Osteocondroma lumbar sintomático

Se presenta un caso de osteocondroma solitario espinal localizado en la zona para-articular de la lámina izquierda de L4 y que producía una lumbociática secundaria a la estenosis del receso lateral. El osteocondroma espinal sintomático es una lesión neoplásica benigna poco frecuente y cuyo tratamiento de elección es la extirpación quirúrgica.A case of solitary spinal osteochondroma growing from the left L4 lamina, close to the facet joint, is presented. The tumor produced a stenosis of the left lateral recess and the patient suffered from low-back and sciatic pain. Symptomatic spinal osteochondroma is a rare beningn tumor, surgical removal being the most useful treatment

Comparative study of the antitumoral activity of phosphine- thiosemicarbazone gold(I) complexes obtained by different methodologies

A series of phosphino-thiosemicarbazone gold(I) dinuclear complexes obtained by two different synthetic pro- cedures have been prepared. All the compounds have been spectroscopically characterized including single crystal X ray diffraction analysis in some of cases. [Au2(HL1)Cl2] (1), [Au2(HL2)2]Cl2 (2) and [Au2(HL3)2]Cl2 (3) have been prepared by chemical synthesis using a gold(III) salt as precursor; while [Au2(L1)2] (4), [Au2(L2)2] ∙2CH3CN (5) and [Au2(L3)2] (6) have been isolated from an electrochemical synthesis (HLn=2-[2-(diphenyl- phosphanyl)-benzylidene]-N-R-thiosemicarbazone; HL1: R=methyl, HL2: R=methoxyphenyl, HL3: R=nitrophenyl). The in vitro cytotoxic activity of these gold(I) complexes was tested against some human tumor cell lines: HeLa 229 (cervical epithelial carcinoma), MCF-7 (ovarian adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non- small-cell lung cancer) and MRC5 (normal human lung fibroblast), and the IC50 values compared with those of cisplatin. The neutral methyl-substituted complexes 1 and 4 and methoxyphenyl 5 displayed significant cyto- toxic activities in all investigated cancer cell lines, being 1 and 4 the most effective. The ability of complexes 1 and 4 to induce cell death by apoptosis in Hela 229 was also investigated by fluorescence microscopy using the apoptotic DNA fragmentation as marker. These results indicated that the inhibition of cell proliferation is mainly due to an apoptotic process. In order to obtain more information about the mechanism of action of these me- tallocompounds, the interactions of complexes 1 and 4 with the thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) enzyme were analyzed. Both complexes exhibited a strong inhibition of the thioredoxin reductase activity.We thank Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2018/13 and ED431D 2017/01), MINECO (CTQ2017-90802-REDT) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RED2018-102471-T) for financial support. L. M. G. B. thanks Xunta de Galicia for the predoctoral contract (type A).S

Prothymosin α is phosphorylated by casein kinase-2

AbstractProthymosin α (ProTα) is a 12.5 kDa acidic polypeptide that is considered to have a nuclear function related to cell proliferation. Inspection of its amino acid sequence revealed the presence of sequences that may serve as targets for phosphorylation by casein kinase-2 (CK-2). ProTα isolated from calf thymocytes was phosphorylated in vitro by CK-2. The phosphorylation sites are Ser and Thr residues located among the first 14 amino acid residues in the ProTα sequence. Another site that is theoretically suitable for phosphorylation by CK-2, at the C-terminus of the polypeptide, is not, in fact, phosphorylated. Thymosin α1 (Tα1), a peptide whose sequence corresponds to the first 28 amino acids of ProTα, is also phosphorylated by CK-2 at the same phosphorylation sites as ProTα. In cultured splenic lymphocytes ProTα was phosphorylated at Thr residues located at positions 7, 12 and/or 13. Based on these observations we conclude that CK-2, or another cellular kinase with similar sequence specifity, is responsible for phosphorylation of ProTα in vivo

Exploring the Biological Properties of Zn(II) Bis thiosemicarbazone Helicates

The design of artificial helicoidal molecules derived from metal ions with biological properties is one of the objectives within metallosupramolecular chemistry. Herein, we report three zinc helicates derived from a family of bis thiosemicarbazone ligands with different terminal groups, Zn(L Me)∙2HO 1, Zn(L Ph)∙2HO 2 and Zn(L PhNO2) 3, obtained by an electrochemical methodology. These helicates have been fully characterized by different techniques, including X-ray diffraction. Biological studies of the zinc(II) helicates such as toxicity assays with erythrocytes and interaction studies with proteins and oligonucleotides were performed, demonstrating in all cases low toxicity and an absence of covalent interaction with the proteins and oligonucleotides. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the helicates was tested against MCF-7 (human breast carcinoma), A2780 (human ovarian carcinoma cells), NCI-H460 (human lung carcinoma cells) and MRC-5 (normal human lung fibroblasts), comparing the IC values with cisplatin. We will try to demonstrate if the terminal substituent of the ligand precursor exerts any effect in toxicity or in the antitumor activity of the zinc helicates

Population genomics and antimicrobial resistance dynamics of Escherichia coli in wastewater and river environments

Aquatic environments are key niches for the emergence, evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. However, the population diversity and the genetic elements that drive the dynamics of resistant bacteria in different aquatic environments are still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to understand the population genomics and evolutionary events of Escherichia coli resistant to clinically important antibiotics including aminoglycosides, in anthropogenic and natural water ecosystems. Here we show that less different E. coli sequence types (STs) are identified in wastewater than in rivers, albeit more resistant to antibiotics, and with significantly more plasmids/cell (6.36 vs 3.72). However, the genomic diversity within E. coli STs in both aquatic environments is similar. Wastewater environments favor the selection of conserved chromosomal structures associated with diverse flexible plasmids, unraveling promiscuous interplasmidic resistance genes flux. On the contrary, the key driver for river E. coli adaptation is a mutable chromosome along with few plasmid types shared between diverse STs harboring a limited resistance gene content

An RNA-seq Based Machine Learning Approach Identifies Latent Tuberculosis Patients With an Active Tuberculosis Profile.

A better understanding of the response against Tuberculosis (TB) infection is required to accurately identify the individuals with an active or a latent TB infection (LTBI) and also those LTBI patients at higher risk of developing active TB. In this work, we have used the information obtained from studying the gene expression profile of active TB patients and their infected -LTBI- or uninfected -NoTBI- contacts, recruited in Spain and Mozambique, to build a class-prediction model that identifies individuals with a TB infection profile. Following this approach, we have identified several genes and metabolic pathways that provide important information of the immune mechanisms triggered against TB infection. As a novelty of our work, a combination of this class-prediction model and the direct measurement of different immunological parameters, was used to identify a subset of LTBI contacts (called TB-like) whose transcriptional and immunological profiles are suggestive of infection with a higher probability of developing active TB. Validation of this novel approach to identifying LTBI individuals with the highest risk of active TB disease merits further longitudinal studies on larger cohorts in TB endemic areas

Site-Specific Integration of Foreign DNA into Minimal Bacterial and Human Target Sequences Mediated by a Conjugative Relaxase

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.[Background]: Bacterial conjugation is a mechanism for horizontal DNA transfer between bacteria which requires cell to cell contact, usually mediated by self-transmissible plasmids. A protein known as relaxase is responsible for the processing of DNA during bacterial conjugation. TrwC, the relaxase of conjugative plasmid R388, is also able to catalyze site-specific integration of the transferred DNA into a copy of its target, the origin of transfer (oriT), present in a recipient plasmid. This reaction confers TrwC a high biotechnological potential as a tool for genomic engineering. [Methodology/Principal Findings]: We have characterized this reaction by conjugal mobilization of a suicide plasmid to a recipient cell with an oriT-containing plasmid, selecting for the cointegrates. Proteins TrwA and IHF enhanced integration frequency. TrwC could also catalyze integration when it is expressed from the recipient cell. Both Y18 and Y26 catalytic tyrosil residues were essential to perform the reaction, while TrwC DNA helicase activity was dispensable. The target DNA could be reduced to 17 bp encompassing TrwC nicking and binding sites. Two human genomic sequences resembling the 17 bp segment were accepted as targets for TrwC-mediated site-specific integration. TrwC could also integrate the incoming DNA molecule into an oriT copy present in the recipient chromosome. [Conclusions/Significance]: The results support a model for TrwC-mediated site-specific integration. This reaction may allow R388 to integrate into the genome of non-permissive hosts upon conjugative transfer. Also, the ability to act on target sequences present in the human genome underscores the biotechnological potential of conjugative relaxase TrwC as a site-specific integrase for genomic modification of human cells.This work was supported by grant BIO2008-00133 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to ML. CGP was a recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from the University of Cantabria, Spain.Peer reviewe

