The role of IL-7 in the homeostasis of human naive and memory CD4+T cell subsets

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Biomédicas (Imunologia), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, 2011The main focus of this work is to study the homeostasis of human naive and memory CD4+ T cell subsets, particularly assessing the role of IL-7 in this process. For this purpose, we assessed the potentially distinct effects of IL-7 in the homeostasis of naive CD4+ T cell subsets defined by CD31 expression. We describe for the first time the preferential proliferation of the CD31+ subset within adult naive CD4+ T cells in response to IL-7 stimulation. Furthermore, we showed that IL-7-induced proliferation sustained or even increased the level of CD31 expression in CD31+ naive CD4+ T cells, although it did not induce CD31 re-expression in the CD31- subset. We also demonstrated that both IL-7- induced proliferation and CD31 maintenance were dependent on the PI3K pathway. Furthermore, we investigated the mechanisms involved in the restoration of T cell homeostasis following haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), particularly in the maintenance of the CD31+ naive CD4+ T cell pool. Our data suggest that long term immune reconstitution was successfully achieved in a cohort of haploidentical HSCT recipients, likely through a combination of thymus-dependent and - independent mechanisms which gave rise to balanced CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets and to a diverse T cell repertoire. Finally, we focused on memory CD4+ T cell homeostasis in order to clarify the impact of the increasing representation of CD45RA+CD27- CD4+ T cells observed during CMV infection. We sought to determine the replicative and functional potential of these highly differentiated cells, as well as the putative involvement of IL-7 in CD45RA re-expression in memory CD4+ T cells. Our results show that CD45RA+CD27- CD4+ T cells do not constitute an exhausted subset, retaining replicative and functional potential. However, these cells display senescence-associated traits independent of telomere length, which are at least partly mediated by the p38 MAPK pathway. Overall, our data reiterates the contribution of IL-7 signalling to naive and memory CD4+ T cell homeostasis, suggesting a role for IL-7 in the maintenance of the CD31+ naive T cell pool throughout adulthood as well as in the induction of CD45RA on memory CD4+ T cellsO principal objectivo deste trabalho é o estudo da homeostasia de linfócitos T CD4+ naive e de memória em humanos, com ênfase particular no papel desempenhado pela IL-7 neste processo. Para tal, investigámos os efeitos desta citocina na homeostasia de subpopulações de linfócitos T CD4+ naive identificados pela expressão de CD31. Demonstramos pela primeira vez que a IL-7 induz a proliferação preferencial da subpopulação CD31+ de linfócitos T CD4+ naive do sangue periférico de adultos. Além disso, a IL-7 promove a manutenção ou mesmo o aumento dos níveis de CD31 em células T CD4+ naive CD31+, apesar de não induzir a re-expressão deste marcador na subpopulação CD31-. Os nossos resultados indicam que tanto a proliferação como a manutenção de CD31 induzidas pela IL-7 são dependentes da via de sinalização PI3K. Neste estudo, também investigámos quais os potenciais mecanismos responsáveis pelo restabelecimento da homeostasia após transplante haploidêntico de células estaminais, particularmente pela manutenção da subpopulação T CD4+ naive CD31+. Os nossos dados sugerem que a reconstituição imunológica a longo prazo foi atingida com sucesso num grupo de receptores de transplante haploidêntico, provavelmente através de uma combinação de mecanismos dependentes e independentes do timo, levando ao estabelecimento de subpopulações equilibradas de linfócitos T CD4+ e CD8+, bem como a um repertório de células T diverso. Por fim, o estudo da homeostasia dos linfócitos T CD4+ de memória teve como base a investigação do potencial impacto da acumulação de linfócitos T CD4+ CD45RA+CD27- que se observa durante a infecção por CMV. Analisámos a capacidade replicativa e funcional destas células altamente diferenciadas, assim como o putativo envolvimento da IL-7 na re-expressão de CD45RA em linfócitos T CD4+ de memória. Os nossos resultados demonstram que os linfócitos T CD4+ CD45RA+CD27- não constituem uma subpopulação exausta, mantendo potencial replicativo e funcional. No entanto, estas células apresentam características de senescência independentes do comprimento dos telómeros, mediadas parcialmente pela via de sinalização p38 MAPK. Globalmente, os nossos dados reiteram a contribuição da IL-7 para a homeostasia de linfócitos T CD4+ naive e de memória, sugerindo um potencial envolvimento na manutenção da população T CD4+ naive CD31+ em adultos e na indução da expressão de CD45RA em linfócitos T CD4+ de memória.A presente dissertação foi realizada na Unidade de Imunologia Clínica do Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa e Division of Infection & Immunity, University College London. O trabalho aqui apresentado foi realizado com âmbito nos projectos PPCDT/BIA-BCM/61079/2004 e PTDC/SAU-MII/67662/2006, co-financiados pelo fundo comunitário FEDER através dos programas POCI 2010 e PTDC. Bolsa de Doutoramento da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (referência: SFRH/ BD/ 29120/ 2006

Suppression by allogeneic-specific regulatory T cells is dependent on the degree of HLA compatibility

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 Unported license.Regulatory T cell (Treg) infusion for graft-versus-host disease treatment has been increasingly investigated. However, polyclonal Treg may suppress the desired graft-versus-leukemia effect. Although allogeneic-specific (allo-specific) Treg may provide a more-targeted graft-versus-host disease treatment, there is the need to develop easily translatable expansion protocols and to better characterize their specificity and mechanisms of suppression. In this article, we provide a robust protocol for human allo-specific Treg expansion and characterize their phenotype, potency, and specificity of suppression by testing different expansion conditions and suppression assay milieus. We found that higher concentrations of IL-2 during expansion with allogeneic APC yielded allo-specific Treg that were more-potent suppressors and displayed a more activated phenotype. Although responses to the same APC present during expansion were the most suppressed, responses to third-party APC partially matched to the expansion APC were still significantly more suppressed than responses to fully mismatched APC. Furthermore, suppression of responses to the expansion APC was strictly contact dependent, whereas suppression of responses to mismatched APC was partially independent of contact. Finally, distinct subsets in fresh and expanded Treg could be described using multidimensional visualization techniques. We propose that allo-specific Treg are HLA specific and that the mechanisms of suppression elicited depend on their compatibility with the stimulators.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, under the Harvard Medical School–Portugal Program Project Induction of Immune Tolerance in Human Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HMSP-ICT/0001/2011) and Gilead Sciences, under Programa Gilead GÉNESE (FPJ001262). J.B. received a Ph.D. grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PD/BD/105769/2014).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Internova e-learning platform in an entrepreneurial context

Currently, there is still an opposition of teachers to the implementation of new technologies in an educational context. Although several studies point out the relevance of the use of information and communication technologies in pedagogical practices, providing educational contexts more focused on learning practices and fostering more active and autonomous professionals. In this context, this article emphasizes the purpose of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), as well as virtual learning environments, in the higher education system, to support the teaching-learning processes. In this article, a state of the art was carried out, in order to demonstrate some advantages of the teaching-learning process, the teacher's and student behaviour profiles and its role in relation to the use of new technologies. The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of using a digital platform on the teaching-learning process in an educational context. An e-learning digital platform, INTERNOVA, developed within the scope of the INTERNOVAMARKET-FOOD project (0437_internovamarket-food_1_E - Internovamarket accelerator program to increase the competitiveness of the food sector in Galicia-Northern), within the curricular unit of Food Safety and Certification of the Master in Food Engineering's curriculum. In order to assess the impact of the training course on the students' learning outcomes, a survey was applied to master's students and Food Engineering research fellows (participants). The same survey was applied before the training and after it in order to compare both results. At the end of each training course, another survey was addressed to all the participants asking about the organization, quality and the easiness of the platform. The results obtained show that the students had no difficulties in using the platform, having revealed that they would like to continue using it more frequently. The data obtained are an evidence of the participants' learning improvement and their involvement in the learning process through the INTERNOVA platform. With this work, it can be concluded that the ICT applied to a curricular program can be a very important support in the teaching-learning process. In this context, it is important to recommend well-designed curricular programs so that teachers can improve their teaching practices, enhancing students' digital skills, and thus contributing to the development of more active and autonomous professionals. © Proceedings of the 14th IADIS International Conference e-Learning 2020, EL 2020 - Part of the 14th Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, MCCSIS 2020. All rights reserved.This work was supported by INTERREG V-A Espanha-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 (0437_INTERNOVAMARKET-FOOD_1_E) under the development of the project entitled “INTERNOVAMARKET-FOOD – Programa acelerador para aumentar a competitividade do sector alimentar da Galiza-Norte de Portugal”info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mesenchymal stromal cells induce regulatory T cells via epigenetic conversion of human conventional CD4 T cells in vitro

