Monitoring Muscle Stem Cell Cultures with Impedance Spectroscopy

The aim of this work is to present a new circuit for the real-time monitoring the processes of cellular growth and differentiation of skeletal myoblast cell cultures. An impedance spectroscopy Oscillation-Based technique is proposed for the test circuit, converting the biological system into a voltage oscillator, and avoiding the use of very high performance circuitry or equipment. This technique proved to be successful in the monitoring of cell cultures growth levels and could be useful for determining the degree of differentiation achieved, of practical implications in tissue engineering.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2013-46242-C3-1-

Diabetes insípida perioperatoria secundaria a litio.: Reporte de un caso

Diabetes insipidus is a pathology characterized by the elimination of large amounts of dilute urine. The antidiuretic hormone is responsible of water reabsorption in medullary collecting duct in the kidney. There are two main types of diabetes insipidus, on one hand the neurogenic or central diabetes insipidus and on the other hand the nephrogenic or secondary diabetes insipidus, depending on the level that is affected. Several drugs have been related to loss of renal concentrating mechanism, being the lithium one of them. We present a case report of a patient undergoing surgery for benign pyloric stenosis in pharmacological long-term maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder with lithium. During the intraoperative period the patient began with high urine output and diabetes insipidus was suspected.La diabetes insípida es una patología caracterizada por la eliminación de volúmenes muy elevados de orina diluida. La hormona antidiurética es la encargada de regular la reabsorción de agua en el túbulo colector.  Podemos diferenciar dos variantes, la neurogénica o central y la nefrogénica o secundaria según el nivel que esté afectado. Varios fármacos han sido relacionados con la pérdida de la capacidad concentradora renal de la orina, siendo el litio uno de ellos. Presentamos el caso de una paciente sometida a intervención quirúrgica por estenosis benigna de píloro en tratamiento farmacológico con litio por trastorno bipolar que durante el periodo intraoperatorio comenzó con diuresis elevada sospechándose diabetes insípida

Electrical Modeling of the Growth and Differentiation of Skeletal Myoblasts Cell Cultures for Tissue Engineering

In tissue engineering, of utmost importance is the control of tissue formation, in order to form tissue constructs of clinical relevance. In this work, we present the use of an impedance spectroscopy technique for the real-time measurement of the dielectric properties of skeletal myoblast cell cultures. The processes involved in the growth and differentiation of these cell cultures in skeletal muscle are studied. A circuit based on the oscillation-based test technique was used, avoiding the use of high-performance circuitry or external input signals. The effect of electrical pulse stimulation applied to cell cultures was also studied. The technique proved useful for monitoring in real-time the processes of cell growth and estimating the fill factor of muscular stem cells. Impedance spectroscopy was also useful to study the real-time monitoring of cell differentiation, obtaining different oscillation amplitude levels for differentiated and undifferentiated cell cultures. Finally, an electrical model was implemented to better understand the physical properties of the cell culture and control the tissue formation process.Spanish Government’s Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Plan Estatal 2017-2020 Retos- Proyectos I+D+I and FEDER RTI2018-093512-B-C2

Circulatory immune cells in Cushing syndrome: bystanders or active contributors to atherometabolic injury? A study of adhesion and activation of cell surface markers.

