Polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor interferes with TFEB to elicit autophagy defects in SBMA.

Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is a key pathway in neurodegeneration. Despite protective actions, autophagy may contribute to neuron demise when dysregulated. Here we consider X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), a repeat disorder caused by polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor (polyQ-AR). We found that polyQ-AR reduced long-term protein turnover and impaired autophagic flux in motor neuron-like cells. Ultrastructural analysis of SBMA mice revealed a block in autophagy pathway progression. We examined the transcriptional regulation of autophagy and observed a functionally significant physical interaction between transcription factor EB (TFEB) and AR. Normal AR promoted, but polyQ-AR interfered with, TFEB transactivation. To evaluate physiological relevance, we reprogrammed patient fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells and then to neuronal precursor cells (NPCs). We compared multiple SBMA NPC lines and documented the metabolic and autophagic flux defects that could be rescued by TFEB. Our results indicate that polyQ-AR diminishes TFEB function to impair autophagy and promote SBMA pathogenesis

La responsabilidad social universitaria desde el paradigma de la psicología comunitaria

29 p.Esta ponencia pretende plantear una propuesta de vinculación de dos campos del conocimiento, que hemos vivenciado de manera cercana, al analizar los fundamentos y propuestas que presenta cada uno. Estas reflexiones han acompañado nuestra participación, en representación de la Universidad Católica de Colombia, en el Observatorio de responsabilidad social universitaria (RSU).Ponencia presentada en el VII Coloquio Interno de Profesores en la Universidad Católica de Colombia.Ayala Rodríguez, N., Del Portillo Obando, M. C. & Neira R., M. V. (2013). La responsabilidad social universitaria desde el paradigma de la psicología comunitaria. En: W. F. Puentes González, A. Rojas Claros, A. Aldana Piñeros, E. Cruz Espejo, E. J. Garzón P., L. K. Hurtado Morales ... F. Barrero Rivera. Responsabilidad social y universidad (pp. 103-131). Bogotá: Universidad Católica de Colombia. Departamento de Humanidades

Restricción del crecimiento intrauterino como factor de riesgo para malformaciones congénitas

Indexación: ScieloAntecedentes: La restricción del crecimiento intrauterino (RCIU) se estima que está presente en el 5% de los nacimientos y es la manifestación de procesos aberrantes que impiden el desarrollo normal del feto. Objetivos: Estimar la frecuencia de esta patología en la maternidad del Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile. Obtener la tasa prevalencia al nacimiento de malformaciones congénitas (MFC) y comparar la frecuencia en recién nacidos pequeños (PEG) con los adecuados (AEG) y grandes (GEG) para la edad gestacional. Método: Se estudian todos los nacimientos, vivos y mortinatos, ocurridos entre enero de 1997 a diciembre de 2008, contenidos en la base de datos del ECLAMC (Estudio Colaborativo Latino Americano de Malformaciones Congénitas) desde 1969 a la fecha. Se excluyen los recién nacidos con malformaciones como hidrocefalia, anencefalia e hidrops, que por sus características dificultan la posibilidad de clasificación en PEG, AEG o GEG. Resultados: 10,1% de los nacimientos del período eran PEG. Entre los nacidos vivos 10% fueron PEG, mientras que 33,5% de los mortinatos eran PEG (p<0,05). Eran malformados el 12,9% de los PEG, 8,5% de los AEG y 9,3% de los GEG (p<0,05). La tasa global de malformaciones fue de 9,5%; en NV el 9,4% y en mortinatos el 33%. Conclusión: El RCIU es un factor que aumenta el riesgo de mortalidad fetal tardía y de presentar malformaciones congénitas.Background: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is the result of anomalies that prevent the normal development of the fetus, it is present in about the 5% of births. Objectives: To estímate the frequency of FGR in the Clini-cal Hospital of the University of Chile. To estímate the congenital malformation prevalence rate at birth and compare it among small (SGE), adequate (AGE) and large (LGE) newborns according their gestational age. Methods: All live births and stillbirths included in the ECLAMC (Estudio Colaborativo Latino Americano de Malformaciones Congénitas) registered from January 1997 and December 2008 were considered. Newborns with congenital malformations that modified per se the size of the child, like hydrocephaly anencephaly and hydrops were excluded. Results: 10.1% of newborns were SGE. Among live births 10% were SGE instead of the 33.5% found in stillbirths (p<0.05). Congenital malformation rate at birth was 12.9% in SGE, 8.5% in AGE and 9.3% in LGE newborns (p<0.05). The global congenital malformation prevalence rate at birth was 9.5%; 9.4% in live newborns and 33% in stillbirth. Conclusión: The FGR increase the risk of late fetal mortality and congenital anomalies.http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-75262009000600008&nrm=is

First and second order optimality conditions for optimal control problems of state constrained integral equations

This paper deals with optimal control problems of integral equations, with initial-final and running state constraints. The order of a running state constraint is defined in the setting of integral dynamics, and we work here with constraints of arbitrary high orders. First and second-order necessary conditions of optimality are obtained, as well as second-order sufficient conditions

mRNA in exosomas as a liquid biopsy in non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: a multicentric study by the Spanish Lymphoma Oncology Group

Purpose: To determine the feasibility of mRNAs (C-MYC, BCL-XL, BCL-6, NF-κβ, PTEN and AKT) in exosomes of plasma as a liquid biopsy method for monitoring and prognostic evolution in B-cell lymphomas. Patients and Methods: Exosomes were isolated from 98 patients with B-cell Lymphoma and 68 healthy controls. mRNAs were analyzed by quantitative PCR. An additional 31 post-treatment samples were also studied. Results: In the general and follicular lymphoma series, the presence of AKT mRNA was associated with poor response to rituximab-based treatment. Patients with first relapse or disease progression showed a lower percentage of PTEN and BCL-XL mRNA. The presence of BCL-6 mRNA was associated with a high death rate. The absence of PTEN mRNA in the general series, and presence of C-MYC mRNA in follicular lymphomas, were associated with short progression-free survival. BCL-6 and C-MYC mRNA were independent prognostic variables of overall survival. C-MYC mRNA may provide prognostic information with respect to overall survival. BCL-XL mRNA and increase of BCL-6 mRNA in post-treatment samples could serve as molecular monitoring markers. Conclusions: This is the first large study to evaluate the prognostic and predictive values of pretreatment tumor-associated mRNA in exosomes. BCL-6 and C-MYC mRNA positivity in pretreatment samples were predictors of worse PFS compared to patients with mRNA negativity. C-MYC mRNA positivity was also a statistically significant predictor of inability to obtain complete response with first-line therapyThis study was supported by grants FIS-PI08/0862, and SAF2010-20750. During this study, V. García received Fundación AECC and RTICC-RD2012/0036/0006 fellowship

