Background: Zinc has important effects on human health, especially on structural and functional activities of the immune system. This study was carried out to examine the in vitro cytotoxic effects of zinc on Raji cell line. Materials and Methods: The cell line was exposed to different concentrations of zinc followed by incubation (37°C, 5% CO2) at various time points (12 to 72 hrs).Viabil...

transforming growth factor-beta (tgf-β) is one of the most important cytokines implicated in growth, differentiation, repair and also the pathogenesis of the lung fibrosis by its stimulatory effect on extracellular matrix deposition. pulmonary epithelial cells are considered as a source of tgf-β in lung. substance p (sp), as a neuroimmunomodulator has elevated levels in inflamed airways and alt...

background: the organochlorine ddt has estrogenic activity but the mechanism underlying the estrogenic activity of this pesticide remains unclear. in the present investigation here, we studied the transcriptional effects of a synthetic organochlorine pesticide o,p’-ddt [1.1.1.-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-p-chloriphenyl ethane] and its metabolite p,p'-dde (2-2-bis(4/chlorophenyl)-1-1-dic...

background: our preliminary data on the protein expression of sort1 in ovarian carcinoma tissues showed that sortilin was overexpressed in ovarian carcinoma patients and cell lines, while non-malignant ovaries expressed comparably lower amount of this protein. in spite of diverse ligands and also different putative functions of sortilin (ntr3), the function of overexpressed sortilin in ovarian ...

Introduction: Introduction: Molecular components within the microenvironment act upon cell growth, survival/apoptosis, and proliferation. Immune system cells respond to molecules produced by the tumor and released in the surrounding microenvironment, such as cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. This study aimed to identify the effects of tumor environment on monocyte-macrophage cell linea...

treatment of human promonocytic leukemic cell line u937 with mild hyperthermia in the temperature range of 40-43°c resulted in differentiation of these cells into monocyte/macrophage-like cells in a heat dose and time dependent manner. this process was accompanied by marked morphological, functional and proliferational changes. u937 cells which normally grow in supension in the logarithmic phas...

objective(s): glioblastoma multiforme (gbm) is one of the most lethal forms of human cancer and temozolomide (tmz) is currently part of the standard treatment for this disease. combination therapy using natural substances can enhance the anti-cancer activity of tmz. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of tmz in combination with thymoquinone (tq) on human gbm cell line (u87mg). ...

objective: nucleostemin (ns) is a recently identified gene that is expressed mainly in the nucleoli of neuronal, embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells which plays a role in their self renewal. over expression of this gene has been reported in several cancer cell lines tumoral tissues including gastric, hepatic and prostate cancer. in this study, we investigated the effects of suppression of this...

Background: Zinc has significant effects on structural and functional activities of many proteins and enzymes involved in biological activities, especially the regulation of immune-system. Symptoms of zinc toxicity include nausea/vomiting, fever, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, neuropathy, and dehydration. Further signs include growth retardation, altered iron function, anemia, copper deficiency, ...

Background: The exposure of cell lines to low-dose irradiation leads to changes at molecular level, which may induce adaptive response. We examined radio-adaptive doses effect on human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HT29) and human fetal fibroblasts (MRC5) cell line followed by hyper and hypo fractionation regimes, with main purpose to decrease cell viability in HT29, and at the same time...