Faculty of Biological Science And Technology
The Faculty of Biological Science and Technology at University of Isfahan, established in 1992, is a leading institution for life sciences research with 5 departments covering microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, plant biology, and zoology, and housing advanced facilities including biosafety level-2 labs and a DNA sequencing center.
https://biology.ui.ac.irThe Faculty of Biological Science and Technology at University of Isfahan has emerged as a powerhouse for cutting-edge research in life sciences. With 55 faculty members and approximately 900 students across undergraduate, master and PhD programs, the faculty maintains specialized research centers including the Microbial Biotechnology Research Center, the Plant Genetic Resources Bank, and the Center for Environmental Biology. The faculty research infrastructure includes next-generation sequencing equipment, electron microscopes, and bioreactors for industrial biotechnology applications. Recent breakthroughs include developing drought-resistant crop varieties, discovering novel antibiotics from soil microorganisms, and creating biosensors for environmental monitoring. The faculty publishes the "Journal of Biological Sciences" (indexed in Scopus) and hosts the biennial International Biotechnology Congress. Industrial collaborations include projects with Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, CinnaGen Biotech Company, and Isfahan Environmental Protection Organization. The faculty botanical garden houses over 1,500 plant species and serves as a living laboratory for biodiversity studies. International partnerships include joint research with Max Planck Institute in Germany and student exchange programs with University of Montpellier in France.
Significant advances have been made in the recent past for design and development of drug delivery systems. Dendrimers are a class of hyperbranched polymers that originate from a central core with repetitive branching units, forming a globular structure. Dendrimers have developed into an interesting material for biochemical applications because they have suitable structural properties and controlled size. On the other hand, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are an extensively studied subclass of nanomaterials and they are known for their high magnetization and biocompatibility. As a result they can be utilized in various biomedical fields, including targeted drug delivery and biosensing. Recently, researchers have launched into combining the unique properties of dendrimer chemistry with the MNPs to offer a convenient to obtain platform for improved therapeutics and biomedical applications. Herein, we intend to present the developments made in dendrimer fabrication and dendrimers-based MNPs with varied surface structures and their contribution toward theranostics. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Amiri, A.,
Zare-zardini, H.,
Shanbedi, M.,
Kazi, S.N.,
Taheri kafrani, A.,
Chew, B.T.,
Zarrabi, A. pp. 33-70
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are new materials with promising applications in biotechnology. Drug delivery, biomedical imaging, nanoresonator sensors, are carbon-based tissue are some of the applications of CNTs. Researchers have agreed that CNTs hold significant antimicrobial activities against different pathogens (Gram-negative and -positive bacteria, fungal pathogens) such as human gut bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteric, etc. Recent results have shown that CNTs can be promising alternatives to antibiotics for annihilation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. The antimicrobial activity of CNTs is dependent on different factors, one of which is decorated functional groups. Here, the methods of CNT functionalization and their antimicrobial activity in the presence of different functional groups are investigated. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Practical application of enzymatic nucleic acids has received more attention in recent years. Understanding the mechanism of catalysis and availability of information on potentials and limitations of these enzymes expands their application scope. A general approach for characterization of functional macromolecules including enzymatic nucleic acids is to perturb a specific set of condition and to follow the perturbation effect by biophysical and biochemical methods. This chapter reviews several perturbation strategies for functional nucleic acids, including deletion, mutation, and modifications of backbone and nucleobases, and consequent kinetic analysis, spectroscopic investigations, and probing assays. In addition to single point mutation and modifications, different combinatorial approaches for perturbation interference analysis provide reliable high amounts of data in a time-effective manner. The chapter compares various combinatorial perturbation interference analysis methods, that is, combinatorial mutation interference analysis (CoMA), nucleotide analogue interference mapping for RNA and DNA (NAIM and dNAIM), chemical and enzymatic combinatorial nucleoside deletion scanning (NDS), and dimethyl sulfate interference (DMSi). © 2017, Springer International Publishing AG.
British Journal of Pharmacology (00071188)(3)
1. The effects of the calcium channel blocking agent, nitrendipine, were studied on seizures in mice produced during withdrawal from chronic benzodiazepine treatment and on the development of tolerance to benzodiazepines. 2. Nitrendipine produced a dose-dependent decrease in seizure incidence, when seizures were produced by the partial inverse agonist FG7142 during withdrawal from seven days treatment with flurazepam. 3. Nitrendipine did not raise the seizure thresholds in naive mice to the full inverse agonist methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate (DMCM), or to the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist, bicuculline. 4. When given concurrently with flurazepam for seven days, nitrendipine did not affect the incidence of seizures during flurazepam withdrawal. 5. When given concurrently with the benzodiazepines, nitrendipine did not prevent the development of tolerance to midazolam general anaesthesia or tolerance to the ataxic actions of flurazepam or midazolam. 6. Chronic treatment with flurazepam for seven days did not affect the K(d) or B(max) of [3H]-nimodipine binding in mouse whole brain or cerebral cortex. 7. These results with benzodiazepines are partially in contrast with those for ethanol, where nitrendipine not only decreased ethanol withdrawal seizures when given acutely, but also prevented the development of tolerance and withdrawal signs when given concurrently with ethanol. However, they do confirm the selectivity of nitrendipine for withdrawal-induced seizures.
Neuropharmacology (00283908)(3)
The effects of the dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, nitrendipine and the calcium channel activator, Bay K 8644, have been compared on the anaesthetic, ataxic and anticonvulsant effects of benzodiazepines. Possible interactions between the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, PK11195, and the classical benzodiazepines were also examined. Nitrendipine considerably potentiated the anaesthetic effects of benzodiazepines and increased their ataxic effects but had no effect on the anticonvulsant actions. Clonazepam did not produce anaesthesia, at doses up to 1 g kg-1 or when given with nitrendipine. When given alone, nitrendipine did not cause general anaesthesia. Nitrendipine did not appear to alter the metabolism of midazolam. The calcium channel activator, Bay K 8644, reduced the anaesthetic potency of midazolam and, when given alone, produced ataxia. It did not significantly alter central concentrations of midazolam. The "peripheral" benzodiazepine antagonist, PK11195, did not affect the ataxic or anaesthetic actions of benzodiazepines. These results suggest that dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channels may be more important to the general anaesthetic than to the anticonvlsant actions of benzodiazepines. The "peripheral" benzodiazepine site did not appear to play a role in either of these properties. © 1991.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior (00913057)(3)
We have shown previously that the dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist nitrendipine, given chronically, prevents the development of ethanol tolerance and physical dependence. The present study examines the effects on barbiturate tolerance and physical dependence. Nitrendipine, given acutely during withdrawal, provided little protection against barbiturate withdrawal, as measured by convulsive behaviour on handling. When nitrendipine was given chronically concurrently with the barbiturate, a prolonged protection against the withdrawal syndrome was seen. Acute nitrendipine significantly increased the latency of seizures in response to the partial benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG7142 during barbiturate withdrawal, but there was no effect on the seizure incidence in response to bicuculline. Chronic treatment with nitrendipine did not alter the development of tolerance to the ataxic or general anaesthetic actions of barbiturates, but evidence was found of a possible interaction between nitrendipine and pentobarbitone, which may have been pharmacokinetic. The results suggest that neuronal calcium channels may be involved to some degree in the development of the changes responsible for barbiturate withdrawal, but to a less extent than found previously for ethanol dependence. © 1994.
British Journal of Pharmacology (00071188)(1)
The competitive antagonists at the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor, CGP39551 and CGP37849, protected against the barbiturate withdrawal syndrome in mice, as measured by ratings of convulsive behaviour on handling. The effective doses of these compounds were lower than those required to prevent seizures due to NMDA in naive animals; these were in turn lower than those needed to prevent the convulsive effects of the α‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist, bicuculline. The NMDA‐receptor antagonists did not alter the increase in the incidence of convulsions due to the GABAA antagonist, bicuculline, that is seen during barbiturate withdrawal, although the latencies to these convulsions during barbital withdrawal were significantly increased after CGP39551. Barbiturate withdrawal did not affect the convulsive actions of NMDA, whether measured by the incidence of convulsions or by intravenous infusion. The Bmax for [3H]‐dizocilpine ([3H]‐MK801) binding was significantly increased by chronic barbital treatment in cerebrocortical but not in hippocampal tissues, while the Kd remained unaltered in either case. At 1 h and 24 h after administration of a single dose of barbitone, the Bmax for [3H]‐dizocilpine binding was unaltered in cerebrocortical tissue. Acute addition of barbitone in vitro did not alter [3H]‐dizocilpine binding or the displacement of binding of thienylcyclohexylpyridine. 1994 British Pharmacological Society
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior (00913057)(1)
Tolerance occurred to the sedative actions of the competitive NMDA antagonists, CGP39551 and CGP37849, as measured by a decrease in spontaneous locomotor activity after 1 week or 2 weeks of administration, respectively, in studies using the TO strain of mice. Crosstolerance was seen between these compounds. When CGP37849 was given after 2 weeks treatment with CGP39551, an increase in locomotor activity was seen. Chronic barbiturate treatment, producing tolerance to the actions of pentobarbitone, did not affect the sedative properties of CGP39551 or CGP37849. Chronic treatment with CGP39551 did not alter the ataxic actions of pentobarbitone. Seven days of treatment with HA966 caused complete tolerance to its sedative actions, but no Crosstolerance was seen to pentobarbitone, CGP39551, or CGP37849. A small but significant decrease was seen in the convulsion thresholds to NMDA after 15 days of treatment with CGP39551, and a small significant increase in ratings of convulsive behavior after 16 days injections of CGP37849. No significant changes were found in either Bmax or Kd for [3H]-MK-801 binding in cerebrocortical tissue 24 h after the last chronic treatment with either of the NMDA antagonists. © 1994.
Gäken, J.A.,
Tavassoli, M.,
Gan, S.,
Vallian borujeni, S.,
Giddings, I.,
Darling, D.C.,
Galea-lauri, J.,
Thomas, M.G.,
Abedi, H.,
Schreiber, V. Journal of Virology (10985514)70(6)pp. 3992-4000
Integration of proviral DNA into the host cell genome is a characteristic feature of the retroviral life cycle. This process involves coordinate DNA strand break formation and rejoining reactions. The full details of the integration process are not yet fully understood. However, the endonuclease and DNA strand-joining activities of the virus-encoded integrase protein (IN) are thought to act in concert with other, as-yet-unidentified, endogenous nuclear components which are involved in the DNA repair process. The nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), which is dependent on DNA strand breaks for its activity, is involved in the efficient repair of DNA strand breaks, and maintenance of genomic integrity, in nucleated eukaryotic cells. In the present work, we examine the possible involvement of PARP in the retroviral life cycle and demonstrate that inhibition of PARP activity, by any one of three independent mechanisms, blocks the infection of mammalian cells by recombinant retroviral vectors. This requirement for PARP activity appears to be restricted to processes involved in the integration of provirus into the host cell DNA. PARP inhibition does not affect viral entry into the host cell, reverse transcription of the viral RNA genome, postintegration synthesis of viral gene products, synthesis of the viral RNA genome, or the generation of infective virions. Therefore, efficient retroviral infection of mammalian cells is blocked by inhibition of PARP activity.
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