Improving the assessment of risk factors relevant to potential carcinogenicity of gene therapies: a consensus article

Regulators and industry are actively seeking improvements and alternatives to current models and approaches to evaluate potential carcinogenicity of gene therapies (GTs). A meeting of invited experts was organized by NC3Rs/UKEMS (London, March 2023) to discuss this topic. This article describes the consensus reached among delegates on the definition of vector genotoxicity, sources of uncertainty, suitable toxicological endpoints for genotoxic assessment of GTs, and future research needs. The collected recommendations should inform the further development of regulatory guidelines for the nonclinical toxicological assessment of GT products

Concurrent Signals and Behavioral Plasticity in Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) Courtship

Volume: 197Start Page: 63End Page: 7

Primer and short-range releaser pheromone properties of premolt female urine from the shore crab Carcinus maenas

The European shore crab Carcinus maenas is considered to rely on a female pheromone when mating. Evidence, however, is scarce on how the urine pheromone in itself affects males. We investigated male primer and releaser responses to female pheromones with methods that minimized effects from females, delivering female urine either as a pump-generated plume or deposited on a polyurethane sponge. We delivered the pheromone at different concentrations in far, near, and close/contact range to get a picture of how distance affects behavioral response. Our results show that substances in premolt female urine (PMU) function as primer and potent short-range releaser pheromones. Based on the olfactometer and sponge tests, we conclude that PMU stimulus in itself is sufficient to elicit increased search and mating-specific behaviors such as posing, posing search, cradle carrying, and stroking. Pheromone concentrations do not seem to be important for attenuating search and posing as long as the level is above a certain threshold concentration. Instead, pheromone levels seem to play a role in male acceptance of females, recruiting more males to respond, and generating better responses with increasing concentration

Avaliação eletromiográfica da deglutição dos diferentes tipos clínicos da doença de Parkinson nas fases on e off

OBJETIVO:avaliar os parâmetros eletromiográficos da deglutição dos diferentes tipos clínicos da doença de Parkinson idiopática nas fases on e off.MÉTODOS:foram estudados 20 pacientes com doença de Parkinson, divididos através da Escala Unificada de Avaliação da Doença de Parkinson em três grupos: tremulantes, rígido-acinético e misto. O exame de eletromiografia de superfície foi coletado sobre a musculatura supra-hióidea durante a deglutição de 3 ml e 10 ml de água e iogurte, que foi repetida 5 vezes para cada volume e consistência. Este protocolo foi realizado no antes e após a medicação, período offe on.RESULTADOS:verificou-se que na fase off, o grupo rígido-acinético apresentou as maiores médias de deglutições em partes e duração das eletromiografias de superfície, enquanto que o grupo misto apresentou as menores médias de amplitude. Na fase on, os três grupos tenderam a melhorar ou manter as médias das variáveis estudadas, porém não houve diferença significante entre os tipos clínicos, antes ou depois da Levodopa.CONCLUSÃO:a terapia medicamentosa através da Levodopa não apresenta diferenças consistentes nas eletromiografias de superfície da deglutição dos tipos clínicos da doença de Parkinson