Environmental and genetic factors play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) defined as the most common cancer of skin. Programmed death‐1 (PD‐1), encoded by programmed cell death‐1 (PDCD1) gene, serves as an inhibitory molecule in the suppression of immune responses and a risk factor in the development of different cancers. In this study, we investigated the role of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within PDCD1 gene, and haplotypes defined by these SNPs, in the development of BCC in an Iranian population. Whole blood samples were obtained from 210 BCC and 320 healthy subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples, polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) was used to genotype determinations of PD1.3 (rs11568821) and PD1.5 (rs2227981) SNPs, and 4 haplotypes were constructed by PDCD1 SNPs. The frequency of G allele of PD1.3 was significantly higher in BCC patients than healthy subjects (p < 0.02), while these significant differences were not observed in the frequencies of PD1.5 alleles between BCC and healthy subjects. Moreover, we found that there were no statistically significant differences in PD1.3 and PD1.5 genotypes between BCC and control groups. Of all estimated haplotypes for PDCD1, only AC haplotype was associated with BCC (OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.06–0.79, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that PD1.3G allele and AC haplotype of PDCD1 contribute to BCC in the Iranian population. However, further studies in different populations with larger sample size are required to confirm this study.

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Adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) are a subset of mesenchymal stem cells that their therapeutic effects in various diseases make them an interesting tool in cell therapy. In the current study, we aimed to overexpress interferon‐β (IFN‐β) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) cytokines in human ADSCs to evaluate the impact of this overexpression on human ADSCs properties. Here, we designed a construct containing IFN‐β and LIF and then, transduced human adipose‐derived stem cells (hADSCs) by this construct via a lentiviral vector (PCDH‐513B). We assessed the ability of long‐term expression of the transgene in transduced cells by western blot analysis and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay techniques on Days 15, 45, and 75 after transduction. For the evaluation of stem cell properties, flow cytometry and differentiation assays were performed. Finally, the MTT assay was done to assess the proliferation of transduced cells compares to controls. Our results showed high‐efficiency transduction with highest expression rates on Day 75 after transduction which were 70 pg/ml for IFN‐β and 77.9 pg/ml for LIF in comparison with 25.60 pg/ml and 27.63 pg/ml, respectively, in untransduced cells (p = .0001). Also, transduced cells expressed a high level of ADSCs surface markers and successfully differentiated into adipocytes, chondrocytes, neural cells, and osteocytes besides the preservation rate of proliferation near untreated cells (p = .88). All in all, we successfully constructed an hADSC population stably overexpressed IFN‐β and LIF cytokines. Considering the IFN‐β and LIF anti‐inflammatory and neuroprotective effects as well as immune‐regulatory properties of hADSCs, the obtained cells of this study could be subjected for further evaluations in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice model.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are a type of mesenchymal stem cells with the therapeutic effects that make them one of the best sources for cell therapy. In this study, we aimed to assess the ability of human ADSCs for constant expression of IL-11 and IL-13, simultaneously. In this study, the characterized hADSCs were transduced with a lentiviral vector (PCDH-513B) containing IL-11 and IL-13 genes, and the ability of long-term expression of the transgenes was evaluated by ELISA technique on days 15, 45 and 75 after transduction. Our results indicated a high rate of transduction (more than 90%) in the isolated hADSCs. Our data showed the highest rate of expression on days 75 after transduction which was 242.67 pg/ml for IL-11 and 303.6 pg/ml for IL-13 compared with 35.2 pg/ml and 35.6 pg/ml in untreated cells, respectively (p = 0.001). Besides, MTT assay showed transduction of hADSCs with lentiviral viruses containing IL-11 and IL-13 had no adverse effect on hADSCs proliferation (p-value = 0.89). Finally, we successfully constructed a hADSC population stably overexpressing IL-11 as the neurotrophic cytokine and IL-13 as the anti-inflammatory cytokine and this transduced cells can be used for further studies in EAE mice model.

Celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory disorder of the small intestine. It consists of aberrant acquired immunity with presentation of CD toxic gluten peptides by HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 molecules to gluten-sensitive T cells. There is an increased prevalence of autoimmune diseases among celiac patients.