ocular manifestations occur in one-third of SLE patients. Vision-threatening retinal vasculitis may be the initial eye presentation in such cases. We herein present a case of a teenage girl who exhibits signs and symptoms of retinal vasculitis after the initial diagnosis of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. Frequency of cutaneous manifestations in drug abuse patients.
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid, primary, Mehdi, Syed Muntazir, additional, and Shafi, Urfa, additional
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. Novel tumor suppressor SPRYD4 inhibits tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma by inducing apoptotic cell death
- Author
-
Shiming Han, Fuling Zhou, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, and Umar Raza
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Cancer Research ,Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ,Cell ,Apoptosis ,Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cell Line, Tumor ,Carcinoma ,medicine ,Humans ,Cell Proliferation ,Cell growth ,Tumor Suppressor Proteins ,Liver Neoplasms ,Nuclear Proteins ,General Medicine ,Prognosis ,medicine.disease ,Survival Analysis ,digestive system diseases ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Oncology ,Cell culture ,Tumor progression ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Disease Progression ,Cancer research ,Molecular Medicine ,Biomarker (medicine) - Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated deaths worldwide. Although recent studies have proposed different biomarkers for HCC progression and therapy resistance, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying HCC progression and recurrence, as well as the identification of molecular markers with a higher diagnostic accuracy, are necessary for the development of more effective clinical management strategies. Here, we aimed to identify novel players in HCC progression. SPRYD4 mRNA and protein expression analyses were carried out on a normal liver-derived cell line (HL-7702) and four HCC-derived cell lines (HepG2, SMMC7721, Huh-7, BEL-7402) using qRT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Cell proliferation Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, protein expression analyses for apoptosis markers using Western blotting, and Caspase-Glo 3/7 apoptosis assays were carried out on the four HCC-derived cell lines. Expression comparison, functional annotation, gene set enrichment, correlation and survival analyses were carried out on patient data retrieved from the NCBI Gene module, the NCBI GEO database and the TCGA database. Through a meta-analysis we found that the expression of SPRYD4 was downregulated in primary HCC tissues compared to non-tumor tissues. We also found that the expression of SPRYD4 was downregulated in HCC-derived cells compared to normal liver-derived cells. Subsequently, we found that the expression of SPRYD4 was inversely correlated with a gene signature associated with HCC cell proliferation. Exogenous SPRYD4 expression was found to inhibit HCC cell proliferation by inducing apoptotic cell death. We also found that SPRYD4 expression was associated with a good prognosis and that its expression became downregulated when HCCs progressed towards more aggressive stages and higher grades. Finally, we found that SPRYD4 expression may serve as a biomarker for a good overall and relapse-free survival in HCC patients. Our data indicate that a decreased SPRYD4 expression may serve as an independent predictor for a poor prognosis in patients with HCC and that increased SPRYD4 expression may reduce HCC growth and progression through the induction of apoptotic cell death, thereby providing a potential therapeutic target.
- Published
- 2018
35. Frequency of Alopecia Areata with other autoimmune disorders.
- Author
-
Salam, Sana us, Rafiq, Zahid, Aziz, Nauman, and Anwar, Ahsan
- Subjects
- *
AUTOIMMUNE diseases , *ATOPIC dermatitis , *DISEASE management , *THYROID diseases , *TEACHING hospitals , *ALOPECIA areata , *DIABETES - Abstract
Objective: To assess the frequency of alopecia areata associated with other autoimmune disorder in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Prospective Cross Sectional study. Setting: Department of Dermatology GHAQ/DHQ Teaching Hospital/Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal. Period: January 2020 to December 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 24 patients fulfilling criteria were entered in the study. After taking informed consent, demographic data was recorded. History was taken and general physical and systemic examination was performed. Laboratory investigations were carried out where needed, for determination of factors associated with alopecia areata. Results: This study comprised of 24 patients with male n=12 (50%) and female n=12 (50%) in equal ratio 1:1. Mean age of patients of alopecia areata with SD was 19.75 ± 9.90 years. Most of the study patients were unmarried n=17 (70.8%). More than two third of patients had mild and moderate severity of disease n=18 (75%). Most common autoimmune disorder associated with alopecia areata was Diabetes Mellitus n=6 (20.9%) followed by atopic dermatitis n=3 (12.5%), anemia n=3 (12.5%) and thyroid disorders (hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism) n=2 (8.3%). The p value in various autoimmune diseases was found to be non-significant. (> 0.05). Conclusion: Patients presenting with alopecia areata may have associated other autoimmune disorders which needs to be investigated, thus helping in the management of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Pathobiology of pulmonary artery hypertension: role of long non-coding RNAs
- Author
-
Usha Raj, Umar Raza, Deming Gou, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, and Jidong Chen
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ,Endothelium ,Physiology ,Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,Pulmonary Artery ,Vascular Remodeling ,Bioinformatics ,Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ,Vascular remodelling in the embryo ,Pathogenesis ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Physiology (medical) ,medicine.artery ,microRNA ,Medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Arterial Pressure ,Endothelial dysfunction ,Cell Proliferation ,Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension ,Lung ,business.industry ,Endothelial Cells ,medicine.disease ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Pulmonary artery ,Vascular resistance ,RNA, Long Noncoding ,Endothelium, Vascular ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease with complex pathobiology, significant morbidity and mortality, and remains without a cure. It is characterized by vascular remodelling associated with uncontrolled proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, endothelial cell proliferation and dysfunction, and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, leading to narrowing of the vascular lumen, increased vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure, which inevitably results in right heart failure and death. There are multiple molecules and signalling pathways that are involved in the vascular remodelling, including non-coding RNAs, i.e. microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). It is only in recent years that the role of lncRNAs in the pathobiology of pulmonary vascular remodelling and right ventricular dysfunction is being vigorously investigated. In this review, we have summarized the current state of knowledge about the role of lncRNAs as key drivers and gatekeepers in regulating major cellular and molecular trafficking involved in the pathogenesis of PAH. In addition, we have discussed the limitations and challenges in translating lncRNA research in vivo and in therapeutic applications of lncRNAs in PAH.
- Published
- 2019
37. Systems biology based meth-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network identifies metabolic imbalance and hyperactive cell cycle signaling involved in hepatocellular carcinoma onset and progression
- Author
-
Mingyang Su, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Gou De-ming, Abdur Rehman Raza Khan, Umar Raza, and Shiming Han
- Subjects
Cancer Research ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Systems biology ,Biology ,lcsh:RC254-282 ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Gene expression ,microRNA ,Genetics ,lcsh:QH573-671 ,Gene ,lcsh:Cytology ,Cell cycle signaling ,Methylation ,Cell cycle ,lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,Tumor progression ,Oncology ,miRNA–mRNA regulatory network ,Metabolic pathways ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,DNA methylation ,Cancer research ,Primary Research - Abstract
Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading cause of cancer associated deaths worldwide. Independent studies have proposed altered DNA methylation pattern and aberrant microRNA (miRNA) levels leading to abnormal expression of different genes as important regulators of disease onset and progression in HCC. Here, using systems biology approaches, we aimed to integrate methylation, miRNA profiling and gene expression data into a regulatory methylation-miRNA–mRNA (meth-miRNA–mRNA) network to better understand the onset and progression of the disease. Methods Patients’ gene methylation, miRNA expression and gene expression data were retrieved from the NCBI GEO and TCGA databases. Differentially methylated genes, and differentially expressed miRNAs and genes were identified by comparing respective patients’ data using two tailed Student’s t-test. Functional annotation and pathway enrichment, miRNA–mRNA inverse pairing and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) were performed using DAVID, miRDIP v4.1 and GSEA tools respectively. meth-miRNA–mRNA network was constructed using Cytoscape v3.5.1. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were performed using R script and significance was calculated by Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. Results We identified differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs, and differentially methylated genes in HCC as compared to normal adjacent tissues by analyzing gene expression, miRNA expression, and methylation profiling data of HCC patients and integrated top miRNAs along with their mRNA targets and their methylation profile into a regulatory meth-miRNA–mRNA network using systems biology approach. Pathway enrichment analyses of identified genes revealed suppressed metabolic pathways and hyperactive cell cycle signaling as key features of HCC onset and progression which we validated in 10 different HCC patients’ datasets. Next, we confirmed the inverse correlation between gene methylation and its expression, and between miRNA and its targets’ expression in various datasets. Furthermore, we validated the clinical significance of identified methylation, miRNA and mRNA signatures by checking their association with clinical features and survival of HCC patients. Conclusions Overall, we suggest that simultaneous (1) reversal of hyper-methylation and/or oncogenic miRNA driven suppression of genes involved in metabolic pathways, and (2) induction of hyper-methylation and/or tumor suppressor miRNA driven suppression of genes involved in cell cycle signaling have potential of inhibiting disease aggressiveness, and predicting good survival in HCC. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0804-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
- Published
- 2018
38. Adverse effect of DEHP exposure on the serum insulin level of Balb/c mice
- Author
-
Xu Yang, Ping Ma, Yan Qian, Jing Wang, Jinquan Li, Shumao Ding, Kun Wang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, and Xianliang Wang
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Normal diet ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,medicine.medical_treatment ,030209 endocrinology & metabolism ,Toxicology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Pathology and Forensic Medicine ,BALB/c ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal medicine ,Diabetes mellitus ,Medicine ,General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics ,biology ,business.industry ,Insulin ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Phthalate ,biology.organism_classification ,Streptozotocin ,Malondialdehyde ,medicine.disease ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,business ,Oxidative stress ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a common indoor pollutant in the world, which may cause lots of harmful effects in human including diabetes according to epidemiological studies. To explore the underlying role of DEHP in diabetes-like symptoms, Balb/c mice were chose to be the experimental animals in this paper. They were separated as eight groups as follows: (1) saline+normal diet (vehicle control), (2) 10 mg/kg.day DEHP+normal diet, (3) 50 mg/kg.day DEHP+normal diet, (4) 250 mg/kg.day DEHP+normal diet, (5) streptozotocin (STZ)+high fat diet (diabetes model), (6) 10 mg/kg.day DEHP+ STZ+high fat diet, (7) 50 mg/kg.day DEHP+STZ +high fat diet, (8) 250 mg/kg.day DEHP+STZ+high fat diet. The biomarkers of this experiment include four groups: (1) general indicates: body weight and drinking water, (2) blood biomarkers: serum insulin and fasting glucose, (3) pathological examination: pancreas section and kidney section, and (4) biomarkers of oxidative stress: reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver cells. Our study results demonstrate that: (1) at our treatment levels DEHP cannot directly induce diabetes, but reduce serum insulin level in DEHP-exposed non-STZ-treated animals, (2) pathological examination finds that these is a dose-dependent damage in the pancreas in DEHP- exposed STZ-treated groups, and (3) the oxidative mechanism may be involved in this pathological process.
- Published
- 2016
39. Determination of glutathione in apoptotic SMMC-7221 cells induced by xylitol selenite using capillary electrophoresis
- Author
-
Chao Qi, Jihong Yang, Xiaojie Deng, Xue Wu, Jian Zhang, Ke Liu, Yu Cao, Guomei Xiong, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Hanchao Yao, Ming Lei, and Yanli Liu
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Antineoplastic Agents ,Apoptosis ,Bioengineering ,Selenious Acid ,Xylitol ,01 natural sciences ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Capillary electrophoresis ,Cell Line, Tumor ,Depletion rate ,Humans ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Electrophoresis, Capillary ,General Medicine ,Glutathione ,0104 chemical sciences ,Hepatoma cell line ,030104 developmental biology ,chemistry ,Biochemistry ,Hepatocytes ,Treatment time ,Selenium ,Biotechnology - Abstract
To determine the glutathione (GSH) content in a human hepatoma cell line (SMMC-7221) treated with xylitol/selenite, providing a part of an investigation of its anti-cancer mechanisms.The nuclei of SMMC-7221 cells were stained with Hoechst 33258 in an apoptosis assay, and their morphology subsequently changed from circular to crescent shape. The calibration curve (r(2) = 0.992) was established, and GSH content markedly decreased after treated with 0.5 and 1 mg xylitol/selenite l(-1) for 12, 36 and 60 h (12 h: from 95.57 ± 19.57 to 29.09 ± 7.74 and 24.27 ± 11.15; 36 h: from 70.73 ± 11.35 to 19.54 ± 6.39 and 9.35 ± 6.69; 60 h: from 72.63 ± 16.94 to 7.432 ± 3.84 and 0). The depletion rate of GSH was more related to the concentration of xylitol/selenite than the treatment time (from 69.95 ± 1.87 to 100 % vs. 0.22 ± 0.2 to 100 %).Xylitol/selenite is a promising anti-cancer drug to induce apoptosis in SMMC-7221 cells. It may regulate the apoptosis through the co-action of multiple mechanisms related to GSH depletion.
- Published
- 2016
40. Histone deacetylase 1 promotes glioblastoma cell proliferation and invasion via activation of PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK signaling pathways
- Author
-
Guozheng Xu, Xiaohong Yin, Xiangyu Wang, Shun Li, Xiao-ping Tang, Jun Wen, Long Zhao, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Xiangrong Chen, Jie Duan, Maoying Zhang, Liu Zhang, Jun-wei Duan, Yuanchuan Wang, and Lifang Mao
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Adult ,Male ,animal structures ,Adolescent ,MAP Kinase Signaling System ,Histone Deacetylase 1 ,Transfection ,03 medical and health sciences ,Mice ,Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ,Young Adult ,Glioma ,Cell Line, Tumor ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Neoplasm Invasiveness ,RNA, Messenger ,U87 ,RNA, Small Interfering ,Molecular Biology ,Protein kinase B ,PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway ,Aged ,Cell Proliferation ,Gene knockdown ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,Chemistry ,Brain Neoplasms ,General Neuroscience ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,HDAC1 ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,enzymes and coenzymes (carbohydrates) ,030104 developmental biology ,Ki-67 Antigen ,Cell culture ,embryonic structures ,Cancer research ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,biological phenomena, cell phenomena, and immunity ,Signal transduction ,Glioblastoma ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ,Developmental Biology ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) plays a crucial role in cancer progression and development. This enzyme has been confirmed to be a key regulator of tumor biology functions, such as tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion. However, HDAC1 expression in glioma remains controversial, and its specific function and molecular mechanism in glioblastoma is poorly understood. In this study, our findings demonstrated that protein and mRNA levels of HDAC1 were increased in glioma cell lines and glioma tissues compared to normal glial cell lines and non-neoplastic brain tissues, respectively. Furthermore, HDAC1 knockdown cells displayed decreased proliferation and invasion capabilities, whereas HDAC1 overexpressing glioblastoma cells displayed more proliferation and invasion capabilities in vitro. These novel outcomes suggested that knockdown of HDAC1 possibly suppressed the expression of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) and phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK) proteins, while overexpression of HDAC1 significantly increased p-AKT and p-ERK protein in glioblastoma cells. In addition, knockdown of HDAC1 repressed subcutaneous tumor growth in vivo, and led to down-regulation of p-AKT and p-ERK protein in U87 MG xenograft tumors. For the first time, we have demonstrated that HDAC1 promotes proliferation and invasion in glioblastoma cells by activating PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that HDAC1 may be a novel biomarker and potential therapeutic target in glioblastoma.
- Published
- 2018
41. Be Aware of Immunogenic But not Protective Antigens: The Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae PalA as an Example
- Author
-
Jin Zhao, Chao Qi, Jinlin Liu, Haobin Zhao, Caihong Liu, Jihong Yang, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, and Cao Yurou
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,animal diseases ,Gene Expression ,Active immunization ,medicine.disease_cause ,Biochemistry ,Microbiology ,Haemophilus influenzae ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,Immune system ,Antigen ,Structural Biology ,Escherichia coli ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae ,Antigens, Bacterial ,biology ,Immunogenicity ,Vaccination ,General Medicine ,biology.organism_classification ,Antibodies, Bacterial ,Recombinant Proteins ,030104 developmental biology ,Bacterial Vaccines ,Inactivated vaccine ,biology.protein ,Female ,Rabbits ,Antibody ,Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - Abstract
BACKGROUND Identification of immunogenic antigens is an important step for the vaccine improvement. Previous studies indicated that Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae PalA is homologous to a Haemophilus influenzae protective antigen Hi-PAL (P6) protein. However, PalA protein adversely affects the Apx toxinbased subunit vaccine. The role of PalA in the inactivated vaccine is not known, and the mechanism involved in the PalA-mediated interference has not been investigated. OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study was to investigate the possible impacts of PalA on the protective immunity of A. pleuropneumoniae inactivated vaccine. METHODS Coding sequence of the mature peptide of PalA was amplified from A. pleuropneumoniae SLW01, and inserted into the prokaryotic expression plasmid pGEX-KG, so as to generate the recombinant PalA (rPalA) protein. The immunogenicity of rPalA was verified in rabbits. For the protection assay, mice were assigned into 4 groups, and were immunized with TSB, rPalA, bacterin (Bac) and bacterin + rPalA (BacPal), respectively. Humoral immune response was evaluated before each immunization and before challenge. Two weeks after three immunizations, mice were infected with virulent A. pleuropneumoniae 4074. The clinical signs, survival rates and lung bacteria loads were determined. Then a passive protection assay was performed using pooled sera from the active immunization assay. RESULTS rPalA was produced in E. coli and was confirmed to be immune-reactive. rPalA is able to elicit a strong humoral immune response in rabbit. Besides, polyclonal antibodies against rPalA is able to recognize the natural PalA in the outer membrane of A. pleuropneumoniae. The positive immunization assay showed that mice immunized with BacPal produced significantly less antibodies against Apx toxins, relative to that of animals immunized with Bac before challenge (P
- Published
- 2018
42. Expression, Crystallization and Preliminary X-ray Diffraction Analyses of Med-ORF10 in the Biosynthetic Pathway of an Antitumor Antibiotic Medermycin
- Author
-
Jinlin Liu, Chao Qi, Tingting Yang, Aiying Li, Shasha Liu, Yi Yang, Ke Liu, Yanli Liu, Yali Jiang, Xiaoxia Guo, Haobin Zhao, Jihong Yang, and Kashif Rafiq Zahid
- Subjects
Molecular Sequence Data ,Bioengineering ,medicine.disease_cause ,Biochemistry ,Streptomyces ,Analytical Chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,X-Ray Diffraction ,Biosynthesis ,Gene cluster ,Escherichia coli ,medicine ,Amino Acid Sequence ,Cloning, Molecular ,ORFS ,Gene ,Peptide sequence ,biology ,Organic Chemistry ,Wild type ,biology.organism_classification ,Molecular biology ,Recombinant Proteins ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,chemistry ,Multigene Family ,Crystallization ,Sequence Alignment ,Metabolic Networks and Pathways ,Naphthoquinones - Abstract
Medermycin, as a prominent member of benzoisochromanequinones, possesses strong antitumor activity and is biosynthesized under the control of a 29-ORF-containing biosynthetic gene cluster. Most of ORFs in this gene cluster have not been characterized, including a small protein encoding gene med-ORF10, proposed to play a regulatory role in biosynthesis of medermycin in an unknown mode. In this study, we reported the expression, protein preparation, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analyses of Med-ORF10 of the wild type Streptomyces strain. Firstly, we cloned and overexpressed med-ORF10 in Escherichia coli and purified the protein with 98% purity and 3 mg/L yield. Then, we crystallized the protein at concentration of 20 mg/mL in condition 22% PEG 3350, 0.2 M magnesium formate and collected the data at 1.78 Å resolution. Finally, we detected the expression of Med-ORF10 in Streptomyces by western blotting. In conclusion, this study confirmed the expression of Med-ORF10 protein in the wild-type strain of Streptomyces AM-7161 and collected the X-ray diffraction data of Med-ORF10 crystal at 1.78 Å resolution. These studies provide evidences for the functional Med-ORF10 protein in Streptomyces strains and facilitate our further investigation.
- Published
- 2015
43. Recent novel tumor gatekeepers and potential therapeutic approaches (2017)
- Author
-
Hira Khan Zada, Waseem Hassan, Haobin Zhao, Chao Qi, Jinlin Liu, Ke Liu, Ghulam Mustafa Wassan, Yanli Liu, and Kashif Rafiq Zahid
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Cancer, Potent inhibitors, Gatekeepers, Therapeutic approaches, Oncogenic pathways ,business.industry ,Pharmaceutical Science ,Medicine ,Cancer ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Drug resistance ,Pharmacology ,business ,medicine.disease ,Intensive care medicine - Abstract
Tumor remains a challenging task for oncology community. Drug resistance due to chemotherapy remain principal impediments toward potential therapeutic strategies. Development of novel anti-cancer drugs or new targeted strategies to conquer drug resistance is a key goal of cancer research. In this respect, novel tumor gatekeepers and innovative targeted strategies can be helpful in overcoming drug resistance as well as improve currently used targeted therapies. In this review, efforts have been made to present some of the latest knowledge about novel tumor gatekeepers and new therapeutic strategies to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy and give new hope to cancer patients to fight against cancer.Keywords: Cancer, Potent inhibitors, Gatekeepers, Therapeutic approaches, Oncogenic pathways
- Published
- 2017
44. Frequency of depression, anxiety and stress in patients with acne vulgaris.
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid and Mehdi, Syed Muntazir
- Subjects
- *
ACNE , *ANXIETY , *MENTAL depression , *GENDER , *MEDICAL schools - Abstract
Objective To determine the frequency of depression, anxiety and stress among acne vulgaris patients. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Dermatology at DHQ/ GHAQ Teaching Hospital/ Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal after approval from ethical review committee. A total of 100 patients of acne vulgaris filling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. Acne severity was graded into three grades mild, moderate and severe. DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Score) questionnaire (21 Questions) was translated and filled on proforma. Data was analyzed by SPSS. Results In 100 patients, there were 58 females and 42 males. Mean age was 21 years in both genders. There was significant number of patients (39%) with family history of acne vulgaris. Majority of them were students (59%) and unmarried (82%). Mild (47%) and moderate (43%) severity of acne vulgaris constitute 90% of total patients and rest of patients (10%) belonged to severe form. Depression was observed in most cases (62%) as compared to anxiety (51%) and stress (40%) in different severity of acne patients. Moderate degree of depression 48% (n=30) and anxiety 49% (n=25) cases and mild degree of stress 50% (n=20) cases were noticed in majority among different severity of acne vulgaris. Conclusion There is significant impact of psychological issues on acne vulgaris patient as shown by frequency of depression, anxiety and stress in this study. Thus, highlight the need of close liaison of dermatologist and psychiatrist in management of acne vulgaris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
45. Response and Tolerance Mechanism of Cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. to Elevated Temperature Stress: A Review
- Author
-
Waseem Hassan, Chao Qi, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Amjad Iqbal, Farhan Ali, Yanli Lu, Tariq Shah, Wei Wu, Muhammad Younas, Zahoor Ahmad, Farooq Shah, and Durri Shahwar
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Transgene ,Review ,Plant Science ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,cotton ,heat stress ,abscisic acid ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Heat shock protein ,Transcription factor ,Abscisic acid ,Abiotic component ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Molecular breeding ,Regulation of gene expression ,Reactive oxygen species ,business.industry ,fungi ,food and beverages ,Biotechnology ,030104 developmental biology ,chemistry ,business ,signal transduction ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
Cotton is an important multipurpose crop which is highly sensitive to both biotic and abiotic stresses. Proper management of this cash crop requires systematic understanding of various environmental conditions vital for both yield and quality. High temperature stress can severely affect the viability of pollens and anther indehiscence leading towards significant yield losses. Cotton can respond to withstand adverse environmental condition in several phases among which the accumulation of chemicals is extremely vital. Calcium, kinases, reactive oxygen species (ROS), carbohydrate, transcription factors, gene expression regulation, and plant hormones signaling pathways are playing a handy role in activating the major genes responsible to encounter and defend elevated temperature stress. The synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSPs) is enhanced when plants are exposed to high temperature stress more distinct of that experienced under natural environment. Molecular breeding can play a functional role to identify superior genes for all the important attributes and provide breeder ready markers for developing ideotypes. The production of high-temperature tolerant transgenic cotton cultivars would provide a stability benefit and will ameliorate its overall performance under high temperature stress.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Structure and Function of CW Domain Containing Proteins
- Author
-
Ke Liu, Xinxin Zhang, Lingfu Deng, Yanli Liu, Jihong Yang, Xiao Liang, Chao Qi, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Shasha Liu, and Jinlin Liu
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Models, Molecular ,EGF-like domain ,Protein Conformation ,Protein domain ,Plasma protein binding ,Biology ,Biochemistry ,Chromatin remodeling ,Conserved sequence ,Histones ,03 medical and health sciences ,Structure-Activity Relationship ,Protein structure ,Humans ,Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs ,Amino Acid Sequence ,Cysteine ,Molecular Biology ,Peptide sequence ,Conserved Sequence ,Genetics ,Binding Sites ,Arabidopsis Proteins ,Tryptophan ,Cell Biology ,General Medicine ,Zinc ,030104 developmental biology ,Cyclic nucleotide-binding domain ,Multigene Family ,Carrier Proteins ,Protein Binding - Abstract
The CW domain is a zinc binding domain, composed of approximately 50- 60 amino acid residues with four conserved cysteine (C) and two to four conserved tryptophan (W) residues. The members of the superfamily of CW domain containing proteins, comprised of 12 different eukaryotic nuclear protein families, are extensively expressed in vertebrates, vertebrate-infecting parasites and higher plants, where they are often involved in chromatin remodeling, methylation recognition, epigenetic regulation and early embryonic development. Since the first CW domain structure was determined 5 years ago, structures of five CW domains have been solved so far. In this review, we will discuss these recent advances in understanding the identification, definition, structure, and functions of the CW domain containing proteins.
- Published
- 2015
47. Structure and Function of CW Domain Containing Proteins
- Author
-
Liu, Yanli, primary, Liu, Shasha, additional, Zhang, Xinxin, additional, Liang, Xiao, additional, Rafiq Zahid, Kashif, additional, Liu, Ke, additional, Liu, Jinlin, additional, Deng, Lingfu, additional, Yang, Jihong, additional, and Qi, Chao, additional
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. Evidence of Multiple Disease Resistance (MDR) and Implication of Meta-Analysis in Marker Assisted Selection
- Author
-
Jianbing Yan, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Farhan Ali, Genshen Chen, and Qingchun Pan
- Subjects
Heredity ,Agricultural Biotechnology ,lcsh:Medicine ,Plant Science ,Plant Genetics ,Genome ,Family-based QTL mapping ,lcsh:Science ,Disease Resistance ,Genetics ,Multidisciplinary ,Virulence ,food and beverages ,Chromosome Mapping ,Agriculture ,Genomics ,Marker-assisted selection ,Host-Pathogen Interactions ,Research Article ,Biotechnology ,Genetic Markers ,Marker-Assisted Selection ,Quantitative Trait Loci ,Cereals ,Crops ,Quantitative trait locus ,Biology ,Genes, Plant ,Zea mays ,Model Organisms ,Gene mapping ,Meta-Analysis as Topic ,Genome Analysis Tools ,Plant and Algal Models ,Selection, Genetic ,Trait Locus Analysis ,Plant Diseases ,Quantitative Traits ,lcsh:R ,Computational Biology ,DNA Shuffling ,Agronomy ,Maize ,Plant Breeding ,Chromosome 3 ,Genetic marker ,lcsh:Q ,Reference genome - Abstract
Meta-analysis was performed for three major foliar diseases with the aim to find out the total number of QTL responsible for these diseases and depict some real QTL for molecular breeding and marker assisted selection (MAS) in maize. Furthermore, we confirmed our results with some major known disease resistance genes and most well-known gene family of nucleotide binding site (NBS) encoding genes. Our analysis revealed that disease resistance QTL were randomly distributed in maize genome, but were clustered at different regions of the chromosomes. Totally 389 QTL were observed for these three major diseases in diverse maize germplasm, out of which 63 QTL were controlling more than one disease revealing the presence of multiple disease resistance (MDR). 44 real-QTLs were observed based on 4 QTL as standard in a specific region of genome. We also confirmed the Ht1 and Ht2 genes within the region of real QTL and 14 NBS-encoding genes. On chromosome 8 two NBS genes in one QTL were observed and on chromosome 3, several cluster and maximum MDR QTL were observed indicating that the apparent clustering could be due to genes exhibiting pleiotropic effect. Significant relationship was observed between the number of disease QTL and total genes per chromosome based on the reference genome B73. Therefore, we concluded that disease resistance genes are abundant in maize genome and these results can unleash the phenomenon of MDR. Furthermore, these results could be very handy to focus on hot spot on different chromosome for fine mapping of disease resistance genes and MAS.
- Published
- 2013
49. GhCAX3 gene, a novel Ca(2+)/H(+) exchanger from cotton, confers regulation of cold response and ABA induced signal transduction
- Author
-
Longfu Zhu, Kashif Rafiq Zahid, Liangrong He, Xin He, Lian Xu, Wenwen Zhang, Xianlong Zhang, and Xiyan Yang
- Subjects
Agricultural Biotechnology ,lcsh:Medicine ,Plant Science ,Genetically modified crops ,Biochemistry ,Transmembrane Transport Proteins ,Engineering ,Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ,Molecular Cell Biology ,Signaling in Cellular Processes ,lcsh:Science ,Plant Proteins ,Regulation of gene expression ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,food and beverages ,Agriculture ,Research Assessment ,Tungsten Compounds ,Plants, Genetically Modified ,Cell biology ,Cold Temperature ,medicine.symptom ,Research Laboratories ,Research Article ,Biotechnology ,Signal Transduction ,Environmental Engineering ,Science Policy ,Transgene ,Repressor ,Crops ,Bioengineering ,Agricultural Production ,Botany ,Genetics ,medicine ,Calcium Signaling ,Biology ,Nicotiana ,Gossypium ,lcsh:R ,Wild type ,Proteins ,Biological Transport ,biology.organism_classification ,Sustainable Agriculture ,Metabolism ,Seedling ,Cold sensitivity ,lcsh:Q ,Abscisic Acid - Abstract
As a second messenger, Ca(2+) plays a major role in cold induced transduction via stimulus-specific increases in [Ca(2+)]cyt, which is called calcium signature. During this process, CAXs (Ca(2+)/H(+) exchangers) play critical role. For the first time, a putative Ca(2+)/H(+) exchanger GhCAX3 gene from upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum cv. 'YZ-1') was isolated and characterized. It was highly expressed in all tissues of cotton except roots and fibers. This gene may act as a regulator in cotton's response to abiotic stresses as it could be up-regulated by Ca(2+), NaCl, ABA and cold stress. Similar to other CAXs, it was proved that GhCAX3 also had Ca(2+) transport activity and the N-terminal regulatory region (NRR) through yeast complementation assay. Over-expression of GhCAX3 in tobacco showed less sensitivity to ABA during seed germination and seedling stages, and the phenotypic difference between wild type (WT) and transgenic plants was more significant when the NRR was truncated. Furthermore, GhCAX3 conferred cold tolerance in yeast as well as in tobacco seedlings based on physiological and molecular studies. However, transgenic plant seeds showed more sensitivity to cold stress compared to WT during seed germination, especially when expressed in N-terminal truncated version. Finally, the extent of sensitivity in transgenic lines was more severe than that in WT line under sodium tungstate treatment (an ABA repressor), indicating that ABA could alleviate cold sensitivity of GhCAX3 seeds, especially in short of its NRR. Meanwhile, we also found that overexpression of GhCAX3 could enhance some cold and ABA responsive marker genes. Taken together, these results suggested that GhCAX3 plays important roles in the cross-talk of ABA and cold signal transduction, and compared to full-length of GhCAX3, the absence of NRR could enhance the tolerance or sensitivity to cold stress, depending on seedling's developmental stages.
- Published
- 2013
50. How do Indian elections play in Kashmir? Mass arrests offer a clue
- Author
-
Rafiq, Zahid
- Subjects
India -- Elections ,Voter turnout -- Social aspects ,Kashmiri (South Asian people) -- Discipline -- Political activity ,Political issue ,General interest ,News, opinion and commentary - Abstract
Byline: Zahid Rafiq A day before polling resumes for India's national election in Srinagar, the city is marked by closed roads, barbed wire check points, and an increased police presence. [...]
- Published
- 2014
Catalog
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.