The CC-Bio Project: Studying the Effects of Climate Change on Quebec Biodiversity

Anticipating the effects of climate change on biodiversity is now critical for managing wild species and ecosystems. Climate change is a global driver and thus affects biodiversity globally. However, land-use planners and natural resource managers need regional or even local predictions. This provides scientists with formidable challenges given the poor documentation of biodiversity and its complex relationships with climate. We are approaching this problem in Quebec, Canada, through the CC-Bio Project (http://cc‑bio.uqar.ca/), using a boundary organization as a catalyst for team work involving climate modelers, biologists, naturalists, and biodiversity managers. In this paper we present the CC-Bio Project and its general approach, some preliminary results, the emerging hypothesis of the northern biodiversity paradox (a potential increase of biodiversity in northern ecosystems due to climate change), and an early assessment of the conservation implications generated by our team work

Novel Melatonin, Estrogen, and Progesterone Hormone Therapy Demonstrates Anti-Cancer Actions in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells

A novel melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone hormone therapy was developed as a safe bio-identical alternative hormone therapy for menopausal women based on the Women’s Health Initiative findings that PremPro™ increased breast cancer risk and mortality of all types of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. For HER2 breast cancer, melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone delayed tumor onset and reduced tumor incidence in neu female mice. For other breast cancers, its actions are unknown. In this study, melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone hormone therapy were assessed in human ER+ (MCF-7) and triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells, and found to decrease proliferation and migration of both breast cancer lines. Inhibition of MEK1/2 and 5 using PD98059 and BIX02189, respectively, inhibited proliferation and migration in MDA-MB-231 cells and proliferation in MCF-7 cells; however, when combined with melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone, BIX02189 blocked melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone–mediated inhibition of migration in MCF-7 cells and induced Elf-5. For MDA-MB-231 cells, BIX02189 combined with melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone inhibited proliferation and increased pERK1/2 and β1-INTEGRIN; levels of pERK5 remained low/nearly absent in both breast cancer lines. These findings demonstrate novel anti-cancer actions of melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone in ER+ and triple negative breast cancer cells through intricate MEK1/2- and MEK5-associated signaling cascades that favor anti-proliferation and anti-migration