Decidua-derived mesenchymal stem cells as carriers of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. In vitro and in vivo evaluation on mammary tumors

The potential use of human Decidua-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DMSCs) as a platform to carry mesoporous silica nanoparticles in cancer therapy has been investigated. Two types of nanoparticles were evaluated. The nanoparticles showed negligible toxicity to the cells, a fast uptake and a long retention inside them. Nanoparticle location in the cell was studied by colocalization with the lysosomes. Moreover, the in vitro and in vivo migration of DMSCs towards tumors was not modified by the evaluated nanoparticles. Finally, DMSCs transporting doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles were capable of inducing cancer cell death in vitro

Distribution of endogenous NO regulates early gravitropic response and PIN2 localization in arabidopsis roots

High-resolution and automated image analysis of individual roots demonstrated that endogenous nitric oxide (NO) contribute significantly to gravitropism of Arabidopsis roots. Lowering of endogenous NO concentrations strongly reduced and even reversed gravitropism, resulting in upward bending, without affecting root growth rate. Notably, the asymmetric accumulation of NOalong the upper and lower sides of roots correlated with a positive gravitropic response. Detection of NO by the specific DAF-FM DA fluorescent probe revealed that NO was higher at the lower side of horizontally-oriented roots returning to initial values 2h after the onset of gravistimulation. We demonstrate that NO promotes plasma membrane re-localization of PIN2 in epidermal cells, which is required during the early root gravitropic response. The dynamic and asymmetric localization of both auxin and NO is critical to regulate auxin polar transport during gravitropism. Our results collectively suggest that, although auxin and NO crosstalk occurs at different levels of regulation, they converge in the regulation of PIN2 membrane trafficking in gravistimulated roots, supporting the notion that a temporally and spatially coordinated network of signal molecules could participate in the early phases of auxin polar transport during gravitropism.Fil: Paris, Ramiro. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Vazquez, María M.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Graziano, Magdalena. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Terrile, Maria Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Miller, Nathan D.. University Of Wisconsin-madison; Estados UnidosFil: Spalding, Edgar P.. University Of Wisconsin-madison; Estados UnidosFil: Otegui, Marisa S.. University Of Wisconsin-madison;Fil: Casalongue, Claudia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentin

Influence of pore size in protein G'-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a serum pretreatment system for in vitro allergy diagnosis

Particles with the capacity to bind to immunoglobulin G (IgG) can be used for the purification of IgG or to process clinical samples for diagnostic purposes. For in vitro allergy diagnosis, the high IgG levels in serum can interfere with the detection of allergen-specific IgE, the main diagnostic biomarker. Although commercially available, current materials present a low IgG capture capacity at large IgG concentrations or require complex protocols, preventing their use in the clinic. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are prepared with different pore sizes, to which IgG-binding protein G’ is grafted. It is found that for one particular optimal pore size, the IgG capture capacity of the material is greatly enhanced. The capacity of this material to efficiently capture human IgG in a selective way (compared to IgE) is demonstrated in both solutions of known IgG concentrations as well as in complex samples, like serum, from healthy controls and allergic patients using a simple and fast incubation protocol. Interestingly, IgG removal using the best-performing material enhances in vitro IgE detection in sera from patients allergic to amoxicillin. These results highlight the great translation potential of this strategy to the clinic in the context of in vitro allergy diagnosis.Funding for Open Access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA. TEM experiments were performed in the ICTS “NANBIOSIS,” more specifically in the U28 Unit at IBIMA Plataforma BIONAND

Co-ocurrencia de uranio, vanadio y molibdeno en acuíferos chaco-pampeanos (Argentina) : Fuentes, movilidad y procesos de concentración en diversas cuencas

Concentraciones anómalas de uranio (U), vanadio (V) y molibdeno (Mo), asociadas con arsénico en aguas subterráneas de la Llanura Chaco-Pampeana generan toxicidad que limitan su utilización e ingesta. Se muestran resúmenes estadísticos para las cuencas del río Salí y de Burruyacú (Tucumán), la llanura centro-norte de Santa Fe, las llanuras sudoriental de Córdoba, norte de La Pampa y sudeste de Buenos Aires.En acuíferos someros de la cuenca del río Salí, los máximos de U, V y Mo son, respectivamente: 125, 300 y 727 μgL-1; (medianas: 14,2, 77,3 y 10,9 μgL-1, respectivamente). En sedimentos (mg kg-1): 12,4, 99,0 y <2, respectivamente (medianas: 3,88, 85,0 y <2, respectivamente).Estas concentraciones están relacionadas con disolución de vidrio volcánico, lixiviación de sedimentos loésicos, sorción sobre superficie de óxidos y oxi-hidróxidos de Al, Fe y Mn, y desorción a valores de pH más altos, con formación de iones complejos estables, con alta movilidad.Anomalous concentrations of uranium (U), vanadium (V) and molybdenum (Mo), associated to ar senic (As) in groundwater from the Chaco-Pampean Plain causes toxicity, therefore utilization and consumption must be restricted. Statistical summaries from the Salí river and Burruyacú basins (Tucumán), the northern-central plain of Santa Fe, and the southeastern plains of Córdoba, northern La Pampa and southeastern Buenos Aires were shown. In shallow aquifers from the Salí river basin maxima concentrations of U, V and Mo are respectively: 125 μgL-1, 300 μgL-1, 727 μgL-1 (medians: 14.2, 77.3 and 10.9 μgL-1 respectively). In sediments (mg kg-1): 12.4, 99.0 and &lt;2 (medians: 3.88, 85.0 and &lt;2). Such concentrations are related to the volcanic-glass dissolution and leaching of loess-like sediments, sorption onto surface from Al-, Fe- and Mn oxides and oxihydroxides, and desorption at higher pH values and formation of stable complex-ions with high mobility.Universidad Nacional de La Plat

Drosophila evolution over space and time (DEST):A new population genomics resource

Drosophila melanogaster is a leading model in population genetics and genomics, and a growing number of whole-genome datasets from natural populations of this species have been published over the last years. A major challenge is the integration of disparate datasets, often generated using different sequencing technologies and bioinformatic pipelines, which hampers our ability to address questions about the evolution of this species. Here we address these issues by developing a bioinformatics pipeline that maps pooled sequencing (Pool-Seq) reads from D. melanogaster to a hologenome consisting of fly and symbiont genomes and estimates allele frequencies using either a heuristic (PoolSNP) or a probabilistic variant caller (SNAPE-pooled). We use this pipeline to generate the largest data repository of genomic data available for D. melanogaster to date, encompassing 271 previously published and unpublished population samples from over 100 locations in > 20 countries on four continents. Several of these locations have been sampled at different seasons across multiple years. This dataset, which we call Drosophila Evolution over Space and Time (DEST), is coupled with sampling and environmental meta-data. A web-based genome browser and web portal provide easy access to the SNP dataset. We further provide guidelines on how to use Pool-Seq data for model-based demographic inference. Our aim is to provide this scalable platform as a community resource which can be easily extended via future efforts for an even more extensive cosmopolitan dataset. Our resource will enable population geneticists to analyze spatio-temporal genetic patterns and evolutionary dynamics of D. melanogaster populations in unprecedented detail.DrosEU is funded by a Special Topic Networks (STN) grant from the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). MK (M. Kapun) was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (grant no. FWF P32275); JG by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (H2020-ERC-2014-CoG-647900) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BFU-2011-24397); TF by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF grants PP00P3_133641, PP00P3_165836, and 31003A_182262) and a Mercator Fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG), held as a EvoPAD Visiting Professor at the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster; AOB by the National Institutes of Health (R35 GM119686); MK (M. Kankare) by Academy of Finland grant 322980; VL by Danish Natural Science Research Council (FNU) grant 4002-00113B; FS Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant STA1154/4-1, Project 408908608; JP by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Projects 274388701 and 347368302; AU by FPI fellowship (BES-2012-052999); ET Israel Science Foundation (ISF) grant 1737/17; MSV, MSR and MJ by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (451-03-68/2020-14/200178); AP, KE and MT by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (451-03-68/2020-14/200007); and TM NSERC grant RGPIN-2018-05551.Peer reviewe

Commentaries on viewpoint : physiology and fast marathons

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The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges