Determination of functional properties of drinking water

Developed registration methodology of structural-functional water “imprint” gives an opportunity to comparatively grade the water quality for array of life support systems, and this “imprint” by itself can be used as functional criterion for water mode.Разработана методология регистрации «структурно-функционального отпечатка» питьевой воды, которая позволяет в системе сравнения оценить качество воды, используемой в разных отраслях жизнеобеспечения, а сам «отпечаток» может являться функциональным критерием состояния питьевой воды

Стереотаксическая лучевая терапия экстракраниальных метастазов почечно-клеточного рака в комбинации с ингибиторами тирозинкиназы и иммунотерапией: первые результаты клинического исследования ib фазы (VOLGA STUDY)

Background. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and checkpoint inhibitors (CI) have been established as effective treatment for mRCC, but only a minority of patients achieves complete response and additional strategies are necessary to improve the efficacy of these agents. We have designed a prospective phase 1b «Volga» study to determine the safety and efficacy of extracranial SBRT in patients with clear-cell mRCC.Methods. Patients were included if they had stable disease for at least 4 months on TKI or CI. SBRT was delivered to an organ with multiple comparable lesions, where one lesion was in the treatment target (target lesion) and the other lesion was intentionally left untreated (control lesion). Dose of radiation and number of fractions were determined based on target lesion localization and the proximity of organs at risk. Response in both target and control lesions was scored using RECIST 1.1 criteria at least 2 months after completion of SBRT. Primary endpoint was the rate of adverse events of SBRT and secondary endpoints included the rate of reduction in target lesion size and time to progression of the first (target) and the second (control) lesions.Results. 17 patients were enrolled since November 2016 (14 men and 3 women, median age — 54,5 years old, range 32 -72), 6 of them initially were diagnosed with metastatic RCC and the reminders developed distant metastases within 6 months — 5 years since radical nephrectomy. Twelve patients received TKI and 5 received nivolumab. SBRT was delivered to lungs (n=5), bones (n=4), lymph nodes (n=4), liver (n=1), primary RCC (n=1), and locally recurrent RCC (n=2). Equivalent Dose (EQD) with alpha/beta ratio of 2.6 was 114 Gy (range, 40-276 Gy). With a median follow-up of 8 months (range, 3 -18), cumulative rate of SBRT-related toxicity (grade 1) was 12 % (n=2), consisting of esophagitis (n=1) and skin erythema (n=1). No grade 2 or higher toxicity was detected. Radiographic response in the target lesion was seen in 13 patients (76 %), with complete response in 5 (29 %) patients and partial response in 8 (47 %) including abscopal effect in 1 patient. Control lesions remained stable in 16 patients. The difference between response in target and control lesions as judged by mean sizes of these lesions before and at 2 months after SBRT was statistically significant (p<0.01). Fraction size of equal to or greater than 10 Gy was associated with complete response in the target lesion (p<0.01).Conclusion. Extracranial SBRT in patients with mRCC treated with TKI or CI is well tolerated and could be effective. This approach will be studied in an expanded cohort of patients.Введение. С внедрением таргетной терапии появились первые результаты исследований о возможном повышении чувствительности клеток почечно-клеточного рака (ПКР) к облучению при предварительном воздействии таргетными препаратами. Также данные ретроспективных наблюдений и описанные клинические случаи свидетельствуют о возможном противоопухолевом эффекте лучевой терапии в комбинации с ингибиторами тирозинкиназы или чекпойнт-ингибиторами.Цель исследования. Оценить безопасность и предварительную эффективность стереотаксической лучевой терапии (SBRT) у пациентов с экстракраниальными метастазами почечно-клеточного рака, получающих стандартную таргетную терапию или иммунотерапию ингибиторами контрольных точек.Пациенты и методы. В проспективное клиническое исследование Ib фазы были включены 17 больных ПКР (14 мужчин и 3 женщины) в возрасте от 32 до 72 лет (средний возраст — 54,5±22,5 лет), которые получали лечение ингибиторами тирозинкиназы (n=12) или иммунотерапию ниволумабом (n=5). Исходное обследование включало компьютерную томографию (КТ) с контрастированием, при котором выбирались 2 измеряемых метастатических очага (исследуемый и контрольный), стабильных на протяжении не менее 4 месяцев, расположенных в одном и том же органе. SBRT проводилась на исследуемые очаги, расположенные в следующих органах: легкие (n=5), кости (n=4), лимфоузлы (n=4), печень (n=1); одному пациенту производилось облучение первичной опухоли почки, а у двоих больных облучались рецидивные очаги в ложе удаленного органа. Эквивалентная доза (EQD) при α / β = 2,6 для ПКР составила в среднем 114 Гр (40-276 Гр). Контрольные очаги оставались под наблюдением. Контрольное обследование (КТ с контрастированием и последующей оценкой размеров контрольного и исследуемого очагов в 3 измерениях) производилось не ранее чем через 2 месяца с момента окончания SBRT. Также выполнялась стандартная для лекарственной терапии оценка состояния других метастатических очагов по критериям RECIST 1.1.Результаты. Средний период наблюдения составил 8 месяцев (от 3 до 18 месяцев). Из осложнений отмечены эзофагит 1 степени и кожная эритема. По данным контрольной КТ у 13 пациентов (76%) был зарегистрирован объективный ответ в облучаемых очагах: у 5 (29%) зафиксирована полная регрессия, а у 8 (47%) — частичный ответ, включая развитие абскопального эффекта у 1 больного. Размеры контрольных очагов оставались стабильными у большинства пациентов (16), хотя у одного больного в дальнейшем отмечен рост контрольного очага при частичном регрессе облученного метастаза. Различия в объективных ответах со стороны облученных и контрольных очагов, оцененным по среднему суммарному размеру до лечения и спустя минимум 2 месяца после SBRT, были статистически достоверны (p<0,01), при этом наилучшие результаты (полный ответ) были получены при облучении в дозе не менее 10 Гр за фракцию (p<0,01).Выводы. SBRT при хорошей переносимости на фоне лечения таргетными препаратами или иммунотерапии позволяет эффективно воздействовать на экстракраниальные метастатические очаги почечно-клеточной карциномы, приводя к развитию как частичной, так и полной регрессии облученной опухоли у большинства пациентов

Gut Microbiome Shotgun Sequencing in Assessment of Microbial Community Changes Associated with H. pylori Eradication Therapy

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.Disturbance of intestinal microbiota content and functions often results in different pathological conditions. Pharmacotherapy including antibiotics use is one of the factors leading to dysbiosis. To evaluate the influence of antibiotics use on intestinal microbiota metagenomic profiles of stool, samples of 74 patients before and after Helicobacter pylori—eradication therapy—were analyzed. Evaluation of taxonomic diversity changes based on Shannon index and Bray-Curtis metrics allows to range patients according to mild, moderate, and severe risk of disturbance of intestinal microbiota pathological conditions

Data on gut metagenomes of the patients with Helicobacter pylori infection before and after the antibiotic therapy

© 2017Antibiotic therapy can lead to the disruption of gut microbiota community with possible negative outcomes for human health. One of the diseases for which the treatment scheme commonly included antibiotic intake is Helicobacter pylori infection. The changes in taxonomic and functional composition of microbiota in patients can be assessed using “shotgun” metagenomic sequencing. Ten stool samples were collected from 4 patients with Helicobacter pylori infection before and directly after the H. pylori eradication course. Additionally, for two of the subjects, the samples were collected 1 month after the end of the treatment. The samples were subject to “shotgun” (whole-genome) metagenomic sequencing using Illumina HiSeq platform. The reads are deposited in the ENA (project ID: PRJEB18265)

The Real maccoyii: Identifying Tuna Sushi with DNA Barcodes – Contrasting Characteristic Attributes and Genetic Distances

BACKGROUND:The use of DNA barcodes for the identification of described species is one of the least controversial and most promising applications of barcoding. There is no consensus, however, as to what constitutes an appropriate identification standard and most barcoding efforts simply attempt to pair a query sequence with reference sequences and deem identification successful if it falls within the bounds of some pre-established cutoffs using genetic distance. Since the Renaissance, however, most biological classification schemes have relied on the use of diagnostic characters to identify and place species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here we developed a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I character-based key for the identification of all tuna species of the genus Thunnus, and compared its performance with distance-based measures for identification of 68 samples of tuna sushi purchased from 31 restaurants in Manhattan (New York City) and Denver, Colorado. Both the character-based key and GenBank BLAST successfully identified 100% of the tuna samples, while the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) as well as genetic distance thresholds, and neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree building performed poorly in terms of species identification. A piece of tuna sushi has the potential to be an endangered species, a fraud, or a health hazard. All three of these cases were uncovered in this study. Nineteen restaurant establishments were unable to clarify or misrepresented what species they sold. Five out of nine samples sold as a variant of "white tuna" were not albacore (T. alalunga), but escolar (Lepidocybium flavorunneum), a gempylid species banned for sale in Italy and Japan due to health concerns. Nineteen samples were northern bluefin tuna (T. thynnus) or the critically endangered southern bluefin tuna (T. maccoyii), though nine restaurants that sold these species did not state these species on their menus. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The Convention on International Trade Endangered Species (CITES) requires that listed species must be identifiable in trade. This research fulfills this requirement for tuna, and supports the nomination of northern bluefin tuna for CITES listing in 2010

Cellobiose Dehydrogenase Aryl Diazonium Modified Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Enhanced Direct Electron Transfer through a Positively Charged Surface

One of the challenges in the field of biosensors and biofuel cells is to establish a highly efficient electron transfer rate between the active site of redox enzymes and electrodes to fully access the catalytic potential of the biocatalyst and achieve high current densities. We report on very efficient direct electron transfer (DET) between cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from Phanerochaete sordida (PsCDH) and surface modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Sonicated SWCNTs were adsorbed on the top of glassy carbon electrodes and modified with aryl diazonium salts generated in situ from p-aminobenzoic acid and p-phenylenediamine, thus featuring at acidic pH (3.5 and 4.5) negative or positive surface charges. After adsorption of PsCDH, both electrode types showed excellent long-term stability and very efficient DET. The modified electrode presenting p-aminophenyl groups produced a DET current density of 500,mu A cm(-2) at 200 mV vs normal hydrogen reference electrode (NHE) in a 5 mM lactose solution buffered at pH 3.5. This is the highest reported DET value so far using a CDH modified electrode and comes close to electrodes using mediated electron transfer. Moreover, the onset of the electrocatalytic current for lactose oxidation started at 70 mV vs NHE, a potential which is 50 mV lower compared to when unmodified SWCNTs were used. This effect potentially reduces the interference by oxidizable matrix components in biosensors and increases the open circuit potential in biofuel cells. The stability of the electrode was greatly increased compared with unmodified but cross-linked SWCNTs electrodes and lost only 15% of the initial current after 50 h of constant potential scanning

Biology, Fishery, Conservation and Management of Indian Ocean Tuna Fisheries

The focus of the study is to explore the recent trend of the world tuna fishery with special reference to the Indian Ocean tuna fisheries and its conservation and sustainable management. In the Indian Ocean, tuna catches have increased rapidly from about 179959 t in 1980 to about 832246 t in 1995. They have continued to increase up to 2005; the catch that year was 1201465 t, forming about 26% of the world catch. Since 2006 onwards there has been a decline in the volume of catches and in 2008 the catch was only 913625 t. The Principal species caught in the Indian Ocean are skipjack and yellowfin. Western Indian Ocean contributed 78.2% and eastern Indian Ocean 21.8% of the total tuna production from the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean stock is currently overfished and IOTC has made some recommendations for management regulations aimed at sustaining the tuna stock. Fishing operations can cause ecological impacts of different types: by catches, damage of the habitat, mortalities caused by lost or discarded gear, pollution, generation of marine debris, etc. Periodic reassessment of the tuna potential is also required with adequate inputs from exploratory surveys as well as commercial landings and this may prevent any unsustainable trends in the development of the tuna fishing industry in the Indian Ocean

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition and breast cancer

Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in breast carcinoma encompasses the phenotypic spectrum whereby epithelial carcinoma cells within a primary tumor acquire mesenchymal features and re-epithelialize to form a cohesive secondary mass at a metastatic site. Such plasticity has implications in progression of breast carcinoma to metastasis, and will likely influence response to therapy. The transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of molecular and cellular processes that underlie breast cancer and result in characteristic changes in cell behavior can be monitored using an increasing array of marker proteins. Amongst these markers exists the potential for emergent prognostic, predictive and therapeutic targeting

