Functional, metabolic and transcriptional maturation of human pancreatic islets derived from stem cells

Transplantation of pancreatic islet cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells is a promising treatment for diabetes. Despite progress in the generation of stem-cell-derived islets (SC-islets), no detailed characterization of their functional properties has been conducted. Here, we generated functionally mature SC-islets using an optimized protocol and benchmarked them comprehensively against primary adult islets. Biphasic glucose-stimulated insulin secretion developed during in vitro maturation, associated with cytoarchitectural reorganization and the increasing presence of alpha cells. Electrophysiology, signaling and exocytosis of SC-islets were similar to those of adult islets. Glucose-responsive insulin secretion was achieved despite differences in glycolytic and mitochondrial glucose metabolism. Single-cell transcriptomics of SC-islets in vitro and throughout 6 months of engraftment in mice revealed a continuous maturation trajectory culminating in a transcriptional landscape closely resembling that of primary islets. Our thorough evaluation of SC-islet maturation highlights their advanced degree of functionality and supports their use in further efforts to understand and combat diabetes. Pancreatic islets derived from stem cells are benchmarked against primary cells.Peer reviewe

Evolutionary Analyses of Entire Genomes Do Not Support the Association of mtDNA Mutations with Ras/MAPK Pathway Syndromes

BACKGROUND: There are several known autosomal genes responsible for Ras/MAPK pathway syndromes, including Noonan syndrome (NS) and related disorders (such as LEOPARD, neurofibromatosis type 1), although mutations of these genes do not explain all cases. Due to the important role played by the mitochondrion in the energetic metabolism of cardiac muscle, it was recently proposed that variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome could be a risk factor in the Noonan phenotype and in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is a common clinical feature in Ras/MAPK pathway syndromes. In order to test these hypotheses, we sequenced entire mtDNA genomes in the largest series of patients suffering from Ras/MAPK pathway syndromes analyzed to date (n = 45), most of them classified as NS patients (n = 42). METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The results indicate that the observed mtDNA lineages were mostly of European ancestry, reproducing in a nutshell the expected haplogroup (hg) patterns of a typical Iberian dataset (including hgs H, T, J, and U). Three new branches of the mtDNA phylogeny (H1j1, U5b1e, and L2a5) are described for the first time, but none of these are likely to be related to NS or Ras/MAPK pathway syndromes when observed under an evolutionary perspective. Patterns of variation in tRNA and protein genes, as well as redundant, private and heteroplasmic variants, in the mtDNA genomes of patients were as expected when compared with the patterns inferred from a worldwide mtDNA phylogeny based on more than 8700 entire genomes. Moreover, most of the mtDNA variants found in patients had already been reported in healthy individuals and constitute common polymorphisms in human population groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: As a whole, the observed mtDNA genome variation in the NS patients was difficult to reconcile with previous findings that indicated a pathogenic role of mtDNA variants in NS

Análisis de la composición mineralógica de una zona de falla en Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

Trabajo presentado en la XXXVII Reunión de la Sociedad Española de Mineralogía (SEM)celebrada en Madrid (España) el día 12 de Julio de 2018, en la Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas de la Universidad Complutense de MadridPeer reviewe

Delimiting allelic imbalance of TYMS by allele-specific analysis

Allelic imbalance of thymidylate synthase (TYMS) is attributed to polymorphisms in the 5′- and 3′-untranslated region (UTR). These polymorphisms have been related to the risk of suffering different cancers, for example leukemia, breast or gastric cancer, and response to different drugs, among which are methotrexate glutamates, stavudine, and specifically 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), as TYMS is its direct target. A vast literature has been published in relation to 5-FU, even suggesting the sole use of these polymorphisms to effectively manage 5-FU dosage. Estimates of the extent to which these polymorphisms influence in TYMS expression have in the past been based on functional analysis by luciferase assays and quantification of TYMS mRNA, but both these studies, as the association studies with cancer risk or with toxicity or response to 5-FU, are very contradictory. Regarding functional assays, the artificial genetic environment created in luciferase assay and the problems derived from quantitative polymerase chain reactions (qPCRs), for example the use of a reference gene, may have distorted the results. To avoid these sources of interference, we have analyzed the allelic imbalance of TYMS by allelic-specific analysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients. Allelic imbalance in PBMCs, taken from 40 patients with suspected myeloproliferative haematological diseases, was determined by fluorescent fragment analysis (for the 3′-UTR polymorphism), Sanger sequencing and allelic-specific qPCR in multiplex (for the 5′-UTR polymorphisms). For neither the 3′- nor the 5′-UTR polymorphisms did the observed allelic imbalance exceed 1.5 fold. None of the TYMS polymorphisms is statistically associated with allelic imbalance. The results acquired allow us to deny the previously established assertion of an influence of 2 to 4 fold of the rs45445694 and rs2853542 polymorphisms in the expression of TYMS and narrow its allelic imbalance to 1.5 fold, in our population. These data circumscribe the influence of these polymorphisms in the clinical outcome of 5-FU and question their use for establishing 5-FU dosage, above all when additional genetic factors are not considered

Estimación de la zona de daño de una falla mediante el estudio espectroradiométrico de campo (VNIR - SWIR) de los filosilicatos asociados

Trabajo presentado en la XXV Reunión de la Sociedad española de Arcillas, celebrada en Zamora (España) del 5 al 7 de julio de 2018Peer reviewe

Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions aimed at commerce in controlling the spread of COVID-19

Los resultados del presente informe, cuyo objeto es sintetizar la literatura referente a la efectividad de las Intervenciones No Farmacol?gicas (INFs) dirigidas al comercio en el control de la diseminaci?n de la COVID-19 sugieren la efectividad de estas durante la 1? onda de la pandemia; aunque existen importantes limitaciones dado que los estudios son de tipo ecol?gico y la implementaci?n conjunta de diferentes INFs dificulta la estimaci?n de su efecto individual

Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions aimed at workplaces in controlling the spread of COVID-19

Los resultados del presente informe, cuyo objeto es sintetizar la literatura referente a la efectividad de las Intervenciones No Farmacol?gicas (INFs) dirigidas a los lugares de trabajo no sanitarios en el control de la diseminaci?n de la COVID-19 sugieren la efectividad de estas durante la 1? onda de la pandemia; aunque existen importantes limitaciones dado que los estudios son de tipo ecol?gico y la implementaci?n conjunta de diferentes INFs dificulta la estimaci?n de su efecto individual