MicroRNAs are small noncoding transcripts that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression via base-pairing complementarity. Their role in cancer can be related to tumor suppression or oncogenic function. Moreover, they have been linked to processes recognized as hallmarks of cancer, such as apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, and proliferation. Particularly, one of the first oncomiRs found upregulated in a variety of cancers, such as gliomas, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer, was microRNA-21 (miR-21). Some of its target genes associated with cancer are PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog), PDCD4 (programmed cell death protein 4), RECK (reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs), and STAT3 (signal transducer activator of transcription 3). As a result, miR-21 has been proposed as a plausible diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, as well as a therapeutic target for several types of cancer. Currently, research and clinical trials to inhibit miR-21 through anti-miR-21 oligonucleotides and ADM-21 are being conducted. As all of the evidence suggests, miR-21 is involved in carcinogenic processes; therefore, inhibiting it could have effects on more than one type of cancer. However, whether miR-21 can be used as a tissue-specific biomarker should be analyzed with caution. Consequently, the purpose of this review is to outline the available information and recent advances regarding miR-21 as a potential biomarker in the clinical setting and as a therapeutic target in cancer to highlight its importance in the era of precision medicine. Hammerhead ribozyme-based aptazyme (HHAz), inheriting the advantages of small size and high efficiency from the RNA-cleaving ribozyme and the specific recognition ability of aptamers to specific targets, exhibits the huge potential to be a transgene expression regulator. Herein, we report a selection strategy for HHAz by using a toxin protein IbsC as the reporter to offer a positive phenotype, thus realizing an easy-operating, time- and labor-saving selection of HHAz variants with desired properties. Based on this strategy, we obtained a new HHAz (TAP-1), which could react sensitively toward the extracellular regulatory molecule, theophylline, both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. With fluorescent protein reporter, the intracellular switching efficiencies of TAP-1 and other reported theophylline-dependent HHAzs has been quantitatively evaluated, showing that TAP-1 not only exhibits the best downregulating ability at high concentration of theophylline but also maintains high activity with 0.1 mM theophylline, which is a safe concentration in the human body. The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first detected in December 2019 and became epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. COVID-19 has been rapidly spreading out in China and all over the world. The virus causing COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 has been known to be genetically similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) but distinct from it. Clinical manifestation of COVID-19 can be characterized by mild upper respiratory tract infection, lower respiratory tract infection involving non-life threatening pneumonia, and life-threatening pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome. It affects all age groups, including newborns, to the elders. Particularly, pregnant women may be more susceptible to COVID-19 since pregnant women, in general, are vulnerable to respiratory infection. In pregnant women with COVID-19, there is no evidence for vertical transmission of the virus, but an increased prevalence of preterm deliveries has been noticed. The COVID-19 may alter immune responses at the maternal-fetal interface, and affect the well-being of mothers and infants. In this review, we focused on the reason why pregnant women are more susceptible to COVID-19 and the potential maternal and fetal complications from an immunological viewpoint. AIM AND PURPOSE The higher prevalence rate of different diseases may accentuate the possible alteration of the immune system in individuals conceived through the assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The present study was conducted to evaluate the TH1, TH2, TH17 balance in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) - conceived mice in comparison to naturally conceived offspring. METHODS Mice (6-8 weeks) were divided into three groups (IVF- conceived, ICSI- conceived and naturally conceived). They were subjected to subcutaneous immunization witMycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The blood samples were taken and the sera were separated. Then the spleens were surgically removed at the time the mice were sacrificed. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-17A and IL-4 were detected by ELISA. Then the proportion of TCD4 cells possessing the T-bet+, GATA3+, and ROR-γt + were measured using FACS caliber flow cytometer. RESULTS In comparison with naturally conceived mice, intracellular expression of T-bet and serum levels of IFN-γ were significantly decreased in ART- conceived mice. Moreover, ART- conceived offspring showed marked increase in IL-4 and IL-17A. CONCLUSION It is concluded that compared to naturally conceived male mice, ART- conceived counterparts exhibit less efficient immune responses against BCG through further promotion of humoral and inflammatory related immune response characteristics. V.Human blood traces are amongst the most commonly encountered biological stains collected at crime scenes. Identifying the body site of origin of a forensic blood trace can provide crucial information in many cases, such as in sexual and violent assaults. However, means for reliably and accurately identifying from which body site a forensic blood trace originated are missing, but would be highly valuable in crime scene investigations. With this study, we introduce a taxonomy-independent deep neural network approach based on massively parallel microbiome sequencing, which delivers accurate body site of origin classification of forensically-relevant blood samples, such as menstrual, nasal, fingerprick, and venous blood.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/nvp-bgt226.html  A total of 50 deep neural networks were trained using a large 16S rRNA gene sequencing dataset from 773 reference samples, including 220 female urogenital tract, 190 nasal cavity, 213 skin, and 150 venous blood samples. Validation was performed with de-novo generated 16S rRNA gene massively parallel sequencing (MPS) data from 94 blood test samples of four different body sites, and achieved high classification accuracy with AUC values at 0.