Re: Exposure to indoor tanning without burning and melanoma risk by sunburn history

Vogel et al. (1) provide another demonstration that the risk from sunbed use is not limited to skin-sensitive populations and shows increased risk even in those not having experienced sunburns in their lifetimes. It counters the argument frequently put forward by the indoor tanning industry that indoor tanning prevents sunburn and adds further evidence of the carcinogenicity of indoor tanning. We are, however, concerned that those who consider vitamin D as a protective agent for cancer and thus defend sunbed use, might misinterpret the decline in odds ratio for increasing burns and consider that the increasing burns diminished the effect of sunbed use, hence providing “protection.

Role of melatonin in HT22 cells challenged with serum deprivation

In vitro serum deprivation (SD) is one model for investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying apoptosis as well as autophagy, which generally function as defense strategies upon cell injury by eliminating damaged organelles [1]. Furthermore, SD injury in vitro is widely used to mimic the ischemic environment [2]. In serum deprived conditions, cells show different parameters of apoptosis and autophagy. Melatonin (MLT), a lipophilic indole secreted by pineal and non-pineal cells, is a well-known potent free radical scavenger acting as neuroprotective molecule that prevents apoptotic cell death in several models of neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study we investigated the neuroprotective effects of MLT during SD condition on mouse hippocampal HT22 cells, considering that intracellular ROS are usually linked to autophagy and apoptosis. To explore potential effects of combining SD with melatonin we studied clonogenic survival of HT22 cells. Clonogenic assay demonstrated a significative (p< 0.01) reduction of HT22 total cell numbers challenged for 24h with SD, whereas the pre-treatment with 200nM of MLT for 24hr noticeably reduced this effect of about 30%. In HT22 starved cells the percentage of MitoTracker Red (MTR) positive cells doubled (P< 0.05) if compared to the control condition, suggesting that SD induced a remodelling of mitochondrial network. It is noteworthy that MLT pre-treatment produced a MTR positivity similar to that of controls. We next investigated whether melatonin was able to influence the autophagic pathway. Autophagy was detected by measuring the aggregation of LC3B protein coupled to green fluorescence protein (GFP). Confocal images show that SD induced an increase in the GFP-LC3 puncta, whereas the melatonin treatment reduces these aggregations. Taken together, our results suggest that MLT treatment may play protective roles against cellular modifications induced by SD treatment in HT22 cells

ADAR1 is a new target of METTL3 and plays a pro-oncogenic role in glioblastoma by an editing-independent mechanism

Background: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing are two of the most abundant RNA modification events affecting adenosines in mammals. Both these RNA modifications determine mRNA fate and play a pivotal role in tumor development and progression. Results: Here, we show that METTL3, upregulated in glioblastoma, methylates ADAR1 mRNA and increases its protein level leading to a pro-tumorigenic mechanism connecting METTL3, YTHDF1, and ADAR1. We show that ADAR1 plays a cancer-promoting role independently of its deaminase activity by binding CDK2 mRNA, underlining the importance of ADARs as essential RNA-binding proteins for cell homeostasis as well as cancer progression. Additionally, we show that ADAR1 knockdown is sufficient to strongly inhibit glioblastoma growth in vivo. Conclusions: Hence, our findings underscore METTL3/ADAR1 axis as a novel crucial pathway in cancer progression that connects m6A and A-to-I editing post-transcriptional events

Direct CD32 T-cell cytotoxicity: implications for breast cancer prognosis and treatment

The FcγRII (CD32) ligands are IgFc fragments and pentraxins. The existence of additional ligands is unknown. We engineered T cells with human chimeric receptors resulting from the fusion between CD32 extracellular portion and transmembrane CD8α linked toCD28/ζ chain intracellular moiety (CD32-CR). Transduced T cells recognized three breast cancer (BC) and one colon cancer cell line among 15 tested in the absence of targeting antibodies. Sensitive BC cell conjugation with CD32-CR T cells induced CD32 polarization and down-regulation, CD107a release, mutual elimination, and proinflammatory cytokine production unaffected by human IgGs but enhanced by cetuximab. CD32-CR T cells protected immunodeficient mice from subcutaneous growth of MDA-MB-468 BC cells. RNAseq analysis identified a 42 gene fingerprint predicting BC cell sensitivity and favorable outcomes in advanced BC. ICAM1 was a major regulator of CD32-CR T cell–mediated cytotoxicity. CD32-CR T cells may help identify cell surface CD32 ligand(s) and novel prognostically relevant transcriptomic signatures and develop innovative BC treatments

Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars: Results From The Initial Detector Era

