Comparison of Expression Signature of Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) in Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Multiple Myeloma and Normal Donors

Ahmadvand, Mohammad,Noruzinia, Mehrdad,Soleimani, Masoud,Abroun, Saeid Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.7

Background: Histone acetylation in chromatin structures plays a key role in regulation of gene transcription and is strictly controlled by histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and deacetylase (HDAC) activities. HDAC deregulation has been reported in several cancers. Materials and Methods: The expression of 10 HDACs (including HDAC class I and II) was studied by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) in a cohort of mesenchymal stem cells (MM-MSCs) from 10 multiple myeloma patients with a median age 60y. The results were compared with those obtained for normal donors. Then, a coculture system was performed between MM-MSCs and u266 cell line, in the presence or absence of sodium butyrate (NaBT), to understand the effects of HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) in MM-MSCs on multiple myeloma cases. Also, the interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) gene expression level and apoptotic effects were investigated in MM-MSCs patients and control group following NaBT treatment. Results: The results indicated that upregulated (HDACs) and downregulated (IL6 and VEGFA) genes were differentially expressed in the MM-MSCs derived from patients with multiple myeloma and ND-MSCs from normal donors. Comparison of the MM-MSCs and ND-MSCs also showed distinct HDACs expression patterns. For the first time to our knowledge, a significant increase of apoptosis was observed in coculture with MM-MSCs treated with NaBT. Conclusions: The obtained findings elucidate a complex set of actions in MSCs in response to HDAC inhibitors, which may be responsible for anticancer effects. Also, the data support the idea that MSCs are new therapeutic targets as a potential effective strategy for MM.

Optimum design of shape and size of truss structures via a new approximation method

Hosein Ahmadvand,AliReza Habibi 국제구조공학회 2020 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.76 No.6

The optimum design of truss structures is one of the significant categories in structural optimization that has widely been applied by researchers. In the present study, new mathematical programming called Consistent Approximation (CONAP) method is utilized for the simultaneous optimization of the size and shape of truss structures. The CONAP algorithm has already been introduced to optimize some structures and functions. In the CONAP algorithm, some important parameters are designed by employing design sensitivities to enhance the capability of the method and its consistency in various optimum design problems, especially structural optimization. The cross-sectional area of the bar elements and the nodal coordinates of the truss are assumed to be the size and shape design variables, respectively. The displacement, allowable stress and the Euler buckling stress are taken as the design constraints for the problem. In the proposed method, the primary optimization problem is replaced with a sequence of explicit sub-problems. Each sub-problem is efficiently solved using the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm. Several truss structures are designed by employing the CONAP method to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm for simultaneous shape and size optimization. The optimal solutions are compared with some of the mathematical programming algorithms, the approximation methods and metaheuristic algorithms those reported in the literature. Results demonstrate that the accuracy of the optimization is improved and the convergence rate speeds up.

The ground response curve of underwater tunnels, excavated in a strain-softening rock mass

Fahimifar, Ahmad,Ghadami, Hamed,Ahmadvand, Masoud Techno-Press 2015 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.8 No.3

This paper presents an elasto-plastic model for determination of the ground response curve of a circular underwater tunnel excavated in elastic-strain softening rock mass compatible with a nonlinear Hoek-Brown yield criterion. The finite difference method (FDM) was used to propose a new solution to calculate pore water pressure, stress, and strain distributions on periphery of circular tunnels in axisymmetric and plain strain conditions. In the proposed solution, a modified non-radial flow pattern, for the hydraulic analysis, is utilized. To evaluate the effect of gravitational loads and variations of pore water pressure, the equations concerning different directions around the tunnel (crown, wall, and floor) are derived. Regarding the strain-softening behavior of the rock mass, the stepwise method is executed for the plastic zone in which parameters of strength, dilatancy, stresses, strains, and deformation are different from their elasto-plastic boundary values as compared to the tunnel boundary values. Besides, the analytical equations are developed for the elastic zone. The accuracy and application of the proposed method is demonstrated by a number of examples. The results present the effects of seepage body forces, gravitational loads and dilatancy angle on ground response curve appropriately.

