Profiling Nutritionally Important Carotenoids from Genetically-Diverse Tomatoes by IR Spectroscopy

The objective of this research was to develop a protocol for profiling tomato carotenoids based on their specific vibrational spectroscopic signatures. Twenty four tomato varieties that included eight groups of genetically manipulated carotenoid varieties (high trans-lycopene, poly-cis-lycopene, β-carotene, poly-cis-β-carotene, δ-carotene, tangerine virescent, alcabaca-tangerine, and a low-carotenoid control sample) were grown and harvested in a replicated trial. Hexane was used to extract the lipid fraction from samples, and the extract was directly applied onto an ATR ZnSe crystal plate for spectra acquisition and injected in a reverse phase HPLC system for carotenoid separation. SIMCA classified tomatoes based on unique infrared spectral signatures. Models exhibited tight and well-separated clusters (interclass distances >3.0) that correlated well with the information obtained by HPLC, and demonstrated the capability to classify tomatoes based on variety and carotenoid profile. Classification of lipid fractions was primarily based on the presence of trans double bonds and their cis and trans conjugations. Major discriminating bands were 957cm-1 and 964cm-1 associated with bending trans HC=CH out-of-plane deformation vibrations of carotenoids. ATR-IR and multivariate analysis provided a simple, rapid and high-throughput tool for the identification of dietary carotenoids. This technique will facilitate the effective selection of tomato varieties with specific pigment content, improving the screening process for carotenoid-rich products.USD

MAMMALS RECORDED WITH CAMERA TRAPS IN THE TURISTIC AREA OF THE ALLPAHUAYO-MISHANA NATIONAL RESERVE, LORETO, PERU

La Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo Mishana, situada en la Amazonía peruana, mantiene una gran biodiversidad pero, a diferencia de sus plantas y de la mayoría de grupos de vertebrados, su comunidad de mamíferos mayores y medianos de costumbres terrestres no ha sido sujeto de evaluaciones recientes con métodos de registro directo, estando la mayor parte de esas especies reportadas únicamente a partir de huellas, entrevistas, o pieles y cráneos mantenidos por cazadores locales. Con el fin de contar con una lista actual de mamíferos terrestres de la zona de uso turístico de la reserva, realizamos una evaluación con cámaras trampa entre mayo y octubre del 2021. Adicionalmente, evaluamos la actividad horaria para las ocho especies que fueron registradas más de 10 veces. Se consiguieron 656 registros independientes de mamíferos que correspondieron a 19 especies identificadas al menos a nivel de género, incluyendo 17 de costumbres terrestres y dos principalmente arborícolas. Varias especies reportadas por otros autores en distintos lugares de la RNAM no fueron captadas por nuestras cámaras, pero conseguimos registrar una especie amenazada que se creía extinta en el área: el hormiguero gigante Myrmecophaga tridactyla. La actividad horaria de las especies estudiadas no mostró alteraciones con respecto a otras publicaciones. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las actividades antrópicas no alteran el comportamiento horario de los mamíferos más comunes en el área, pero si pueden tener un impacto negativo sobre la diversidad total y sobre la abundancia de ciertas especies, en especial mamíferos de gran porte y carnívoros.  The Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, located in the Peruvian Amazon, maintains a great biodiversity but, unlike its plants and most groups of vertebrates, its community of large and medium-sized terrestrial mammals has not been the subject of recent evaluations with direct recording methods, with most of these species reported solely from tracks, interviews, or skins and skulls kept by local hunters. In order to have a current list of land mammals in the touristic area of ​​the reserve, we carried out an evaluation with camera traps between May and October 2021. Additionally, we evaluated the diel activity for the eight species that were recorded most than 10 times. 656 independent records of mammals were obtained, corresponding to 19 species identified at least to the genus level, including 17 with terrestrial habits and two mainly arboreal. Several species reported by other authors in different places of the reserve were not captured by our cameras, but we recorded a threatened species that was believed to be extinct in the area: the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla. The diel activity of the studied species did not show alterations with respect to other publications. Our results suggest that human activities do not alter the diel behavior of the most common mammals in the area, but they can have a negative impact on the total diversity and abundance of certain species, especially large mammals and carnivores

On the Transverse-Traceless Projection in Lattice Simulations of Gravitational Wave Production

It has recently been pointed out that the usual procedure employed in order to obtain the transverse-traceless (TT) part of metric perturbations in lattice simulations was inconsistent with the fact that those fields live in the lattice and not in the continuum. It was claimed that this could lead to a larger amplitude and a wrong shape for the gravitational wave (GW) spectra obtained in numerical simulations of (p)reheating. In order to address this issue, we have defined a consistent prescription in the lattice for extracting the TT part of the metric perturbations. We demonstrate explicitly that the GW spectra obtained with the old continuum-based TT projection only differ marginally in amplitude and shape with respect to the new lattice-based ones. We conclude that one can therefore trust the predictions appearing in the literature on the spectra of GW produced during (p)reheating and similar scenarios simulated on a lattice.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to JCA

Sensitivity of tumor cells towards CIGB-300 anticancer peptide relies on its nucleolar localization

CIGB-300 is a novel anticancer peptide that impairs the casein kinase 2-mediated phosphorylation by direct binding to the conserved phosphoacceptor site on their substrates. Previous findings indicated that CIGB-300 inhibits tumor cell proliferation in vitro and induces tumor growth delay in vivo in cancer animal models. Interestingly, we had previously demonstrated that the putative oncogene B23/nucleophosmin (NPM) is the major intracellular target for CIGB-300 in a sensitive human lung cancer cell line. However, the ability of this peptide to target B23/NPM in cancer cells with differential CIGB-300 response phenotype remained to be determined. Interestingly, in this work, we evidenced that CIGB-300's antiproliferative activity on tumor cells strongly correlates with its nucleolar localization, the main subcellular localization of the previously identified B23/NPM target. Likewise, using CIGB-300 equipotent doses (concentration that inhibits 50% of proliferation), we demonstrated that this peptide interacts and inhibits B23/NPM phosphorylation in different cancer cell lines as evidenced by in vivo pull-down and metabolic labeling experiments. Moreover, such inhibition was followed by a fast apoptosis on CIGB-300-treated cells and also an impairment of cell cycle progression mainly after 5 h of treatment. Altogether, our data not only validates B23/NPM as a main target for CIGB-300 in cancer cells but also provides the first experimental clues to explain their differential antiproliferative response. Importantly, our findings suggest that further improvements to this cell penetrating peptide-based drug should entail its more efficient intracellular delivery at such subcellular localization.Fil: Perera, Yasser. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Costales, Heydi C.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Diaz, Yakelin. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Reyes, Osvaldo. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Farina, Hernán Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mendez, Lissandra. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Gómez, Roberto E.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Acevedo, Boris E.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Gomez, Daniel Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Daniel Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Oncología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perea, Silvio E.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; Cub

Immunization with surface immunogenic protein induces a decrease of vaginal colonization by group B Streptococcus in an experimental mouse model

The Group B streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis in developed countries and an emerging pathogen in adults. A neonatal infection occurs predominantly during the delivery by either inhalation or ingestion of contaminated secretions of the mother’s vagina. Maternal screening by rectovaginal GBS colonization at 35–37 weeks of gestation, with subsequent intra-partum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) at the onset of labor, is implemented in some countries to prevent newborn invasive by GBS. Currently, there are not vaccines to prevent the devastating consequences of GBS and a glycoconjugate vaccine is under clinical experimentation (Clinical Trials Phase III). The Surface Immunological Protein (SIP) of GBS is highly immunogenic and conserved between different serotypes of this bacterium. The SIP had been described to induce antibodies type IgG that induces protective immunity in animal model challenged intraperitoneally with GBS. Here we describe the immunization with SIP mixed with an AbISCO-100 adjuvant in mice model challenged to GBS vaginal infection. The vaccine has demonstrated to decrease the GBS colonization in infected mouse. The SIP immunization has also increased the circulating IgA, IgG and IgG2a levels against SIP and antigen-specific circulating levels of IFN- ƴ and IL–2. Moreover, transfer of serum and T cells from a vaccinated animal into a non-immunized animal induced immune protection to the animals from challenged GBS colonization of the vaginal tract. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that a simple and effective vaccine is able to prevent GBS colonization, where cellular immunity plays an important role. To our knowledge, is the first report the SIP-based vaccine reduces the vaginal GBS colonization in an animal model

Update on the electrolytic IVC model for pre‐clinical studies of venous thrombosis

EssentialsThree key updates are provided on the electrolytic inferior vena cava model (EIM).The originally described stimulator equipment has been discontinued; we developed an alternative.The fibrinolytic system and the current and time dependency of the EIM was characterized.EIM allows the investigation of the fibrinolytic system, critical for endovascular therapies.BackgroundThe electrolytic inferior vena cava model (EIM) is a murine venous thrombosis (VT) model that produces a non‐occlusive thrombus. The thrombus forms in the direction of blood flow, as observed in patients. The EIM is valuable for investigations of therapeutics due to the presence of continuous blood flow. However, the equipment used to induce thrombosis in the original model description was expensive and has since been discontinued. Further, the fibrinolytic system had not been previously studied in the EIM.ObjectivesWe aimed to provide an equipment alternative. Additionally, we further characterized the model through mapping the current and time dependency of thrombus resolution dynamics, and investigated the fibrinolytic system from acute to chronic VT.ResultsA voltage to current converter powered by a direct current power supply was constructed and validated, providing an added benefit of significantly reducing costs. The current and time dependency of thrombus volume dynamics was assessed by MRI, demonstrating the flexibility of the EIM to investigate both pro‐thrombotic and anti‐thrombotic conditions. Additionally, the fibrinolytic system was characterized in EIM. Centripetal distribution of plasminogen was observed over time, with peak staining at day 6 post thrombus induction. Both active circulating plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) and vein wall gene expression of PAI‐1 peaked at day 2, coinciding with a relative decrease in tissue plasminogen activator and urokinase plasminogen activator.ConclusionsThe EIM is a valuable model of VT that can now be performed at low cost and may be beneficial in investigations of the fibrinolytic system.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143801/1/rth212074.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143801/2/rth212074_am.pd

Morphometric analysis of airways in pre-COPD and mild COPD lungs using continuous surface representations of the bronchial lumen

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a prevalent respiratory disease that presents a high rate of underdiagnosis during onset and early stages. Studies have shown that in mild COPD patients, remodeling of the small airways occurs concurrently with morphological changes in the proximal airways. Despite this evidence, the geometrical study of the airway tree from computed tomography (CT) lung images remains underexplored due to poor representations and limited tools to characterize the airway structure.Methods: We perform a comprehensive morphometric study of the proximal airways based on geometrical measures associated with the different airway generations. To this end, we leverage the geometric flexibility of the Snakes IsoGeometric Analysis method to accurately represent and characterize the airway luminal surface and volume informed by CT images of the respiratory tree. Based on this framework, we study the airway geometry of smoking pre-COPD and mild COPD individuals.Results: Our results show a significant difference between groups in airway volume, length, luminal eccentricity, minimum radius, and surface-area-to-volume ratio in the most distal airways.Discussion: Our findings suggest a higher degree of airway narrowing and collapse in COPD patients when compared to pre-COPD patients. We envision that our work has the potential to deliver a comprehensive tool for assessing morphological changes in airway geometry that take place in the early stages of COPD