Biodiversity Loss and the Taxonomic Bottleneck: Emerging Biodiversity Science

Human domination of the Earth has resulted in dramatic changes to global and local patterns of biodiversity. Biodiversity is critical to human sustainability because it drives the ecosystem services that provide the core of our life-support system. As we, the human species, are the primary factor leading to the decline in biodiversity, we need detailed information about the biodiversity and species composition of specific locations in order to understand how different species contribute to ecosystem services and how humans can sustainably conserve and manage biodiversity. Taxonomy and ecology, two fundamental sciences that generate the knowledge about biodiversity, are associated with a number of limitations that prevent them from providing the information needed to fully understand the relevance of biodiversity in its entirety for human sustainability: (1) biodiversity conservation strategies that tend to be overly focused on research and policy on a global scale with little impact on local biodiversity; (2) the small knowledge base of extant global biodiversity; (3) a lack of much-needed site-specific data on the species composition of communities in human-dominated landscapes, which hinders ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation; (4) biodiversity studies with a lack of taxonomic precision; (5) a lack of taxonomic expertise and trained taxonomists; (6) a taxonomic bottleneck in biodiversity inventory and assessment; and (7) neglect of taxonomic resources and a lack of taxonomic service infrastructure for biodiversity science. These limitations are directly related to contemporary trends in research, conservation strategies, environmental stewardship, environmental education, sustainable development, and local site-specific conservation. Today’s biological knowledge is built on the known global biodiversity, which represents barely 20% of what is currently extant (commonly accepted estimate of 10 million species) on planet Earth. Much remains unexplored and unknown, particularly in hotspots regions of Africa, South Eastern Asia, and South and Central America, including many developing or underdeveloped countries, where localized biodiversity is scarcely studied or described. ‘‘Backyard biodiversity’’, defined as local biodiversity near human habitation, refers to the natural resources and capital for ecosystem services at the grassroots level, which urgently needs to be explored, documented, and conserved as it is the backbone of sustainable economic development in these countries. Beginning with early identification and documentation of local flora and fauna, taxonomy has documented global biodiversity and natural history based on the collection of ‘‘backyard biodiversity’’ specimens worldwide. However, this branch of science suffered a continuous decline in the latter half of the twentieth century, and has now reached a point of potential demise. At present there are very few professional taxonomists and trained local parataxonomists worldwide, while the need for, and demands on, taxonomic services by conservation and resource management communities are rapidly increasing. Systematic collections, the material basis of biodiversity information, have been neglected and abandoned, particularly at institutions of higher learning. Considering the rapid increase in the human population and urbanization, human sustainability requires new conceptual and practical approaches to refocusing and energizing the study of the biodiversity that is the core of natural resources for sustainable development and biotic capital for sustaining our life-support system. In this paper we aim to document and extrapolate the essence of biodiversity, discuss the state and nature of taxonomic demise, the trends of recent biodiversity studies, and suggest reasonable approaches to a biodiversity science to facilitate the expansion of global biodiversity knowledge and to create useful data on backyard biodiversity worldwide towards human sustainability

Population Genetics of Franciscana Dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei): Introducing a New Population from the Southern Edge of Their Distribution

Due to anthropogenic factors, the franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, is the most threatened small cetacean on the Atlantic coast of South America. Four Franciscana Management Areas have been proposed: Espiritu Santo to Rio de Janeiro (FMA I), São Paulo to Santa Catarina (FMA II), Rio Grande do Sul to Uruguay (FMA III), and Argentina (FMA IV). Further genetic studies distinguished additional populations within these FMAs. We analyzed the population structure, phylogeography, and demographic history in the southernmost portion of the species range. From the analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences, 5 novel haplotypes were found, totalizing 60 haplotypes for the entire distribution range. The haplotype network did not show an apparent phylogeographical signal for the southern FMAs. Two populations were identified: Monte Hermoso (MH) and Necochea (NC)+Claromecó (CL)+Río Negro (RN). The low levels of genetic variability, the relative constant size over time, and the low levels of gene flow may indicate that MH has been colonized by a few maternal lineages and became isolated from geographically close populations. The apparent increase in NC+CL+RN size would be consistent with the higher genetic variability found, since genetic diversity is generally higher in older and expanding populations. Additionally, RN may have experienced a recent split from CL and NC; current high levels of gene flow may be occurring between the latter ones. FMA IV would comprise four franciscana dolphin populations: Samborombón West+Samborombón South, Cabo San Antonio+Buenos Aires East, NC+CL+Buenos Aires Southwest+RN and MH. Results achieved in this study need to be taken into account in order to ensure the long-term survival of the species.Fil: Gariboldi, María Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Tunez, Juan Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján; ArgentinaFil: Dejean, Cristina Beatriz. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Ciencias Antropológicas. Sección Antropología Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Failla, Mauricio. Fundación Cethus; ArgentinaFil: Vitullo, Alfredo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Negri, Maria Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; ArgentinaFil: Cappozzo, Humberto Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; Argentin

