Validación de potenciales biomarcadores génicos para cáncer cervicouterino

Introducción. El cáncer cérvicouterino (CaCU) es el segundo tipo de cáncer más común en mujeres. El virus del papiloma humano (VPH) tipo 16 es el más común. Con la secuenciación del genoma del CaCU se publicó una lista de genes candidatos a biomarcadores. Se requieren validar en nuestra población. Objetivo. Validar mutaciones somáticas reveladas por el proyecto genómico del CaCU, en biopsias tumorales de pacientes mexicanas. Materiales y Métodos. Se recolectaron 138 muestras de ADN de biopsias de pacientes mexicanas con CaCU. Se realizó la genotipificación del VPH por PCR y secuenciación Sanger. Se secuenciaron los genes candidatos a biomarcadores por Ion Torrent. Las secuencias se analizaron con y se compararon con los reportes de la plataforma de NCBI. Resultados. El tipo viral más predominante fue el 16 (56%), seguido del 45 (4%) y 56 (1%). 19 muestras se secuenciaron por Ion Torrent, encontrando mutaciones que producen cambios en la estructura final de la proteína en los genes EP300, HLA-A y HLA-B. Conclusiones: El tipo viral predominante fue el 16, lo que coincide con otros reportes. La secuenciación arrojó como candidatos a los genes del sistema mayor de histocompatibilidad HLA-A y HLA-B, implicados en la presentación de antígenos, lo que pone en evidencia el significado potencial de la sinergia entre la infección por VPH y una respuesta inmune alterada en la patogénesis del CaCU

Urine biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease: A new opportunity for wastewater-based epidemiology?

While Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis, management, and care have become priorities for healthcare providers and researcher's worldwide due to rapid population aging, epidemiologic surveillance efforts are currently limited by costly, invasive diagnostic procedures, particularly in low to middle income countries (LMIC). In recent years, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a promising tool for public health assessment through detection and quantification of specific biomarkers in wastewater, but applications for non-infectious diseases such as AD remain limited. This early review seeks to summarize AD-related biomarkers and urine and other peripheral biofluids and discuss their potential integration to WBE platforms to guide the first prospective efforts in the field. Promising results have been reported in clinical settings, indicating the potential of amyloid β, tau, neural thread protein, long non-coding RNAs, oxidative stress markers and other dysregulated metabolites for AD diagnosis, but questions regarding their concentration and stability in wastewater and the correlation between clinical levels and sewage circulation must be addressed in future studies before comprehensive WBE systems can be developed.The authors would like to thank the Bioproduction Systems and MARTEC lab from Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. The authors appreciate the support of Tecnologico de Monterrey for granting access to literature services and the scholarship awarded to Mónica T. Núñez-Soto (Student ID A00827926). CONACYT is thankfully acknowledged for the scholarships awarded to the authors Arnoldo Armenta-Castro (CVU: 1275527) and partially supporting this work under Sistema Nacional de Investigadores program awarded to Alberto Aguayo-Acosta (CVU: 403948), Mariel A. Oyervides-Muñoz (CVU: 422778), Juan Eduardo Sosa-Hernández (CVU: 375202) and Roberto Parra-Saldívar (CVU: 35753). Figures Created with BioRender.com.Peer reviewe

Expanding the Scope of Nanobiocatalysis and Nanosensing: Applications of Nanomaterial Constructs

The synergistic interaction between advanced biotechnology and nanotechnology has allowed the development of innovative nanomaterials. Those nanomaterials can conveniently act as supports for enzymes to be employed as nanobiocatalysts and nanosensing constructs. These systems generate a great capacity to improve the biocatalytic potential of enzymes by improving their stability, efficiency, and product yield, as well as facilitating their purification and reuse for various bioprocessing operating cycles. The different specific physicochemical characteristics and the supramolecular nature of the nanocarriers obtained from different economical and abundant sources have allowed the continuous development of functional nanostructures for different industries such as food and agriculture. The remarkable biotechnological potential of nanobiocatalysts and nanosensors has generated applied research and use in different areas such as biofuels, medical diagnosis, medical therapies, environmental bioremediation, and the food industry. The objective of this work is to present the different manufacturing strategies of nanomaterials with various advantages in biocatalysis and nanosensing of various compounds in the industry, providing great benefits to society and the environment.This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) and Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico under Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI) program awarded to Rafael Gomes Araújo (CVU: 714118), Manuel Martínez Ruiz (CVU: 418151), Juan Eduardo Sosa Hernández (CVU: 375202), Roberto Parra Saldívar (CVU: 35753), and Hafiz M.N. Iqbal (CVU: 735340).Peer reviewe

Immobilized Enzyme-based Novel Biosensing System for Recognition of Toxic Elements in the Aqueous Environment

Access to secure water sources has become one of the biggest challenges for human sustainability. Climate change and associated droughts make it difficult to guarantee the usual water source and move to groundwater use or to the re-use of treated wastewater remains unviable due the lack on the capacity of monitoring water quality. Moreover, reusing treated wastewater from repositories near anthropogenic sources represents a risk of high concentrations of emerging contaminants. The strategies involve a higher risk of encountering toxic elements with a heavy burden on human and environmental health. New accessible and reliable tools are required to detect any hazard from the waterbodies in real time to ensure safe management and also to decrease mismanagement or ilegal water discharges. One of the available options is to look into enzyme-based biosensors that can detect toxic elements in the water. The proposed biosensors require sensible elements to be accessible and durable for their proper function. The present revision shows in first place, the actual need of real time monitoring due the different sources and effects of emergent pollutants. Secondly, describes how enzymes can be immobilized for its application in biosensors and the rol enzymes play as bioreceptor element in biosensing. Thirdly, describes the transduction methods that can be observed, and finally the actual application of enzyme biosensors for the detection of different toxic elements. According to the presented literature enzyme-based biosensors have been successfully applied for the detection of a wide number of pollutants reaching detection limits comparable to traditional methods such as up to 0.018 nM of mercury. Furthermore, laccase seems to be the more applied enzyme in literature, but positive results are not limited to this enzyme and other candidates have been explored showing good detection rate. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].This research was funded by Fundación FEMSA project entitled “Unidad de respuesta rápida al monitoreo de COVID19 por agua residual” (Grant Number NA).Peer reviewe

Passive Sampler Technology for Viral Detection in Wastewater-Based Surveillance: Current State and Nanomaterial Opportunities

Although wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) is an efficient community-wide surveillance tool, its implementation for pathogen surveillance remains limited by ineffective sample treatment procedures, as the complex composition of wastewater often interferes with biomarker recovery. Moreover, current sampling protocols based on grab samples are susceptible to fluctuant biomarker concentrations and may increase operative costs, often rendering such systems inaccessible to communities in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs). As a response, passive samplers have emerged as a way to make wastewater sampling more efficient and obtain more reliable, consistent data. Therefore, this study aims to review recent developments in passive sampling technologies to provide researchers with the tools to develop novel passive sampling strategies. Although promising advances in the development of nanostructured passive samplers have been reported, optimization remains a significant area of opportunity for researchers in the area, as methods for flexible, robust adsorption and recovery of viral genetic materials would greatly improve the efficacy of WBS systems while making them more accessible for communities worldwide

Valorizing industrial side streams through microalgae cultivation: A roadmap for process scale-up

Currently, there is an increased need for more sustainable production processes and to move towards zero-waste manufacturing. In this sense, microalgae have been used as an alternative to traditional remediation techniques with the advantage of generating high value-added products. Some of the industries with the highest amount of waste streams belong to the agro-industrial, food and beverages. Based on this premise, a database compiling different studies in which microalgae were cultured with a working volume of at least 5 L and with industrial wastewater as substrate was developed (>TRL5). The aim of the present review is to provide a roadmap into microalgae use regarding biomass productivity, biomass concentration, removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and Chemical Oxygen Demand and the percentages of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates reported in the literature to better guide academics and industrial stakeholders on making decision to further optimize and valorize their side-streams

Extensive Wastewater-Based Epidemiology as a Resourceful Tool for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in a Low-to-Middle-Income Country through a Successful Collaborative Quest: WBE, Mobility, and Clinical Tests

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged healthcare systems worldwide. Efforts in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot keep stride with infection rates, especially during peaks. A strong international collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU), Tec de Monterrey (TEC), and Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (Local Water Utilities) is acting to integrate wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 in the region as a complementary approach to aid the healthcare system. Wastewater was collected from four sewer catchments in the Monterrey Metropolitan area in Mexico (pop. 4,643,232) from mid-April 2020 to February 2021 (44 weeks, n = 644). Raw wastewater was filtered and filter-concentrated, the RNA was extracted using columns, and the Charité/Berlin protocol was used for the RT-qPCR. The viral loads obtained between the first (June 2020) and second waves (February 2021) of the pandemic were similar; in contrast, the clinical cases were fewer during the first wave, indicating poor coverage. During the second wave of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 quantification in wastewater increased 14 days earlier than the COVID-19 clinical cases reported. This is the first long-term WBE study in Mexico and demonstrates its value in pandemic management