Metabolomics for Soil Contamination Assessment

Regional geograph

An Overview of the Polymorphisms of Circadian Genes Associated With Endocrine Cancer

A major consequence of the world industrialized lifestyle is the increasing period of unnatural light in environments during the day and artificial lighting at night. This major change disrupts endogenous homeostasis with external circadian cues, which has been associated to higher risk of diseases affecting human health, mainly cancer among others. Circadian disruption promotes tumor development and accelerate its fast progression. The dysregulation mechanisms of circadian genes is greatly affected by the genetic variability of these genes. To date, several core circadian genes, also called circadian clock genes, have been identified, comprising the following: ARNTL, CLOCK, CRY1, CRY2, CSNK1E, NPAS2, NR1D1, NR1D2, PER1, PER2, PER3, RORA, and TIMELESS. The polymorphic variants of these circadian genes might contribute to an individual's risk to cancer. In this short review, we focused on clock circadian clock-related genes, major contributors of the susceptibility to endocrine-dependent cancers through affecting circadian clock, most likely affecting hormonal regulation. We examined polymorphisms affecting breast, prostate and ovarian carcinogenesis, in addition to pancreatic and thyroid cancer. Further study of the genetic composition in circadian clock-controlled tumors will be of great importance by establishing the foundation to discover novel genetic biomarkers for cancer prevention, prognosis and target therapies

The maize ALDH protein superfamily: linking structural features to functional specificities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The completion of maize genome sequencing has resulted in the identification of a large number of uncharacterized genes. Gene annotation and functional characterization of gene products are important to uncover novel protein functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper, we identify, and annotate members of all the maize aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) gene superfamily according to the revised nomenclature criteria developed by ALDH Gene Nomenclature Committee (AGNC). The maize genome contains 24 unique <it>ALDH </it>sequences encoding members of ten ALDH protein families including the previously identified male fertility restoration <it>RF2A </it>gene, which encodes a member of mitochondrial class 2 ALDHs. Using computational modeling analysis we report here the identification, the physico-chemical properties, and the amino acid residue analysis of a novel tunnel like cavity exclusively found in the maize sterility restorer protein, RF2A/ALDH2B2 by which this protein is suggested to bind variably long chain molecular ligands and/or potentially harmful molecules.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our finding indicates that maize ALDH superfamily is the most expanded of plant <it>ALDHs </it>ever characterized, and the mitochondrial maize RF2A/ALDH2B2 is the only plant ALDH that harbors a newly defined pocket/cavity with suggested functional specificity.</p

Differential Immune-Reactivity and Subcellular Distribution Reveal the Multifunctional Character of Profilin in Pollen as Major Effect of Sequences Polymorphism

Trabajo presentado al Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society and Soil Science Society of America, celebrado en Cincinnati (USA) del 21 al 24 de octubre de 2012.Profilin, one of the major allergen (Ole e 2) of olive (Olea europaea L.) pollen, are broadly distributed actin-monomer-binding proteins (ABP). They display a major regulatory role in actin cytoskeleton dynamics, driving cell morphogenesis, sexual reproduction, and translating signals into cellular responses to different environmental stresses. Plants exhibit multiple profilin isoforms w ith distinctive biochemical properties, and differentially regulated. How ever, it is still an open question w hether these profilin isoforms, generated by multiple gene sequence polymorphism, are functionally different, as well as the role of that polymorphism in pollen allergy. Particularly, in differential epitopes generation, profilin isoforms sensitization and cross-reactivity among cultivars, and even among species. In the present study, w e have used mature pollen from olive, birch, hazel, timothy-grass, and maize, in addition to olive germinating pollen and seeds, w ith the aim to analyze the immune-reactivity and subcellular localization of profilin by using polyclonal and specific isoforms antibodies against olive and maize profilins. The results show ed immune-reactivity differences betw een the five species analyzed, betw een olive cultivars, as w ell as between reproductive and vegetative profilins. Furthermore, the existence of different profilin isoforms w as revealed along pollen germination stages. A differential subcellular distribution of profilin isoforms w as found in olive pollen. They w ere localized in the nucleus, pollen aperture regions, pollen and tube w alls and pollen tip, in addition to a general cytoplasmic distribution, in comparison to controls. Data suggest that profilin family might contain numerous functionally distinctive isoforms, spatial-temporal differentially expressed and regulated during vegetative development, pollen maturation and pollen tube grow th. Furthermore, differential immune-reactivity revealed in the study might point out the involvement of common shared and specific epitopes, generated by sequence polymorphism, in differential olive pollen cultivar sensitization of allergenic patients, and cross-reaction to pollen from different species.This study was supported by the following European Regional Development Fund cofinanced grants: MCINN BFU 2004-00601/BFI, BFU 2008-00629, BFU2011-22779, CICE (Junta de Andalucía) P2010-CVI15767, P2010-AGR6274, P2011-CVI-7487, P2011-CVI-7487, and by the coordinated project Spain/Germany MEC HA2004-0094.Peer reviewe

Fine particle pH and the partitioning of nitric acid during winter in the northeastern United States

Particle pH is a critical but poorly constrained quantity that affects many aerosol processes and properties, including aerosol composition, concentrations, and toxicity. We assess PM1 pH as a function of geographical location and altitude, focusing on the northeastern U.S., based on aircraft measurements from the Wintertime Investigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity campaign (1 February to 15 March 2015). Particle pH and water were predicted with the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic model and validated by comparing predicted to observed partitioning of inorganic nitrate between the gas and particle phases. Good agreement was found for relative humidity (RH) above 40%; at lower RH observed particle nitrate was higher than predicted, possibly due to organic-inorganic phase separations or nitrate measurement uncertainties associated with low concentrations (nitrate \u3c 1 µg m−3). Including refractory ions in the pH calculations did not improve model predictions, suggesting they were externally mixed with PM1 sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium. Sample line volatilization artifacts were found to be minimal. Overall, particle pH for altitudes up to 5000 m ranged between −0.51 and 1.9 (10th and 90th percentiles) with a study mean of 0.77 ± 0.96, similar to those reported for the southeastern U.S. and eastern Mediterranean. This expansive aircraft data set is used to investigate causes in variability in pH and pH-dependent aerosol components, such as PM1 nitrate, over a wide range of temperatures (−21 to 19°C), RH (20 to 95%), inorganic gas, and particle concentrations and also provides further evidence that particles with low pH are ubiquitous

Visual processing speed in hemianopia patients secondary to acquired brain injury: a new assessment methodology

Producción CientíficaBackground: There is a clinical need to identify diagnostic parameters that objectively quantify and monitor the effective visual ability of patients with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs). Visual processing speed (VPS) is an objective measure of visual ability. It is the reaction time (RT) needed to correctly search and/or reach for a visual stimulus. VPS depends on six main brain processing systems: auditory-cognitive, attentional, working memory, visuocognitive, visuomotor, and executive. We designed a new assessment methodology capable of activating these six systems and measuring RTs to determine the VPS of patients with HVFDs. Methods: New software was designed for assessing subject visual stimulus search and reach times (S-RT and R-RT respectively), measured in seconds. Thirty-two different everyday visual stimuli were divided in four complexity groups that were presented along 8 radial visual field positions at three different eccentricities (10o, 20o, and 30o). Thus, for each HVFD and control subject, 96 S- and R-RT measures related to VPS were registered. Three additional variables were measured to gather objective data on the validity of the test: eye-hand coordination mistakes (ehcM), eye-hand coordination accuracy (ehcA), and degrees of head movement (dHM, measured by a head-tracker system). HVFD patients and healthy controls (30 each) matched by age and gender were included. Each subject was assessed in a single visit. VPS measurements for HFVD patients and control subjects were compared for the complete test, for each stimulus complexity group, and for each eccentricity. Results: VPS was significantly slower (p < 0.0001) in the HVFD group for the complete test, each stimulus complexity group, and each eccentricity. For the complete test, the VPS of the HVFD patients was 73.0% slower than controls. They also had 335.6% more ehcMs, 41.3% worse ehcA, and 189.0% more dHMs than the controls. Conclusions: Measurement of VPS by this new assessment methodology could be an effective tool for objectively quantifying the visual ability of HVFD patients. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of this novel method for measuring the impact that any specific neurovisual rehabilitation program has for these patients

Comparative Analysis of Molecular Allergy Features of Seed Proteins from Soybean (Glycine max) and Other Legumes Extensively Used for Food

Food allergies due to eating habits, pollution, and other factors are a growing problem in Western nations as well as developing countries. Symptoms of food allergies include changes in the respiratory and digestive systems. Legumes are a potential solution to the enormous demands for healthy, nutritive, and sustainable food. However, legumes also contain families of proteins that can cause food allergies. Some of these legumes include peanut, pea, chickpea, soy, and lupine. It has been shown that processing can alter the allergenicity of legumes since thermic and enzymatic resistance can affect these properties. Cross-reactivity (CR) is an allergy feature of some allergen proteins when the immune system recognizes part of the common share sequences (epitopes) in these allergic proteins. The research about molecular allergy includes comparisons of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and T-cell epitopes, assessment of three-dimensional structure and comparison of secondary structure elements, post-transduction modifications analysis by bioinformatic approach, and post-transduction modifications affecting epitopes properties may facilitate molecular tools to predict protein allergic behavior establishing prevention measurements that could promote the use of legumes and other seeds. This chapter provides an overview of the structural features of the main allergen proteins from legumes and their allergenic potential

Functional effect of miR-1307-3p on breast cancer progression

Background: MiRNAs are non-coding RNA molecules and its function is the regulation of gene expression. In cancer, the deregulation of miRNAs allows them to act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. From an analysis of the expression of miRNAs in breast cancer (BC) in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), it was identified that miR-1307-3p is significantly overexpressed in the tumor tissue compared to healthy tissue from patients. So far, in BC, it has only been reported that this miRNA inhibits SMYD4 and that it is involved in resistance to cisplatin through its effect on Mdm4. In this project we propose to identify the role of miR-1307-3p in proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and possible targets involved in these processes in BC cells. Methods: RT-qPCR was used to evaluate basal levels of miR-1307-3p in the BC cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, and the human epithelial breast MCF-10A cells. Later, we determined the effect of miR-1307-3p on proliferation, migration, and invasion in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, and angiogenesis in the HUVEC endothelial cells. All assays were carried out using the miR-1307-3p inhibitor. Then, nine miRNA-target prediction databases were analyzed to identify potential miR-1307-3p target genes, and their expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR in a designed 384-well plate. Finally, the targets that presented an alteration in their expression were evaluated by western blot. Results: We found that miR-1307-3p is overexpressed in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, compared to MCF-10A cells. We also identified that transfection with the miR-1307-3p inhibitor causes a significant decrease in the processes of proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis, when compared with untreated or negative control transfected cells. For its part, prediction databases analysis allowed us to identify 19 potential targets of miR-1307-3p. We also found that 2 genes were overexpressed, CIC and PRM2. Finally, we found an overexpression of PRM2 protein. Conclusions: MiR-1307-3p is overexpressed in BC cells. Furthermore, miR-1307-3p induces the processes of proliferation, migration and invasion in BC cells, and angiogenesis in HUVEC cells. These observations suggest that miR-1307-3p can acts as an onco-miRNA. In addition, a potential new target of miR-1307-3p was found, PRM2 which has not been previously reported in breast cancer. Further analysis to verify and validate the implication of this miR-1307-3p target are needed to understand its importance in BC