Identification of Aquifer Recharge Sources as the Origin of Emerging Contaminants in Intensive Agricultural Areas. La Plana de Castellón, Spain

In urban, industrial, and agricultural areas, a vast array of contaminants may be found because they are introduced into the aquifers by different recharge sources. The emerging contaminants (ECs) correspond to unregulated contaminants, which may be candidates for future regulation depending on the results of research into their potential effects on health and on monitoring data regarding their occurrence. ECs frequently found in wastewater, such as acetaminophen, carbamazepine, primidone, and sulfamethoxazole, may be good indicators of the introduction of the reclaimed water to the aquifers. The resistance of the ECs to removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) causes them to be appropriate sewage markers. Plana de Castellón (Spain) is a coastal area that has been characterized by intensive citrus agriculture since the 1970s. Traditionally, in the southern sector of Plana de Castellón, 100% of irrigation water comes from groundwater. In recent years, local farmers have been using a mixture of groundwater and reclaimed water from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to irrigate the citrus. The aims of the present study were: (i) to assess the occurrences, spatial distributions, and concentrations of selected ECs, including 32 antibiotics, 8 UV filters, and 2 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, in groundwater in a common agricultural context; (ii) to identify the recharge (pollution) sources acting as the origin of the ECs, and (iii) to suggest ECs as indicators of reclaimed water arrival in detrital heterogeneous aquifers. The obtained data provided relevant information for the management of water resources and elucidated the fate and behavior of emerging contaminants in similar contexts

Cellular Senescence Is Immunogenic and Promotes Antitumor Immunity

Senescencia celular; Inmunidad antitumoralSenescència cel·lular; Immunitat antitumoralCellular senescence; Antitumor immunityCellular senescence is a stress response that activates innate immune cells, but little is known about its interplay with the adaptive immune system. Here, we show that senescent cells combine several features that render them highly efficient in activating dendritic cells (DC) and antigen-specific CD8 T cells. This includes the release of alarmins, activation of IFN signaling, enhanced MHC class I machinery, and presentation of senescence-associated self-peptides that can activate CD8 T cells. In the context of cancer, immunization with senescent cancer cells elicits strong antitumor protection mediated by DCs and CD8 T cells. Interestingly, this protection is superior to immunization with cancer cells undergoing immunogenic cell death. Finally, the induction of senescence in human primary cancer cells also augments their ability to activate autologous antigen-specific tumor-infiltrating CD8 lymphocytes. Our study indicates that senescent cancer cells can be exploited to develop efficient and protective CD8-dependent antitumor immune responses. Significance: Our study shows that senescent cells are endowed with a high immunogenic potential—superior to the gold standard of immunogenic cell death. We harness these properties of senescent cells to trigger efficient and protective CD8-dependent antitumor immune responses.We are grateful to Maria Isabel Muñoz for assistance with the animal protocols; to Kevin Kovalchik for help with data sharing; to Francesca Castoldi for help in total RNA extraction for B16F10 and IMR-90 cells; to Fredrik Fagerstrom-Billai, Susann Fält, Anastasios Damdimopoulos, and David Brodin at Bioinformatics and Expression Analysis Core Facility, Karolinska Institute (KI), for assistance in RNA-seq and analysis; to the IRB core facilities (Functional Genomics, Biostatistics/Bioinformatics and Histopathology); and to the PCB (Animal House) for general research support. I. Marin was the recipient of an FPI fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science (PRE2018-083381). O. Boix was the recipient of an FPI-AGAUR fellowship from the Generalitat de Catalunya. A. Garcia-Garijo was supported by a PERIS grant (SLT017/20/000131) from the Generalitat de Catalunya. J.A. López-Domínguez and M. Kovatcheva were supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). Work in the laboratory of E. Caron was funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), the Cole Foundation, CHU Sainte-Justine, the Charles-Bruneau Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (#RGPIN-2020-05232), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#174924). E. Garralda received funding from the Comprehensive Program of Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunology II (CAIMI-II) supported by the BBVA Foundation (grant 53/2021). The M. Abad lab received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RTI2018-102046-B-I00A and RTC-2017-6123-1) and the AECC (PRYCO211023SERR). M. Abad was the recipient of a Ramón y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2013-14747). A. Gros received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF; RTC-2017-6123-1), from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (MS15/00058), and from CAIMI-II (grant 53/2021) supported by the BBVA Foundation. The work in the laboratory of F. Pietrocola is supported by a KI Starting Grant, a Starting Grant from the Swedish Research Council (2019_02050_3), and grants from the Harald Jeanssons Foundation, the Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation, and Cancerfonden (21 1637 Pj). Work in the laboratory of M. Serrano was funded by the IRB and La Caixa Foundation, and by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund (SAF-2017-82613-R, RTC-2017-6123-1), the European Research Council (ERC-2014-AdG/669622), Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca del Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement of Catalonia (Grup de Recerca consolidat 2017 SGR 282), and the AECC (PRYCO211023SERR). The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of publication fees. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 USC section 1734

pTINCR microprotein promotes epithelial differentiation and suppresses tumor growth through CDC42 SUMOylation and activation

Cancer; Mechanisms of diseaseCàncer; Mecanismes de la malaltiaCáncer; Mecanismos de la enfermedadThe human transcriptome contains thousands of small open reading frames (sORFs) that encode microproteins whose functions remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that TINCR lncRNA encodes pTINCR, an evolutionary conserved ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) expressed in many epithelia and upregulated upon differentiation and under cellular stress. By gain- and loss-of-function studies, we demonstrate that pTINCR is a key inducer of epithelial differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, low expression of TINCR associates with worse prognosis in several epithelial cancers, and pTINCR overexpression reduces malignancy in patient-derived xenografts. At the molecular level, pTINCR binds to SUMO through its SUMO interacting motif (SIM) and to CDC42, a Rho-GTPase critical for actin cytoskeleton remodeling and epithelial differentiation. Moreover, pTINCR increases CDC42 SUMOylation and promotes its activation, triggering a pro-differentiation cascade. Our findings suggest that the microproteome is a source of new regulators of cell identity relevant for cancer.Work in the Abad lab is supported by VHIO, Fero Foundation, La Caixa Foundation, Asociación Española Contra el Cancer (AECC), La Mutua Foundation and by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2015-69413-R; RTI2018-102046-B-I00). M.A. was recipient of a Ramón y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2013-14747). O.B. is recipient of a FPI-AGAUR fellowship from Generalitat de Catalunya. We also acknowledge funding from grant PGC2018-094091-B-I00 from the Spanish Government

Cellular senescence is immunogenic and promotes anti-tumor immunity

Cellular senescence is a stress response that activates innate immune cells, but little is known about its interplay with the adaptive immune system. Here, we show that senescent cells combine several features that render them highly efficient in activating dendritic cells (DCs) and antigen-specific CD8 T cells. This includes the release of alarmins, activation of interferon signaling, enhanced MHC class I machinery, and presentation of senescence-specific self-peptides that can activate CD8 T cells. In the context of cancer, immunization with senescent cancer cells elicits strong anti-tumor protection mediated by DCs and CD8 T cells. Interestingly, this protection is superior to immunization with cancer cells undergoing immunogenic cell death. Finally, the induction of senescence in human primary cancer cells also augments their ability to activate autologous antigen-specific tumor-infiltrating CD8 lymphocytes. Our study indicates that senescent cancer cells can be exploited to develop efficient and protective CD8-dependent anti-tumor immune responses

Multicenter prospective clinical study to evaluate children short-term neurodevelopmental outcome in congenital heart disease (children NEURO-HEART): study protocol

