Calcium Prevents Tumorigenesis in a Mouse Model of Colorectal Cancer

Calcium has been proposed as a mediator of the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the comprehensive mechanism underlying this preventive effect is not yet clear. Hence, we conducted this study to evaluate the possible roles and mechanisms of calcium-mediated prevention of CRC induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) in mice.For gene expression analysis, 6 non-tumor colorectal tissues of mice from the DMH + Calcium group and 3 samples each from the DMH and control groups were hybridized on a 4×44 K Agilent whole genome oligo microarray, and selected genes were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Functional analysis of the microarray data was performed using KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses. Hub genes were identified using Pathway Studio software.The tumor incidence rates in the DMH and DMH + Calcium groups were 90% and 40%, respectively. Microarray gene expression analysis showed that S100a9, Defa20, Mmp10, Mmp7, Ptgs2, and Ang2 were among the most downregulated genes, whereas Per3, Tef, Rnf152, and Prdx6 were significantly upregulated in the DMH + Calcium group compared with the DMH group. Functional analysis showed that the Wnt, cell cycle, and arachidonic acid pathways were significantly downregulated in the DMH + Calcium group, and that the GO terms related to cell differentiation, cell cycle, proliferation, cell death, adhesion, and cell migration were significantly affected. Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) were considered as potent hub genes.In the DMH-induced CRC mouse model, comprehensive mechanisms were involved with complex gene expression alterations encompassing many altered pathways and GO terms. However, how calcium regulates these events remains to be studied

Dengue virus entry and trafficking: perspectives as antiviral target for prevention and therapy

Dengue virus (DENV) is the etiological agent of the most important human viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes in the world. In spite of the serious health threat that dengue represents, at present there are no vaccine or antiviral agents available and treatment of patients consists of supportive therapy. This review will focus on the process of DENV entry into the host cell as a potential target for antiviral therapy. The recent advances in the knowledge of viral and cellular molecules and mechanisms involved in binding, internalization and trafficking of DENV into the host cell until virion uncoating are discussed, together with an overview of the strategies and compounds evaluated for development of antiviral agents targeted to DENV entry.Fil: Castilla, Viviana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Piccini, Luana Érica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Damonte, Elsa Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentin

Molecular and quantitative genetics of stone pine (Pinus pinea)

The Mediterranean stone pine is currently on its way to domestication. Its genuine Mediterranean pine nuts are among the most expensive nuts in the world because they are mainly wild-collected from pine forests and woodlands. Despite the wide current distribution of stone pine over the whole Mediterranean biome, old-growth forests are scarce, often associated locally with dynamics on lose sands, coastal dunes or former estuary marshes. The species has been found to be genetically depauperate, putatively due to a population bottleneck in a local refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum confirmed in southern Iberia, and a possibly anthropic range expansion during Holocene. Only recently, cone harvesting and processing mechanisation have allowed for profitable pine nut production from orchard plantations. In Spain and Portugal, first elite clones have been registered for their use as grafted orchard crop