Infection by <i>Salmonella enterica</i> Promotes or Demotes Tumor Development

Cancer is a disease that claims the lives of millions of people every year around the world. To date, multiple risk factors that may contribute to its development have been described. In recent years, a factor that has been associated to cancer development is the presence of bacterial infections that could contribute to its occurrence not only by favoring the inflammatory process, but also through the release of proteins that trigger tumorigenesis. One of the bacterial species that have recently generated interest due to its possible role in cancer development is Salmonella enterica. Nevertheless, for more than a decade, attenuated strains of Salmonella enterica have been proposed as a treatment for different neoplasms due to its bacterium tropism for the tumor microenvironment, its oncolytic activity and its ability to activate the innate and adaptive immune responses of the host. These two facets of Salmonella enterica are addressed in detail in this chapter, allowing us to understand its possible role in cancer development and its well-documented antitumor activity

Descripción de los nidos del Cocodrilo de pantano Crocodylus moreletii en un paisaje urbanizado en el sureste de México

Laguna de las Ilusiones is an isolated urban lake in the city of Villahermosa, Tabasco in México that retains a population of Morelet´s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii ). During the years 2007 and 2008 we studied 22 natural nests of this species. Most of the nests (53%) were built with vegetal material (leaf-litter, stems and thin branches). Also, we recorded human waste as part of the materialsfor nest construction. Mean clutch size was 30.4 ± 10. 8 eggs by nest (nests n = 19, eggs n = 578). Mean egg volume is significantly different among nests, an indication of size differences between the nesting females. Physical characteristics of the nests in 2007-2008 were compared with nests found at the same area during 1991-1994. We found that nest diameter, shore distance and clutch size were significantly higher in 2007-2008. Hatching in Laguna de las Ilusiones was low during 2007-2008 (33.9% ± 31.21) compared with other crocodilians. All new born crocodiles in 2007 and 2008 were males. We discuss how the city may affect the nesting of Morelet´s crocodiles, influencing different aspects such as, theuse of new materials for nest construction, increasing the size of the basal area of the nests, or promoting the search for a nesting site away from the shore. We recommend a management of the crocodiles with female reintroduction and artificial incubation in the Laguna de las Ilusiones to facilitate conservation of this population.La Laguna de las Ilusiones es un lago urbano aislado en la ciudad de Villahermosa, Tabasco que mantiene una población de cocodrilo de pantano (Crocodylus moreletii). Durante los años 2007 y 2008 se estudiaron 22 nidos silvestres de esta especie. En la mayoría de los nidos (53%) además de estar construidos con material vegetal (hojas, tallos y ramas delgadas) se registran productos de desechohumano como parte de los materiales para construcción de los nidos, el resto de los nidos está construido como lo descrito en otros trabajos. El tamaño promedio de la nidada es de 30.4 ± 10.8 huevos por nido (nidos n = 19, huevos n = 578). El tamaño y volumen promedio de los huevos es significativamente diferente entre nidos, lo que indica que existen diferencias en los tamaños de las hembras nidificantes. Las características físicas de los nidos en 2007-2008 fueron comparadas con las de otros nidos encontrados en la misma área de estudio en el periodo 1991-1994, encontrando que el diámetro de los nidos, la distancia a la orilla y el tamaño de la nidada son significativamente mayores en 2007-2008. El porcentajede eclosión en 2007-2008 en la Laguna de las Ilusiones es bajo (33.9 ± 31.21) comparado con otras especies de cocodrilianos. El 100% de los neonatos en 2007 y 2008 fueron machos. El efecto de la ciudad posiblemente puede afectar la ecología de la anidación en el cocodrilo de pantano, influyendo en nuevos materiales para la construcción de los nidos, aumentando el tamaño del área basal de los nidos y promoviendo la búsqueda de lugares más alejados de la orilla para la anidación. Debido al fuerte sesgo que existe hacia los machos en los nacimientos, se recomienda un manejo de la de la población de cocodrilos que incluya la reintroducción de hembras e incubación artificial en la Laguna de las Ilusiones que coadyuve a la conservación de esta población en esa área

CORALILLOS VERDADEROS (SERPENTES: ELAPIDAE) Y CORALILLOS FALSOS (SERPENTES: COLUBRIDAE) DE VERACRUZ, MÉXICO

Five species of coral snakes genus Micrurus, and 14 species of mimic false coral snakes of different colubrid genera ocurr in Veracruz, making encounters with false coral snakes more likely. However, positive identification by color pattern between coral snakes and their mimics is not reliable because of inter and intraspecific color variation and similarities in coloration between several species of these two snake families.En el Estado de Veracruz se distribuyen cinco especies de coralillos verdaderos del género Micrurus y 14 especies de coralillos falsos de diferentes géneros de colúbridos, lo que hace más probables los encuentros con coralillos falsos. Sin embargo, la identificación por patrones de color entre coralillos verdaderos y falsos no es confiable, a causa de la variación del color inter e intraespecífica y a las semejanzas de coloración entre varias especies de estas dos familias de serpientes

InSAR-Based Mapping to Support Decision-Making after an Earthquake

It has long been recognized that earthquakes change the stress in the upper crust around the fault rupture and can influence the behaviour of neighbouring faults and volcanoes. Rapid estimates of these stress changes can provide the authorities managing the post-disaster situation with valuable data to identify and monitor potential threads and to update the estimates of seismic and volcanic hazard in a region. Here we propose a methodology to evaluate the potential influence of an earthquake on nearby faults and volcanoes and create easy-to-understand maps for decision-making support after large earthquakes. We apply this methodology to the Mw 7.8, 2016 Ecuador earthquake. Using Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and continuous GPS data, we measure the coseismic ground deformation and estimate the distribution of slip over the fault rupture. We also build an alternative source model using the Global Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) solution. Then we use these models to evaluate changes of static stress on the surrounding faults and volcanoes and produce maps of potentially activated faults and volcanoes. We found, in general, good agreement between our maps and the seismic and volcanic events that occurred after the Pedernales earthquake. We discuss the potential and limitations of the methodology.This work is supported by the European Commission, Directorate-General Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) under the SAFETY (Sentinel for Geohazards regional monitoring and forecasting) project (ECHO/SUB/2015/718679/Prev02) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under INTERGEOSIMA (CGL2013-47412) and ACTIVESTEP (CGL2017-83931-C3), QUAKESTEP (1-P) + 3GEO(2-P) + GEOACTIVA (3-P) projects

Using regression tree analysis to determine size class intervals and sexual dimorphism in the Morelet's crocodile Crocodylus moreletii

Assignment of Morelet's crocodile Crocodylus moreletii individuals into size groups or classes based on ecological and morphological similarities has not yet been associated with species-specific ontogeny related changes. Age or size of first reproductive behavior is not precisely known for C. moreletii, but differences in allometric patterns and relative cranial size between juveniles and adults might be used as an indicator of sexual maturity. In this study, a regression tree analysis was used to investigate the relationship between age and body size in 1266 crocodiles by using both simple and generalized linear models, with gender and origin (captivity or wild) as factors. Total length (TL), snout–vent length (SVL) and cranial length (CL) were used as predictor variables and the logarithm of body mass as the response variable. Four length intervals with well-defined thresholds (514, 899 and 1497 mm of TL) were established using all three predictors (TL, SVL and CL). Relationship between SVL and TL was described, and a strong positive relationship (r2 = 0.98), unaffected by crocodile gender, was observed. The observed CL–TL and CL–SVL relationships were also positive but significantly different between males and females (p < 0.001) and length interval classes (p = 0.01). These results suggest that our estimated size thresholds seem to correspond to important ontogenetic changes in C. moreletii and that sexual maturity is closely related to size in this species, where sexual dimorphism in body length occurs, particularly in large individuals (size group IV)

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN