Relative stability of ploidy in a marine Synechococcus across various growth conditions

Marine picocyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus are ubiquitous phototrophs in oceanic systems. Consistent with these organisms occupying vast tracts of the nutrient impoverished ocean, most marine Synechococcus so far studied are monoploid, i.e., contain a single chromosome copy. The exception is the oligoploid strain Synechococcus sp. WH7803, which on average possesses around 4 chromosome copies. Here, we set out to understand the role of resource availability (through nutrient deplete growth) and physical stressors (UV, exposure to low and high temperature) in regulating ploidy level in this strain. Using qPCR to assay ploidy status we demonstrate the relative stability of chromosome copy number in Synechococcus sp. WH7803. Such robustness in maintaining an oligoploid status even under nutrient and physical stress is indicative of a fundamental role, perhaps facilitating recombination of damaged DNA regions as a result of prolonged exposure to oxidative stress, or allowing added flexibility in gene expression via possessing multiple alleles

Arritmias no idoso: avaliaçao através da eletrocardiografia dinâmica de 24 horas

Alteraçoes do ritmo cardíaco podem ser encontradas normalmente em indivíduos saudáveis; o avançar da idade, entretanto, aumenta sua prevalência. Para identificar a freqüência de arritmias em idosos sadios e naqueles portadores de doenças cardiovasculares, foram analisados os resultados dos exames de Eletrocardiografia Dinâmica de 24 horas realizados em 288 indivíduos, sendo 159 (55,2%) do sexo feminino e 129 (44,8%) do sexo masculino, com idade mínima de 60 anos (máxima de 97 e média de 70 anos). Tais pacientes foram divididos em seis grupos, de acordo com os seus diagnósticos: 1) sem cardiopatia aparente, 2) com hipertensao arterial sistêmica, 3) com doença arterial coronária, 4) com prolapso de valva mitral, 5) com miocardiopatias e 6) com valvulopatias. As arritmias supraventriculares estiveram presentes em 55,6% dos pacientes estudados (extrassístoles em 38%, taquicardia atrial em 8,7% e ritmos ectópicos em 4,9%) e as arritmias ventriculares ocorreram em 31 % (extrassístoles em 29,6% e taquicardia nao-sustentada em 1,4%). Bradiarritmias foram registradas em 6,9% dos casos. Dos 191 que apresentaram arritmias, 67,5% nao relatavam quaisquer sintomas, enquanto que dos 32,5% que os referiram, em apenas 3,2% os mesmos estavam associados às arritmias. Os resultados do estudo confirmaram que as alteraçoes do ritmo cardíaco no idoso sao comuns e freqüentemente assintomáticas, nao havendo diferença significativa em relaçao à presença ou nao de doença cardiovascular

Arritmias no idoso: avaliaçao através da eletrocardiografia dinâmica de 24 horas

Alteraçoes do ritmo cardíaco podem ser encontradas normalmente em indivíduos saudáveis; o avançar da idade, entretanto, aumenta sua prevalência. Para identificar a freqüência de arritmias em idosos sadios e naqueles portadores de doenças cardiovasculares, foram analisados os resultados dos exames de Eletrocardiografia Dinâmica de 24 horas realizados em 288 indivíduos, sendo 159 (55,2%) do sexo feminino e 129 (44,8%) do sexo masculino, com idade mínima de 60 anos (máxima de 97 e média de 70 anos). Tais pacientes foram divididos em seis grupos, de acordo com os seus diagnósticos: 1) sem cardiopatia aparente, 2) com hipertensao arterial sistêmica, 3) com doença arterial coronária, 4) com prolapso de valva mitral, 5) com miocardiopatias e 6) com valvulopatias. As arritmias supraventriculares estiveram presentes em 55,6% dos pacientes estudados (extrassístoles em 38%, taquicardia atrial em 8,7% e ritmos ectópicos em 4,9%) e as arritmias ventriculares ocorreram em 31 % (extrassístoles em 29,6% e taquicardia nao-sustentada em 1,4%). Bradiarritmias foram registradas em 6,9% dos casos. Dos 191 que apresentaram arritmias, 67,5% nao relatavam quaisquer sintomas, enquanto que dos 32,5% que os referiram, em apenas 3,2% os mesmos estavam associados às arritmias. Os resultados do estudo confirmaram que as alteraçoes do ritmo cardíaco no idoso sao comuns e freqüentemente assintomáticas, nao havendo diferença significativa em relaçao à presença ou nao de doença cardiovascular

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Possibly Associated with Emerging Zoonotic Vaccinia Virus in a Farming Community, Colombia

In 2014, vaccinia virus (VACV) infections were identified among farmworkers in Caquetá Department, Colombia; additional cases were identified in Cundinamarca Department in 2015. VACV, an orthopoxvirus (OPXV) used in the smallpox vaccine, has caused sporadic bovine and human outbreaks in countries such as Brazil and India. In response to the emergence of this disease in Colombia, we surveyed and collected blood from 134 farmworkers and household members from 56 farms in Cundinamarca Department. We tested serum samples for OPXV antibodies and correlated risk factors with seropositivity by using multivariate analyses. Fifty-two percent of farmworkers had OPXV antibodies; this percentage decreased to 31% when we excluded persons who would have been eligible for smallpox vaccination. The major risk factors for seropositivity were municipality, age, smallpox vaccination scar, duration of time working on a farm, and animals having vaccinia-like lesions. This investigation provides evidence for possible emergence of VACV as a zoonosis in South America.https://scienti.minciencias.gov.co/cvlac/visualizador/generarCurriculoCv.do?cod_rh=0000318507https://scholar.google.com.co/citations?user=cU2KyT4AAAAJ&hl=enhttps://scienti.minciencias.gov.co/gruplac/jsp/visualiza/visualizagr.jsp?nro=00000000008981https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8093-054

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Integrated Genomic Analysis of the Ubiquitin Pathway across Cancer Types

Protein ubiquitination is a dynamic and reversibleprocess of adding single ubiquitin molecules orvarious ubiquitin chains to target proteins. Here,using multidimensional omic data of 9,125 tumorsamples across 33 cancer types from The CancerGenome Atlas, we perform comprehensive molecu-lar characterization of 929 ubiquitin-related genesand 95 deubiquitinase genes. Among them, we sys-tematically identify top somatic driver candidates,including mutatedFBXW7with cancer-type-specificpatterns and amplifiedMDM2showing a mutuallyexclusive pattern withBRAFmutations. Ubiquitinpathway genes tend to be upregulated in cancermediated by diverse mechanisms. By integratingpan-cancer multiomic data, we identify a group oftumor samples that exhibit worse prognosis. Thesesamples are consistently associated with the upre-gulation of cell-cycle and DNA repair pathways, char-acterized by mutatedTP53,MYC/TERTamplifica-tion, andAPC/PTENdeletion. Our analysishighlights the importance of the ubiquitin pathwayin cancer development and lays a foundation fordeveloping relevant therapeutic strategies