Despite the association of several miRNAs with bladder cancer, little is known about the miRNAs' regulatory networks. In this study, we aimed to construct potential networks of bladder-cancer-related miRNAs and their known target genes using miRNA expression profiling and bioinformatics tools and to investigate potential key molecules that might play roles in bladder cancer regulatory networks. Global miRNA expression profiles were obtained using microarray followed by RT-qPCR validation using two randomly selected miRNAs. Known targets of deregulated miRNAs were utilized using DIANA-TarBase database v6.0. The incorporation of deregulated miRNAs and target genes into KEGG pathways were utilized using DIANA-mirPath software. To construct potential miRNA regulatory networks, the overlapping parts of three selected KEGG pathways were visualized by Cytoscape software. We finally gained 19 deregulated miRNAs, including 5 ups- and 14 down regulated in 27 bladder-cancer tissue samples and 8 normal urothelial tissue samples. The enrichment results of deregulated miRNAs and known target genes showed that most pathways were related to cancer or cell signaling pathways. We determined the hub CDK6, BCL2, E2F3, PTEN, MYC, RB, and ERBB3 target genes and hub hsa-let-7c, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-26a-5p, hsa-miR-23b-3p, and hsa-miR-125b-5p miRNAs of the constructed networks. These findings provide new insights into the bladder cancer regulatory networks and give us a hypothesis that hsa-let-7c, hsa-miR-195-5p, and hsa-miR-125b-5p, along with CDK4 and CDK6 genes might exist in the same bladder cancer pathway. Particularly, hub miRNAs and genes might be potential biomarkers for bladder cancer clinics.

Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in men and is a major health problem worldwide. Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays an important role for folate metabolism and is also an important source for DNA methylation and DNA synthesis (nucleotide synthesis). The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the A1298C and C677T polymorphisms of the MTHFR gene and prostate cancer in the Turkish population. In our study, 93 prostate cancer patients between the ages of 50-89 and a control group of 166 benign prostate hyperplasia patients were evaluated. C677T and A1298C polymorphism ratios were compared among these two groups, and an analysis was made to see if there is a statistically meaningful difference. In this study, it has been observed that C677T polymorphism of the MTHFR gene produces no statistically significant difference for T allele frequency and the genotype frequency in prostate cancer patients and male controls with benign prostate hyperplasia not having prostate cancer, whereas it has been observed that A1298C polymorphism produces a statistically significant difference for C allele frequency in prostate cancer patients and controls and that it also produces a statistically marginal significance for genotype frequencies.

Introduction: Nonsyndromic cleft palate is a common birth defect (1:700) with a complex etiology involving both genetic and environmental risk factors. Nicotine, a major teratogen present in tobacco products, was shown to cause alterations and delays in the developing fetus. Methods: To demonstrate the postpartum effects of nicotine on palatal development, we delivered three different doses of nicotine (1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 mg/kg/d) and sterile saline (control) into pregnant BALB/c mice throughout their entire pregnancy using subcutaneous micro-osmotic pump. Dams were allowed to deliver (~day 21 of pregnancy) and neonatal assessments (weight, length, nicotine levels) were conducted, and palatal tissues were harvested for morphological and molecular analyses, as well as transcriptional profiling using microarrays. Results: Consistent administration of nicotine caused developmental retardation, still birth, low birth weight, and significant palatal size and shape abnormality and persistent midline epithelial seam in the pups. Through microarray analysis, we detected that 6232 genes were up-regulated and 6310 genes were down-regulated in nicotine-treated groups compared to the control. Moreover, 46% of the cleft palate-causing genes were found to be affected by nicotine exposure. Alterations of a subset of differentially expressed genes were illustrated with hierarchal clustering and a series of formal pathway analyses were performed using the bioinformatics tools. Conclusions: We concluded that nicotine exposure during pregnancy interferes with normal growth and development of the fetus, as well results in persistent midline epithelial seam with type B and C patterns of palatal fusion. Implications: Although there are several studies analyzing the genetic and environmental causes of palatal deformities, this study primarily shows the morphological and large-scale genomic outcomes of gestational nicotine exposure in neonatal mice palate.

Forensic geneticists often use short tandem repeats (STRs) to solve cases. However, STRs can be insufficient when DNA samples are degraded due to environmental exposure and mass disasters, alleged and real relatives are genetically related in paternity or kinship analyses, or a suspect is lacking. In such cases, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can provide valuable information and thus should be seriously considered as a tool to help resolve challenging cases. In this review, the current status of SNP analyses in forensic applications and the comparative advantages and disadvantages of SNPs with other biomarkers are discussed.