The lincRNA MIRAT binds to IQGAP1 and modulates the MAPK pathway in NRAS mutant melanoma.

Despite major advances in targeted melanoma therapies, drug resistance limits their efficacy. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcriptome elements that do not encode proteins but are important regulatory molecules. LncRNAs have been implicated in cancer development and response to different therapeutics and are thus potential treatment targets; however, the majority of their functions and molecular interactions remain unexplored. In this study, we identify a novel cytoplasmic intergenic lincRNA (MIRAT), which is upregulated following prolonged MAPK inhibition in NRAS mutant melanoma and modulates MAPK signaling by binding to the MEK scaffold protein IQGAP1. Collectively, our results present MIRAT's direct modulatory effect on the MAPK pathway and highlight the relevance of cytoplasmic lncRNAs as potential targets in drug resistant cancer

In Vitro Infection of Trypanosoma cruzi Causes Decrease in Glucose Transporter Protein-1 (GLUT1) Expression in Explants of Human Placental Villi Cultured under Normal and High Glucose Concentrations

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic Chagas' disease agent, induces changes in protein pattern of the human placenta syncytiotrophoblast. The glucose transporter protein-1 (GLUT1) is the primary isoform involved in transplacental glucose transport. We carried out in vitro assays to determine if T. cruzi infection would induce changes in placental GLUT1 protein expression under normal and high concentration of glucose. Using Western blot and immunohistological techniques, GLUT1 expression was determined in normal placental villi cultured under normal or high concentrations of glucose, with or without in vitro T. cruzi infection, for 24 and 48 hours. High glucose media or T. cruzi infection alone reduced GLUT1 expression. A yet more accentuated reduction was observed when infection and high glucose condition took place together. We inform, for the first time, that T. cruzi infection may induce reduction of GLUT1 expression under normal and high glucose concentrations, and this effect is synergic to high glucose concentrations

Propuesta para la aplicación de un sistema de gestión ambiental basado en la Norma ISO 14001:2015 en la planta de tintorería de la fábrica Marsar SRL

A medida que la preocupación por los problemas medioambientales aumenta en la sociedad y se unen fuerzas para establecer medidas de control y protección para la mitigación de estos, consecuencia de los procesos productivos de las diversas industrias, el crecimiento demográfico y por acciones del ser humano, la visión de los organismos defensores de la sostenibilidad del medio están sobre las industrias, es por eso que se hace necesario la implementación de un sistema de gestión ambiental sostenible que establezca políticas y planes de acción alineados con la sostenibilidad y el mejoramiento continuo. Los motivos que con llevan a pensar en la implementación de este sistema es el desarrollo de la responsabilidad social y ética de la empresa, a las presiones ejercidas por los órganos defensores del medio ambiente y a la oportunidad de mejora de la competitividad y rentabilidad que ofrece. En la actualidad existen diversos sistemas de gestión sostenibles, pero los más conocidos son los que están basados en las normas ISO 14001, EMAS y EKOSCAN, son sistemas afines uno más exigente que otro pero que ayudan a estructurar, establecer políticas, planes y acciones enfocados a un desarrollo sostenible; la elección del sistema a implementar va a depender del tipo de organización, capacidades, situación y envergadura de la empresa. El optar por un tipo de sistema requiere del compromiso de la alta dirección, las capacitaciones de todo el personal y la evaluación ambiental del estado actual para proceder con la implementación.Trabajo de investigaciónCampus Lima Centr

Small RNA profiling in Pinus pinaster reveals the transcriptome of developing seeds and highlights differences between zygotic and somatic embryos

Regulation of seed development by small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) is an important mechanism controlling a crucial phase of the life cycle of seed plants. In this work, sRNAs from seed tissues (zygotic embryos and megagametophytes) and from somatic embryos of Pinus pinaster were analysed to identify putative regulators of seed/embryo development in conifers. In total, sixteen sRNA libraries covering several developmental stages were sequenced. We show that embryos and megagametophytes express a large population of 21-nt sRNAs and that substantial amounts of 24-nt sRNAs were also detected, especially in somatic embryos. A total of 215 conserved miRNAs, one third of which are conifer-specific, and 212 high-confidence novel miRNAs were annotated. MIR159, MIR171 and MIR394 families were found in embryos, but were greatly reduced in megagametophytes. Other families, like MIR397 and MIR408, predominated in somatic embryos and megagametophytes, suggesting their expression in somatic embryos is associated with in vitro conditions. Analysis of the predicted miRNA targets suggests that miRNA functions are relevant in several processes including transporter activity at the cotyledon-forming stage, and sulfur metabolism across several developmental stages. An important resource for studying conifer embryogenesis is made available here, which may also provide insightful clues for improving clonal propagation via somatic embryogenesis.publishersversionpublishe

miR-181b negatively regulates activation-induced cytidine deaminase in B cells

Activated B cells reshape their primary antibody repertoire after antigen encounter by two molecular mechanisms: somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). SHM and CSR are initiated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) through the deamination of cytosine residues on the immunoglobulin loci, which leads to the generation of DNA mutations or double-strand break intermediates. As a bystander effect, endogenous AID levels can also promote the generation of chromosome translocations, suggesting that the fine tuning of AID expression may be critical to restrict B cell lymphomagenesis. To determine whether microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in the regulation of AID expression, we performed a functional screening of an miRNA library and identified miRNAs that regulate CSR. One such miRNA, miR-181b, impairs CSR when expressed in activated B cells, and results in the down-regulation of AID mRNA and protein levels. We found that the AID 3′ untranslated region contains multiple putative binding sequences for miR-181b and that these sequences can be directly targeted by miR-181b. Overall, our results provide evidence for a new regulatory mechanism that restricts AID activity and can therefore be relevant to prevent B cell malignant transformation

Galaxy cluster mergers

We present the results of an Eulerian adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamical and N-body simulation in a $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. The simulation incorporates common cooling and heating processes for primordial gas. A specific halo finder has been designed and applied in order to extract a sample of galaxy clusters directly obtained from the simulation without considering any resimulating scheme. We have studied the evolutionary history of the cluster halos, and classified them into three categories depending on the merger events they have undergone: major mergers, minor mergers, and relaxed clusters. The main properties of each one of these classes and the differences among them are discussed. The collisions among galaxy clusters are produced naturally by the non-linear evolution in the simulated cosmological volume, no controlled collisions have been considered. We pay special attention to discuss the role of merger events as a source of feedback and reheating, and their effects on the existence of cool cores in galaxy clusters, as well as in the scaling relations.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Synthesis of new fluorescent 2-(2’, 2’’-bithienyl)-1,3-benzothiazoles

Bithienyl-1,3-benzothiazole derivatives were synthesised by reacting various 5-formyl-5’-alkoxy- or 5-formyl-5’-N,N-dialkylamino-2,2’-bithiophenes with ortho-aminobenzenethiol in good to excellent yields. Evaluation of the fluorescence properties of these compounds was carried out. They show strong fluorescence in the 450-600 nm region, as well as high quantum yields and large Stokes’ shifts.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia