Keivan Majidzadeh-A

Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran · Genetics

Although predicting the effects of variants near intron-exon boundaries is relatively straightforward, predicting the functional Exon Splicing Enhancers (ESEs) and the possible effects of variants within ESEs remains a challenge. Considering the essential role of CYP2D6/CYP2C19 genes in drug metabolism, we attempted to identify variants that are mo...

Introduction The information derived from the number and characteristics of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), is crucial to ensure appropriate cancer treatment monitoring. Currently, diverse microfluidic platforms have been developed for isolating CTCs from blood, but it remains a challenge to develop a low-cost, practical, and efficient strategy. O...

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two prominent genes that account for about 20–40% of inherited breast cancer. Mutations in these genes are often associated with clustering of especially early-onset cancers in the family. The spectrum of BRCA variants showed a significant difference between geographic regions and ethnicities. The frequency and spectrum of BRCA...

Background & Objective: There is a vast range of diseases caused by Salmonella including gastroenteritis, enteric fever, bacteraemia, and focal infection. Salmonella infection is usually transmitted to humans by consuming foods or water contaminated with animal or human waste. This study aims to design a quantitative-LAMP method for real-time detec...

Extracellular matrix (ECM) refers to the non-cellular components of the tumour microenvironment, fundamentally providing a supportive scaffold for cellular anchorage and transducing signaling cues that orchestrate cellular behaviour and function. The ECM integrity is abrogated in several cases of cancer, ending in aberrant activation of a number of...

Background A higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer has been reported in BRCA carriers and prophylactic surgeries are proposed to reduce this risk. This retrospective cohort study has evaluated the indication of BRCA1/2 genetic tests in Iranian women and the rate of women's acceptance of prophylactic surgeries recommended by the surgeon. Method...

Objectives Vitamin D deficiency is a driving force of common cancers like breast cancer. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) can play a tumor suppressor role by helping the precise function of vitamin D in cells such as modulation TGF-β signaling pathway. This study aimed to investigate the association of VDR gene variants and susceptibility to breast cancer...

Alteration in glycosylation pattern of MUC1 mucin tandem repeats during carcinomas has been shown to negatively affect adhesive properties of malignant cells and enhance tumor invasiveness and metastasis. In addition, MUC1 overexpression is closely interrelated with angiogenesis, making it a great target for immunotherapy. Alongside, easier interac...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2), causing the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was introduced by WHO (World Health Organization) as “pandemic” in March 2020. According to WHO, thus far (23 November 2020) 58,425,681 infected cases including 1,385,218 deaths have been reported worldwide. In order to reduce transmi...

Development of engineered non-pathogenic bacteria, capable of expressing anti-cancer proteins under tumor-specific conditions, is an ideal approach for selectively eradicating proliferating cancer cells. Herein, using an engineered hypoxia responding nirB promoter, we developed an engineered Escherichia coli BW25133 strain capable of expressing car...

Controlling cellular organization is crucial in the biofabrication of tissue-engineered scaffolds, as it affects cell behavior as well as the functionality of mature tissue. Thus far, incorporation of physiochemical cues with cell-size resolution in three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds has proven to be a challenging strategy to direct the desired cellu...

Tumor progression and metastasis, especially in invasive cancers (such as triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC]), depend on angiogenesis, in which vascular epithelial growth factor (VEGF)/vascular epithelial growth factor receptor [1] has a decisive role, followed by the metastatic spread of cancer cells. Although some studies have shown that anti-V...

Numerous studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs participate in regulatory networks of different cancers. Dysregulation of various lncRNAs such as DUXAP8, LINC00963, and FOXD2-AS1 has been reported in the development of various cancers. The aim of this study was investigation of the importance and potential roles of DUXAP8, LINC00963, and FOXD2-AS1...

Introduction: HER2-enriched subtype of breast cancer has a worse prognosis than luminal subtypes. Recently, the discovery of targeted therapies in other groups of breast cancer has increased patient survival. The aim of this study was to identify genes that affect the overall survival of this group of patients based on a systems biology approach. M...

The complexity and heterogeneity of the three-dimensional (3D) tumor microenvironment have brought challenges to tumor studies and cancer treatment. The complex functions and interactions of cells involved in tumor microenvironment have led to various multidrug resistance (MDR) and raised challenges for cancer treatment. Traditional tumor models ar...

Low-temperature plasma (LTP) has demonstrated great potential in biomedicine, especially in cancer therapy in-vivo and in-vitro. Plasma activated water (PAW) as an indirect plasma therapy is a significant source of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) which play an important role in apoptosis induction in cancer cells. In this study, Helium...

PurposeHormone therapy with Tamoxifen is an effective treatment that can decrease recurrence rate and mortality. Numerous molecular mechanisms can modify the response to Tamoxifen. The objective of this study was to determine Tamoxifen efficacy on patients’ recurrence and mortality rates, according to the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (H...

Background: The study aimed at evaluating steroid biomarker genes (ERα, PGR, ERβ) and determining the expression level of estrogen-regulated genes (SCUB2 and BCL2) and growth factors receptors (HER2 and IGFR1) in cancer tissue samples obtained from Iranian patients with breast cancer. Moreover, relationships with clinicopathologic aspects of tumor...

Background Stem cell therapy is among the novel approaches for the treatment of post-myocardial infarction cardiomyopathy. This study aims to compare the effect of stromal-derived factor 1 α (SDF1α), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in combination with the lentiviral production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on infarct area, vascularizat...

The present study aimed to improve the understanding of non-uterine leiomyosarcoma (NULMS) prognostic genes through system biology approaches. This cancer is heterogeneous and rare. Moreover, gene interaction networks have not been reported in NULMS yet. The datasets were obtained from the public gene expression databases. Seven co-expression modul...

Introduction: Detection of Neisseria meningitides by using conventional methods is time consuming and laborious. Development of a realiable and rapid method for prompt control and prevention of meningococcal disease is required. Although PCR and real time PCR methods have been developed; they require electrophoresis or expensive Devices. LAMP is a...

While many new and emerging therapeutic concepts have appeared throughout the last decades, cancer still is fatal in many patients. At the same time, the importance of immunology in oncotherapy is increasingly recognized, not only since the advent of checkpoint therapy. Among the many types of tumors, also breast cancer has an immunological dimensi...

Droplet microfluidic was devoted to design and fabricate robust devices in the field of biosensing, tissue engineering, drug delivery, cell encapsulation, cell isolation, and lab-on-a-chip. Chitosan was widely used for different biomedical applications because of its unique characteristics such as antibacterial bioactivities, immune-enhancing influ...

The recently public health crises in the world is emerged by spreading the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also named COVID-19. The virus is originated in bats and transported to humans via undefined intermediate animals. This virus can produce from weak to severe respiratory diseases including acute respiratory distres...

Background Application of genetically modified non-pathogenic bacteria expressing specific anti-tumor proteins under certain conditions specific to tumors is an effective approach for selective targeting of tumors. We developed here, for the first time, a novel spatiotemporal cancer targeted therapy applying engineered E. coli bacteria with capabil...

The prevalence and mortality rate of colorectal cancer have been dramatically rising globally. Currently, colorectal cancer is emerging as the fourth leading cause of death and the third most common malignancy worldwide. The major drawback in colorectal cancer treatment is related to severe adverse events of both chemotherapy and radiation therapy...

Background Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most frequent primary liver tumor and defined as the heterogeneous group of tumors derived from cells in the biliary tree.Methods and ResultsBased on the anatomical locations (intrahepatic, perihilar, and distal), there are various approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of CCA. Imaging modalities...

Background: Breast Cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory non-coding transcripts and longer than 200 nucleotides. lncRNAs can affect many biological and pathological processes and dysregulation of them is related and studied in many human diseases like, cancers. We performed this stud...

Purpose Breast Cancer (BC) is the most frequent malignancy among women worldwide. ER⁺ breast cancers (luminal A and B subtypes) comprise up to 70% of all BC patients. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory non-coding transcripts and longer than 200 nucleotides. LncRNAs can affect many biological and pathological processes and dysregulation o...

Background: Estrogen receptor-positive (ER⁺) breast cancer (BC) (luminal A and B subtypes) comprises up to 70% of all BC patients. LncRNAs can affect many biological and pathological processes, and dysregulation of them is related to human cancers. The potential role of lncRNA LINC00968 in ER⁺ BC is still unclear. Methods: We analyzed the LINC00968...

Interferons (IFNs) are a group of signaling cytokines, secreted by host cells to induce protection against various disorders. IFNs can directly impact on tumor cells or indirectly induce the immune system to protect host cells. The expression levels of IFNs and its functions of are excellently modulated in a way to protect host cells from probable...

Importance The limited data on cancer phenotypes in men with germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants (PVs) have hampered the development of evidence-based recommendations for early cancer detection and risk reduction in this population. Objective To compare the cancer spectrum and frequencies between male BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers. Design,...

Objective (s): Specific economic and social conditions make the competitive advantage of organizations no longer based on their tangible assets. Intellectual capital, as the most important asset, has replaced financial capital. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of human capital on intellectual capital in health research centers of A...

In the current work, the optical properties of graphene wrapped gold nanoshells (GGNSs) with silica core for different sizes and geometries are investigated based on effective medium and Gans theories in tumor tissue. In addition, the bioheat transfer equations are used to obtain the temperature distribution in the kidney tumor and its surrounding me...

Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) or CD166 is a 100 to 105 KDa transmembrane immunoglobulin which is involved in activation of T-cells, hematopoiesis, neutrophils trans-endothelial migration, angiogenesis, inflammation and tumor propagation and invasiveness through formation of homophilic and heterophilic interactions. Recently, ma...

Background: The present study aimed to review the existing cellular and molecular research systematically carried out in the field of breast cancer in Iran. This study was part of a big project, which evaluated a variety of studies conducted on breast cancer in Iran. Methods: All molecular articles about breast cancer in Iran which were published f...

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic cholestatic liver disease defined by strictures of the biliary tree which could ultimately lead to liver cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma. Although the exact underlying etiology of this disorder is not fully understood, the pathology is believed to be caused by immune mediated mechanisms. Growing body of...

It has been shown that overexpression of activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) is involved in development of resistance to tamoxifen therapy and promotion of cell invasion, migration and metastasis in ER+ breast cancer cells. Thus, we hypothesized that blockade of ALCAM interconnections with antibodies could be an effective approach fo...

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Early-stage diagnosis and treatment of this cancer are crucial to patients’ survival. Besides, it is important to avoid severe side effects during the process of conventional treatments (surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy) and increase the patient...

There are many risk factors associated with breast cancer (BC) such as the familial history of BC, using hormone replacement therapy, obesity, personal habits, and other clinical factors; however, not all BC cases are attributed to these risk factors. Recent researches show a correlation between patient microbiome and BC suggested as a new risk fac...

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were recently discovered as a looped subset of competing endogenous RNAs, with an ability to regulate gene expression by microRNA sponging. There are several studies on their potential roles in cancer development, such as colorectal cancer and basal cell carcinoma. However, there is still a significant gap in the knowledge...

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were recently discovered as a looped subset of competing endogenous RNAs, with an ability to regulate gene expression by microRNA sponging. There are several studies on their potential roles in cancer development, such as colorectal cancer and basal cell carcinoma. However, there is still a significant gap in the knowledge...

Leukemic cancer stem cells (LSCs), aberrantly overexpressing CD45RA are among the major causes of relapse following chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and serve as a highly sensitive marker for predicting relapse occurrence following chemotherapy. The main purpose of current study was to develop a sensitive approach for detecting...

T cells are the most predominant effector cells in immune-mediated elimination of cancer and circumventing tumor progression. Among various approaches, T cells activation by specific antibodies independently of their TCR specificity, is considered as an effective approach to circumvent tumor progression. The most common surface marker for all T cel...

Magnetic nanoparticles have demonstrated considerable capacity for theranosis purposes due to their unique characteristics, including magnetic properties, comparable size to biomolecules, favorable conjugations of drugs and biomolecules, ability to labeling, and capability of sensing, separation, detection, and targeted drug delivery. They could be...

OBJECTIVES: Studies suggest that exposure to electromagnetic fields may increase the incidence of health problems such as mood disorders. In this study, we evaluated the effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field on depression, anxiety, thyroid hormones, and gene expression in mice. METHODS: In total, 240 male BALB/c mice were allocat...

Aim: Achievements in cancer immunotherapy require augmentation of a host's anti-tumor immune response for anti-cancer modality. Materials & methods: Different concentrations of recombinant anti-CD3 nanobody were administered at predetermined time intervals during a 24-day treatment period and then expression of angiogenic biomarkers including VEGFR...

Recent advances in DNA sequencing techniques have led to an increase in the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but no further information regarding the deleterious probability of many of them is available (Variants of Unknown Significance/VUS). As a result, in the current study, different sequence- an...

Mutations in the BRCA1 gene are known to be a major cause of hereditary breast cancer. However, characterizing the point mutations associated with cancer in BRCA1 is challenging because the functional impact of most of them is still unknown. Nowadays, a variety of methods are employed to identify cancer-associated mutations in BRCA1. This study is...

BRCA1 BRCA2 mutational spectrum in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe is not well characterized. The unique history and cultural practices characterizing these regions, often involving consanguinity and inbreeding, plausibly led to the accumulation of population‐specific founder pathogenic sequence variants (PSVs). To determine recu...

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is a result of interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The recognition of GC risk factors is very important for early diagnostic and prevention from this cancer. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of some factors such as Thr241Met polymorphism on GC occurrence in Ir...

A better understanding of cancer stem cells (CSCs) may facilitate the prevention and treatment of cancers. Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process activated during invasion and metastasis of tumors. EMT induction in normal and tumor cells makes them more resistant to chemotherapy. E‐cadherin is a membrane protein and plays a role in tu...

Bone is known as the most prevalent, metastatic site of breast cancer; however, it's mechanism details are unknown, so developing a suitable scaffold for bone defect regeneration and sustain drug release after tumor resection can considerably inhibit the tumor recurrence after a while. Here, synthesized gelatin/beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) nan...

Objective: Mycoplasmas are major contaminants of cell culture and affect in vitro biological and diagnostic tests. Mycoplasma detection is conducted using culture and molecular methods. These methods vary in terms of accuracy, reliably and sensitivity. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is used to amplify target DNA in a highly specific...

Background: Numerous studies have inclined the upstanding role of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in management of cancer, particularly the ones in association with primary tumor metastases. Objective: The overall aim of the present study was to investigate whether CTCs may serve as a clinical prognostic marker for survival in primary breast cance...

We present a highly sensitive and selective nano-biosensor for rapid, stable and highly reproducible detection of ascorbic acid (AA) in the presence of dopamine, uric acid and other interferences by a three-layer sandwich arrangement of nitrogen-doped functionalized graphene (NFG), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and nanostructured polyaniline (PANI)...

The spectrum of of BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic sequence variants in Middle Eastern, North African, and South European countries

It is now fully recognized that along with multiple physiological functions, angiogenesis is also involved in the fundamental process and pathobiology of several disorders including cancer. Recent studies have fully established the role of angiogenesis in cancer progression as well as invasion and metastasis. Consequently, many therapeutic agents s...

Recent studies have proven several promising anticancer activities for cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) against a wide range of cancer cells in vitro. Recently, media treated with CAP have also found to effectively eradicate cancer cells similar to the CAP. Based on advantages, many researchers prefer to apply CAP‐activated media (PAM) as an alternati...

Although anti-angiogenic agents targeting VEGF have shown affordable beneficial outcomes in several human cancer types, in most pre-clinical and clinical studies, these effects are transient and followed by rapid relapse and tumor regrowth. Recently, it has been suggested that recruited bone marrow derived cells (BMDCs) to the tumor-microenvironmen...

Tumor spheroids formation in microwell arrays is a promising approach for high-throughput screening of chemotherapeutic agents. This method offers the advantage of better mimicking the complexities of tumors as compared to conventional monolayer culture systems. However, using these technologies to their full potential is hindered by the inability...

Antibody-toxin fused agents or immunotoxins, are a newly engineered class of cytotoxic agents consisting of a bacterial or plant toxin moiety hooked up either to a monoclonal antibody or a specific growth factor. Nevertheless, acquiring a full potency in clinic is mostly restricted due to the Capillary leak syndrome (CLS), a serious immune provoked...

Background: Certain molecular deviations can lead to the development of breast cancer. For instance, estrogen and estrogen receptors play a significant role in inducing tumor proliferation. However, the efficacy of endocrine therapy through the administration of anti-estrogen drugs, such as Tamoxifen, is challenged by acquired resistance. Methods...

Sarcomas are known as a heterogeneous class of cancers arisen in the connective tissues and demonstrated various histological subtypes including both soft tissue and bone origin. Chondrosarcoma is one of the main types of bone sarcoma that shows a considerable deficiency in response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While conventional treatment bas...