Interplay between glucose and palmitate uptake in breast carcinoma in vitro

One of the most studied tumor cells lines in vitro is the breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231 cell line. Several studies have proved its glycolytic profile, namely known as the Warburg effect. Glutamine oxidation is also important for its metabolism. Nevertheless, the use of fatty acids for obtaining energy in these cells is still rising. Palmitic acid is the most common saturated fatty acid, containing sixteen carbons in its structure. However, the use of palmitate for metabolic studies in MDA-MB-231 is not very extended due to its pro-apoptotic effect in this cell line after certain time exposure. Nonetheless, in this work we used palmitate as a metabolic fuel for just 30 minutes in order to see the almost immediate response of the cells to its presence, after a 30 minutes fast period. Our results show that MDA-MB-231 cells are not able of oxidizing palmitate nor producing lactate from it. Simultaneous presence of palmitate with glucose or with glutamine does not affect glucose nor glutamine uptake in these cells. However, we observed that even low concentrations of glucose increase palmitate uptake in MDA-MB-231 after a 30 minutes incubation. Treatment with 5 mM 2-deoxyglucose also for 30 minutes counters this rise, since 2-deoxyglucose diminishes palmitate uptake. Increasing glucose concentration to the same dosis of 2-deoxyglucose leads to a prevalence of the glucose effect on palmitate uptake. The exact role of glucose and glucose derivatives should be further studied in order to know more about palmitate metabolism in this cell line.Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain). This communication has the support of a travel grant "Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech"

Identification and characterization of new anti-angiogenic compounds from natural sources

The inhibition of angiogenesis has attracted broad attention in the field of pharmacological research, not only for cancer, but for other angiogenesis dependent diseases including ophthalmic, cutaneous and inflammatory diseases, as well as a number of rare diseases. Our research group has characterized multiple new natural bioactive compounds with multitargeted antiangiogenic effects by employing a well-established set of in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo preclinical models of angiogenesis. Most of them have been isolated from plants and terrestrial microorganisms, mainly due to their higher availability and because their therapeutic effects had been previously known in folk traditional medicines. In vitro primary screening includes cell differentiation and toxicity and proliferation assays. Secondary screening involves several experiments to evaluate effects on adhesion, migration, invasion, apoptosis or cell cycle analysis, among others. Additionally, we perform a further molecular characterization analyzing possible signaling pathways that are affected to elucidate their mechanism of action. The characterization is completed with the ex vivo aortic ring assay, and in vivo assays, as CAM and zebrafish assays, to ensure the anti-angiogenic ability. As a fruit of the mentioned screening, a number of compounds with remarkable anti-angiogenic activity have been identified and characterized.Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain)]. This communicaction has the support of a travel grant "Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech"

Fasentin, a glucose uptake inhibitor, is also able to inhibit angiogenesis

Es comunicación a congreso en formato pósterThe role of glucose on endothelial cell (EC) metabolism and angiogenesis has been an emerging issue in the last few years. Some inhibitors of glucose metabolism, such as 2-deoxyglucose, have been shown to have anti-angiogenic effects. Fasentin is a poor-studied inhibitor of glucose uptake which modulates GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 transporters in cancer cells. We wanted to test its possible effect on EC glucose uptake, showing a light decrease in HMEC at 100 µM. Lower doses did not affect this characteristic of glucose metabolism. In line with this fact, fasentin at 100 µM totally inhibited tube formation on Matrigel in these cells. This anti-angiogenic effect is not likely to be helped by a pro-apoptotic effect of fasentin but, as proved with additional assays, it could be due to a decrease on the signaling for extracellular matrix degradation. More research would be necessary in order to elucidate its fine regulation on angiogenesis and metabolism.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. [Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain). This communicaction has the support of a travel grant "Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech"]