Congenital heart disease; Neurodevelopment; Predictive markersCardiopatía congénita; Desarrollo neurológico; Marcadores predictivosCardiopaties congènites; Neurodesenvolupament; Marcadors predictiusBackground: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most prevalent congenital malformation affecting 1 in 100 newborns. While advances in early diagnosis and postnatal management have increased survival in CHD children, worrying long-term outcomes, particularly neurodevelopmental disability, have emerged as a key prognostic factor in the counseling of these pregnancies. Methods: Eligible participants are women presenting at 20 to < 37 weeks of gestation carrying a fetus with CHD. Maternal/neonatal recordings are performed at regular intervals, from the fetal period to 24 months of age, and include: placental and fetal hemodynamics, fetal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional echocardiography, cerebral oxymetry, electroencephalography and serum neurological and cardiac biomarkers. Neurodevelopmental assessment is planned at 12 months of age using the ages and stages questionnaire (ASQ) and at 24months of age with the Bayley-III test. Target recruitment is at least 150 cases classified in three groups according to three main severe CHD groups: transposition of great arteries (TGA), Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction (LVOTO). Discussion: The results of NEURO-HEART study will provide themost comprehensive knowledge until date of children’s neurologic prognosis in CHD and will have the potential for developing future clinical decisive tools and improving preventive strategies in CHD.RETICS funded by the PN 2018-2021 (Spain), ISCIII- Sub-Directorate General for Research Assessment and Promotion and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), reference RD16/002

pTINCR microprotein promotes epithelial differentiation and suppresses tumor growth through CDC42 SUMOylation and activation

The human transcriptome contains thousands of small open reading frames (sORFs) that encode microproteins whose functions remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that TINCR lncRNA encodes pTINCR, an evolutionary conserved ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) expressed in many epithelia and upregulated upon differentiation and under cellular stress. By gain- and loss-of-function studies, we demonstrate that pTINCR is a key inducer of epithelial differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, low expression of TINCR associates with worse prognosis in several epithelial cancers, and pTINCR overexpression reduces malignancy in patient-derived xenografts. At the molecular level, pTINCR binds to SUMO through its SUMO interacting motif (SIM) and to CDC42, a Rho-GTPase critical for actin cytoskeleton remodeling and epithelial differentiation. Moreover, pTINCR increases CDC42 SUMOylation and promotes its activation, triggering a pro-differentiation cascade. Our findings suggest that the microproteome is a source of new regulators of cell identity relevant for cancer.Acknowledgements: The authors thank VHIO Proteomics, Molecular Oncology and Genomics Core Facilities for technical assistance. We are grateful to Manuel Serrano for providing several reagents, advice and critical discussion on the manuscript. We also thank Alonso García and Raquel Pérez for their help in processing and analyzing digital images, Gemma Serra and Sandra Peiró for their assistance with subcellular fractionation and immunoprecipitation experiments, Sara Arce and Joaquín Mateo for providing several reagents during the development of critical experiments of this manuscript, and Juan Angel Recio for his help with the cSCC cohort. We are immensely grateful to all the members of the Abad lab for generating the know-how for the identification of novel sORFs, for the critical reading on the manuscript and in general for their constant support to this project. Work in the Abad lab is supported by VHIO, Fero Foundation, La Caixa Foundation, Asociación Española Contra el Cancer (AECC), La Mutua Foundation and by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2015-69413-R; RTI2018-102046-B-I00). M.A. was recipient of a Ramón y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2013-14747). O.B. is recipient of a FPIAGAUR fellowship from Generalitat de Catalunya. We also acknowledge funding from grant PGC2018-094091-B-I00 from the Spanish Government

Enhancing Quality and Impact of Early Phase Dose-Finding Clinical Trial Protocols:The SPIRIT DoseFinding Extension (SPIRIT-DEFINE) Guidance The SPIRIT-DEFINE Statement

International audienc

Enhancing Reporting Quality and Impact of Early Phase Dose-Finding Clinical Trials:The CONSORT Dose-Finding Extension (CONSORT-DEFINE) Guidance The CONSORT-DEFINE Statement

International audienceThe CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials) 2010 statement is the standard guideline for reporting completed randomised trials. The CONSORT Dose-finding Extension (DEFINE) extends the guidance (with 21 new items and 19 modified items) to early phase dose-finding trials with interim dose escalation or de-escalation strategies. Such trials generally focus on safety, tolerability, activity, and recommending dosing and scheduling regimens for further clinical development. These trials are often inadequately reported, hampering their informativeness and making evidence informed decisions difficult. The CONSORT-DEFINE guidance aims to develop an international, consensus driven guideline for reporting early phase dose-finding trials to promote transparency, completeness, reproducibility, and facilitate the interpretation of the results. The CONSORT-DEFINE guidance provides recommendations for essential items that should be reported in early phase dose-finding trials to promote greater clarity, reproducibility, informativeness, and usefulness of results