Morphological Characters of the Thickbody Skate Amblyraja frerichsi (Krefft 1968) (Rajiformes: Rajidae), with Notes on Its Biology

Detailed descriptions of morphological features, morphometrics, neurocranium anatomy, clasper structure and egg case descriptions are provided for the thickbody skate Amblyraja frerichsi; a rare, deep-water species from Chile, Argentina and Falkland Islands. The species diagnosis is complemented from new observations and aspects such as colour, size and distribution are described. Geographic and bathymetric distributional ranges are discussed as relevant features of this taxońs biology. Additionally, the conservation status is assessed including bycatch records from Chilean fisheries

Fernando Buen : ictiólogo iberoamericano

Fil: López, Hugo Luis. División Zoología Vertebrados. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Pequeño Reyes, G.. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Nion, Hebert. Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos (DINARA). Montevideo; UruguayFil: Del Moral Flores, Luis Fernando. Facultad de Estudio Superiores Iztacala. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); MéxicoFil: Lobón Cerviá, F. Javier. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. CISC. Madrid; EspañaFil: Ponte Gómez, Justina. División Zoología Vertebrados. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Characterization of Human Herpesvirus 8 genomic integration and amplification events in a primary effusion lymphoma cell line

In this study, we investigated the integration of Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) into the human genome using the primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell line BC-3. Through next-generation sequencing (NGS) data from multiple independent sequencing runs, we identified two highly supported HHV-8 integrants. These integrants encompassed a region of human chromosome 12 that was amplified approximately 16-fold between the junctions. Significantly, these events could represent the first known instance of HHV-8 integration into a hybrid human-viral extrachromosomal chimeric circular DNA (eccDNA). The amplified fragment contained partial or complete copies of various human genes, including SELPLG and CORO1C. Analysis of long-read Nanopore data indicated that the CpGs at the SELPLG promoter were mostly unmethylated, suggesting that the additional copies of SELPLG within this eccDNA are likely transcriptionally active. Our findings suggest that viral insertion and eccDNA amplification could be crucial mechanisms in the development of HHV-8-related cancers. In conclusion, our study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in HHV-8-induced oncogenesis and emphasizes the importance of investigating viral integration and eccDNAs in cancer development. Furthermore, we highlight the necessity of employing multiple independent sequencing approaches to validate integration events and avoid false positives derived from library construction artifacts

SARS-CoV-2 Catalonia contact tracing program : evaluation of key performance indicators

Background: Guidance on SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing indicators have been recently revised by international public health agencies. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse contact tracing indicators based on Catalonia's (Spain) real data and proposing to update them according to recommendations. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis including Catalonia's contact tracing dataset from 20 May until 31 December 2020. Descriptive statistics are performed including sociodemographic stratification by age, and differences are assessed over the study period. Results: We analysed 923,072 contacts from 301,522 SARS-CoV-2 cases with identified contacts (67.1% contact tracing coverage). The average number of contacts per case was 4.6 (median 3, range 1-243). A total of 403,377 contacts accepted follow-up through three phone calls over a 14-day quarantine period (84.5% of contacts requiring follow-up). The percentage of new cases declared as contacts 14 days prior to diagnosis evolved from 33.9% in May to 57.9% in November. All indicators significantly improved towards the target over time (p < 0.05 for all four indicators). Conclusions: Catalonia's SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing indicators improved over time despite challenging context. The critical revision of the indicator's framework aims to provide essential information in control policies, new indicators proposed will improve system delay's follow-up. The study provides information on COVID-19 indicators framework experience from country's real data, allowing to improve monitoring tools in 2021-2022. With the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic being so harmful to health systems and globally, is important to analyse and share contact tracing data with the scientific community

Exploring the Gain of Function Contribution of AKT to Mammary Tumorigenesis in Mouse Models

Elevated expression of AKT has been noted in a significant percentage of primary human breast cancers, mainly as a consequence of the PTEN/PI3K pathway deregulation. To investigate the mechanistic basis of the AKT gain of function-dependent mechanisms of breast tumorigenesis, we explored the phenotype induced by activated AKT transgenes in a quantitative manner. We generated several transgenic mice lines expressing different levels of constitutively active AKT in the mammary gland. We thoroughly analyzed the preneoplastic and neoplastic mammary lesions of these mice and correlated the process of tumorigenesis to AKT levels. Finally, we analyzed the impact that a possible senescent checkpoint might have in the tumor promotion inhibition observed, crossing these lines to mammary specific p53(R172H) mutant expression, and to p27 knock-out mice. We analyzed the benign, premalignant and malignant lesions extensively by pathology and at molecular level analysing the expression of proteins involved in the PI3K/AKT pathway and in cellular senescence. Our findings revealed an increased preneoplastic phenotype depending upon AKT signaling which was not altered by p27 or p53 loss. However, p53 inactivation by R172H point mutation combined with myrAKT transgenic expression significantly increased the percentage and size of mammary carcinoma observed, but was not sufficient to promote full penetrance of the tumorigenic phenotype. Molecular analysis suggest that tumors from double myrAKT;p53(R172H) mice result from acceleration of initiated p53(R172H) tumors and not from bypass of AKT-induced oncogenic senescence. Our work suggests that tumors are not the consequence of the bypass of senescence in MIN. We also show that AKT-induced oncogenic senescence is dependent of pRb but not of p53. Finally, our work also suggests that the cooperation observed between mutant p53 and activated AKT is due to AKT-induced acceleration of mutant p53-induced tumors. Finally, our work shows that levels of activated AKT are not essential in the induction of benign or premalignant tumors, or in the cooperation of AKT with other tumorigenic signal such as mutant p53, once AKT pathway is activated, the relative level of activity seems not to determine the phenotype

New records of snipe eels (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae) from the Pacific coast of lower Central America

Background: New records of occurrence of two snipe eels (Avocettina bowersii and Nemichthys scolopaceus), poorly known for the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama are herein reported. Results: Specimens, 45 in total (28 and 17, respectively), were collected between 1972 and 1973 at depths between 295 and 1000 m. Descriptions based on specimens as well as comparative morphometric and distributional information by species are herein presented and discussed. A key to the identification of the eastern Pacific species of the family also is presented. Conclusion: These findings increase the knowledge on the Central American marine ichthyofauna and provide evidence of a broader distributional pattern for these species in the eastern Pacific region.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR