Trabectedina (Yondelis): un agente antitumoral aislado de la ascidia Ecteinascidia turbinata

A lo largo del tiempo, innumerables formas de vida marina han evolucionado para producir una inmensa variedad de sustancias químicas. Entre éstas se encuentran moléculas que manifiestan una potente actividad biológica, desarrolladas como una forma de defensa bioquímica para sobrevivir en un entorno extremadamente competitivo. Este arsenal de moléculas (metabolitos) constituye una fuente constante de nuevos agentes terapéuticos con los cuales combatir todo tipo de enfermedades. La trabectedina, aislada a partir de la ascidia Ecteinascidia turbinata en aguas del Caribe, es un ejemplo de sustancia de origen marino que en la actualidad se emplea como fármaco para el tratamiento del sarcoma de tejidos blandos avanzado o metastático. En este trabajo se estudiaría su aislamiento a partir de fuentes naturales, así como la determinación de su estructura, biosíntesis y síntesis en el laboratorio a gran escala, prestando especial atención a los aspectos químicos

El nostre contacte amb l'STEI-i permet un intercanvi permanent

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Participatory modelling for holistic understanding of catchment health and human health in Andean rural microcatchments :the case of Calabazas

PhD ThesisIn rural catchments of developing countries, land use change, inadequate access to education, health care, water and sanitation, and lack of institutional support are common problems which affect poor people. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) which advocates for the coordinated management of water, land and related resources, and EcoHealth which holds that human health and wellbeing are outcomes of effective ecosystem management, promote catchments as tangible contexts to fulfil overlapping objectives across fields. This research links IWRM and EcoHealth using System Dynamics (SD) as a tool to increase the level of shared understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental factors influencing environmental health and human health and wellbeing in an Andean rural microcatchment in Colombia. Stakeholders´ knowledge was elicited through semi-structured interviews and documents. A Causal Loop Diagram was prepared to organize this knowledge and to identify the model structure. Information on socioeconomic and environmental variables was collected through three surveys: i) household; ii) stream water, and iii) drinking water. The household survey captured relevant social determinants of health. The stream water survey investigated stream health in relation to point and non-point pollution sources. The drinking water survey identified risks to water quality. Using SD principles and the Stella software, a series of focus groups enabled stakeholders to develop a semi-quantitative model. The resultant model comprised six interrelated sectors: population, economic, land use, stream health, human health, and management. The modelling process increased stakeholders´ understanding of their system, and helped them to identify interactions of distal and proximal factors to produce outcomes on catchment and human health. The model was a strategy for integration and a communication tool. The process allowed the incorporation of knowledge, concerns and perceptions from the different actors, disciplines, institutions and sectors involved. The process facilitated identification of limitations and benefits of existing policies and the need for policies to address neglected problems. The research contributed to methodology development in the field of IWRM – EcoHealth, testing System Dynamics Modelling as a strategy to elucidate complex social, economic and environmental linkages at the catchment scale that could be applicable to similar rural mountainous contexts.COLCIENCIAS: IFS

Thermal comfort and air quality in Chilean schools, perceptions of students and teachers

we pre5ent finding5 of naturally ventilated cla55room condition5 in primary 5chool buildings in the city of Concepcion, Chile, where there i5 no adherence to indoor environmental quality standards. We focused on thermal comfort and environmental perceptions of students and teachers, during fall and winter seasons. The goal is to examine the perceptions of children and teachers by analyzing responses to conditions in their classrooms, related to their socioeconomic context driven by school type. Approximately 888 students, aged 1O-14 years old, were surveyed from nine schools during fall season, and 333 students from four schools during winter. A total of 2,271 subject responses were collected in two campaigns. Physical measurements included: ambient air temperature, relative humidity, airspeed, radiant temperature, and CO2. Simultaneous subjective responses were collected through electronic surveys on tablets which included questions on thermal sensation, thermal acceptability, and thermal preference. We examined thermal sensation trends, perceptions of comfort and air quality, across public, private-subsidized, private- nonsubsidized schools. Results show that about ~8O% of teachers and students voted their thermal sensation primarily within the three central categories of the scale (-1, O, +1). A small distinction can be seen in fall season in the private-subsidized school with a tendency towards a warm thermal sensation (+1), which corresponded to higher indoor temperatures. High indoor CO2 concentration levels were measured in all of the classrooms, with a maximum of 4327 ppm in winter in public schools, and a minimum of 858 ppm in fall in private-subsidized schools

Munc18-2/syntaxin3 complexes are spatially separated from syntaxin3-containing SNARE complexes

AbstractExocytosis of mast cell granules requires a vesicular- and plasma membrane-associated fusion machinery. We examined the distribution of SNARE membrane fusion and Munc18 accessory proteins in lipid rafts of RBL mast cells. SNAREs were found either excluded (syntaxin2), equally distributed between raft and non-raft fractions (syntaxin4, VAMP-8, VAMP-2), or selectively enriched in rafts (syntaxin3, SNAP-23). Syntaxin4-binding Munc18-3 was absent, whereas small amounts of the syntaxin3-interacting partner Munc18-2 consistently distributed into rafts. Cognate SNARE complexes of syntaxin3 with SNAP-23 and VAMP-8 were enriched in rafts, whereas Munc18-2/syntaxin3 complexes were excluded. This demonstrates a spatial separation between these two types of complexes and suggests that Munc18-2 acts in a step different from SNARE complex formation and fusion