Ahdiyeh Shahtaghi; Ali Alam Shahnabadi; Kamelia Kohannezhad; Neda Amini; Maria Beihaghi
Abstract
One of the newest diagnostic methods and treatment of cancer is to design new drugs. It is now possible to design a drug with desired properties in theory and evaluate its therapeutic effects through bioinformatics tools. Among the studied drugs, those based on cytokine genes, which increase the body's ...
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One of the newest diagnostic methods and treatment of cancer is to design new drugs. It is now possible to design a drug with desired properties in theory and evaluate its therapeutic effects through bioinformatics tools. Among the studied drugs, those based on cytokine genes, which increase the body's immunity against cancer, are of great interest. Cytokines are small proteins that play an essential role in cell signaling and can affect the function and behavior of surrounding cells. CCL21 chemokine is one of the cytokines that possess antitumor properties has the potential for chemoattraction of T lymphocytes and dendritic cells. Interleukin 1 beta (IL1β) is a cytokine involving different cellular activities such as the activation of neutrophils, B-Cells, and T-Cells. In the present study, we designed a drug-based cytokine gene to activate T cells and B cells by inserting defined CCL21 epitope and IL1β peptide sequences into a protein construct. Molecular dynamics simulation was performed in Linux space using Gromex software. Results of RMSD, RMSF, and the radius of gyration obtained from the simulation showed the stability of both proteins, which indicated that there are no significant conformational differences between the commercial CCL21 and recombinant form. The interaction of synthetic construct and human CCL21 with the CCR7 receptor was also investigated by HADDOCK software. Obtained results showed no differences between these proteins, and recombinant protein has the same structural and conformational characteristics as human commercial CCL21.
Asieh Heirani-Tabasi; Hojjat Naderi-Meshkin
Abstract
Understanding the molecular mechanisms in regeneration could help the stem cell therapists to improve the clinical practices and could be considered a major milestone in the translation of stem cell research to clinics. Chemokines have been described as one of the most significant singling networks in ...
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Understanding the molecular mechanisms in regeneration could help the stem cell therapists to improve the clinical practices and could be considered a major milestone in the translation of stem cell research to clinics. Chemokines have been described as one of the most significant singling networks in stem cells homing and regeneration of damaged organs. CXCR4/CXCL12 has been known as a key player in this regard. Expression of CXCR4 has been observed in a number of cells such as mesenchymal stem cells, epithelial cells etc and plays crucial and unique role in the migration of cells towards a cytokine gradient and regulating stem cells trafficking as well as tissue/organ regeneration and embryogenesis.