© 2020 The Authors. S TEM CELLS published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of AlphaMed Press. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.Regulatory T cells (Treg) play a critical role in immune tolerance. The scarcity of Treg therapy clinical trials in humans has been largely due to the difficulty in obtaining sufficient Treg numbers. We performed a preclinical investigation on the potential of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to expand Treg in vitro to support future clinical trials. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors were cocultured with allogeneic bone marrow-derived MSCs expanded under xenogeneic-free conditions. Our data show an increase in the counts and frequency of CD4+ CD25high Foxp3+ CD127low Treg cells (4- and 6-fold, respectively) after a 14-day coculture. However, natural Treg do not proliferate in coculture with MSCs. When purified conventional CD4 T cells (Tcon) are cocultured with MSCs, only cells that acquire a Treg-like phenotype proliferate. These MSC-induced Treg-like cells also resemble Treg functionally, since they suppress autologous Tcon proliferation. Importantly, the DNA methylation profile of MSC-induced Treg-like cells more closely resembles that of natural Treg than of Tcon, indicating that this population is stable. The expression of PD-1 is higher in Treg-like cells than in Tcon, whereas the frequency of PDL-1 increases in MSCs after coculture. TGF-β levels are also significantly increased MSC cocultures. Overall, our data suggest that Treg enrichment by MSCs results from Tcon conversion into Treg-like cells, rather than to expansion of natural Treg, possibly through mechanisms involving TGF-β and/or PD-1/PDL-1 expression. This MSC-induced Treg population closely resembles natural Treg in terms of phenotype, suppressive ability, and methylation profile.This project received funding from: Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, under the Harvard Medical School-Portugal Program project Induction of Immune Tolerance in Human Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HMSP-ICT/0001/2011) and UID/BIM/50005/2019, project funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES) through Fundos do Orçamento de Estado. We also acknowledge the funding received from POR Lisboa 2020 through the project PRECISE – Accelerating progress toward the new era of precision medicine (project no. 16394).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Coastal water characterization in the Azorean archipelago.

43rd European Marine Biology Symposium. Ponta Delgada, Açores, 8-12 de Setembro de 2008

An adsorptive bioprocess for production and recovery of resveratrol with Corynebacterium glutamicum

BACKGROUND The growing interest in polyphenols has led to the design of industrial-scale processes able to produce them by fermentation and recover them in a more sustainable way. The goal of this work is to present two integrated approaches for the recovery of resveratrol, obtained through fermentation. The production of resveratrol using Corynebacterium glutamicum and its continuous removal using a hydrophobic resin is described. Batch production is compared with in situ product removal, where Amberlite XAD-7HP is either directly added to the medium (direct adsorption) or is present in an external column (external adsorption). RESULTS For both adsorption strategies tested, the amount of extracellular resveratrol increased from 75% to at least 90% of the total amount produced. However, lower total resveratrol concentrations were attained 3.6 and 2.2mg L-1, for the external and direct contact strategies, respectively, versus 5.3mg L-1 for batch experiments. CONCLUSIONS The proposed in situ removal strategies demonstrated the potential of increasing the excretion of resveratrol produced intracellularly. These process configurations may not only lead to a simpler downstream process design, but also to the avoidance of potential problems with the toxicity of polyphenols to the cells, especially when larger titers are obtained. © 2017 Society of Chemical IndustryWe would like to thank the European Union Framework Program 7 ‘BacHBerry’ (www.bachberry.eu), Project No. FP7- 613793 for financial support, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145- FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Marine algal flora of Santa Maria Island, Azores

Este artículo contiene 41 páginas, 4 tablas, 15 figuras.Background The algal flora of the Island of Santa Maria (eastern group of the Azores archipelago) has attracted interest of researchers on past occasions (Drouët 1866, Agardh 1870, Trelease 1897, Schmidt 1931, Ardré et al. 1974, Fralick and Hehre 1990, Neto et al. 1991, Morton and Britton 2000, Amen et al. 2005, Wallenstein and Neto 2006, Tittley et al. 2009,Wallenstein et al. 2009a, Wallenstein et al. 2010, Botelho et al. 2010, Torres et al. 2010, León-Cisneros et al. 2011, Martins et al. 2014, Micael et al. 2014, Rebelo et al. 2014, Ávila et al. 2015, Ávila et al. 2016, Machín-Sánchez et al. 2016, Uchman et al. 2016, Johnson et al. 2017, Parente et al. 2018). Nevertheless, the Island macroalgal flora is not well-known as published information reflects limited collections obtained in short-term visits by scientists. To overcome this, a thorough investigation, encompassing collections and presence data recording, was undertaken at both the littoral and sublittoral levels down to a depth of approximately 40 m, covering an area of approximately 64 km . The resultant taxonomic records are listed in the present paper which also provides information on species ecology and occurrence around the Island, improving, thereby, the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at both local and regional scales. New information A total of 2329 specimens (including some taxa identified only to genus level) belonging to 261 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 152 Rhodophyta, 43 Chlorophyta and 66 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 174 were identified to species level (102 Rhodophyta, 29 Chlorophyta and 43 Ochrophyta), encompassing 52 new records for the Island (30 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 13 Ochrophyta), 2 Macaronesian endemics (Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun; and Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba) S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico), 10 introduced (the Rhodophyta Acrothamnion preissii (Sonder) E.M.Wollaston, Antithamnion hubbsii E.Y.Dawson, Asparagopsis armata Harvey, Bonnemaisonia hamifera Hariot, Melanothamnus harveyi (Bailey) Díaz-Tapia & Maggs, Scinaia acuta M.J.Wynne and Symphyocladia marchantioides (Harvey) Falkenberg; the Chlorophyta Codium fragile subsp. fragile (Suringar) Hariot; and the Ochrophyta Hydroclathrus tilesii (Endlicher) Santiañez & M.J.Wynne, and Papenfussiella kuromo (Yendo) Inagaki) and 18 species of uncertain status (11 Rhodophyta, 3 Chlorophyta and 4 Ochrophyta).This research was supported by several projects, expeditions and campaigns (see Funding above) and lately by the project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072” funded the Operational Programme Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds).Manuela I. Parente was supported by a postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/34246/2006) awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Eva Cacabelos was supported by a postdoctoral grant (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001) from ARDITI (Regional Agency for Development of Research, Technology and Innovation of Madeira). Afonso C.L. Prestes was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015) awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Rita F. Patarra was supported by a Science and Technology Management Fellowship grant (SFRH/BGCT/135478/2018) awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP.Peer reviewe

Marine algal flora of São Miguel Island, Azores

Este artículo contiene 52 páginas, 4 tablas, 15 figuras.Background The macroalgal flora of the Island of São Miguel (eastern group of the Azores Archipelago) has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in the publication of a checklist of the Azorean benthic marine algae. Later, the establishment of the University of the Azores on the Island permitted the logistic conditions to develop both temporal studies and long-term research and this resulted in a significant increase on research directed at the benthic marine algae and littoral communities of the Island and consequent publications. Prior to the present paper, the known macroalgal flora of São Miguel Island comprised around 260 species. Despite this richness, a significant amount of the research was never made public, notably Masters and PhD theses encompassing information regarding presence data recorded at littoral and sublittoral levels down to a depth of approximately 40 m around the Island and the many collections made, which resulted in vouchers deposited in the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha and the LSM- Molecular Systematics Laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores. The present publication lists the macroalgal taxonomic records, together with information on their ecology and occurrence around São Miguel Island, improving the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at local and regional scales. New information A total of 12,781 specimens (including some identified only to genus) belonging to 431 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 284 Rhodophyta, 59 Chlorophyta and 88 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 323 were identified to species level (212 Rhodophyta, 48 Chlorophyta and 63 Ochrophyta), of which 61 are new records for the Island (42 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 10 Ochrophyta), one an Azorean endemic (Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica Gabriel), five are Macaronesian endemisms (the red algae Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carrillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto, Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun, Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba) S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico, Phyllophora gelidioides P.Crouan & H.Crouan ex Karsakoff and the green alga Codium elisabethiae O.C.Schmidt), 19 are introduced species (15 Rhodophyta, two Chlorophyta and two Ochrophyta) and 32 are of uncertain status (21 Rhodophyta, five Chlorophyta and six Ochrophyta).This research was supported by several projects, expeditions and campaigns (see Funding above) and lately by the project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072” funded the Operational Programme Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds). Thanks are due to the campaign teams for their critical involvement in this project (Abel Sentíes, Aina del Alcázar, Ana Alfaya, Ana Belén Villalba Lapeña, Ana Santos, Ana Sofia Carreiro, André Amaral, Andrea Tracana, Ane Laborda, Anna Lloveras Armengol, António Brigos Plafon, Berta Solé Nadal, Camille Fontaine, Carlos Rius, Carles Mir, Caroline Terral, Catarina Santos, Cláudia Hipólito, Daniela Gabriel, Edward Hehre, Emanuel Xavier, Eduardo García, Enrique Almira, Esteban Belles, Eunice Nogueira, Fátima Vaz Pinto, Francisco Wallenstein, Gustavo M Martins, Heather Baldwin, Isadora Moniz, Jana Verdura, Joana Pombo, João Brum, João Faria Santos, João Ferreira, Laura Busquier, Marco Enoch, Maria Ana Dionísio, Maria Machín-Sánchez, Maria Vale, Marlene Terra, Mónica Martínez, Mutue Toyota Fujii, Patrícia Madeira, Pedro Raposeiro, Richard Fralick, Richard Thompson, Rocío Sánchez, Ruben Couto, Rubén Mosquera, Rui Sousa, Sara Peres, Tarso Costa, Tito Silva, Valeria Cassano, Virginie Leyendecker). Edgar Rosas Alquicira and Karla León Cisneros were supported by the Programme AlBan, the European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (through scholarships E05D060221MX and E05D060520MX), “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología” (doctoral scholarships 176162 and 157904) and the UNAMUNO Programme of PhD Scholarships for Europe. Eva Cacabelos was supported by a postdoctoral grant (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002) from ARDITI (Regional Agency for Development of Research, Technology and Innovation of Madeira). Andrea Z. Botelho was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Afonso C.L. Prestes was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Rita F. Patarra was supported by a Science and Technology Management Fellowship grant (SFRH/BGCT/135478/2018), awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT I.P.). Manuela I. Parente was supported by a Postdoc grant (SFRH/BPD/34246/2006), awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).Peer reviewe

A comprehensive assessment of the transcriptome of cork oak (Quercus suber) through EST sequencing

Background: Cork oak (Quercus suber) is one of the rare trees with the ability to produce cork, a material widely used to make wine bottle stoppers, flooring and insulation materials, among many other uses. The molecular mechanisms of cork formation are still poorly understood, in great part due to the difficulty in studying a species with a long life-cycle and for which there is scarce molecular/genomic information. Cork oak forests are of great ecological importance and represent a major economic and social resource in Southern Europe and Northern Africa. However, global warming is threatening the cork oak forests by imposing thermal, hydric and many types of novel biotic stresses. Despite the economic and social value of the Q. suber species, few genomic resources have been developed, useful for biotechnological applications and improved forest management. Results: We generated in excess of 7 million sequence reads, by pyrosequencing 21 normalized cDNA libraries derived from multiple Q. suber tissues and organs, developmental stages and physiological conditions. We deployed a stringent sequence processing and assembly pipeline that resulted in the identification of ~159,000 unigenes. These were annotated according to their similarity to known plant genes, to known Interpro domains, GO classes and E.C. numbers. The phylogenetic extent of this ESTs set was investigated, and we found that cork oak revealed a significant new gene space that is not covered by other model species or EST sequencing projects. The raw data, as well as the full annotated assembly, are now available to the community in a dedicated web portal at http://www.corkoakdb.org. Conclusions: This genomic resource represents the first trancriptome study in a cork producing species. It can be explored to develop new tools and approaches to understand stress responses and developmental processes in forest trees, as well as the molecular cascades underlying cork differentiation and disease response.Peer Reviewe

Identification of a biomarker panel for improvement of prostate cancer diagnosis by volatile metabolic profiling of urine

Background: The lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers for the early detection of prostate cancer (PCa) is a major hurdle to improve patient management. Methods: A metabolomics approach based on GC-MS was used to investigate the performance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in general and, more specifically, volatile carbonyl compounds (VCCs) present in urine as potential markers for PCa detection. Results: Results showed that PCa patients (n = 40) can be differentiated from cancer-free subjects (n = 42) based on their urinary volatile profile in both VOCs and VCCs models, unveiling significant differences in the levels of several metabolites. The models constructed were further validated using an external validation set (n = 18 PCa and n = 18 controls) to evaluate sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the urinary volatile profile to discriminate PCa from controls. The VOCs model disclosed 78% sensitivity, 94% specificity and 86% accuracy, whereas the VCCs model achieved the same sensitivity, a specificity of 100% and an accuracy of 89%. Our findings unveil a panel of 6 volatile compounds significantly altered in PCa patients' urine samples that was able to identify PCa, with a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 83%, and accuracy of 86%. Conclusions: It is disclosed a biomarker panel with potential to be used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for PCa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio