MicroRNAs and Metastasis-related Gene Expression in Egyptian Breast Cancer Patients

Hafez, Mohamed M.,Hassan, Zeinab K.,Zekri, Abdel Rahman N.,Gaber, Ayman A.,Rejaie, Salem S. Al,Sayed-Ahmed, Mohamed M.,Shabanah, Othman Al Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.2

Aim and background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of naturally occurring small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression, cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis by targeting mRNAs for translational repression or cleavage. The present study was conducted to study miRNAs in Egyptian breast cancer (BC) and their relation to metastasis, tumor invasion and apoptosis in addition to their association with the ER and PR statuses. Methods: Real Time RT-PCR was performed to identify the miRNA expression level of eight miRNAs and eight metastatic-related genes in 40 breast cancer samples and their adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. The expression levels of each miRNA relative to U6 RNA were determined using the $^{2-{\Delta}}CT$ method. Also, miRNA expression profiles of the BC and their corresponding ANT were evaluated. Results: The BC patients showed an up-regulation in miRNAs (mir-155, mir-10, mir-21 and mir-373) with an upregulation in MMP2, MMp9 and VEGF genes. We found down regulation in mir-17p, mir-126, mir-335, mir-30b and also TIMP3, TMP1 and PDCD4 genes in the cancer tissue compared to the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Mir -10b, mir -21, mir-155 and mir373 and the metastatic genes MMP2, MMP9 and VEGF were significantly associated with an increase in tumor size (P < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between any of the studied miRNAs regarding lymph node metastasis. Mir-21 was significantly over-expressed in ER-/PR-cases. Conclusion: Specific miRNAs (mir-10, mir-21, mir-155, mir-373, mir-30b, mir-126, mir-17p, mir-335) are associated with tumor metastasis and other clinical characteristics for BC, facilitating identification of individuals who are at risk.

Investigation of the Efficiency of Direct and Indirect Regeneration in Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Hafez, Reza Faramarzi,Shahabzadeh, Zeynab,Heidari, Bahram,Ghadimzadeh, Morteza 한국작물학회 2013 Journal of crop science and biotechnology Vol.16 No.4

As a medicinal plant, the importance of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) is due to its unsaturated fatty acids in the seeds and roots, and also oenotherine and comfarol in the leaves. Low germination and difficulties in seed production are the main problems encountered with growing this plant in the field. As an alternative approach, an in vitro experiment was set up for the evaluation of evening primrose production via direct and indirect regeneration of the cultivars NC-1 and VNK. For callogenesis and direct regeneration, the explants from the apical bud and petiole were cultured on MS medium supplemented with 0.25, 0.75, and $1.25mg\;L^{-1}$ of both BAP and Kinetin (KIN). Indirect regeneration was performed by placing apical buds, petioles, and leaf explants on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 and $1mg\;L^{-1}$ 2,4-D and 0.5, 1, and $1.25mg\;L^{-1}$ of both BAP and KIN. The highest shoot induction from direct regeneration was obtained with apical bud explants of VNK treated with $0.75mg\;L^{-1}$ BAP. The highest callus weight (3.17 g) obtained from indirect regeneration was with petiole explants treated with $1mg\;L^{-1}$ 2, 4-D and $1mg\;L^{-1}$ BAP in VNK cultivars. The highest number of torpedo embryogenic clusters (23.8) was obtained from the VNK petiole explants treated with $0.5mg\;L^{-1}$ 2, 4-D and $1.25mg\;L^{-1}$ BAP. BAP had higher positive effects on in vitro production of evening primrose than KIN in both direct and indirect regeneration. In general, results indicated that VNK was more potent for regeneration than NC-1 and concentrations of $0.75mg\;L^{-1}$ BAP for direct and $0.5mg\;L^{-1}$ 2, 4-D and $1.25mg\;L^{-1}$of BAP for indirect regeneration had a higher efficiency for increasing in vitro production of evening primrose.

Increased Hypermethylation of Glutathione S-Transferase P1, DNA-Binding Protein Inhibitor, Death Associated Protein Kinase and Paired Box Protein-5 Genes in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Saudi Females

Hafez, Mohamed M.,Al-Shabanah, Othman A.,Al-Rejaie, Salim S.,Al-Harbi, Naif O.,Hassan, Zeinab K.,Alsheikh, Abdulmalik,Theyab, Abdurrahman I. Al,Aldelemy, Meshan L.,Sayed-Ahmed, Mohamed M. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer (BC) with higher metastatic rate and both local and systemic recurrence compared to non-TNBC. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) secondary to oxidative stress is associated with DNA damage, chromosomal degradation and alterations of both hypermethylation and hypomethylation of DNA. This study concerns differential methylation of promoter regions in specific groups of genes in TNBC and non-TNBC Saudi females in an effort to understand whether epigenetic events might be involved in breast carcinogenesis, and whether they might be used as markers for Saudi BCs. Methylation of glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1), T-cadherin (CDH13), Paired box protein 5 (PAX5), death associated protein kinase (DAPK), twist-related protein (TWIST), DNA-binding protein inhibitor (ID4), High In Normal-1 (HIN-1), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (p16), cyclin D2 and retinoic acid receptor-${\beta}$ ($RAR{\beta}1$) genes was analyzed by methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) in 200 archival formalin-fixed paraffin embedded BC tissues divided into 3 groups; benign breast tissues (20), TNBC (80) and non-TNBC (100). The relationships between methylation status, and clinical and pathological characteristics of patients and tumors were assessed. Higher frequencies of GSTP1, ID4, TWIST, DAPK, PAX5 and HIN-1 hypermethylation were found in TNBC than in non-TNBC. Hypermethylation of GSTP1, CDH13, ID4, DAPK, HIN-1 and PAX5 increased with tumor grade increasing. Other statistically significant correlations were identified with studied genes. Data from this study suggest that increased hypermethylation of GSTP1, ID4, TWIST, DAPK, PAX5 and HIN-1 genes in TNBC than in non-TNBC can act as useful biomarker for BCs in the Saudi population. The higher frequency of specific hypermethylated genes paralleling tumor grade, size and lymph node involvement suggests contributions to breast cancer initiation and progression.

Ion acoustic solitary waves in plasmas with nonextensive distributed electrons, positrons and relativistic thermal ions

Hafez, M. G.,Talukder, M. R.,Sakthivel, R. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Indian journal of physics Vol.90 No.5

<P>The theoretical and numerical studies have been investigated on nonlinear propagation of weakly relativistic ion acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized plasma system consisting of nonextensive electrons, positrons and relativistic thermal ions. To study the characteristics of nonlinear propagation of the three-component plasma system, the reductive perturbation technique has been applied to derive the Korteweg-de Vries equation, which divulges the soliton-like solitary wave solution. The ansatz method is employed to carry out the integration of this equation. The effects of nonextensive electrons, positrons and relativistic thermal ions on phase velocity, amplitude and width of soliton and electrostatic nonlinear propagation of weakly relativistic ion acoustic solitary waves have been discussed taking different plasma parameters into consideration. The obtained results can be useful in understanding the features of small amplitude localized relativistic ion acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized three-component plasma system for hard thermal photon production with relativistic heavy ions collision in quark-gluon plasma as well as for astrophysical plasmas.</P>

Thermochemical Behaviour of Some Salicylaldehyde G-P Complexes of Fe(Ⅲ), Co(Ⅱ), Cu(Ⅱ) and Zn(Ⅱ)

Hafez, M.A.H.,Moussa, M.N.H. Korean Chemical Society 1992 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.13 No.3

Through two different techniques TGA and DSC the thermal decomposition processes of salicyaldehyde G-P complexes having the general formula: $$[MCl_2(L)_2]^{2+}$2Cl^-$; where L = salicyaldehyde carbohydrazone pyridinum cation, and M= Fe(III), Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II), have been studied. From the obtained thermogravimetric curves the following parameters n, $E_{\alpha}$, A, ${\Delta}S^{\neq}$, ${\Delta}H^{\neq}$ and ${\Delta}G^{\neq}$ were evaluated. The effect of the nature of the metal ions present in the complexes studied upon the calculated thermodynamic parameters was reported. A suitable mechanism for the thermal decomposition process was suggested.

SKP2/P27^Kip1 pathway is associated with Advanced Ovarian Cancer in Saudi Patients

Hafez, Mohamed M,Alhoshani, Ali R,Al-Hosaini, Khaled A,Alsharari, Shakir D,Al Rejaie, Salim S,Sayed-Ahmed, Mohamed M,Al-Shabanah, Othman A Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.14

Background: Ovarian cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy and constitutes the fifth leading cause of female cancer death. Some biological parameters have prognostic roles in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and their expression may contribute to tumor progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential prognostic value of SKP2, genes P27Kip1, K-ras, c-Myc, COX2 and HER2 genes expression in ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on two hundred formalin fixed paraffin embedded ovarian cancer and normal adjacent tissues (NAT). Gene expression levels were assessed using real time PCR and Western blotting. Results: Elevated expression levels of SKP2, K-ras, c-Myc, HER2 and COX2 genes were observed in 61.5% (123/200), 92.5% (185/200), 74% (148/200), 96 % (192/200), 90% (180/200) and 78.5% (157/200) of cancer tissues, respectively. High expression of SKP2 and down-regulation of P27 was associated with advanced stages of cancer. Conclusions: The association between high expression of c-Myc and SKP2 with low expression of P27 suggested that the Skp2-P27 pathway may play an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis. Reduced expression of P27 is associated with advanced stage of cancer and can be used as a biological marker in clinical routine assessment and management of women with advanced ovarian cancer.

Robust and Intelligent Control for Single-stage Grid-Connected Modular Multilevel Converter in PV Applications

Hafez Ahmed A.,Mahmoud Alaa A.,Yousef Ali M. 대한전기학회 2021 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.16 No.2

Renewable Energy Resources (RESs) are frequently interfaced to the loads/grid via the standard two/three-level inverters. These inverter circuits to comply with the utility regulations must use volumetric and cumbersome fi ltering arrangements. Therefore, this article advises the application of Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) for interfacing RESs in stand-alone and/or grid-connected operating modes. The MMC off ers high quality voltage/current/power waveforms without additional fi ltering requirements, which possibly reduce the size/cost of the interfacing circuits. A simple and innovative active and reactive power control is proposed to drive the proposed MMC such that PV arrays operate at Maximum Power Point (MPP) under diff erent climatological operating conditions. The proposed active-reactive control is implemented via Proportional Integral (PI) controllers; their parameters are defi ned via constraint optimization. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used in this research to confi gure the PIs of the main controller. The objective function was designed to increase the stability margins of the system while reducing the overshoot. The proposed MMC has an extra freedom degree of generating/absorbing reactive power. The static and dynamic performances of MMC are analyzed via MATLAB and its dynamic platform, Simulink. The results showed that the proposed MMC produced signifi cantly lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) than the three-level inverters. The static performance of the MMC showed that the THD decreases signifi cantly with the increase of the converter level/sub-module number. The results raveled the robustness and eff ectiveness of the proposed controller, such that the PV generator operates at MPP while introducing high quality power/voltage to the loads/grid.

Practical investigation of a monopod fabrication method and the numerical investigation of its up-righting process

Hafez, Khaled A.,Ismael, Maged M. The Society of Naval Architects of Korea 2013 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.5 No.3

The principal purpose of this paper is to present a novel two phases rational scenario applied in constructing an offshore monopod platform; in which the two phases are the all-ground horizontal construction phase and the post-construction phase. Concerning the all-ground construction phase, a brief investigation of its different stages, i.e., pre-fabrication, fabrication, pre-assembling, positioning, assembling, and surface finishing is introduced. The important practical aspects of such construction phase are investigated without going into the nitty-gritty of the details involved therein. Concerning the post-construction phase, a clear investigation of its sequential stages, i.e., lifting, moving and up-righting is introduced. A finite element model (FEM) of the monopod platform is created to perform the structural analysis necessary to decide the suspension points/devices and the handling scenario during the various stages of the post-construction phase on a rational wise. Such structural analysis is performed within the framework of the three dimensional quasi-static modeling and analysis aiming at simulating the realistic handling condition, and hence introducing a reliable physical interpretation of the numerical results. For the whole effort to be demonstrated efficiently, the results obtained are analyzed, the conclusions are presented, and few related recommendations are suggested.

Benzimidazole Condensed Ring Systems: New Synthesis and Antineoplastic Activity of Substituted 3,4-Dihydro-and 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimi dine Derivatives

Abdel-hafez, Atef Abdel-monem 대한약학회 2007 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.30 No.6

As part of an ongoing effort to develop new antineoplastic agents, a series of substituted 3,4-dihydro- and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-benzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives (5-19) were synthesized. 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-2-one derivatives (5-7) were prepared via one-pot two-component thermal cyclization reaction of 2-aminobenzimidazole 1 and P-substituted methyl cinnamates (2-4). Vilsmir-Haack formylation of these derivatives (5-7) afforded the 2-chloro-3-carboxaldehyde targets (8-10) followed by nucleophilic displacement of the chloro atom in the 3-carboxaldehyde compounds (8-10) to yield the remaining final targets(11-19). The structures of the synthesized derivatives (5-19) were confirmed by means of IR, $^1$H NMR, MS and elemental analyses. The synthesized derivatives (5-19) were subjected to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in vitro disease human cell screening panel assay. 2-chloro-4-phenyl-3,4-dihydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxyaldehyde (8, NCl722731) and 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-3,4-dihydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo(1,2-a)pyrimidine-3-carboxaldehyde (18, NCI 722739) showed a variable degree of antineoplastic activity against some of the cell lines tested. 2-Chloro-4-(4-nitrophenyl)-3,4-dihy-drobenzo[4,5]imidazo[1,2-a)pyrimidine-3-carboxyaldehyde (10, NCI 722743) exhibited good in vitro antineoplastic activity with subpanel disease selectivity against all the cell lines tested with log$_{10}$ GI$_{50}$ (M), the concentration that inhibits 50% of cell growth, values ranging from -5.08 to <-8.00.

Multi-Modal Imaging of a Large-sized Right Atrial Appendage Aneurysm in Infancy

Mona Hafez,Shaimaa Rakha,Donia Mohamed Sobh 한국심초음파학회 2022 Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging (J Cardiovasc Im Vol.30 No.1

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