We present the results of searches for gravitational waves from a large selection of pulsars using data from the most recent science runs (S6, VSR2 and VSR4) of the initial generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) and Virgo. We do not see evidence for gravitational wave emission from any of the targeted sources but produce upper limits on the emission amplitude. We highlight the results from seven young pulsars with large spin-down luminosities. We reach within a factor of five of the canonical spin-down limit for all seven of these, whilst for the Crab and Vela pulsars we further surpass their spin-down limits. We present new or updated limits for 172 other pulsars (including both young and millisecond pulsars). Now that the detectors are undergoing major upgrades, and, for completeness, we bring together all of the most up-to-date results from all pulsars searched for during the operations of the first-generation LIGO, Virgo and GEO600 detectors. This gives a total of 195 pulsars including the most recent results described in this paper.United States National Science FoundationScience and Technology Facilities Council of the United KingdomMax-Planck-SocietyState of Niedersachsen/GermanyAustralian Research CouncilInternational Science Linkages program of the Commonwealth of AustraliaCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research of IndiaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of ItalySpanish Ministerio de Economia y CompetitividadConselleria d'Economia Hisenda i Innovacio of the Govern de les Illes BalearsNetherlands Organisation for Scientific ResearchPolish Ministry of Science and Higher EducationFOCUS Programme of Foundation for Polish ScienceRoyal SocietyScottish Funding CouncilScottish Universities Physics AllianceNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOTKA of HungaryLyon Institute of Origins (LIO)National Research Foundation of KoreaIndustry CanadaProvince of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and InnovationNational Science and Engineering Research Council CanadaCarnegie TrustLeverhulme TrustDavid and Lucile Packard FoundationResearch CorporationAlfred P. Sloan FoundationAstronom

The Molecular Genetic Architecture of Self-Employment

Economic variables such as income, education, and occupation are known to affect mortality and morbidity, such as cardiovascular disease, and have also been shown to be partly heritable. However, very little is known about which genes influence economic variables, although these genes may have both a direct and an indirect effect on health. We report results from the first large-scale collaboration that studies the molecular genetic architecture of an economic variable-entrepreneurship-that was operationalized using self-employment, a widely-available proxy. Our results suggest that common SNPs when considered jointly explain about half of the narrow-sense heritability of self-employment estimated in twin data (σg2/σP2= 25%, h2= 55%). However, a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across sixteen studies comprising 50,627 participants did not identify genome-wide significant SNPs. 58 SNPs with p<10-5were tested in a replication sample (n = 3,271), but none replicated. Furthermore, a gene-based test shows that none of the genes that were previously suggested in the literature to influence entrepreneurship reveal significant associations. Finally, SNP-based genetic scores that use results from the meta-analysis capture less than 0.2% of the variance in self-employment in an independent sample (p≥0.039). Our results are consistent with a highly polygenic molecular genetic architecture of self-employment, with many genetic variants of small effect. Although self-employment is a multi-faceted, heavily environmentally influenced, and biologically distal trait, our results are similar to those for other genetically complex and biologically more proximate outcomes, such as height, intelligence, personality, and several diseases

Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses

Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive symptoms (n = 161,460), and neuroticism (n = 170,911). We identify 3 variants associated with subjective well-being, 2 variants associated with depressive symptoms, and 11 variants associated with neuroticism, including 2 inversion polymorphisms. The two loci associated with depressive symptoms replicate in an independent depression sample. Joint analyses that exploit the high genetic correlations between the phenotypes (P = 0.8) strengthen the overall credibility of the findings and allow us to identify additional variants. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues are strongly enriched for association

The Molecular Genetic Architecture of Self-Employment

Peer reviewe

CoMFA and CoMSIA analyses on 4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline and 4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-1,5-, -1,6- and -1,8-naphthyridine derivatives as selective CB2 receptor agonists

Novel classes of CB2 agonists based on 4-oxo- 1,4-dihydroquinoline and 4-oxo-1,4-dihydro-1,5-, -1,6- and -1,8-naphthyridine scaffolds have shown high binding affinity toward CB2 receptor and good selectivity over CB1. A computational study of comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) was performed, in order to identify the key structural features impacting their binding affinity. The final CoMSIA model resulted to be the more predictive, showing r2ncv= 0,84, r2cv=0,619,SEE=0,369, and r2pred= 0,75. The study provides useful suggestions for the synthesis of new selective analogues with improved affinity

A novel potent non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor acylthiocarbamate derivative with extensive intramolecular pi-pi interactions

In the crystal structure of the novel acylthiocarbamate derivative O-[2-(1,3-dioxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-2-yl)-ethyl] N-(4-methylphenyl)-N-(3-nitrobenzoyl)thiocarbamate, C25H19N3O6S, intra- and intermolecular pi-pi interactions occur between the phthalimide and N-benzoyl moieties. The partial atomic charges, calculated by ab initio methods, are consistent with the observed structure