El cuento navideño decimonónico español: configuración del género

La Navidad se ha convertido en una parte clave de la cultura occidental gracias a aquellos que han escrito sobre ella a lo largo de la historia. Charles Dickens es el autor más representativo de los cuentos navideños, sin embargo, en España también se cultivó este tipo de composiciones desde principios del siglo XIX hasta nuestros días. La finalidad de este trabajo es descubrir si “Canción de Navidad” es el modelo que siguen los autores españoles para la creación de sus relatos o si por, el contrario, la literatura española tiene suficiente tradición como para servir de base para estos cuentos.Christmas has become a key part of Western culture thanks to those who have written about it throughout history. Charles Dickens is the most representative author of Christmas stories, however, in Spain this type of compositions was also cultivated from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. The purpose of this work is to discover if "A Christmas carol" is the model followed by Spanish authors for the creation of their stories or if, on the contrary, Spanish literature has enough tradition to serve as the basis for these stories.Departamento de Literatura Española y Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura ComparadaGrado en Español: Lengua y Literatur

Nuevas tecnologías aplicadas al análisis de la cerámica ibérica a torno del Alto Guadalquivir (S. VI a.n.e-S. I d.n.e)

[ES] En esta tesis se presenta una metodología de digitalización, sistematización y clasificación de cerámica arqueológica realizada sobre una colección de referencia compuesta por 1.133 recipientes cerámicos documentados en asentamientos de época ibérica de la Alta Andalucía (Jaén, Córdoba y Granada). Se han introducido métodos basados en nuevas tecnologías que han permitido la realización de modelos tridimensionales de recipientes cerámicos, la construcción de una plataforma on line en la que se ha incluido información gráfica y semántica referente a los recipientes y el diseño de un sistema informático de apoyo a la decisión en el proceso de clasificación basado en análisis de imágenes.Por último la información se ha insertado en el portal de la cultura europea de Europeana (http://www.europeana.eu/portal/).[EN] This thesis presents a methodology for digitization, systematization and classification of archaeological ceramics. It has been performed on a reference collection composed of 1,133 ceramic vessels documented in settlements of the Iberian period of Andalusia (Jaén, Córdoba and Granada). Methods based on new technologies have been introduced to allow the elaboration of three-dimensional models of ceramic vessels, the construction of an online platform on which graphical and semantic information is included and the design of a decision support system for the ceramic classification based on image analysis. Finally the information has been inserted in the European culture portal of Europeana (http://www.europeana.eu/portal/).Tesis Univ. Jaén. Departamento de Patrimonio Histórico. Leída el 28 de enero de 201

Efecto de un programa sobre la calidad de vida y salud en adultos mayores institucionalizados.

La esperanza de vida se va incrementando y la tasa de natalidad va disminuyendo, por lo que cada vez es mayor la cantidad de adultos mayores que ingresan a instituciones, por esto es importante brindar programas de salud para incrementar la calidad de vida, para proteger la salud y el bienestar en el futuro. Se llevará a cabo un estudio cuantitativo, cuasi-experimental y transversal, en dos grupos, control y experimental, donde 40 adultos mayores de 60 años, que se encuentran institucionalizados, sin discapacidades cognitivas que les dificulten o impidan responder los inventarios y/o llevar a cabo la participación en el programa psicoeducativo. El procedimiento se realizará en 3 fases, en la primera se aplicará el Inventario de actividades de la vida diaria del adulto mayor (INACVIDIAM) y el Inventario de calidad de vida y salud (InCaViSa), en la segunda fase se aplicará el programa psicoeducativo al grupo experimental y finalmente en la tercera fase se volverán a aplicar los inventarios a los dos grupos, para poder realizar una comparativa intra e inter-grupos y ver si existe una diferencia significativa en los resultados post-test. Se espera obtener un incremento en los resultados del inventario de calidad de vida y salud en el grupo experimental después de aplicado el programa psicoeducativo

Evaluation of the anti-angiogenic potential of hydroxytyrosol derivatives

Angiogenesis, a process which allows the formation of new vessels from pre-existing ones, is an essential phenomenon for tumor survival since it allows cancer cells to obtain nutrients and oxygen. This explains the increasing interest showed by many groups of research and pharmaceutical companies to find compounds with potential to disrupt at least one of the steps within the angiogenic process. Hydroxytyrosol (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl ethanol) has been identified as the most important health-related phenolic compound of virgin olive oil because of its pleiotropic effects on multiple targets. In 2012, our group identified hydroxytyrosol as an anti-angiogenic compound able to inhibit several key steps in the angiogenic process. In the present study, the potential effects of six hydroxytyrosol derivatives are tested and compared with those exhibited by hydroxytyrosol by making use of several in vitro and in vivo assays. Results indicate that these are candidate new anti-angiogenic compounds with potential utility in anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic therapies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech [Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain)]. This communication has the support of a travel grant

Synthesis and biological activity of a new class of antitumor cyclopeptides based on the solomonamides

Solomonamides A (1) and B (2) are novel natural products recently isolated from the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei [1]. Preliminary structural studies revealed an unprecedented cyclic peptide type structure. Interestingly, solomonamide A exhibits anti-inflammatory activity, showing potent reduction (60%) of inflammation at a very low concentration of 100 µg/kg in animal models. However, the scarcity of these compounds from their natural sources has been a drawback for further pharmacological assays. In fact, the anti-inflammatory activity of solomonamide B was not evaluated due to the limited amounts. This difficulty to access large amounts of these compounds makes quite difficult to gain insight into their biological profiles and mechanism of action and justifies the chemical synthesis of this new class of cyclic peptides. As a consequence, the solomonamides have been the subject of several synthetic efforts [2] notably by the Reddy group who has recently reported the first total synthesis of solomonamide B based on a intramolecular Heck reaction, which led to a revision of the initially proposed structure for 2 [3].Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

El análogo de las estrigolactonas GR-24 inhibe la angiogénesis in vitro e in vivo

Muchas fitohormonas han mostrado un gran potencial en la prevención y terapia contra el cáncer. Las estrigolactonas son hormonas vegetales derivadas de los caroteinoides que están implicadas en la inhibición de la ramificación de la raíz y el brote, promover la germinación de plantas parásitas e intervenir en el establecimiento de simbiosis con micorrizas arbusculares. Se ha descrito la capacidad antitumoral de diferentes análogos de estrigolactonas, entre ellos GR-24, frente a diferentes líneas celulares tumorales in vitro y en modelos xenográficos. En este estudio se ha evaluado la capacidad citotóxica y anti-angiogénica de GR-24, tanto in vitro como in vivo. In vitro, GR-24 presenta una IC50 entre 50 y 90 μM en diversas líneas celulares tumorales y endoteliales. Además, afecta a pasos clave del proceso angiogénico, como son la proliferación, diferenciación, migración y capacidad de degradación de la matriz extracelular de células endoteliales, a concentraciones menores que su IC50. En los ensayos in vivo, GR-24 muestra un gran efecto inhibidor sobre la formación de vasos sanguíneos en la membrana corioalantoidea de pollo y sobre la formación de vasos intersegmentales en embriones de Danio rerio. En conjunto, estos resultados sugieren que GR-24 puede ser un nuevo compuesto prometedor en la terapia anti-angiogénica y otras enfermedades dependientes de angiogénesis.[Our experimental work is supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) and P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain)]. This communicaction has the support of a travel grant "Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech"

Project-Based Learning and Technology in Early Childhood Education

Este artículo aborda los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje en la etapa de Educación Infantil que se ven especialmente favorecidos con el enfoque metodológico Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP) y las Tecnologías del Aprendizaje y el Conocimiento (TAC), entendidas como recursos educativos a utilizar en el aula. Nuestra investigación presenta un análisis del uso que hace el profesorado de las TAC en el marco metodológico del ABP a partir de un estudio de campo realizado entre una muestra de profesores de la etapa de Educación Infantil de la Región de Murcia. En él se describen los parámetros profesionales relacionados con las buenas prácticas educativas del profesorado que utiliza esta metodología en su aula.This paper approches the teaching and learning processes in the Infant Education Stage that can be improved through the Project Method and the Learning and Knowledge Technologies. The essay analyses and explains the performed field survey between a sample of teachers that work at the Infant Education Stage in different schools of the "Región de Murcia". Finally, we describe the different professional parameters related with good practices in education between those teachers that use the Project Method and the Learning and Communication Technologies