Investigating Novel Methods to Reduce Cholesterol Levels
An increase in blood cholesterol contributes to cardiovascular diseases, the number one cause of death worldwide. Statins are currently the most effective in reducing cholesterol levels and treating patients with high cholesterol. However, these pharmaceutical agents have been shown to cause several side effects, prompting the need for a more natural solution to increasing cholesterol levels. Hence, a study was conducted to investigate the ability of lactic acid bacteria in the removal of cholesterol, explore the mechanism for the removal of cholesterol by lactic acid bacteria, and examine the effectiveness of kidney beans and sunflower seeds in inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Results showed that Lactobacillus plantarum was the most effective in reducing cholesterol levels and that the mechanism for cholesterol removal included both the binding to cell wall and active uptake into cells. Sunflower seeds and kidney beans were also shown to be effective in inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, with sunflower seeds having 100% inhibition of the enzyme, similar to pravastatin, a commercial cholesterol reducing drug, and kidney beans having comparable percentage inhibition of the enzyme compared to pravastatin.
FAT10 Haplotypes as a Potential Biomarker for Cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death today[1], accounting for nearly 1 in 6 deaths worldwide. Despite this, diagnosis and treatment models for cancer are limited and as such, new methods to identify and treat susceptible patients are required urgently. HLAF- adjacent transcript 10 (FAT10) is an oncogene that is strongly implicated in the development of inflammation-associated cancers[2]. Previous research on this highly polymorphic gene has identified 2 haplotypes – the reference haplotype, which is found in both cancer patients and healthy individuals, as well as an additional haplotype that is occurs at higher frequency in cancer patients and is associated with higher odds of cancer. In this study, it was hypothesised that the cancer-associated FAT10 haplotype can better promote tumorigenicity and could thereby serve as a useful biomarker for cancer. Here, we functionally characterize the 2 FAT10 haplotypes to understand how they influence some of the hallmarks of cancer. The cancer-exclusive haplotype was observed to enhance hallmarks of cancer, namely uncontrolled cell growth, resisting cell death and anchorage-independent growth as compared to the reference haplotype. Moreover, we uncovered the differential gene expression patterns induced by each haplotype. Molecules involved in cell adhesion and proliferation, as well as transcription were upregulated by the cancer-associated haplotype and hence could have contributed to the increased tumourigenic potential of the cancer haplotype.