Minimally invasive system to reliably characterize ventricular electrophysiology from living donors

Cardiac tissue slices preserve the heterogeneous structure and multicellularity of the myocardium and allow its functional characterization. However, access to human ventricular samples is scarce. We aim to demonstrate that slices from small transmural core biopsies collected from living donors during routine cardiac surgery preserve structural and functional properties of larger myocardial specimens, allowing accurate electrophysiological characterization. In pigs, we compared left ventricular transmural core biopsies with transmural tissue blocks from the same ventricular region. In humans, we analyzed transmural biopsies and papillary muscles from living donors. All tissues were vibratomesliced. By histological analysis of the transmural biopsies, we showed that tissue architecture and cellular organization were preserved. Enzymatic and vital staining methods verifed viability. Optically mapped transmembrane potentials confrmed that action potential duration and morphology were similar in pig biopsies and tissue blocks. Action potential morphology and duration in human biopsies and papillary muscles agreed with published ranges. In both pigs and humans, responses to increasing pacing frequencies and β-adrenergic stimulation were similar in transmural biopsies and larger tissues. We show that it is possible to successfully collect and characterize tissue slices from human myocardial biopsies routinely extracted from living donors, whose behavior mimics that of larger myocardial preparations both structurally and electrophysiologically.Fil: Oliván Viguera, Aida. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Pérez Zabalza, María. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: García Mendívil, Laura. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Mountris, Konstantinos A.. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Orós Rodrigo, Sofía. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Ramos Marquès, Estel. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Vallejo Gil, José María. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Fresneda Roldán, Pedro Carlos. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Fañanás Mastral, Javier. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Vázquez Sancho, Manuel. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Matamala Adell, Marta. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Sorribas Berjón, Fernando. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Bellido Morales, Javier André. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Mancebón Sierra, Francisco Javier. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Vaca Núñez, Alexánder Sebastián. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Ballester Cuenca, Carlos. University Hospital Miguel Servet; EspañaFil: Marigil, Miguel Ángel. Hospital San Jorge; EspañaFil: Pastor, Cristina. Aragón Institute of Health Sciences; EspañaFil: Ordovás, Laura. Aragón Agency for Research and Development; España. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Köhler, Ralf. Aragón Institute of Health Sciences; España. Aragón Agency for Research and Development; EspañaFil: Diez, Emiliano Raúl. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Fisiología Humana Normal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Pueyo, Esther. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina; España. Universidad de Zaragoza; Españ

Chronological and biological aging of the human left ventricular myocardium: Analysis of microRNAs contribution

Aging is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In humans, cardiac aging remains poorly characterized. Most studies are based on chronological age (CA) and disregard biological age (BA), the actual physiological age (result of the aging rate on the organ structure and function), thus yielding potentially imperfect outcomes. Deciphering the molecular basis of ventricular aging, especially by BA, could lead to major progresses in cardiac research. We aim to describe the transcriptome dynamics of the aging left ventricle (LV) in humans according to both CA and BA and characterize the contribution of microRNAs, key transcriptional regulators. BA is measured using two CA-associated transcriptional markers: CDKN2A expression, a cell senescence marker, and apparent age (AppAge), a highly complex transcriptional index. Bioinformatics analysis of 132 LV samples shows that CDKN2A expression and AppAge represent transcriptomic changes better than CA. Both BA markers are biologically validated in relation to an aging phenotype associated with heart dysfunction, the amount of cardiac fibrosis. BA-based analyses uncover depleted cardiac-specific processes, among other relevant functions, that are undetected by CA. Twenty BA-related microRNAs are identified, and two of them highly heart-enriched that are present in plasma. We describe a microRNA-gene regulatory network related to cardiac processes that are partially validated in vitro and in LV samples from living donors. We prove the higher sensitivity of BA over CA to explain transcriptomic changes in the aging myocardium and report novel molecular insights into human LV biological aging. Our results can find application in future therapeutic and biomarker research

Estudio de los efectos salinos en la oxidación de la 1,4-Difenilsemicarbazida con p-Cloranilo en medio acético

Se ha estudiado la influencia de una serie de sales con anion comun (el anion acetato) en la cinetica de la reaccion de la 1 4-difenilsemicarbazida con p-cloranilo observandose un efecto salino positivo especifico. Los resultados obtenidos en medio acetico se explican a bajas concentraciones segun la capacidad salting de los diferentes electrolitos; a altas concentraciones se explica la inversion observada por un predominio de la asociacion ionica. A concentraciones intermedias se produce una competencia de efectos

Chronological and biological aging of the human left ventricular myocardium: Analysis of microRNAs contribution

Aging is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In humans, cardiac aging remains poorly characterized. Most studies are based on chronological age (CA) and disregard biological age (BA), the actual physiological age (result of the aging rate on the organ structure and function), thus yielding potentially imperfect outcomes. Deciphering the molecular basis of ventricular aging, especially by BA, could lead to major progresses in cardiac research. We aim to describe the transcriptome dynamics of the aging left ventricle (LV) in humans according to both CA and BA and characterize the contribution of microRNAs, key transcriptional regulators. BA is measured using two CA-associated transcriptional markers: CDKN2A expression, a cell senescence marker, and apparent age (AppAge), a highly complex transcriptional index. Bioinformatics analysis of 132 LV samples shows that CDKN2A expression and AppAge represent transcriptomic changes better than CA. Both BA markers are biologically validated in relation to an aging phenotype associated with heart dysfunction, the amount of cardiac fibrosis. BA-based analyses uncover depleted cardiac-specific processes, among other relevant functions, that are undetected by CA. Twenty BA-related microRNAs are identified, and two of them highly heart-enriched that are present in plasma. We describe a microRNA-gene regulatory network related to cardiac processes that are partially validated in vitro and in LV samples from living donors. We prove the higher sensitivity of BA over CA to explain transcriptomic changes in the aging myocardium and report novel molecular insights into human LV biological aging. Our results can find application in future therapeutic and biomarker research

Enseñar y aprender en época de cambios : XXVI Premios Francisco Giner de los Ríos a la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa

En esta edición de los Premios Giner de los Ríos se ha reconocido con el Premio Especial el trabajo llevado a cabo a lo largo de quince años por el profesorado del área de ciencias, junto a sus alumnos, en el estudio de la calidad de las aguas del río Guadalquivir a su paso por Sevilla. En Educación Infantil se ha premiado una webquest basada en la metodología constructivista que consigue el desarrollo de todas las competencias del alumnado e investiga cómo es la vida en la sabana, tundra-polo, selva y desierto. La primera experiencia premiada en Educación Primaria reconoce el esfuerzo de una comunidad educativa en la elaboración de un largometraje sobre Astronomía. La segunda es la creación y puesta en práctica del programa ELIGe©, que ayuda a los alumnos con TEA a la elección de actividades cotidianas, y a la comprensión y expresión de emociones básicas. En Ciencia y Tecnología, se ha premiado el Proyecto bambú, bosquete con variedades de esta planta para trabajar. En Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, se ha reconocido el valor de una experiencia que transmite al alumnado la idea de que la lengua es la herramienta que permite proyectar una imagen de lo que somos, queremos y anhelamos. En Otras Materias y Áreas Curriculares se ha galardonado un trabajo cuyo objetivo es la enseñanza al alumnado del trabajo autónomo y el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa. En la modalidad de Trabajos de Aplicación de Conocimientos en Distintos Ámbitos Personales o Sociales, se ha galardonado un proyecto de Formación Profesional que aborda tres objetivos: la integración curricular del desarrollo de proyectos de empresa y simulaciones de entornos reales de trabajo; el cambio en la dinámica del aula con el uso intensivo de la web 2.0; y el cambio en el rol del alumno, que pasa de receptor a creador de conocimiento.MECDES

The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years

We assembled genome-wide data from 271 ancient Iberians, of whom 176 are from the largely unsampled period after 2000 BCE, thereby providing a high-resolution time transect of the Iberian Peninsula. We document high genetic substructure between northwestern and southeastern hunter-gatherers before the spread of farming. We reveal sporadic contacts between Iberia and North Africa by ~2500 BCE and, by ~2000 BCE, the replacement of 40% of Iberia’s ancestry and nearly 100% of its Y-chromosomes by people with Steppe ancestry. We show that, in the Iron Age, Steppe ancestry had spread not only into Indo-European–speaking regions but also into non-Indo-European–speaking ones, and we reveal that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia. Additionally, we document how, beginning at least in the Roman period, the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.J.M.F., F.J.L.-C., J.I.M., F.X.O., J.D., and M.S.B. were supported by HAR2017-86509-P, HAR2017-87695-P, and SGR2017-11 from the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency. C.L.-F. was supported by Obra Social La Caixa and by FEDER-MINECO (BFU2015- 64699-P). L.B.d.L.E. was supported by REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (Plan Nacional I+D+I, MINECO). C.L., P.R., and C.Bl. were supported by MINECO (HAR2016-77600-P). A.Esp., J.V.-V., G.D., and D.C.S.-G. were supported by MINECO (HAR2009-10105 and HAR2013-43851-P). D.J.K. and B.J.C. were supported by NSF BCS-1460367. K.T.L., A.W., and J.M. were supported by NSF BCS-1153568. J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by IT622-13 Gobierno Vasco, Diputación Foral de Álava, and Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa. We acknowledge support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/EPH-ARQ/4164/2014) and the FEDER-COMPETE 2020 project 016899. P.S. was supported by the FCT Investigator Program (IF/01641/2013), FCT IP, and ERDF (COMPETE2020 – POCI). M.Si. and K.D. were supported by a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship awarded to M.B.R. and M.P. D.R. was supported by an Allen Discovery Center grant from the Paul Allen Foundation, NIH grant GM100233, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. V.V.-M. and W.H. were supported by the Max Planck Society

The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years

We assembled genome-wide data from 271 ancient Iberians, of whom 176 are from the largely unsampled period after 2000 BCE, thereby providing a high-resolution time transect of the Iberian Peninsula. We document high genetic substructure between northwestern and southeastern hunter-gatherers before the spread of farming. We reveal sporadic contacts between Iberia and North Africa by ~2500 BCE and, by ~2000 BCE, the replacement of 40% of Iberia's ancestry and nearly 100% of its Y-chromosomes by people with Steppe ancestry. We show that, in the Iron Age, Steppe ancestry had spread not only into Indo-European-speaking regions but also into non-Indo-European-speaking ones, and we reveal that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia. Additionally, we document how, beginning at least in the Roman period, the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.J.M.F., F.J.L.-C., J.I.M., F.X.O., J.D., and M.S.B. were supported by HAR2017-86509-P, HAR2017-87695-P, and SGR2017-11 from the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency. C.L.-F. was supported by Obra Social La Caixa and by FEDER-MINECO (BFU2015- 64699-P). L.B.d.L.E. was supported by REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (Plan Nacional I+D+I, MINECO). C.L., P.R., and C.Bl. were supported by MINECO (HAR2016-77600-P). A.Esp., J.V.-V., G.D., and D.C.S.-G. were supported by MINECO (HAR2009-10105 and HAR2013-43851-P). D.J.K. and B.J.C. were supported by NSF BCS-1460367. K.T.L., A.W., and J.M. were supported by NSF BCS-1153568. J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by IT622-13 Gobierno Vasco, Diputación Foral de Álava, and Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa. We acknowledge support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/EPH-ARQ/4164/2014) and the FEDER-COMPETE 2020 project 016899. P.S. was supported by the FCT Investigator Program (IF/01641/2013), FCT IP, and ERDF (COMPETE2020 – POCI). M.Si. and K.D. were supported by a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship awarded to M.B.R. and M.P. D.R. was supported by an Allen Discovery Center grant from the Paul Allen Foundation, NIH grant GM100233, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. V.V.-M. and W.H. were supported by the Max Planck Society