Climate Change and invasibility of the Antarctic benthos

Benthic communities living in shallow-shelf habitats in Antarctica (<100-m depth) are archaic in their structure and function. Modern predators, including fast-moving, durophagous (skeleton-crushing) bony fish, sharks, and crabs, are rare or absent; slow-moving invertebrates are the top predators; and epifaunal suspension feeders dominate many soft substratum communities. Cooling temperatures beginning in the late Eocene excluded durophagous predators, ultimately resulting in the endemic living fauna and its unique food-web structure. Although the Southern Ocean is oceanographically isolated, the barriers to biological invasion are primarily physiological rather than geographic. Cold temperatures impose limits to performance that exclude modern predators. Global warming is now removing those physiological barriers, and crabs are reinvading Antarctica. As sea temperatures continue to rise, the invasion of durophagous predators will modernize the shelf benthos and erode the indigenous character of marine life in Antarctica

DNA vaccination for prostate cancer: key concepts and considerations

While locally confined prostate cancer is associated with a low five year mortality rate, advanced or metastatic disease remains a major challenge for healthcare professionals to treat and is usually terminal. As such, there is a need for the development of new, efficacious therapies for prostate cancer. Immunotherapy represents a promising approach where the host’s immune system is harnessed to mount an anti-tumour effect, and the licensing of the first prostate cancer specific immunotherapy in 2010 has opened the door for other immunotherapies to gain regulatory approval. Among these strategies DNA vaccines are an attractive option in terms of their ability to elicit a highly specific, potent and wide-sweeping immune response. Several DNA vaccines have been tested for prostate cancer and while they have demonstrated a good safety profile they have faced problems with low efficacy and immunogenicity compared to other immunotherapeutic approaches. This review focuses on the positive aspects of DNA vaccines for prostate cancer that have been assessed in preclinical and clinical trials thus far and examines the key considerations that must be employed to improve the efficacy and immunogenicity of these vaccines

Progress in development of herpes simplex virus gene vectors for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

--

Intraarticular expression of biologically active interleukin 1-receptor-antagonist protein by ex vivo gene transfer.

Gene therapy offers a radical different approach to the treatment of arthritis. Here we have demonstrated that two marker genes (lacZ and neo) and cDNA coding for a potentially therapeutic protein (human interleukin 1-receptor-antagonist protein; IRAP or IL-1ra) can be delivered, by ex vivo techniques, to the synovial lining of joints; intraarticular expression of IRAP inhibited intraarticular responses to interleukin 1. To achieve this, lapine synoviocytes were first transduced in culture by retroviral infection. The genetically modified synovial cells were then transplanted by intraarticular injection into the knee joints of rabbits, where they efficiently colonized the synovium. Assay of joint lavages confirmed the in vivo expression of biologically active human IRAP. With allografted cells, IRAP expression was lost by 12 days after transfer. In contrast, autografted synoviocytes continued to express IRAP for approximately 5 weeks. Knee joints expressing human IRAP were protected from the leukocytosis that otherwise follows the intraarticular injection of recombinant human interleukin 1 beta. Thus, we report the intraarticular expression and activity of a potentially therapeutic protein by gene-transfer technology; these experiments demonstrate the feasibility of treating arthritis and other joint disorders with gene therapy

Satellite-Measured Phytoplankton and Environmental Factors in North Patagonian Gulfs

Abstract An extensive series of high-resolution satellite images from the Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS, 2000?2006) was used in thecharacterization of the phytoplankton biomass seasonal cycle of the north Patagoniangulfs (NPG). The NPG system is formed by the San Matías, San José, and Nuevogulfs (between 40°47′and 43°00′S and 63°00′ and 65°1.2′W) and is an area ofecological importance and of great significance for marine conservation in thePatagonian Argentinean Shelf. The spatio temporal variability of phytoplanktonbiomass in each of these environments was characterized by chlorophyll a datafrom satellite images (Chla-sat). The observed seasonal variability was explainedby factors influencing the growth of phytoplankton: photosynthetically availableradiation (PAR from the SeaWiFS sensor) and sea surface temperature (SST fromthe Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer, AVHRR). In situ temperature,nutrient, and chlorophyll a concentration data from oceanographic cruises carriedout in Nuevo (four cruises: 1982?1983), San José (four cruises: 1984?1985), andSan Matías (four cruises: 1986?1994) gulfs were also used to explain the observedpatterns. Cycles of phytoplankton and SST over the NPG are typical of temperatewaters. However, Chla-sat cycles were different among gulfs. At the same time,Chla-sat cycles over the gulfs were different from that over the adjacent middlecontinental shelf. SMG was characterized by a bimodal cycle, although in wintermean values were higher than the mean concentration for the whole area. SJG wascharacterized by a unimodal cycle with relatively high values of chlorophyll aconcentration in spring-summer. NG showed a bimodal cycle with maximum valuesin autumn and spring and minimum values in winter and summer. Particularities ofeach gulf are discussed in relation to the seasonal hydrographic characteristics ofthe water column (temperature and nutrients) and in the context of the Patagonianshelf ecosystem.Fil: Williams, Gabriela Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Solis, Miriam Edith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Esteves, Jose Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin