Biography:

Annele Sainio obtained her Master of Science Degree in Genetics in the Department of Biology at the University of Turku (Finland), and defended her thesis “The role of extracellular matrix macromolecules in cancer and diabetic macroangiopathy - with special reference to decorin and hyaluronan” in the spring 2016 respectively. Currently, she works as a Postdoc in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Genetics at the same university. Her research is focused on specific extracellular matrix macromolecules, particularly proteoglycans and hyaluronan in various disease processes such as tumorigenesis. She has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Decorin is a central extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycan known for its oncosuppressive activity. In various types of cancer, including breast cancer, decorin´s expression in the tumor microenvironment has been reported to be markedly decreased. Furthermore, its reduced expression has been shown to be associated with poorer outcome in invasive breast cancer. Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare subtype of invasive breast cancer and has poor prognosis. In general, cancers are heterogeneous cellular masses comprised of different cell types and their ECM. However, in MBC little is known about the composition of ECM and its constituents. The aim of our study is to explore decorin immunoreactivity and the effect of adenoviral decorin cDNA (Ad-DCN) transduction in MBC. Methods included multiple immunohistochemical stainings to characterize the massive breast tumour. To explore the effect of Ad-DCN transduction on the tumor tissue, three-dimensional (3D) explant cultures derived from the tumour are transduced with the modified adenovirus. The immunohistochemistry results showed that MBC tumour was completely negative for decorin demonstrating that the malignant cells were not able to synthesize decorin. Furthermore, Ad-DCN transduction resulted in a markedly inhibited cell proliferation and altered cytological phenotype of MBC explants by decreasing the amount of atypical cells. The results of our study favor the development of novel adjuvant therapies based on decorin. Noteworthy is also the idea of “normalization of the tumour microenvironment” whereby decorin in its part could orchestrate cancer cells towards a less malignant phenotype.

Biography:

Annele Sainio obtained her Master of Science Degree in Genetics in the Department of Biology at the University of Turku (Finland), and defended her thesis “The role of extracellular matrix macromolecules in cancer and diabetic macroangiopathy - with special reference to decorin and hyaluronan” in the spring 2016 respectively. Currently, she works as a Postdoc in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Genetics at the same university. Her research is focused on specific extracellular matrix macromolecules, particularly proteoglycans and hyaluronan in various disease processes such as tumorigenesis. She has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Decorin is a central extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycan known for its oncosuppressive activity. In various types of cancer, including breast cancer, decorin´s expression in the tumor microenvironment has been reported to be markedly decreased. Furthermore, its reduced expression has been shown to be associated with poorer outcome in invasive breast cancer. Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare subtype of invasive breast cancer and has poor prognosis. In general, cancers are heterogeneous cellular masses comprised of different cell types and their ECM. However, in MBC little is known about the composition of ECM and its constituents. The aim of our study is to explore decorin immunoreactivity and the effect of adenoviral decorin cDNA (Ad-DCN) transduction in MBC. Methods included multiple immunohistochemical stainings to characterize the massive breast tumour. To explore the effect of Ad-DCN transduction on the tumor tissue, three-dimensional (3D) explant cultures derived from the tumour are transduced with the modified adenovirus. The immunohistochemistry results showed that MBC tumour was completely negative for decorin demonstrating that the malignant cells were not able to synthesize decorin. Furthermore, Ad-DCN transduction resulted in a markedly inhibited cell proliferation and altered cytological phenotype of MBC explants by decreasing the amount of atypical cells. The results of our study favor the development of novel adjuvant therapies based on decorin. Noteworthy is also the idea of “normalization of the tumour microenvironment” whereby decorin in its part could orchestrate cancer cells towards a less malignant phenotype.

Biography:

Marion Champeaud graduated with a Bachelor of Biology five years ago, a Master’s degree in Agro-Industry three years ago from Bordeaux University in France and she is currently doing a PhD in partnership between a biotechnology company Fermentalg and Poitiers University in France (UMR CNRS 7267). Her research studies in engineering process and microalgae culture area resulted in 2 patents-pending and 2 publications in progress.

Abstract:

Utilization of whey or whey permeate is one of major concerns of the dairy industry nowadays, especially the acid whey, which mostly remains untreated prior to disposal. In 2010, 734 million tons of milk, and 160 - 180 million tons of whey per year were produced worldwide (Guimaraes et al., 2010). In 2014, milk production was higher than 800 million tons and is constantly increasing over the years. Despite the different strategies considered by the industrials to valorize whey: lactose crystallization, food applications in bakery products, dry mixes, snack, and milk replacer, alcoholic fermentation, or biogas conversion, only 50 % of this whey is processed (Mollea et al., 2013 ; Siso1996). A new industrial fermentation model was developed by Fermentalg to valorize these dairy by-products to obtain added-value bio-products at the same time. During this process, the microalgae Galdieria sulphuraria is able to consume 100% lactose, 98% of lactate and 79 % of the citrate present in whey permeate. The biomass production depends on by-product lactose concentration and range from 30 to more than 110 g/l of dry matter. In addition to direct bio-remediation of industrial dairy waste, the algae biomass produced show a real nutritional interest due to its high protein content (> 50 %) and is naturally rich in essential amino acid. Thanks to its own bioreactor enlightenment system Fermentalg is able to enhance phycocyanin production without modifying the overall protein content of the biomass.

Biography:

Gisele Monteiro has completed her PhD at the University of São Paulo in Molecular Biology. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF/USP) and the Vice-Coordinator of the Graduate Course in Biochemical-Pharmaceutical Technology. She has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Associate Editor of Brazilian Journal of Microbiology. She received 10 scientific awards, national and international. Her main scientific interest is the study of antitumor drugs and the engineering of proteins used as biopharmaceuticals, such as asparaginase.

Abstract:

Asparaginase (ASNase), an enzyme biotechnologically produced by bacteria, is one of the most important compounds in polychemotherapy to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children. There are only three options available as medicine: native enzyme from Erwinia chrysanthemi (ErA) or extracted from Escherichia coli (EcA) and formulated as native or PEGylated (PEG-EcA). However, these options yet present some problems in patients, such as to elicit hypersensitivity and allergenic reactions, neurotoxicity, and hyperammonemia. Aiming to avoid some of these problems, our research group has developed several different mutant proteoforms, expressed in bacteria and yeast, in periplasmic or secreted to extracellular space; with improvement in specific activity, kinetic parameters and stability; different oligomerization states, glycosylated or not, through engineering of genes from E. coli, E. chrysanthemi and S. cerevisiae. We obtained mutants from E. coli ASNase more resistant to human proteases and less immunogenic. In relation to E. chrysanthemi enzyme, our mutants present higher asparaginase activity than the native form, with improved k_cat. In addition, we obtained strains of Pichia pastoris that express glycosylated ASNases from bacteria. Last but noteworthy, we obtained P. pastoris and E. coli strains that express active ASNases from S. cerevisiae, an eukaryotic promising options to replace bacterial formulations.

Biography:

Klaus Pors is an Associate Professor of Chemical Biology at The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, University of Bradford, UK. His research group is involved with discovery of novel biological and chemical tools to explore the importance of enzymes in different disease states. Particular focus is on exploiting abnormal cytochrome P450 (CYP), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) or aldo-keto reductase (AKR) expression in the tumour microenvironment as target for biomarker and drug discovery; he has published 35 papers on these topics. He is a RSC Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group committee member and the European Editor of Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment

Abstract:

The cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes belong to a superfamily of mixed function oxidases that are unique in their ability to oxidize xenobiotics, but under hypoxic conditions also can reduce certain chemical functionalities. There is now growing evidence that CYP1A1 and 2W1 are overexpressed in many human tumor types. The presence of certain CYPs may reflect a resistance mechanism by diminishing the pharmacological activity of anticancer drugs whilst specific CYPs can also modulate cell proliferation by the formation or conversion of endogenous signaling molecules. The potential for CYP-selective metabolism of xenobiotics coupled to their broad substrate specificity provides a unique opportunity to design drugs whose activity is dependent on a critical functional group that can be unmasked or restored by CYP metabolism selectively in tumor tissue. We have identified duocarmycin natural products which lend themselves to being great candidates for use in prodrug strategies. The electronic distribution and lipophilicity of the embedded chloromethylindoline trigger fragment is a key determinant in regioselective oxidation by specific CYP isoforms. We have synthesized and biologically evaluated several libraries of duocarmycins and have shown them to be bioactivated by CYP1A1 and 2W1 in cell-free and cell-based assays. At the meeting we will update on novel data from our drug discovery programme, which include single agent and combination treatment with standard of care drugs using colorectal cancer xenograft models.

Biography:

Abstract:

Global interest in biofuel production has increased to achieve sustainable energy production and reduce climatic change specially developing countries. The present study is pioneer resource assessment study in the Sudan and the Red Sea region. Its objectives are fourfold: to verify the existence in Sudanese’s Red Sea coast zone of microalgae species which are globally reported for their high biomass and biofuel production, to determine the potentially suitable sites for commercial production of microalgae, to estimate the biomass and befuel productivity and the amount of sequestered carbon. The study made use of Red Sea algal review to verify the existence of the required species. The Multi criteria analysis (MCA), as a GIS tool, was used for best site selection is used for industrial scale microalgae cultivation and biofuel production. Climate parameters, land use, landcover, slope and power plants as nutrients sources for CO₂ were considered. Theoretical calculations used for potential of biomass, lipids productivity and estimate of carbon fixation for study area based on sunlight and other climatic conditions of site selection assuming cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in open pond system. The results of suitability analysis determined the bare land out Portsudan city as suitable site for production with a total area estimated to be 19385 hectares. carbon fixation for Red Sea was (279.8 T /ha/ year), (72427.4L/ha/year) and (23.3 gco2/m/d), respectively, this figure more suitable in compression with other in tropical sites such as India, Ethiopia and Australia. However,  According to economic and environmental benefits, the study will provide a base to support decision-makers to establish generic strategy to enhance renewable energy sector to meet the SDGS.

Biography:

Sara Mohseni has completed her PhD in Nanotechnology at Tarbiat Modares University. She is a Researcher at Niroo Research Institute. She has published about 40 papers in international journals and conferences and one book entitled “Laboratory Biochemistry: Modern Theory and Techniques”. She is now working as a Project Manager in Niroo Research Institute related to Biotechnology and Nanotechnology.

Abstract:

Hazardous materials from industries such as heavy metals, pollutants and pathogens to the environment pollute the environment and endanger human health. To identify these pollutants, analytical equipment including UV-visible spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry can be used. Different contaminants have challenged the usual analytical methods. Therefore, the use of a powerful and reliable tool for detecting pollutants is very important. Industrial pollutants can be identified with high precision using nanotechnology in optical sensors especially in power plants. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as an optical sensor is a powerful technique that detects any changes in dielectric-metal interference with high sensitivity on a chip with a nanostructured surface. Principal advantages of SPR compared to other techniques are: direct real time measurement of the interaction among label-free molecules, determination of the association and dissociation rates of the binding process and small amount of sample used in assay. Recently, using semiconductor metal oxides (SMO) as gas sensors has been widely considered in optical techniques such as SPR. Metallic oxides exhibit the surface plasmon emission properties at the interface between the dielectric and the SMO surface. Some metal oxides such as: ZnO, SnO₂ and In₂O₃ are used to identify pollutant gases, including CO, CO₂, H₂S, NO₂ and SO₂. Metal oxide thin films have been deposited on Au coated glass prisms. The SPR reflectance curves were obtained under transient mode by varying the concentration of the target gas.

Biography:

Raina Ijaz is working as an Assistant Professor at University of Poonch Faculty of Agriculture, Rawalakot (Azad Kashmir), and focusing on the fate of biotechnology in the horticultural plant vegetable science. She moved to Wuhan, China by the Scholarship Council (CSC) and finished her PhD under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Ye zhibiao at Huazhong Agricultural University in 2017. She has published five research publications in various well reputed scientific impact factor journals. She has participated in many national and international conferences, seminars and presented her research achievements. She is also serving as reviewer/referee for many national and internationals journals.

Abstract:

Drought and high salinity are two major abiotic stresses that affect the agricultural crops worldwide. Annexins belongs to a multigene protein family that play an essential role in plant stress responses and various cellular processes. Here, AnnSp2 gene was cloned from wild tomato (Solanum pennelli) and functionally characterized in cultivated tomato. AnnSp2 was found to be induced after exposure to drought, salt, H₂O₂ and ABA. Tomato plants overexpressing AnnSp2 remarkably increased plant tolerance to drought and salt stress, as determined through physiological analysis of the germination rate, root growth, survival rate, leaf water loss and Chl content. AnnSp2 transgenic plants were observed to be less sensitive to ABA during seed germination and seedling stages. However, under drought stress the ABA content significantly increased in the AnnSp2 over expressing plants, reduced water loss, attributed to the enhancement of stress tolerance. Furthermore, we found that AnnSl2 reduced sensitivity of plants to drought by influencing ABA induced stomatal movement and expression of ABA inducible genes, including AREB, DREB, NCED, ERD were clearly up regulated under drought and salt stress conditions. Consistent with the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lower lipid peroxidation level, increased peroxidase activities including APX, CAT and SOD all of which contributed to increased tolerance to oxidative stress compared with wild-type plants. These results therefore indicate that AnnSp2 play an important role in the abiotic stress response and that overexpression of AnnSp2 in transgenic tomato improves salt and drought tolerance through ABA signalling and the regulation of ROS production in plants.

Biography:

Klaus Pors is an Associate Professor of Chemical Biology at The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, University of Bradford, UK. His research group is involved with discovery of novel biological and chemical tools to explore the importance of enzymes in different disease states. Particular focus is on exploiting abnormal cytochrome P450 (CYP), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) or aldo-keto reductase (AKR) expression in the tumour microenvironment as target for biomarker and drug discovery; he has published 35 papers on these topics. He is a RSC Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group committee member and the European Editor of Journal of Cancer Metastasis and Treatment.

Abstract:

The human aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) play a major role in detoxifying highly reactive aldehydes into carboxylic acids. Deregulation of ALDHs have implications in a number of cancers. They play an important role as a cancer stem cell (CSC) marker due to high activity found in CSCs while high expression is also known to lead to resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Although the exact role of ALDH is not fully understood, emerging information indicates several isoforms from the ALDH1 family, ALDH3A1 and ALDH7A1 play key roles in many cancer types. To probe the role of ALDH functional activity, at this meeting we will present new data on small molecules that inhibits ALDH functional activity using cell free and cell-based assays; diethylbenzaldehyde (DEAB) was used as a control for inhibition while Aldefluor assay was used as an assay to demonstrate functional activity. Furthermore, our investigations in prostate cancer revealed that several ALDH-affinic probe compounds were able to reduce cell viability in both drug-resistant PC3 prostate cancer cells and patient-derived samples while synergistic effect was observed in combination treatment with docetaxel. Our early drug discovery approach will be presented at the meeting and include drug design to target ALDH7A1, an enzyme that is linked with oxidative stress, lysine metabolism and several diseases including cancer.