Campsurus violaceus (Ephemeroptera, Polymitarcyidae) in a subtropical reservoir: control factors and relationship with the macroinvertebrate community

Campsurus violaceus is a benthic species that play an important role in sediment bioturbation processes. We explored aspects of its basic biology and life-cycle in a subtropical lake (Laguna del Sauce, Uruguay). We elucidated the habitat preference of C. violaceus and evaluated if might foster a more diverse and abundant macroinvertebrate community. The population of C. violaceus showed univoltine behavior with nymphs all year around. The spatial distribution of Campsurus in the system was related with various sediment attributes, particularly granulometry. A clear positive relationship between abundance of C. violaceus and the associated macroinvertebrate community was found. This association could not be explained by the availability of basal resources, nor sediment preferences, but direct or indirect biotic interactions appeared to be importan

CCL20/TNF/VEGFA Cytokine Secretory Phenotype of Tumor-Associated Macrophages Is a Negative Prognostic Factor in Cutaneous Melanoma

TAMs constitute a large fraction of infiltrating immune cells in melanoma tissues, but their significance for clinical outcomes remains unclear. We explored diverse TAM parameters in clinically relevant primary cutaneous melanoma samples, including density, location, size, and polarization marker expression; in addition, because cytokine production is a hallmark of macrophages function, we measured CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA intracellular cytokines by single-cell multiparametric confocal microscopy. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to analyze correlation with melanoma-specific disease-free survival and overall survival. No significant correlations with clinical parameters were observed for TAM density, morphology, or location. Significantly, higher contents of the intracellular cytokines CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA were quantified in TAMs infiltrating metastasizing compared to non-metastasizing skin primary melanomas (p < 0.001). To mechanistically explore cytokine up-regulation, we performed in vitro studies with melanoma-conditioned macrophages, using RNA-seq to explore involved pathways and specific inhibitors. We show that p53 and NF-κB coregulate CCL20, TNF, and VEGFA in melanoma-conditioned macrophages. These results delineate a clinically relevant pro-oncogenic cytokine profile of TAMs with prognostic significance in primary melanomas and point to the combined therapeutic targeting of NF-kB/p53 pathways to control the deviation of TAMs in melanoma