Anca Botezatu

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Verified

Anca verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology (IVN)

Background/Objectives: Molecular triage strategies for cervical lesions based on miR-124-2 and FAM19A4 are poorly studied in various populations. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the individual and combined predictive performance of these two markers for the prediction of various histological categories of cervical lesions. Methods...

Introduction Infection with Epstein-Barr virus is a known risk factor for laryngeal carcinogenesis; it might influence DNA methylation acting as an epigenetic driver in this type of malignancy. Methods Paired laryngeal tissues (neoplastic and peri-neoplastic) harvested from 24 patients were included in the study. Eleven patients expressing latent/...

Background/Objectives: Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor, characterized by necrosis, uncontrolled proliferation, infiltration, angiogenesis, apoptosis resistance, and genomic instability. Epigenetic modifiers hold promise as adjuvant therapies for gliomas, with synergistic combinations being explored to enhance efficacy...

BCR::ABL1‐negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are clonal haematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by specific driver mutations and an increased risk of both macrothrombosis and microthrombosis. Serotonin receptor type 1B (HTR1B) was found to be expressed by various solid tumours, and also primary bone marrow mononuclear cells from...

(1) Background: Cervical cancer, caused mainly by high-risk Human Papillomavirus (hrHPV), is a significant global health issue. While a Pap smear remains a reliable method for early detection, identifying new biomarkers to stratify the risk is crucial. For this purpose, extensive research has been conducted on detecting DNA methylation. (2) Methods...

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), namely, polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF), are clonal stem cell disorders defined by an excessive production of functionally mature and terminally differentiated myeloid cells. MPNs can transform into secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML/blast phase MPN) an...

Background: Cervical cancer is among the highest-ranking types of cancer worldwide, with human papillomavirus (HPV) as the agent driving the malignant process. One aspect of the infection’s evolution is given by epigenetic modifications, mainly DNA methylation and chromatin alteration. These processes are guided by several chromatin remodeling comp...

More than 3 years after the start of SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic, the molecular mechanisms behind the viral pathogenesis are still not completely understood. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), well‐known players in viral infections, can represent prime candidates for patients' risk stratification. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the lncRNA...

Plants are an important means of combating numerous harmful influences on humans (microorganisms, viruses, fungi, etc.) and have always been used to treat various diseases. In the context of the Covid pandemic, interest in the use of plants has increased. Great importance has been given to screening plants' potential against Covid (antiviral, anti-...

Somatic frameshift mutations in exon 9 of calreticulin ( CALR ) gene are recognized as disease drivers in primary myelofibrosis (PMF), one of the three classical Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Type 1/type 1-like CALR mutations particularly confer a favorable prognostic and survival advantage in PMF patients. We report an...

(1) Background: Cervical cancer is a significant health concern, with the main cause being persistent infection with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (hrHPV). There is still no evidence for why viral persistence occurs in some women, but recent studies have revealed the interplay between cervical microbiota and hrHPV. This research aimed to character...

Study question Investigating estradiol in relation with other sperm parameters might reveal new correlations which would help our understanding of male idiopathic infertility Summary answer Statistical significance was found in a series of correlations of E2 levels and sperm, hormonal and health parameters What is known already Male infertility i...

In the genomic medicine era, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 was immediately followed by viral genome sequencing and world-wide sequences sharing. Almost in real-time, based on these sequences, resources were developed and applied around the world, such as molecular diagnostic tests, informed public health decisions, and vaccines. Molecular SARS-CoV-2...

In the recent years a special attention has been given to a major health concern namely to male infertility, defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse, taken into account the statistics that highlight that sperm counts have dropped by 50–60% in recent decades. According to the WHO, infertility af...

SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are highly efficient against severe forms of the disease, hospitalization and death. Nevertheless, insufficient protection against several circulating viral variants might suggest waning immunity and the need for an additional vaccine dose. We conducted a longitudinal study on the kinetics and persistence of immune responses in...

Objective: Laryngeal cancer is the second most common malignancy in the head and neck, with Epstein-Barr virus infection as a risk factor. Our aim is to evaluate correlations between the expression of lncRNA H19 and EBV infection in laryngeal cancer and H19 involvement in neoplastic progression through EZH2 association. Materials and methods: 30...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the leading cause of cervical cancer. The Papanicolaou cytology test is the usually employed type of screening for this infection; however, its sensibility is limited. Only a small percentage of women infected with high-risk HPV develop cervical cancer with an array of genetic and epigenetic modifications. Th...

Cancer is a multifactorial disease involving reprogramming of the gene function in normal cells through both genetic and epigenetic factors. The latter ones are essentially represented by chromatin remodeling factors as transcriptional control of gene expression at the nucleus level. Certain sets of tumor suppression genes controlling vital cell fu...

Purpose: DNA methylation plays an important role in thyroid oncogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between global and local DNA methylation status and to establish the levels of important DNA methylation regulators (TET family and DNMT1) in thyroid tumours: follicular adenoma-FA, papillary thyroid carcinoma-PTC (class...

Background: Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a rare myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm diagnosed in young children, characterized by somatic or germline mutations that lead to hyperactive RAS signaling. The only curative option is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Recent data showing that aberrant DNA methylation pl...

The sudden outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan, China, has affected the healthcare system and economy by its rapidly worldwide spreading. The present review intends to describe some of the current molecular and immunological assays used in SARS-CoV-2 detection from an epidem...

Background The HER2 gene Ile655Val polymorphism might affect the active conformation of its protein product which would than influence the heterodimerization, signal transduction and the tumor growth. The aim of this work was to investigate the HER2 codon 655 polymorphism and EGFR expression related to proliferative activity of urinary bladder tumo...

Introduction: Romania has the highest incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in Europe. The objective was to estimate the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) genotypes and to evaluate the role of certain socio-behavioral factors in acquiring viral infection, in a cohort of Romanian women with negative Pap. Methodology:...

Background: Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine malignancy worldwide. Changes in DNA methylation can cause silencing of normally active genes, especially tumour suppressor genes (TSG) or activation of normally silent genes. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the degree of promoter methylation for a panel of markers for th...

Obesity is one of major causes of morbidity in human population due to increased rate and to the consequent rise in co-morbidities such as metabolic syndrome diseases (including type 2 diabetes and hypertension). Thus, interventions to decrease its incidence are essential and they may be elaborated based on precise knowledge of the molecular causes...

Recently long non-coding RNAs were identified as new factors involved in gene expression regulation. To gain insight into expression pattern of these factors related to E7 HPV18 oncogene, this study uses HeLa cell culture transfected with E7-siRNA. Gene expression profile was investigated using microarray analysis. After analysing the microarray re...

Introduction: Vitamin D (VD) levels were correlated with different health conditions, including reproductive disorders in males. Vitamin D action is mediated through vitamin D receptor (VDR), which acts as a transcription factor. VDR gene promoter is embedded in a GC-rich island. The VDR gene has been shown to have several polymorphisms that affec...

Introduction: The deregulation in miRNA expression has been described in thyroid tumors, and is considered an important factor in thyroid carcinogenesis. mRNA expression profiling in cancer allows identifications of signatures associated with diagnosis, staging, prognosis, and response to treatment. Objective: We aimed to detect miRNAs species diff...

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most aggressive tumors with dismal prognosis and survival rates. Identifying early molecular diagnostic markers could contribute in improving survival in this intractable disease. Chromosomal rearrangements and altered expression of the gene have been implicated in PDAC progress...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA species essential for the post-translational regulation of gene expression. Several miRNA have been proposed to contribute to Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection establishment, progression and latency. Among them, miR-29a seems to be of particular interest. The aim of this study was to inves...

Objective: Estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) polymorphisms (XbaI and PvuII) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms (FokI, BsmI, ApaI and TaqI) are the most frequently studied regarding the correlations with the infertility in males, but the results are controversial.The purpose of this study is to evaluate possible correlations between hormonal m...

Ovaries, paired organs, constitute the female sexual gland with endocrine lunette and also produce ova. The ovary is covered by germinal epithelium (formed from cuboid or cylindrical cells) and subjacent is a thin layer of dense connective tissue. The ovary presents a cortical area (comprised of follicles, corpus luteum, and stroma) and a medulla....

ancreatic cancer remains a major challenge and early detection could decreases the mortality caused by this disease. Nuclear β-catenin protein accumulation has been correlated with late stages of tumor progression and metastasis. β-catenin regulation might be performed through epigenetic modification, especially DNA methylation at promoter level. A...

Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes are two distinct neurogenetic disorders caused by chromosomal deletions, uniparental disomy or loss of the imprinted gene expression in the 15q11-q13 region. PWS results from the lack of the paternally expressed gene contribution in the region. The aim of our study was to compare a new molecular approach based on...

Only a few genes involved in spermatogenesis have clinical importance: Y chromosome micro deletions in the region called azoospermia factor (AZF) and oestrogen receptor alpha gene polymorphisms (ESR1). Objective: The study aim to evaluate ESR1 and Y chromosome deletion in infertile men. Subjects and methods: 43 infertile men, and 34 fertile men age...

Epidemiologic data confirmed high-risk human papillomaviruses as etiological agents of cervical cancer. On the other hand genetic and epigenetic modifications are known to play an important role in carcinogenesis. Histone lysine-specific demethylases (KDMs) have been shown to contribute to development and progression of many types of cancer. We eva...

Background/aim: Although pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a major challenge for therapy, biomarkers for early detection are lacking. Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes is a majorcontributor to neoplastic transformation. The aim of this study was to identify new factors involved in PDAC progression. The GNMT gene possesse...

Human papilloma virus (HPV) may cause mostly transient infections of cutaneous and mucous epithelia. Persistent HPV genital infections may induce pre-malignant or malignant lesions. While E6 and E7 HPV genes' malignant character is known, E5 is still under debate. We evaluated the possible role of E5 gene in cervix oncogenesis, in patients with abn...

UNLABELLED: Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva samples provide advantages for screening or sero-prevalence studies on HCV using less invasive methods. The study aimed to evaluate the performance of a rapid test for HCV-antibodies (HCV-Ab) screening in oral fluids among high-risk individuals with chronic liver disease.

Recent works focus on the role microRNAs (miRNAs) play in regulation of cardiovascular pathology. One of the miRNAs highly expressed in cardiovascular system is miR-21. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression level of miR–21 in cardiac disease and correlate with TGF-β1, one of its targets. Methods: Plasma sa...

The aim of this study was to identify and associate the sequence variations of human Papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) genes from women who live in two different areas of Romania and associate them with malignant progression. One hundred twenty-four HPV16-positive cervical isolates were collected, and the E2, E4, E5, E6 and E7 viral genes were sequenced. T...

Introduction: HOXB4 functions as a transcription factor involved in cell differentiation during embryogenesis and plays a role in apoptosis. Aim: This study analyzed HOXB4 methylation status in thyroid papillary carcinoma. Method: 54 patients aged 10–82 years hospitalized for thyroidectomy were included between January 2013 and July 2013. The inc...

Introduction: HOXB4 functions as a transcription factor involved in cell differentiation during embryogenesis and plays a role in apoptosis. Aim: This study analyzed HOXB4 methylation status in thyroid papillary carcinoma. Method: 54 patients aged 10–82 years hospitalized for thyroidectomy were included between January 2013 and July 2013. The inclu...

OBJECTIVES: To examine the impact of educational level and of the related life-style and behavioral factors on the acquisition of HPV infections. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the socio-demographic variables in a cohort of 360 married women (aged 25-40 years), with a positive HPV-DNA result, who underwent cytological screening and HPV genoty...

Transformation of normal cells, tumor progression and advanced metastasis involve a complex series of events such as genetic alterations, aberrant progression through cell cycle, induction of angiogenesis, inhibition of apoptosis and modification of cell adhesion. One of the most effective anticancer agents used to treat colon cancer is 5-Fluoroura...

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms and MTHFR methylation pattern in cervical lesions development among women from Romania, a country with high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical infections. To achieve this goal, blood samples and cervical cytology specimens (...

Nucleic acid-based vaccines are based on the direct introduction into the host cell of information encoding the antigen of interest, synthesized in situ. Recombinant DNA is introduced into tissues by intramuscular inoculation. Dendritic cells serves as central players for DNA vaccine development. pNGVL4a encodes the signal sequence Sig linked to a...

Alterations in DNA methylation patterns in several genes may lead to abnormal male sexual development and infertility. This study investigated the promoter methylation status of MTHFR and SNRPN in infertile men from Romania by quantitative methylation- specific PCR in order to investigate possible correlations with sperm abnormalities. The study gr...

This work aimed to compare the clinical validity of a newly developed assay for Prader-Willi syndrome diagnosis in Romanian population, as compared to an existing assay. This syndrome is a complex multisystem, genetic and epigenetic disorder, which arises from a defect in imprinted genes regulation and contribution. So far, a molecular cytogenetic...

The purpose of this study was to investigate how a viral infection affecting the epithelial cells could be influenced by the presence of the opportunistic Staphylococcus aureus soluble mediators. The viral antigens presence, apoptosis and cytokine profiles of HeLa cells infected with HSV-1 and pre-/postreated with different bacterial soluble fracti...

Background: Molecular events responsible for the onset and progression of peripheral occlusive arterial disease (POAD) are incompletely understood. Gene expression profiling may point out relevant features of the disease. Methods: Tissue samples were collected as operatory waste from a total of 36 patients with (n = 18) and without (n = 18) POAD...

Cardiovascular disease represents a major cause of mortality worldwide but the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms involved are not entirely known. Atherosclerosis plays a major role, often leading to ischemic heart disease and stroke. Many studies linked the evolution of atherosclerosis with genetic factors but only a small number of them are well c...

Anton G, Peltecu G, Socolov D, Cornitescu F, Bleotu C, Sgarbura Z, Teleman S, Iliescu D, Botezatu A, Goia CD, Huica I, Anton A-C. Type-specific human papillomavirus detection in cervical smears in Romania. APMIS 2010. Although Romania has one of the highest incidence of cervical cancer in Europe (30 new cases/100 000 women), little is known about t...

Infection with human papilloma virus (HP V) is the main cause of cervical cancer. Host genetic alterations, like modifications of gene expression levels can be induced as a response to the viral infection. Kruppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) is a transcription factor that has been implicated in pathways critical to carcinogenesis. Controversy persists as...

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of mortality in women. Molecular and epidemiological data have unequivocally confirmed that high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a major etiological agent of this malignancy, as host epigenetic alterations are induced in response to viral infection. The present study evaluated the methylation status of CpG...

High risk human papillomaviruses (hr-HPV) are known to be the etiological agents of cervical cancer disease. On the other hand, other cofactors are considered to be important in cervix carcinogenesis. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as well as alterations in mtDNA content have been reported in numerous cancers examined to date. The D-loop re...

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are considered the etiological agents of cervical cancer, especially high-risk genotypes. TGF-beta (transforming growth factor-beta) is well known for its anti-proliferative effects but the neoplastic cells often lose their sensitivity to TGF-beta. A characteristic alteration associated with malignant progression is the...

Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurometabolic genetic disorder affecting 1/12.000-1/15.000 new-borns. Molecular mechanisms that could lead to this disorder include chromosomal deletions, uniparental disomy (UPD), intragenic mutations, and epigenetic modifications in the process of imprinting and rarely reciprocal translocations. A common defect i...

Cervical cancer is the second type of women cancers, most cases being reported in the developing countries where it represents the main cause for mortality in women. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of hTERT expression levels in cervical carcinogenesis, in each type of cytological diagnostic group (normal/inflammatory, ASCUS, LSIL, HSI...

Molecular and epidemiological data indicated that the presence of HPV virus is not sufficient to induce transformation, suggesting the implication of other several cellular factors. Constitutive activation of the Ras signaling pathway is an important component of malignant progression for a number of different cancers. In this context, the objectiv...

Genital infections represent one of the most important causes of infertility, affecting: fallopian tubes, endometrial mucosa, sperm parameters. The aim of this study is to evaluate the involvement of four sexually transmitted infections (STD) in the achievement of infertility and to establish the prevalence of each infectious agent in our patients....

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of p161NK4a expression levels with the cytological group of cervical carcinogenesis (NILM, ASCUS, LSIL, HSIL, cancer groups), in order to establish its value as potential diagnostic marker. Methods: The smears obtained from 50 women with/without suggestive HPV infection patholo...