Glucocorticoids (GC) induce cardiometabolic risk while atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammation involving immunity. GC are immune suppressors, and the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) has immune modulator activities. Both may act in atherothrombotic inflammation involving immune cells (IMNC). Aim. To investigate adhesion and activation surface cell markers (CDs) of peripheral IMNC in endogenous Cushing syndrome (CS) and the immune modulator role of ACTH. Material and Methods. 16 ACTH-dependent CS (ACTH-D), 10 ACTH-independent (ACTH-ID) CS, and 16 healthy controls (C) were included. Leukocytes (Leuc), monocytes (MN), lymphocytes (Lym), and neutrophils (N) were analyzed by flow cytometry for atherosclerosis previously associated with CDs. Results. Leuc, N, and MN correlated with CS (p < 0.05), WC (p < 0.001), WHR (p = 0.003), BMI (p < 0.001), and hs-CRP (p < 0.001). CD14++CD16+ (p = 0.047); CD14+CD16++ (p = 0.053) MN; CD15+ (p = 0.027); CD15+CD16+ (p = 0.008) N; and NK-Lym (p = 0.019) were higher in CS. CD14+CD16++ MN were higher in ACTH-ID (8.9 ± 3.5%) versus ACTH-D CS (4.2 ± 1.9%) versus C (4.9 ± 2.3%). NK-Lym correlated with c-LDL (r = 0.433, p = 0.039) and CD15+ N with hs-CRP (r = 0.446, p = 0.037). In multivariate analysis, Leuc, N, and MN depended on BMI (p = 0.021), WC (p = 0.002), and WHR (p = 0.014), while CD15+ and CD15+CD16+ N on hypercortisolism and CS (p = 0.035). Conclusion. In CS, IMNC present changes in activation and adhesion CDs implicated in atherothrombotic inflammation. ACTH-IDCS presents a particular IMNC phenotype, possibly due to the absence of the immune modulator effect of ACTH

ATP-Dependent Lon Protease Controls Tumor Bioenergetics by Reprogramming Mitochondrial Activity

We generated mice deficient in Lon protease (LONP1), a major enzyme of the mitochondrial quality control machinery. Homozygous deletion of Lonp1 causes early embryonic lethality, whereas its haploinsufficiency protects against colorectal and skin tumors. Furthermore, LONP1 knockdown inhibits cellular proliferation and tumor and metastasis formation, whereas its overexpression increases tumorigenesis. Clinical studies indicate that high levels of LONP1 are a poor prognosis marker in human colorectal cancer and melanoma. Additionally, functional analyses show that LONP1 plays a key role in metabolic reprogramming by remodeling OXPHOS complexes and protecting against senescence. Our findings demonstrate the relevance of LONP1 for cellular and organismal viability and identify this protease as a central regulator of mitochondrial activity in oncogenesis

Roma en Red: docencia transversal entre 3 disciplinas y aprendizaje colaborativo para la creación y difusión on-line de contenidos didácticos comunes

Depto. de Derecho Romano e Historia del DerechoFac. de DerechoFALSEsubmitte

Hispania Virtual: las leyes municipales romanas vistas desde tres disciplinas UCM

Depto. de Derecho Romano e Historia del DerechoFac. de DerechoFALSEsubmitte

Roma antigua digital: Tres Facultades UCM en la colonia romana de Urso

Depto. de Derecho Romano e Historia del DerechoFac. de DerechoFALSEsubmitte

Adipose tissue mitochondrial dysfunction in human obesity is linked to a specific DNA methylation signature in adipose-derived stem cells

Background: A functional population of adipocyte precursors, termed adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs), is crucial for proper adipose tissue (AT) expansion, lipid handling, and prevention of lipotoxicity in response to chronic positive energy balance. We previously showed that obese human subjects contain a dysfunctional pool of ASCs. Elucidation of the mechanisms underlying abnormal ASC function might lead to therapeutic interventions for prevention of lipotoxicity by improving the adipogenic capacity of ASCs. Methods: Using epigenome-wide association studies, we explored the impact of obesity on the methylation signature of human ASCs and their differentiated counterparts. Mitochondrial phenotyping of lean and obese ASCs was performed. TBX15 loss- and gain-of-function experiments were carried out and western blotting and electron microscopy studies of mitochondria were performed in white AT biopsies from lean and obese individuals. Results: We found that DNA methylation in adipocyte precursors is significantly modified by the obese environment, and adipogenesis, inflammation, and immunosuppression were the most affected pathways. Also, we identified TBX15 as one of the most differentially hypomethylated genes in obese ASCs, and genetic experiments revealed that TBX15 is a regulator of mitochondrial mass in obese adipocytes. Accordingly, morphological analysis of AT from obese subjects showed an alteration of the mitochondrial network, with changes in mitochondrial shape and number. Conclusions: We identified a DNA methylation signature in adipocyte precursors associated with obesity, which has a significant impact on the metabolic phenotype of mature adipocytes