Cell-based therapeutics are among the latest advances in health care technologies. The rapid evolution of stem cell science in Iran has necessitated the application of scientific achievements in clinical settings. However, various issues hindered their translation, in particular, impediments in the interactions of basic stem cell scientists and clinicians. We highlighted the impediments in the interactions of stem cell scientists and physicians involved in the opinion of professionals from both groups.This qualitative research was conducted with thematic analysis, performed by purposive sampling. Thirty-two distinguished stem cell scientists and clinicians were interviewed to identify their perspectives on this matter. MAXQDA 2018 was used to classify the axial codes based on factors related to communications inefficiencies. The analysis of coded data recognized 18 subthemes and six major themes.Central themes include different registers of the two parties, counterproductive clusters hampered networking, external communication barriers, the competition to access resources, leadership conflicts, and the dissatisfaction of stakeholders with their share.Most of the impediments were seemingly global, for example, the incoherent medical and basic science educational systems, the vulnerable career path of physician-scientists, and an increasing tendency towards overspecialization. However, some local specific issues were also described, for example, limited funding opportunities and the negative impacts of the division of medical education from the ministry of science, research, and technology in Iran. Proposed interventions include the reinforcement of physician-scientist programs, designing a distributed leadership model, and bringing back the scientific integrity to higher education in Iran.
In Iran and the rest of the world, breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women. Familial history and age are significant risk factors for the development of this disease in Iran. Most hereditary BCs are associated with inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Some recent studies demonstrated that BRCA1 mutations are seen in high-risk women with family histories of BC. In this report we investigated all BRCA1 exons from 40 female patients with family histories of BC and one BC twin, and report a novel mutation in this gene in one patient. As controls, BRCA1 exons from 100 normal women and the BC-free twin of the BC twin were also examined for this mutation. None of the women in the normal group harbored the mutation. Whether this variation is specific for the Iranian population or for special subgroups remains to be determined.
Introduction: A Polycomb group repressor protein named BMI1 represses the genes that induce cellular senescence and cell death, and it can contribute to cancer when improperly expressed. We aimed to evaluate expression of BMI1 gene in bladder tumors. Materials and Methods: Tissue specimens containing bladder tumor were evaluated and compared with intact tissues from tumor margins and normal bladders. There were 40 tumor specimens of patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, 20 tumor-free tissues taken from the margin of the tumors, and 8 specimens from patients without tumor. Specific primers for BMI1 and B2M (as an internal control) were used for reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction technique. The production and distribution of BMI1 protein was also examined by western blotting and immunohistochemistry techniques. Results: Polymerase chain reaction generated a 683-bp product, corresponding to the expected size of BMI1 amplified region. The identity of the amplified fragment was then confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. The mean of expression of BMI1 detected in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in intact tissues, and there was also a significant association between the mean of gene expression and the stage of malignancy ( P BMI1 at protein level was further confirmed by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: BMI1 is a potent repressor of retinoblastoma and p53 pathways, and hence, elucidating its role in tumorigenesis is very important. We reported for the first time the expression of BMI1 and its correlation with incidence and progress of bladder tumors.
'%3e%3cg id='e'%3e%3cg id='c' fill='none' stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='2'%3e%3cpath id='b' d='M0 1h26M1 10V5h8v4h8V5h-5M4 9h2m20 0h-5V5h8m0-5v9h8V0m-4 0v9' transform='scale(1.4)'/%3e%3cpath id='a' d='M0 7h9m1 0h9' transform='scale(2.8)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' y='120'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b' y='145.2'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg id='d'%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23c' x='56'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23c' x='112'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23c' x='168'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23d' x='168'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23e' x='392'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg fill='%23da0000' transform='matrix(45 0 0 45 315 180)'%3e%3cg id='f'%3e%3cpath d='M-.548.836A.912.912 0 0 0 .329-.722 1 1 0 0 1-.548.836'/%3e%3cpath d='M.618.661A.764.764 0 0 0 .422-.74 1 1 0 0 1 .618.661M0 1l-.05-1L0-.787a.31.31 0 0 0 .118.099V-.1l-.04.993zM-.02-.85 0-.831a.144.144 0 0 0 .252-.137A.136.136 0 0 1 0-.925'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23f' transform='scale(-1 1)'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
'%3e%3cpath fill='%23012169' d='M0 0v30h60V0z'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='6' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='4' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30' clip-path='url(%23b)'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='10' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='6' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)