Feridoun Karimi-Busheri

Publications (33) View all

• Source

  Available from: Feridoun Karimi-Busheri

  Article: Molecular integrity and global gene expression of breast and lung cancer stem cells under long-term storage and recovery.

  Feridoun Karimi-Busheri, Victoria Zadorozhny, Ewa Carrier, Habib Fakhrai
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Cryopreservation is a common procedure widely used in biological and clinical sciences. Similar protocols are also applied in preserving cancer stem cells, a field with high promises and challenges. Specific cell surface membrane proteins are considered to be biomarkers of cancer stem cells and they may play a critical role in differentiating stem cells from non stem cells. We have looked at the possible effect of long-term cryopreservation on the molecular integrity of breast MCF7 and lung, A549 and H460, cancer stem cells and to assess if these cells are more sensitive to long-term storage process. We analyzed the expression of CD24 and CD38 as two potent biomarkers of lung cancer stem cells and EpCAM and ALDH that are used as biomarkers of a wide range of cancer stem cells. We also selected three genes essential for the normal functioning of the cells, Fos, MUC1, and HLA. Our results indicate a pattern of down-regulation in the expression of the genes following freezing, in particular among cell surface marker proteins. Global gene expression of the post-thaw breast and lung cancer stem cells also reveals a significant down-regulation in freeze-thaw cells independent from each other. Analyzing the canonical pathways between two populations reveals a significant alteration in the gene expression of the pathways involved in cell cycle, mitosis, and ataxia telangiectasia mutated pathways. Overall, our results indicate that current protocols for long-term storage of lung and breast cancer stem cells may substantially influence the activity and function of genes.
  Cell and Tissue Banking 05/2012; · 0.96 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Feridoun Karimi-Busheri

  Article: Expression of the epigenetic factor BORIS (CTCFL) in the human genome.

  Rosalia de Necochea-Campion, Anahit Ghochikyan, Steven F Josephs, Shelly Zacharias, Erik Woods, Feridoun Karimi-Busheri, Doru T Alexandrescu, Chien-Shing Chen, Michael G Agadjanyan, Ewa Carrier
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: BORIS, or CTCFL, the so called Brother of the Regulator of Imprinted Sites because of the extensive homology in the central DNA binding region of the protein to the related regulator, CTCF, is expressed in early gametogenesis and in multiple cancers but not in differentiated somatic cells. Thus it is a member of the cancer testes antigen group (CTAs). Since BORIS and CTCF target common DNA binding sites, these proteins function on two levels, the first level is their regulation via the methylation context of the DNA target site and the second level is their distinct and different epigenetic associations due to differences in the non-homologous termini of the proteins. The regulation on both of these levels is extensive and complex and the sphere of influence of each of these proteins is associated with vastly different cellular signaling processes. On the level of gene expression, BORIS has three known promoters and multiple spliced mRNAs which adds another level of complexity to this intriguing regulator. BORIS expression is observed in the majority of cancer tissues and cell lines analyzed up to today. The expression profile and essential role of BORIS in cancer make this molecule very attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. This review summarizes what is known about BORIS regarding its expression, structure, and function and then presents some theoretical considerations with respect to its genome wide influence and its potential for use as a vaccine for cancer immunotherapy.
  Journal of Translational Medicine 12/2011; 9:213. · 3.41 Impact Factor
• Article: Pivotal Role of CD38 Biomarker in Combination with CD24, EpCAM, and ALDH for Identification of H460 Derived Lung Cancer Stem Cells

  Feridoun Karimi-Busheri, Victoria Zadorozhny, Tony Li, Helen Lin, Daniel L. Shawler, Habib Fakhrai
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Lung cancer is the number one killer among all cancers and is estimated to kill over 170,000 individual in 2010 in the United States. However, little is understood about the role of tumor initiating cells in the lung cancer and whether these cells play a major role in initiation, drug resistance, and metastases of this disease. We have isolated lungospheres from tumors grown in mice and have critically examined proposed biomarkers of lung cancer stem cells such as ALDH, EpCAM, CD133/1, CD133/2, CD24, and CD38, using global gene expression, flow cytometric analysis, and quantitative real time PCR. We present evidences that the pattern of overexpression of ALDH and EpCAM, two widely discussed biomarkers of cancer stem cells, in the tumor generated by lung cancer stem cells in mice are different that could be an indicative of tumor aggressiveness. We propose, for the first time, that CD38 in combination with CD24 is a biomarkers for H460 derived lung cancer stem cells and could be used to elucidate the characteristics of these sub-population of cells. Our results demonstrate that the combination of CD24Low/-/CD38+ and overexpression of ALDH1 and EpCAM is the signature of enriched tumor initiating cells in H460 non-small cell lung cancer cell line. Our results propose H460-derived cancer stem cells as a well defined cell for future comprehensive analysis of putative lung cancer stem cells-like cells.
  Journal of stem cells 12/2011; 6(1):9-20.
• Article: Molecular characterization of Plasmodium falciparum putative polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase.

  Saranya Siribal, Michael Weinfeld, Feridoun Karimi-Busheri, J N Mark Glover, Nina K Bernstein, Danny Aceytuno, Porntip Chavalitshewinkoon-Petmitr
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase (PNKP) is a bifunctional enzyme that can phosphorylate the 5'-OH termini and dephosphorylate the 3'-phosphate termini of DNA. It is a DNA repair enzyme involved in the processing of strand break termini, which permits subsequent repair proteins to replace missing nucleotides and rejoin broken strands. Little is known about DNA repair in Plasmodium falciparum, including the roles of PNKP in repairing parasite DNA. We identified a P. falciparum gene encoding a protein with 24% homology to human PNKP and thus suggestive of a putative PNKP. In this study, the PNKP gene of P. falciparum strain K1 (PfPNKP) was successfully cloned and expressed in E. coli as a GST-PfPNKP recombinant protein. MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis of the protein confirmed the identity of PfPNKP. Assays for enzymatic activity were carried out with a variety of single- and double-stranded substrates. Although 3'-phosphatase activity was detected, PfPNKP was observed to dephosphorylate single-stranded substrates or double-stranded substrates with a short 3'-single-stranded overhang, but not double-stranded substrates that mimicked single-strand breaks. We hypothesize that unlike human PNKP, PfPNKP may not be involved in single-strand break repair, since alternative terminal processing mechanisms can substitute for PfPNKP, and that PfPNKP DNA repair actions may be confined to overhanging termini of double-strand breaks.
  Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 07/2011; 180(1):1-7. · 2.55 Impact Factor
• Article: Pathways of proliferation and antiapoptosis driven in breast cancer stem cells by stem cell protein piwil2.

  Jae Ho Lee, Cornelia Jung, Parisa Javadian-Elyaderani, Stefan Schweyer, Dorothea Schütte, Moneef Shoukier, Feridoun Karimi-Busheri, Michael Weinfeld, Aghdass Rasouli-Nia, Jan G Hengstler, Alejandra Mantilla, Hamid Reza Soleimanpour-Lichaei, Wolfgang Engel, Craig N Robson, Karim Nayernia
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cell studies may improve understanding of tumor pathophysiology and identify more effective strategies for cancer treatment. In a variety of organisms, Piwil2 has been implicated in multiple roles including stem cell self-renewal, RNA silencing, and translational control. In this study, we documented specific expression of the stem cell protein Piwil2 in breast cancer with predominant expression in breast cancer stem cells. In patients who were evaluated, we determined that 90% of invasive carcinomas and 81% of carcinomas in situ exhibited highest expression of Piwil2. In breast cancer cells, Piwil2 silencing suppressed the expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, a pivotal regulator of Bcl-X(L) and cyclin D1, whose downregulation paralleled a reduction in cell proliferation and survival. Our findings define Piwil2 and its effector signaling pathways as key factors in the proliferation and survival of breast cancer stem cells.
  Cancer Research 06/2010; 70(11):4569-79. · 7.86 Impact Factor