Colorectal cancer is a life-threatening and therapeutically challenging disease. Increasingly it is being deciphered that genetic and epigenetic mutations play a central role in cancer onset and progression. Excitingly, discovery of non-coding RNAs is considered to be a milestone in molecular oncology and emerging evidence is deepening our understanding about pivotal role of miRNAs in carcinogenesis. miR-143 has been experimentally verified to play an instrumental role as tumor suppressor. Recent studies suggest that single nucleotide polymorphisms rs41291957 and rs353292 in miR-143 may associate with the progression and or development of colorectal cancer. In present study 400 Pakistani subjects participated including 200 colorectal cancer patients and 200 age and gender matched healthy individuals. Blood samples and clinical information of the confirmed patients was collected from cancer diagnosis and treatment hospitals in Pakistan. The polymorphisms rs41291957 and rs353292 were genotyped in patients and controls by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and results were validated by Sanger sequencing. The association of the SNPs within the study group was analyzed by χ² test with p value < 0.05 as significant. Odds ratio was calculated with 95% confidence interval.Genetic predisposition to cancer was observed in presence of characteristic rs45291957 polymorphism. χ² test results show strongly significant association mi-RNA rs45291957 SNP with colorectal cancer p value 0.0111 (<0.05) along with the statistically significant correlation tested by odds ratio with 95% confidence interval. However, no significant correlation (p value 0.6683) could be found for the association of rs353292 with colorectal cancer in Pakistani population. The present study for the first time gave evidence of miR-143 rs41291957 involvement in colorectal cancer patients of Pakistani population. This target can be a useful molecular tool for the prognosis and treatment targets for colorectal cancer in Pakistani population.rs353292 genetic association can be explored for different cancers in Pakistan to completely rule out its role in cancer.

Ras-associated binding (Rab) GTPases control diverse stages of endo and exocytic pathways. Functional impairments of Rabs and its associated proteins have been implicated in many hereditary and neurological diseases. Although Rabs are not classically considered as oncoproteins, many Rabs have been involved in tumor progression/proliferation and its aggressiveness. Rabs contribute to tumor cell migration, invasion of cancer cell to extracellular matrix (ECM) and modification of tumor microenvironment through modulation in integrin trafficking, exosomal and protease secretions. In the present review, current knowledge about the pathogenesis and tumor progression of some Rabs (Rab27, 25 & 21) has been discussed.

Living in an era of industrialization, there is an utmost need to replace chemical catalysts with biocatalysts owing their cost effectiveness, milder reaction conditions, eco-friendly nature and specificity. α-amylase is one of the  top commercial enzymes of industrial importance. It hydrolyzes internal α (1, 4) glycosidic linkages in polysaccharides and yields oligosaccharides of varying length. The aim of present study was to clone and express α-amylase from a novel specie Enterobacter xiangfangensis. Amplified product was cloned by A and T overhangs and transformed into cloning host; E. coli DH5α cells. Gene encoding α-amylase (1488bp) was sequenced to confirm the adequate amplification, digested with BamH1 and Xho1, cloned into expression vector; pET28b (+) and transformed into expression host; E. coli strain BL21 CodonPlus (DE3) cells.             The expression of α-amylase was induced by IPTG and optimized with varying IPTG concentrations and its induction intervals. The maximum expression was observed after 8 hours of 1mM IPTG induction. The results showed that α-amylase from novel specie, Enterobacter xiangfangensis has a potential to expresses itself in heterologous expression system so this recombinant α-amylase is ray of hope for enormous downstream applications.

Recurrent Laryngeal papillomatosis (RLP) is a disease of the aero-digestive junction superimposed at the upper respiratory tract. Low risk human papillomavirus type 6 and 11 are infectious agents in RLP. Mainstay of treatment for RLP is CO2 laser vaporization for debulking of papilloma. Understanding of the gene changes at expression level might prove helpful for RLP management. The study was designed to evaluate the changes in tumorigenesis genes in RLP cases to mark the severity and aggression at gene expression level for disease management. Tissue samples and peripheral blood samples were acquired from clinically diagnosed RLP patients of age < 12 years undergoing CO2 laser vaporization. Control samples were taken from the normal thyroid tissue of individuals undergoing thyroidectomy. Relative quantitation of gene expression was done by real time polymerase reaction using cDNA samples. Up regulation of CXCL12/ CXCR4 signaling axis, parallel increase in GLUT-1 and over expression of IGF-I, EGFR and ER-α gene product was observed in RLP. On the other hand HIF-1a levels not discerned elevated along with VEGF, PIK3 and AKT gene expression profile. The expression analysis has provoked the possible strategies which can be planned to treat RLP by adjuvant and tailored medication to reduce multiple surgeries.