The TGF-β/Smad pathway induces breast cancer cell invasion through the up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9 in a spheroid invasion model system

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) has opposing roles in breast cancer progression by acting as a tumor suppressor in the initial phase, but stimulating invasion and metastasis at later stages. In contrast to the mechanisms by which TGF-beta induces growth arrest, the pathways that mediate tumor invasion are not well understood. Here, we describe a TGF-beta-dependent invasion assay system consisting of spheroids of MCF10A1 normal breast epithelial cells (M1) and RAS-transformed (pre-)malignant derivatives (M2 and M4) embedded in collagen gels. Both basal and TGF-beta-induced invasion of these cell lines was found to correlate with their tumorigenic potential; M4 showing the most aggressive behavior and M1 showing the least. Basal invasion was strongly inhibited by the TGF-beta receptor kinase inhibitor SB-431542, indicating the involvement of autocrine TGF-beta or TGF-beta-like activity. TGF-beta-induced invasion in premalignant M2 and highly malignant M4 cells was also inhibited upon specific knockdown of Smad3 or Smad4. Interestingly, both a broad spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor and a selective MMP2 and MMP9 inhibitor mitigated TGF-beta-induced invasion of M4 cells, while leaving basal invasion intact. In line with this, TGF-beta was found to strongly induce MMP2 and MMP9 expression in a Smad3- and Smad4-dependent manner. This collagen-embedded spheroid system therefore offers a valuable screening model for TGF-beta/Smad- and MMP2- and MMP9-dependent breast cancer invasion.Urolog

Активация сигнального пути интерферона-альфа ресвератролом, генистеином и кверцетином

Resveratrol, genistein and quercetin from the group of polyphenols from secondary plant metabolites reveal cancer preventive and antivirus effects realized via their pleiotropic influence on the different macromolecules in cells. These compounds can interact with DNA without the formation of covalent bonds. This process is usually followed by changes in spatial, physical-chemical and structural DNA characteristics that can result in disfunction of DNA metabolism enzymes and chromatin destabilization. Similar effects were described for anticancer drug Curaxine CBL0137 in association with activation of interferon-α signaling. We demonstrated dose-dependent stimulating effects of resveratrol, genistein and quercetin on interferon-α signaling using HeLa cells expressed mCherry protein with interferon-stimulated response elements (ISRE) in promoter. Furthermore, it was shown by live-cell fluorescent microscopy in HT1080 cells with mCherry-labeled histone H1.5 that described polyphenols induced the redistribution of this linker histone in cell nuclei. The data obtained suggest an existence of DNA-dependent mechanism of anticancer effects of plant polyphenols and a need for further study of crosslinks between the polyphenols’ influence on chromatin structure and the changes in genome function, in particular, induction of interferon- interferon-α signaling.Ресвератрол, кверцетин и генистеин, относящиеся к полифенолам вторичных метаболитов растений, обладают антиканцерогенным и противовирусным эффектами, реализуемыми в результате их плейотропного действия на различные макромолекулы клетки. Эти соединения могут взаимодействовать с ДНК, не образуя ковалентные связи. При этом может происходить изменение пространственных, физико-химических и структурных характеристик ДНК, что может приводить к нарушению функционирования белков метаболизма ДНК и вызывать дестабилизацию хроматина. Такие эффекты были описаны для нового противоопухолевого препарата Кураксина CBL0137, причем индуцированная данным соединением дестабилизация хроматина приводила к активации сигнального пути интерферона-α. Используя клеточную линию HeLa с трансгенным флуоресцентным белком mCherry, содержащим в промоторной области консенсусный сайт связывания интерферона-α (ISRE), мы продемонстрировали дозозависимый стимулирующий эффект ресвератрола, кверцетина и генистеина на активность сигнального пути интерферона-α. Использование прижизненной флуоресцентной микроскопии на клеточной линии HT1080 c трансгенным флуоресцентно-меченным гистоном H1.5 позволило продемонстрировать, что данные полифенолы вызывают перераспределение данного линкерного гистона в ядрах клеток. Полученные нами данные свидетельствуют о возможности существования ДНК-зависимого механизма реализации противоопухолевого действия растительных полифенолов и необходимости дальнейшего изучения влияния полифенолов на структуру хроматина и связанного с этим изменения функционирования генома, в частности регуляции сигнального пути интерферона-α