Responsabilidad social y universidad

182 p.En esta colección se centra en la responsabilidad social que corresponde a las instituciones de educación superior. Así mismo , aporta al compromiso misional de la universidad de inculturar la doctrina social católica y el estudio, análisis, sensibilización y propuestas frente a las realidades culturales, políticas, económicas y sociales de Colombia. Esta obra está destinada a las comunidades académicas que orientan sus reflexiones a la proyección social de sus entes educativos.Prólogo Responsabilidad social universitaria 1· Humanizar el hábitat. Un ejemplo de responsabilidad social William Fernando Puentes González 2. Una introducción a la idea de justicia. Un debate contemporáneo ¿qué es una sociedad justa? Armando Rojas Claros 3. Acercamiento al personalismo de Emmanuel Mounier como propuesta ante la problemática de la sociedad actual Alexander Aldana Piñeros 4. La cortesía, expresión de la responsabilidad social Edilberto Cruz Espejo 5. Construcción de ciudadanía y de ciudadano: la formación del profesional incluyente Edgar Javier Garzón P. 6. Evaluación e impacto de un programa de formación humanística en instituciones educativas de la ciudad de Bogotá Katherin Hurtado Morales, Humberto Grimaldo Durán, Floralba Barrero Rivera y Alba Lucía Meneses Báez 7. Caritas in veritate: verdad y acción, un paso a la responsabilidad social en el mundo globalizado Elizabeth Duvanca Reyes 8. Doctrina Social de la Iglesia y desarrollo humano: ejemplo de responsabilidad social Giovanni Reyes Ortiz 9. La responsabilidad social universitaria desde el paradigma de la psicología comunitaria Nelly Ayala Rodríguez María Constanza del Portillo Obando María Victoria Neira Roa 10. Informática comunitaria y acciones de mejoramiento para la proyección social Jorge Fernando Bejarano Lobo 11. Responsabilidad social en la educación matemática Jacinto Eloy Puig Portal 12. Responsabilidad social. Recuento de experiencias Doris Carda de Bernal Bibliografí

Broad MICA/B expression in the small bowel mucosa: a link between cellular stress and celiac disease

The MICA/B genes (MHC class I chain related genes A and B) encode for non conventional class I HLA molecules which have no role in antigen presentation. MICA/B are up-regulated by different stress conditions such as heat-shock, oxidative stress, neoplasic transformation and viral infection. Particularly, MICA/B are expressed in enterocytes where they can mediate enterocyte apoptosis when recognised by the activating NKG2D receptor present on intraepithelial lymphocytes. This mechanism was suggested to play a major pathogenic role in active celiac disease (CD). Due to the importance of MICA/B in CD pathogenesis we studied their expression in duodenal tissue from CD patients. By immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and flow cytometry we established that MICA/B was mainly intracellularly located in enterocytes. In addition, we identified MICA/B+ T cells in both the intraepithelial and lamina propria compartments. We also found MICA/B+ B cells, plasma cells and some macrophages in the lamina propria. The pattern of MICA/B staining in mucosal tissue in severe enteropathy was similar to that found in in vitro models of cellular stress. In such models, MICA/B were located in stress granules that are associated to the oxidative and ER stress response observed in active CD enteropathy. Our results suggest that expression of MICA/B in the intestinal mucosa of CD patients is linked to disregulation of mucosa homeostasis in which the stress response plays an active role.Fil: Allegretti, Yessica Lorena. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas. Laboratorio de Investigaciones del Sistema Inmune; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bondar, Constanza María. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas. Laboratorio de Investigaciones del Sistema Inmune; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Guzmán, Luciana. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital de Niños "Sor María Ludovica" de la Plata; ArgentinaFil: Cueto Rua, Eduardo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital de Niños "Sor María Ludovica" de la Plata; ArgentinaFil: Chopita, Nestor. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos Gral. San Martin; ArgentinaFil: Fuertes, Mercedes Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Zwirner, Norberto Walter. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología; ArgentinaFil: Chirdo, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas. Laboratorio de Investigaciones del Sistema Inmune; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin