In certain environments such as Iran highlands, major innovations in lifestyle, as the emergence of agriculture and domestication of animals, are thought to have led to population expansions. Historical studies showed that at some point in history (from the third to the first millennium BC) dramatic changes have been taken place on the Iranian plateau. To trace the genetic affinity between the Iranian Azeris and neighboring populations, 297 samples were collected from northwest of Iran. The non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome (NRY) was genotyped at the unique event polymorphism (UEP) levels, using 48 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, based on the human NRY tree. According to our results, like other Iranian ethnic groups, Iranian Azeris showed a heterogeneous paternal genetic structure. Low genetic distances were also found between Iranian Azeris and their contemporary geographical neighbors. They also have preserved minor share of Y-haplogroup of central Asian ancestry tracts in their genomes, which is in agreement with the historical period of major Turkic migrations. The strategic feature for northwest of Iran to transfer and carry important ancient migratory events and gene flow across the Asia and the Europe also conducive conditions for sedentary habitation leading to sharp demographic growth in the area is supported by all molecular and statistical analysis of this study.

Glaucoma remains one of the major causes of blindness in today's world. The progressive field of stem cell proposes an exciting potential for discovering novel therapies. Here, we report the development of an easy and high throughput method for differentiation of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and bipolar cells from human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) using PAX6 (+5a) gene expression, a master gene in development of the vertebrate visual system. HADSCs was isolated from fat tissues and confirmed by their surface markers and differentiation potential into adipocytes and osteocytes lineages. Then, the coding region of human PAX6 (+5a) gene was cloned and lentiviral particles were produced. HADSCs differentiation was characterized by morphological characteristics, qRT-PCR and immunocytochemistry (ICC). The hADSCs were isolated successfully with high yield and purity (99%). After 30 hours post transduction by pLEX-pax6- pur lentiviral vectors in fibronectin supplemented medium, cells gradually showed the characteristic morphology of neuronal cells. QRT- PCR and ICC confirmed deriving of mainly RGC and marginally bipolar cells. The current investigation demonstrates the feasibility of differentiation of RGCs and bipolar cells from hADSCs using expression of PAX6 (+5a) in the medium supplemented by fibronectin.

As a case study, the genotypic polymorphism of the Iranian material of diploid Triticum was screened based on internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) using single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. This is a simple and cost effective technique for genotyping and investigating the allelic polymorphism among plant populations. Performing SSCP analysis among 21 accessions, two distinctive migration profiles associated with the two validly recognized diploid Triticum species i.e., T. monococcum subsp. aegilopoides and T. urartu were detected. Nucleotide sequencing confirmed the distinction of two types of observed profiles. This study suggested that SSCP is an applicable diagnostic molecular tool for screening the genotypic variability before the costly direct genomic sequencing is begun.

Journal of Cell and Molecular Research (JCMR) was first published in 2008 as the first journal in the field of cell and molecular biology research. The need for the establishment of JCMR was felt as a platform for the young cell and molecular biology researchers under the supervision of respective experts. JCMR was established to focus on almost all fields of cell and molecular research and some categorical publications were planned as focusing areas of modern and innovative research done by the young researchers. Genetics, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Cell Biology and Molecular Biology were remained the focusing areas of publications in the first five years of JCMR publications. The editorial board has proposed new strategies to increase the impact of the journal of cell and molecular research which include the focused publications and to fasten the peer-review processing of journal. Its indexing in international indexing databases like Scopus etc. will encourage the authors and editors as a milestone in the boosting of scientific quality data production.

Chromosome counting was performed in nine populations of Achillea tenuifolia Lam and eight populations of A. bieberestinii Afan (Asteraceae) collected from Hamedan and Kermanshah provinces in the west of Iran. Chromosome numbers in both species varied from 2n=2x=18 to 2n=4x=36. Some populations of both species showed (2n=4x=36) chromosome number that is the first report as polyploidy levels. Aneuploidy is also the first report for both species. Diploid and tetraploid individuals were observed in some populations at the same locality. B-chromosomes were observed in some populations of both species. The results indicated that polyploidy is a common future in this species similar to other Asteraceae plants.

Increasing incidence of central nervous system (CNS) disorders has become a major challenge for both basic and clinical scientific society to develop novel therapeutic models for treatment. The knowledge of stem cells has added a new dimension in the research towards finding more appropriate targets responsible for the disease fate determination. As stem cell research is progressing day by day in routine research laboratories there is great hope to find suitable therapeutic targets for complete cure of the CNS disorders. Discovery of ABC transporters in animal tissues has emerged as new spot for several disease prognosis and therapeutic target. ABC transporters are membrane proteins expressed in various organs like liver, kidney, blood-brain barrier, blood-testis barrier etc. It is involved in various important cellular processes such as absorption, distribution and excretion of drugs, xenobiotics and endogenous compounds showing their role in tissue defense and organ regeneration. The current review explains about the role of ABC transporters in CNS pathogenesis and defense adding stem cells therapeutic strategies.

The diploid number among Gekkonid lizards ranges from 2n=16 to 2n=46. The majority of geckos' chromosomes are small which makes the study of their chromosomes very difficult. For this reason, karyotype of Cyrtopodion caspium and some similar gecko are still not known. The close relatives of C. caspium have variation in the chromosomal number in their populations. So to find out possible variability among these populations in Iran. We described the karyotype of testis and bone marrow of 14 specimens of this species from seven provinces and 10 localities in north and north-eastern parts of Iran in 2011. They showed 2n=38 for all populations. There is not intraspecific chromosome polymorphism in Cyrtopodion caspium. The karyotype consists of one pair of metacentric element and 17 pairs of telocentric or subtelocentric elements and one pair of three arm chromosomes. The number of haploid chromosomes was 21 for three male specimens. The chromatid separation did not show heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Our results highlight the need for continued research into the basic biology and taxonomy of Cyrtopodion caspium in Iran.