Sometidos a esclavitud: los africanos y sus descendientes en el Caribe Hispano

Con autorización de la editorial para este libro. La edición estuvo a cargo de Consuelo Naranjo Orovio.Sometidos a esclavitud: los africanos y sus descendientes en el Caribe hispano contribuye al estudio de la historia Atlántica en la que la esclavización de millones de africanos fue uno de principales factores que generaron e impulsaron el desarrollo del mundo moderno. La formación de redes comerciales, compañías mercantiles y negocios particulares contribuyeron a conectar mundos y a hacerlos interdependientes. Junto a las mercancías, individuos y productos, viajaron ideas y tradiciones que fueron tejiendo la historia atlántica. En ella, la esclavización, los esclavizados y los afrodescendientes fueron y son partes destacadas, como muestra su legado presente de las culturas americanas. Estos estudios de la obra se suman a investigaciones que, desde distintos países, proyectos, grupos de investigación y enfoques, se están realizando sobre un tema tan rico, diverso y complejo como es la esclavitud atlántica. El espacio temporal que recorren los capítulos se prolonga en el tiempo como lo hizo la trata y el sistema esclavista. Lo mismo ocurre con los territorios afectados por este fenómeno. Su cartografía es una larga sombra que se expande por el mundo atlántico desde el siglo XVI hasta las últimas décadas del siglo XIX. Distintos actores y puntos de África, Europa y América emergen como protagonistas del sometimiento, el comercio y la esclavización de más de doce millones y medio de africanos.Este libro se inserta en el proyecto europeo Connected Worlds: The Caribbean, Origin of Modern World. This project has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska Curie grant agreement Nº 823846. This project is directed by professor Consuelo Naranjo Orovio, Institute of History-CSIC.Peer reviewe

Blueprint for a minimal photoautotrophic cell: conserved and variable genes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Background: Simpler biological systems should be easier to understand and to engineer towards pre-defined goals. One way to achieve biological simplicity is through genome minimization. Here we looked for genomic islands in the fresh water cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (genome size 2.7 Mb) that could be used as targets for deletion. We also looked for conserved genes that might be essential for cell survival.Results: By using a combination of methods we identified 170 xenologs, 136 ORFans and 1401 core genes in the genome of S. elongatus PCC 7942. These represent 6.5%, 5.2% and 53.6% of the annotated genes respectively. We considered that genes in genomic islands could be found if they showed a combination of: a) unusual G+C content; b) unusual phylogenetic similarity; and/or c) a small number of the highly iterated palindrome 1 (HIP1) motif plus an unusual codon usage. The origin of the largest genomic island by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) could be corroborated by lack of coverage among metagenomic sequences from a fresh water microbialite. Evidence is also presented that xenologous genes tend to cluster in operons. Interestingly, most genes coding for proteins with a diguanylate cyclase domain are predicted to be xenologs, suggesting a role for horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of Synechococcus sensory systems.Conclusions: Our estimates of genomic islands in PCC 7942 are larger than those predicted by other published methods like SIGI-HMM. Our results set a guide to non-essential genes in S. elongatus PCC 7942 indicating a path towards the engineering of a model photoautotrophic bacterial cell.Financial support was provided by grants BFU2009-12895-C02-01/BMC (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain), the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 212894 and Prometeo/2009/092 (Conselleria d’Educació, Generalitat Valenciana, Spain) to A. Moya. Work in the FdlC laboratory was supported by grants BFU2008-00995/BMC (Spanish Ministry of Education), RD06/0008/1012 (RETICS research network, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Health) and LSHM-CT- 2005_019023 (European VI Framework Program). Dr. González-Domenech was supported by grant from the University of Granada. LD, thanks to financial support from Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México