Bulletin of RSMU

ISSN Print 2500–1094 ISSN Online 2542–1204

Bulletin of RSMU

BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL OF PIROGOV UNIVERSITY (MOSCOW, RUSSIA)

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Katkova NYu, Bodrikova OI, Sergeeva AV, Bezrukova IM, Pokusaeva KB

Preterm delivery (PD) is one of the central challenges faced by contemporary obstetrics. There has been growing evidence of the role of the innate immune response in triggering infection-associated preterm labor. Our study aimed to investigate the local immune status of women in different PD scenarios. The study enrolled 77 pregnant women; 25 of them constituted the control group (delivery at term). The experimental group was divided into two subgroups based on the PD type: Subgroup 1A included 28 women with spontaneous premature rupture of membranes in the absence of active labor, and Subgroup 1B included 24 women who went into genuine preterm labor. Cervical scrape specimens were collected from all patients to determine the level of expression of the following innate immunity genes: IL1B, IL10, IL18, TNFa, TLR4, GATA3, CD68, and B2M. The tests were performed using the ImmunoQuantex assay by DNA-Technology, Russia. Compared to the genuinely preterm women from Subgroup 1B and the controls, the women with premature rupture of membranes demonstrated statistically significant reduction in the expression of TLR4 and GATA3 and a higher inflammatory index (Me = 99.5 %, p < 0.01). No significant differences in these parameters were observed between Subgroup 1B and the controls. The revealed differences in the local immunity profiles of women indicate that pathways leading to the scenarios of premature labor studied in this work are not the same.

Received: 2017-04-10

Published online: 2017-07-19

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-07

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VIEWS 5979

Borisevich DI, Krasnenko AYu, Stetsenko IF, Plakhina DA, Ilinsky VV

Today, next generation sequencing (NGS) is extensively used in the research setting. However, high costs of NGS testing still prevent its routine use in clinical practice. One of the factors affecting the cost of sequencing is the number of reads per site, i.e. the number of times each nucleotide gets sequenced. On the one hand, lower coverage makes the whole process much faster and less time-consuming. On the other hand, it results in poor data quality. No unanimous opinion has been reached yet as to what minimum depth of coverage can produce reliable results. The aim of this study was to determine the minimum number of reads sufficient for accurate base calling of heterozygous and single nucleotide variants (SNV). Using bioinformatics methods, we demonstrate that accuracy can be achieved at a minimum depth of 12x.

Received: 2017-06-22

Published online: 2017-07-19

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-06

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VIEWS 6085

Chicherin IV, Levitskii SA, Krasheninnikov IA, Tarassov I, Kamenski P

Mitochondrial DNA mutations cause severe inherited disorders in humans. To date, there are a few therapeutic strategies for their correction; however, it is highly unlikely that they would be routinely used in clinical practice. The past few years have witnessed the rapid progress of a genome editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9. The present review focuses on the current strategies to combat mitochondrial mutations and reveals their major drawbacks. The article also explores the possibility of creating a possible specific CRISPR/Cas9 tool for correcting mitochondrial DNA mutations and provides a rough description of its mechanism of action. A particular focus is paid to technical challenges. On the whole, we see no principal barriers to implementing a mitoCRISPR/Cas9 system for treating mitochondrial disorders.

Received: 2017-06-20

Published online: 2017-07-19

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-05

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VIEWS 6592

Mogulevtseva YuA, Mezentsev AV, Bruskin SA

Matrix metalloproteinases play an important role in maintaining skin homeostasis, promote wound healing, and are involved in triggering inflammation. They are implicated in the structural changes occurring in the epidermis of psoriatic patients and also facilitate infiltration of the skin by immune cells by regulating permeability of dermal capillaries. In this light, control over the enzymatic activity of matrix metalloproteinases is crucial for a successful treatment outcome in patients with psoriasis. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of RNA interference on the progression of psoriasis by targeting interstitial collagenase of epidermal keratinocytes. As part of the experiment, the latter were transduced with lentiviral particles that encode small hairpin RNA. Gene expression was measured by real time polymerase chain reaction. Enzymatic activity was measured by zymography. RNA interference was found to lead to a 20- and 4-fold decrease in the expression and enzymatic activity of interstitial collagenase, respectively. Expression of homologous genes (MMP2, -9 and -12) changed insignificantly. In contrast, there were marked changes in expression of cytokeratin (KRT1: 16.89 ± 0.97; KRT14: 2.36 ± 0.19; KRT17: 0.12 ± 0.01; KRT18: 0.56 ± 0.02), involucrin (0.79 ± 0.11) and filaggrin (6.99 ± 0.97). Besides, RNA interference caused a significant decline in cell migration rates, although it did not affect cell proliferation. Thus, small hairpin RNAs targeting interstitial collagenase are potentially therapeutic for psoriatic patients due to their ability to regulate expression of genes implicated in psoriasis (IVL, FLG, KRT1, -14 -17, and -18).

Received: 2017-02-17

Published online: 2017-07-19

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-04

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VIEWS 5818

Kuzevanova AYu, Luneva AS, Maslov MA, Karpukhin AV, Alimov AA

There are a number of problems that need to be addressed when designing an effective RNA interference-based drug including distribution of intravenously injected exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in the organs and tissues of the patient. Insufficient data on siRNA distribution obtained using isotopic/fluorescent labeling offers no insight into whether the polymer retains its original structure after the injection. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction that we used in our work provides a better response to the challenge. In our experiment LIVIN–specific siRNAs injected intravenously were distributed unevenly between tissues and their accumulation was dose-dependent (the study was conducted in mice using 2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg doses). Maximal accumulation was observed in the liver and spleen where siRNA concentration continued to increase between 48 and 96 hours after its administration. This demonstrates that the studied cationic lisosome/miRNA complex has long circulation time. We believe that the obtained data will be instrumental in finding an effective therapeutic dose, designing adequate regimens and preparing for preclinical or clinical trials of siRNA-based drugs.

Received: 2017-06-20

Published online: 2017-07-19

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-03

Comments 0

VIEWS 5662

Vyakhireva JV, Filatova AYu, Krivosheeva IA, Skoblov MYu

RNA-interference enjoys a wide range of applications in medical and biological research. In particular, it is used to study functions of genes. One of the most popular approaches to this task is gene knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA). Currently there is no unified protocol for this method, which results in low reproducibility of experimental data. In the following article we outline the theoretical bases for this method and provide practical recommendations for its use in siRNA-mediated gene silencing experiments.

Received: 2017-06-25

Published online: 2017-07-18

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-02

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VIEWS 6513

Filatova AYu, Sparber PA, Krivosheeva IA, Skoblov MYu

As of today, there have been about 2,500 gene therapy clinical trials initiated or completed worldwide. Some of the tested drugs have been already approved for clinical use. Most of these drugs target well-characterized protein-coding genes. At the same time, the past few years have witnessed an increasing interest in long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their role in cellular processes. Of 16,000 identified human lncRNA genes, biological functions have been elucidated for only two hundred. Nevertheless, we already know about their association with the development of 200 different disorders. In some cases these genes are the key element in disease pathogenesis, which makes long noncoding RNAs a promising target for gene therapy. To date, researchers successfully employ molecular biology techniques for the development of lncRNA-based therapeutic strategies. The following review focuses on the main approaches to gene therapy based on the use of lncRNA.

Received: 2017-06-25

Published online: 2017-07-18

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-03-01

Comments 0

VIEWS 6144

Guglya EB, Kotlobay AA, Sekretova EK, Volkova PV, Yampolsky IV

An extensive collection of plants gathered in the European part of Russia was screened for a substrate of fungal luciferase. This work was inspired by the recently discovered mechanism of bioluminescence in higher fungi and the structural similarity of fungal luciferin with some plant metabolites. Of all studied leaf extracts obtained from 200 different plants, bioluminescent activity was discovered in 10 species. Each of these species contained a plurality of active compounds. All the luminescent substrates were not identical to fungal luciferin (3-hydroxyhispidin) and were chemically unstable, rendering the attempt to isolate individual compounds for further structural characterization yet unsuccessful. This study is the first step towards engineering a self-luminescent plant based on a fungal enzyme-substrate bioluminescent system.

Received: 2017-02-19

Published online: 2017-06-04

DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2017-02-10

Comments 0

VIEWS 5897