Comparative Genomics Analysis of a New Exiguobacterium Strain from Salar de Huasco Reveals a Repertoire of Stress-Related Genes and Arsenic Resistance

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.The Atacama Desert hosts diverse ecosystems including salt flats and shallow Andean lakes. Several heavy metals are found in the Atacama Desert, and microorganisms growing in this environment show varying levels of resistance/tolerance to copper, tellurium, and arsenic, among others. Herein, we report the genome sequence and comparative genomic analysis of a new Exiguobacterium strain, sp. SH31, isolated from an altiplanic shallow athalassohaline lake. Exiguobacterium sp. SH31 belongs to the phylogenetic Group II and its closest relative is Exiguobacterium sp. S17, isolated from the Argentinian Altiplano (95% average nucleotide identity). Strain SH31 encodes a wide repertoire of proteins required for cadmium, copper, mercury, tellurium, chromium, and arsenic resistance. Of the 34 Exiguobacterium genomes that were inspected, only isolates SH31 and S17 encode the arsenic efflux pump Acr3. Strain SH31 was able to grow in up to 10 mM arsenite and 100 mM arsenate, indicating that it is arsenic resistant. Further, expression of the ars operon and acr3 was strongly induced in response to both toxics, suggesting that the arsenic efflux pump Acr3 mediates arsenic resistance in Exiguobacterium sp. SH31.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00456/ful

The novel choline kinase inhibitor ICL-CCIC-0019 reprograms cellular metabolism and inhibits cancer cell growth

The glycerophospholipid phosphatidylcholine is the most abundant phospholipid species of eukaryotic membranes and essential for structural integrity and signaling function of cell membranes required for cancer cell growth. Inhibition of choline kinase alpha (CHKA), the first committed step to phosphatidylcholine synthesis, by the selective small-molecule ICL-CCIC-0019, potently suppressed growth of a panel of 60 cancer cell lines with median GI50 of 1.12 μM and inhibited tumor xenograft growth in mice. ICL-CCIC-0019 decreased phosphocholine levels and the fraction of labeled choline in lipids, and induced G1 arrest, endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis. Changes in phosphocholine cellular levels following treatment could be detected non-invasively in tumor xenografts by [18F]-fluoromethyl-[1,2–2H4]-choline positron emission tomography. Herein, we reveal a previously unappreciated effect of choline metabolism on mitochondria function. Comparative metabolomics demonstrated that phosphatidylcholine pathway inhibition leads to a metabolically stressed phenotype analogous to mitochondria toxin treatment but without reactive oxygen species activation. Drug treatment decreased mitochondria function with associated reduction of citrate synthase expression and AMPK activation. Glucose and acetate uptake were increased in an attempt to overcome the metabolic stress. This study indicates that choline pathway pharmacological inhibition critically affects the metabolic function of the cell beyond reduced synthesis of phospholipids

Honoring the Legacy: an Exhibition of Works Presented by ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY

The story of ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY is one of tenacity, resilience and positive aging where art, education, health, and aging intersect to provide a model for society (www.artsandcultureresearch.org/artcart ). In the mid-2000s the Research Center for Arts and Culture (RCAC) conducted the only research on professional visual artists age 62 and over in the New York City metro area. ABOVE GROUND1 found that 61% of professional visual artists age 62+ have made no preparation for their work after their death; 95% have not archived their work; 97% have no estate plan; 3 out of every 4 artists have no will and 1 in 5 have no documentation of their work at all.2 Yet, in many respects they are a model for society, maintaining strong social networks and an astonishing resilience as they age. ART CART is a response to this research, begun by six women faculty in higher education from the arts, education, health and aging. We all valued interdisciplinary, inter-generational education and saw too little of it in our practice. We saw advantages for our students to gain a grounding in both creativity and aging, learn basic health prevention principles, and take these lessons back to a variety of disciplines from social work and occupational therapy to art education, art history, arts administration, museum studies, art therapy, oral history, and dance education. We saw a model of experiential learning where students could put what they learned into immediate practice. For artists, we saw a way to keep their work from their greatest fear: the dumpster. We saw a mechanism to help them get organized, urge them to sign, date, and document their work, archive their digital records at Columbia University, obtain wills and estate plans,3 while participating fully in an inter-generational team where an artist, an artist-selected working partner and student fellows worked together towards the same goals. ART CART began with six artists and twelve students at Columbia University in 2010. By 2016, it operates both in New York City and Washington, DC, with 18 artists and 18 fellows. Alumni artists post-ART CART have secured lifetime achievement awards, grants, studio space, sales, gallery representation, exhibitions and a rejuvenated appreciation of their work across generations. And they are still documenting their work

Electrochemical [¹¹C]CO₂ to [¹¹C]CO conversion for PET imaging

Development of a novel electrochemical radiochemistry methodologyi.e.reduction of [11C]CO2to [11C]CO at room temperature and pressure using metal cyclam complexes.</p

Design, synthesis and initial characterisation of a radiolabelled [18F]pyrimidoindolone probe for detecting activated caspase-3/7

Evasion of apoptosis is one of the six initially proposed hallmarks of cancer, and as such, a method to detect apoptosis in a tumour would be of considerable interest in both clinical trials of new cancer therapeutics, as well as for routine patient management. Activation of caspase-3/7 is a key biomarker of cellular apoptosis. Herein we describe the design, synthesis and initial characterisation of the first pyrimidoindolone compound for detection of caspase-3/7 activation using positron emission tomography