Dental age estimation using cone-beam computed tomography: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Yousefi Faezeh,Mohammadi Younes,Ahmadvand Mehrnaz,Razaghi Parnian 대한영상치의학회 2023 Imaging Science in Dentistry Vol.53 No.2

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to investigate the correlation between chronological age and dental pulp volume in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: The literature was searched in 4 databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar). Within each study, the outcome of interest was the correlation (r) between chronological age and pulp volume. A random-effect meta-analysis was conducted. Subgroup analysis was carried out according to sex and tooth type. Results: Of 5,693 identified studies, 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for meta-analysis. These articles focused on single-rooted teeth (n = 21), multi-rooted teeth (n = 6), maxillary teeth (n = 14), mandibular teeth (n = 6), and maxillary and mandibular teeth (n = 12). The relationship between chronological age and dental pulp volume was examined in the entire population (r = -0.67), men (r = -0.75), and women (r = -0.77) in single- and multi-rooted teeth. The results of the total population analysis showed a relatively strong negative relationship between age and pulp volume. Conclusion: This study suggested that CBCT is a reliable and repeatable tool for dental age estimation. A strong inverse relationship was observed between pulp chamber volume and age. Further studies on the correlation between chronological age and pulp volume of multi-rooted teeth may be beneficial.

A laboratory and numerical study on the effect of geogrid-box method on bearing capacity of rock-soil slopes

Moradi, Gholam,Abdolmaleki, Arvin,Soltani, Parham,Ahmadvand, Masoud Techno-Press 2018 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.14 No.4

Currently, layered geogrid method (LGM) is the commonly practiced technique for reinforcement of slopes. In this paper the geogrid-box method (GBM) is introduced as a new approach for reinforcement of rock-soil slopes. To achieve the objectives of this study, a laboratory setup was designed and the slopes without reinforcements and reinforced with LGM and GBM were tested under the loading of a circular footing. The effect of vertical spacing between geogrid layers and box thickness on normalized bearing capacity and failure mechanism of slopes was investigated. A series of 3D finite element analysis were also performed using ABAQUS software to supplement the results of the model tests. The results indicated that the load-settlement behavior and the ultimate bearing capacity of footing can be significantly improved by the inclusion of reinforcing geogrid in the soil. It was found that for the slopes reinforced with GBM, the displacement contours are widely distributed in the rock-soil mass underneath the footing in greater width and depth than that in the reinforced slope with LGM, which in turn results in higher bearing capacity. It was also established that by reducing the thickness of geogrid-boxes, the distribution and depth of displacement contours increases and a longer failure surface is developed, which suggests the enhanced bearing capacity of the slope. Based on the studied designs, the ultimate bearing capacity of the GBM-reinforced slope was found to be 11.16% higher than that of the slope reinforced with LGM. The results also indicated that, reinforcement of rock-soil slopes using GBM causes an improvement in the ultimate bearing capacity as high as 24.8 times more than that of the unreinforced slope.

Altered expression of MALAT1 lncRNA in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, correlation with cytogenetic findings

Abdolrahim Ahmadi,Saeid Kaviani,Marjan Yaghmaie,Hossein Pashaiefar,Mohammad Ahmadvand,Mahdi Jalili,Kamran Alimoghaddam,Mohammad Eslamijouybari,Ardeshir Ghavamzadeh 대한혈액학회 2018 Blood Research Vol.53 No.4

BackgroundRecent studies have devoted much attention to non-protein-coding transcripts in relation to a wide range of malignancies. MALAT1, a long non-coding RNA, has been reported to be associated with cancer progression and prognosis. Thus, we here determined MALAT1 gene expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a genetically heteroge-neous disease, and explored its possible relationships with cytogenetic abnormalities.MethodsMALAT1 expression level was evaluated using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on blood mononuclear cells from 30 non-treated CLL patients and 30 matched healthy controls. Cytogenetic abnormalities were de-termined in patients by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).ResultsMALAT1 expression level was up-regulated in the CLL group compared to healthy controls (P=0.008). Del13q14, followed by Del11q22, were the most prevalent cytogenetic abnormalities. We found no association between the FISH results and MALAT1 ex-pression in patients.ConclusionAltered expression of MALAT1 is associated with CLL development. Further investigations are required to assess the relationship between this long non-coding RNA and CLL patient survival and prognosis.

Clinical significance of cell-free DNA as a prognostic biomarker in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Mahsa Eskandari,Saba Manoochehrabadi,Hossein Pashaiefar,Mohammad Ali Zaimy,Mohammad Ahmadvand 대한혈액학회 2019 Blood Research Vol.54 No.2

BackgroundCell-free DNA (cfDNA) has the potential to serve as a non-invasive prognostic biomarker in some types of neoplasia. The investigation of plasma concentration of cfDNA may re-veal its use as a valuable biomarker for risk stratification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The present prognostic value of plasma cfDNA has not been widely confirmed in DLBCL subjects. Here, we evaluated cfDNA plasma concentration and assessed its potential prognostic value as an early DLBCL diagnostic tool.MethodscfDNA concentrations in plasma samples from 40 patients with DLBCL during diagnosis and of 38 normal controls were determined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for the multi-locus L1PA2 gene.ResultsStatistically significant elevation in plasma cfDNA concentrations was observed in pa-tients with DLBCL as compared to that in normal controls (P<0.05). A cutoff point of 2.071 ng/mL provided 82.5% sensitivity and 62.8% specificity and allowed successful discrimination of patients with DLBCL from normal controls (area under the curve=0.777; P=0.00003). Furthermore, patients with DLBCL showing higher concen-trations of cfDNA had shorter overall survival (median, 9 mo; P=0.022) than those with lower cfDNA levels. In addition, elevated cfDNA concentration was significantly asso-ciated with age, B-symptoms, International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, and different stages of disease (all P<0.05).ConclusionQuantification of cfDNA with qPCR at the time of diagnosis may allow identification of patients with high cfDNA concentration, which correlates with aggressive clinical out-comes and adverse prognosis.

Neutralization of Human Papillomavirus by Specific Nanobodies Against Major Capsid Protein L1

( Minaeian Sara ),( Fatemeh Rahbarizadeh ),( Sayyed Hamid Zarkesh Esfahani ),( Davoud Ahmadvand ),( Oliver Jay Broom ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2012 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.22 No.5

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer in developing countries. Rapid diagnosis and initiation of treatment of the HPV infection are critical. Various methods have been employed to reduce the immunogenicity of antibodies targeting HPV serotypes. Nanobodies are the smallest fragments of naturally occurring single-domain antibodies with their antigenbinding site compromised into a single domain. Nanobodies have remarkable properties such as high stability, solubility, and high homology to the human VH3 domain. In this study, a phagemid library was employed to enrich for nanobodies against the L1 protein of the human papilloma virus. Binding reactivity of the selected clones was evaluated using phage enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (phage-ELISA). Finally, two nanobodies (sm5 and sm8) with the best reactivity against the Gardasil vaccine and the purified HPV-16 L1 protein were expressed and purified using a Ni+-NTA column. The accuracy of expression and purification of the nanobodies was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting assays. In vitro studies demonstrated that neutralization was achieved by the selected nanobodies. The ease of generation and unique features of these molecules make nanobodies promising molecules for the new generation of HPV diagnosis and therapy.

Development of Gold-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles as a Potential MRI Contrast Agent

Ali Reza Montazerabadi,Mohammad Ali Oghabian,Rasoul Irajirad,Samad Muhammadnejad,Davoud Ahmadvand,Hamid Delavari H,Seyed Rabie Mahdavi 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2015 NANO Vol.10 No.4

Gold-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated with methylpolyethylene glycol (mPEG) are synthesized and investigated as a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast agent. The synthesized mPEG-core@shells are characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), zeta-potential analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the transverse relaxivity of the mPEG-core@shells is measured using a 3 T MRI scanner. The cytotoxicity of the mPEG-core@shells is tested in the LNCaP cell line using an 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The results show that the mPEG-core@shell particles are semispherical with hydrodynamic size of ~65 nm and a transverse relaxivity of 162.3 mM-1 S-1. The mPEG-core@shell particles demonstrate good stability in biological media without any significant in vitro cytotoxicity under high cellular uptake conditions. Finally, in vivo imaging shows that mPEG-core@shells are a potential contrast agent for use in early-stage detection.

FAS-670A>G gene polymorphism and the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mohammad Masoud Eslami,Ramazan Rezaei,Sara Abdollahi,Afshin Davari,Mohammad Ahmadvand 대한혈액학회 2021 Blood Research Vol.56 No.1

The association between the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation and FAS gene polymorphism has been evaluated previously. However, inconsistent results have been reported. Hence, we conducted the most up-to-date meta-analysis to evaluate this association. All eligible studies reporting the association between FAS-670A>G polymorphism and the risk of allograft rejection published up to December 2019 were extracted using a comprehensive systematic database search in the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to determine the association strength. This meta-analysis included six case-control studies with 277 patients who experienced allograft rejection and 1,001 patients who did not experience allograft rejection (controls) after organ transplantation. The overall results showed no significant association between FAS-670A>G polymorphism and the risk of allograft rejection in five genetic models (dominant model: OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.58‒1.12; recessive model: OR=0.10, 95% CI=0.80‒1.53; allelic model: OR=0.96, 95% CI=0.79‒1.18; GG vs. AA: OR=0.92, 95% CI=0.62‒1.36; and AG vs. AA: OR=0.75, 95% CI=0.52‒1.08). Moreover, subgroup analysis according to ethnicity and age did not reveal statistically significant results. Our findings suggest that FAS-670A>G polymorphism is not associated with the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation.