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Ahmad W, Gull B, Baby J, Panicker NG, Khader TA, Akhlaq S, Rizvi TA, Mustafa F. Differentially-regulated miRNAs in COVID-19: A systematic review. Rev Med Virol 2023:e2449. [PMID: 37145095 DOI: 10.1002/rmv.2449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) that infected more than 760 million people worldwide with over 6.8 million deaths to date. COVID-19 is one of the most challenging diseases of our times due to the nature of its spread, its effect on multiple organs, and an inability to predict disease prognosis, ranging from being completely asymptomatic to death. Upon infection, SARS-CoV-2 alters the host immune response by changing host-transcriptional machinery. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regarded as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression that can be perturbed by invading viruses. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have reported such dysregulation of host miRNA expression upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some of this could occur as an anti-viral response of the host to the viral infection. Viruses themselves can counteract that response by mounting their own pro-viral response that facilitates virus infection, an aspect which may cause pathogenesis. Thus, miRNAs could serve as possible disease biomarkers in infected people. In the current review, we have summarised and analysed the existing data about miRNA dysregulation in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 to determine their concordance between studies, and identified those that could serve as potential biomarkers during infection, disease progression, and death, even in people with other co-morbidities. Having such biomarkers can be vital in not only predicting COVID-19 prognosis, but also the development of novel miRNA-based anti-virals and therapeutics which can become invaluable in case of the emergence of new viral variants with pandemic potential in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waqar Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Bushra Gull
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Jasmin Baby
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Neena G Panicker
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Thanumol A Khader
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Shaima Akhlaq
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Tahir A Rizvi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Center for Health Sciences (ZCHS), College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- ASPIRE Research Institute in Precision Medicine, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Farah Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Center for Health Sciences (ZCHS), College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
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Ahmad W, Panicker NG, Akhlaq S, Gull B, Baby J, Khader TA, Rizvi TA, Mustafa F. Global Down-regulation of Gene Expression Induced by Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) in Normal Mammary Epithelial Cells. Viruses 2023; 15:v15051110. [PMID: 37243196 DOI: 10.3390/v15051110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a betaretrovirus that causes breast cancer in mice. The mouse mammary epithelial cells are the most permissive cells for MMTV, expressing the highest levels of virus upon infection and being the ones later transformed by the virus due to repeated rounds of infection/superinfection and integration, leading eventually to mammary tumors. The aim of this study was to identify genes and molecular pathways dysregulated by MMTV expression in mammary epithelial cells. Towards this end, mRNAseq was performed on normal mouse mammary epithelial cells stably expressing MMTV, and expression of host genes was analyzed compared with cells in its absence. The identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were grouped on the basis of gene ontology and relevant molecular pathways. Bioinformatics analysis identified 12 hub genes, of which 4 were up-regulated (Angp2, Ccl2, Icam, and Myc) and 8 were down-regulated (Acta2, Cd34, Col1a1, Col1a2, Cxcl12, Eln, Igf1, and Itgam) upon MMTV expression. Further screening of these DEGs showed their involvement in many diseases, especially in breast cancer progression when compared with available data. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) identified 31 molecular pathways dysregulated upon MMTV expression, amongst which the PI3-AKT-mTOR was observed to be the central pathway down-regulated by MMTV. Many of the DEGs and 6 of the 12 hub genes identified in this study showed expression profile similar to that observed in the PyMT mouse model of breast cancer, especially during tumor progression. Interestingly, a global down-regulation of gene expression was observed, where nearly 74% of the DEGs in HC11 cells were repressed by MMTV expression, an observation similar to what was observed in the PyMT mouse model during tumor progression, from hyperplasia to adenoma to early and late carcinomas. Comparison of our results with the Wnt1 mouse model revealed further insights into how MMTV expression could lead to activation of the Wnt1 pathway independent of insertional mutagenesis. Thus, the key pathways, DEGs, and hub genes identified in this study can provide important clues to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in MMTV replication, escape from cellular anti-viral response, and potential to cause cell transformation. These data also validate the use of the MMTV-infected HC11 cells as an important model to study early transcriptional changes that could lead to mammary cell transformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waqar Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Neena G Panicker
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Shaima Akhlaq
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Bushra Gull
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Jasmin Baby
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Thanumol A Khader
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Tahir A Rizvi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), UAE University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Center for Health Sciences (ZCHS), UAE University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
- ASPIRE Research Institute in Precision Medicine, Abu Dhabi, UAE University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Farah Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Center for Health Sciences (ZCHS), UAE University, Al Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
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Mustafa F, Ahmad W, Khader T, Panicker N, Akhlaq S, Baby J, Gull B. MMTV-like Env sequences from human breast cancer patients cannot yet be considered as a separate species. Hamdan Med J 2022. [DOI: 10.4103/hmj.hmj_35_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
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Panicker NG, Balhamar SOMS, Akhlaq S, Qureshi MM, Rehman NU, Al-Harrasi A, Hussain J, Mustafa F. Organic extracts from Cleome droserifolia exhibit effective caspase-dependent anticancer activity. BMC Complement Med Ther 2020; 20:74. [PMID: 32143618 PMCID: PMC7076903 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-020-2858-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background This study investigated the anticancer potential of the medicinal herb, Cleome droserifolia (CD), a local plant of the Arabian Peninsula. C. droserifolia is traditionally known for its rubefacient, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Methods Organic fractions of the aerial parts of Cleome droserifolia harvested from the Arabian Peninsula were tested in human breast and cervical cancer cell lines for their anticancer potential. This was accomplished by using biochemical and cellular assays, including MTT, caspase Glo, western blot, and annexin V/propidium iodide-based flow cytometry analyses. Results Test of the dichloromethane fraction of the methanolic extract of C. droserifolia, (CDD) revealed potent cytotoxic activity (from 70 to 90%) against several human cancer cell lines, including MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and HeLa. Further characterization of the CDD fraction in MCF-7 cells revealed that it could activate the enzymatic activity of various caspases in a statistically significant manner, and induce cleavage of both caspase 7 and poly ADB ribose polymerase (PARP) proteins, but not the ethyl acetate fraction. Test of the ability of CDD to induce early signs of apoptosis was validated by annexin V/propidium iodide assay using FACS analysis. Induction of apoptosis was completely reversed by the classic pan inhibitor of apoptosis, Z-VAD-FMK, reducing early apoptosis from 29.7 to 0.6%, confirming that CDD could induce caspase-dependent apoptosis. Conclusions Altogether, our results reveal that C. droserifolia is a valuable medicinal plant with bioactive molecules that can induce apoptosis in human cancer cells. Thus, this plant should be explored further for its potential as an anticancer natural therapy as well as the isolation of novel molecules with anticancer properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neena Gopinathan Panicker
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, UAE
| | | | - Shaima Akhlaq
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, UAE
| | - Mohammed Mansoor Qureshi
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, UAE
| | - Najeeb Ur Rehman
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
| | - Ahmed Al-Harrasi
- Department of Biological Sciences & Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
| | - Javid Hussain
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
| | - Farah Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, UAE.
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Balhamar SOMS, Panicker NG, Akhlaq S, Qureshi MM, Ahmad W, Rehman NU, Ali L, Al-Harrasi A, Hussain J, Mustafa F. Differential Cytotoxic Potential of Acridocarpus orientalis Leaf and Stem Extracts with the Ability to Induce Multiple Cell Death Pathways. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24213976. [PMID: 31684146 PMCID: PMC6864630 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24213976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This study systematically analyzed the anticancer potential of Acridocarpus orientalis (AO), a traditional medicinal plant of the Arabian Peninsula/East Africa known for its anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties. Tests of serial organic fractions from methanolic extracts of its leaves and stems revealed that only some fractions showed anti-proliferative potential with the dichloromethane fraction from leaves (AOD (L)) showing the most cytotoxic effect against both breast (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines. The n-butanol fraction from the stems (AOB (S)), on the other hand, was more effective against cervical cancer cells and did not harm the normal cells. Further characterization of the mode of cell killing revealed that AOD (L) depended more on non-apoptotic pathways for its cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells, while it could activate some apoptosis and necroptosis in HeLa cells. The AOB (S) fraction could primarily activate apoptosis and some necroptosis in HeLa cells. Both fractions perturbed autophagy, but in a dissimilar manner. Thus, different parts of A. orientalis revealed variable potential to induce cell death in cancer cells via apoptotic and non-apoptotic pathways, making A. orientalis a valuable plant for the exploration of anticancer bioactive reagents, some of which may be protective for normal cells.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neena Gopinathan Panicker
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 17666, UAE.
| | - Shaima Akhlaq
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 17666, UAE.
| | - Mohammed Mansoor Qureshi
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 17666, UAE.
| | - Waqar Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 17666, UAE.
| | - Najeeb Ur Rehman
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, Nizwa, Oman.
| | - Liaqat Ali
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, Nizwa, Oman.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Sargodha, Sub-Campus Mianwali, Punjab 42200, Pakistan.
| | - Ahmed Al-Harrasi
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, Nizwa, Oman.
| | - Javid Hussain
- Department of Biological Sciences & Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman.
| | - Farah Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, Al Ain, P.O. Box 17666, UAE.
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Akhlaq S, Panicker NG, Philip PS, Ali LM, Dudley JP, Rizvi TA, Mustafa F. A cis-Acting Element Downstream of the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus Major Splice Donor Critical for RNA Elongation and Stability. J Mol Biol 2018; 430:4307-4324. [PMID: 30179605 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2018.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) encodes a functional signal peptide, a cleavage product of envelope and Rem proteins. Signal peptide interacts with a 3' cis-acting RNA element, the Rem-responsive element (RmRE), to facilitate expression of both unspliced genomic (gRNA) and spliced mRNAs. An additional RmRE has been proposed at the 5' end of the genome, facilitating nuclear export of the unspliced gRNA, whereas the 3' RmRE could facilitate translation of all other mRNAs, including gRNA. RESULTS To address this hypothesis, a series of mutations were introduced into a 24-nt region found exclusively in the unspliced gRNA. Mutant clones using MMTV or human cytomegalovirus promoters were tested in both transient and stable transfections to determine their effect on gRNA nuclear export, stability, and translation. Nuclear export of the gRNA was affected only in a small mutant subset in stably transfected Jurkat T cells. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR of actinomycin D-treated cells expressing MMTV revealed that multiple mutants were severely compromised for RNA expression and stability. Both genomic and spliced nuclear RNAs were reduced, leading to abrogation of Gag and Env protein expressed from unspliced and spliced mRNAs, respectively. RT-PCRs with multiple primer pairs indicated failure to elongate genomic MMTV transcripts beyond ~500 nt compared to the wild type in a cell line-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS MMTV contains a novel cis-acting element downstream of the major splice donor critical for facilitating MMTV gRNA elongation and stability. Presence of a mirror repeat within the element may represent important viral/host factor binding site(s) within MMTV gRNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaima Akhlaq
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Neena G Panicker
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Pretty S Philip
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Lizna M Ali
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Jaquelin P Dudley
- LaMontagne Center for Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas at Austin, 100 East 24th Street, NHB 2.616, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
| | - Tahir A Rizvi
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Farah Mustafa
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Tawam Hospital Complex, P.O. Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
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