Failure of Y-27632 to improve the culture of adult human adipose-derived stem cells

Y-27632 is a well-known inhibitor of the Rho-associated coiled kinase (ROCK) and has been shown to significantly improve the culture of a variety of multipotent stem cell types. However, the effects of Y-27632 on the expansion of adult human adipose-derived stem cell (hADSC) cultures remain to be established. Here, we aimed to characterize the effects of Y-27632 on the culture of hADSCs. Adult hADSCs were isolated from subjects submitted to elective plastic surgery procedures and cultivated in vitro under optimized conditions. Our results show that the continuous supplementation of hADSC cultures with Y-27632 led to decreased numbers of cells and decreased global metabolic viability of hADSC cultures when compared with control conditions. This effect appeared to be dependent on the continuous presence of the drug and was shown to be concentration-dependent and significant for 10 muM and 20 muM of Y-27632. Moreover, the Y-27632-induced decrease in hADSC numbers was not linked to a block in global cell proliferation, as cell numbers consistently increased from the moment of plating until passaging. In addition, Y-27632 was not able to increase the number of hADSCs present in culture 24 hours after passaging. Taken together, our results suggest that, in contrast to other stem cell types, Y-27632 supplementation is not a suitable strategy to enhance hADSC culture expansion.We thank Jeffrey M Gimble (Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, Tulane University and LaCell LLC, New Orleans, LA, USA) for kindly isolating, characterizing, and sharing the cellular lines of hADSCs used in the present study and for critical input on the manuscript. We also would very much like to thank Laurent Roybon (Stem Cell Laboratory for CNS Disease Modeling, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden) for the utilization of Metamorph NX software for automated cell quantification. We are grateful to Miguel Carvalho, Ana Pires, Eduardo Gomes, Fabio Teixeira and Nuno Silva for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (predoctoral fellowship to NJL [SFRH/BD/33421/2008]; FCT Investigator Program to AJS) and the Luso-American Development Foundation

Energy audit of irrigation networks

The relationship between water and energy in water distribution systems (WDS) has been a growing concern among energy and water experts. Among the different strategies to improve water¿energy efficiency in water distribution networks, energy audits are of paramount importance as they quantify water flow requirements, the amount of energy consumed to meet demand and leakage and friction losses. Previous work has presented the energy audit process for urban WDS and this energy audit is extended to irrigation networks here. This work analyses the most common types of irrigation emitters (sprinklers and pressure compensating and non-pressure compensating drippers), hydrant specifications, irrigation management systems (on-demand or rigid scheduled), and energy losses due to friction in pipes, control valves and irrigation hydrants. The energy audit does not assess whether management of the network is optimal, but analyses the energy consumption. Some of the performance indicators have already been defined for agricultural water networks, some are identical to those of urban WDS, but in addition, a new one is presented that disaggregates the energy dissipated into three terms, energy losses in pipelines, in hydraulic valves and in irrigation hydrants. These indicators show information necessary to better understand the performance of the irrigation network under study, to carry out a deep analysis of energy consumption and to allow for comparison with similar systems. The paper presents the analysis of a real case study conducted on the irrigation network of the garden of the Universidad Politécnica de ValenciaPardo, MA.; Manzano Juarez, J.; Cabrera Marcet, E.; García Serra, J. (2013). Energy audit of irrigation networks. Biosystems Engineering. 115(1):89-101. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2013.02.005S89101115

Mirror-integrated transparent antenna for RFID application

WOS:000294012600001“Prémio Científico ISCTE-IUL 2012”An optically transparent antenna array is presented for radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, operating in the ultrahigh frequency (UHF) band. The antenna is intended for nonintrusive integration into the mirror surface of fitting rooms in apparel stores, keeping with the typical small depth of the mirror structure and low cost. The antenna is used to read RFID tags attached to clothes being tried on, so that the associated system can automatically provide the client with interactive information regarding that specific piece of clothing. The antenna ensures self-confined reading range in front of the mirror, avoiding undesired detection of RFID tags from adjacent fitting rooms. The final antenna solution shows a good compromise between transparency and performance, with well-confined RFID detection volume

The Potential of Unsaturated Polyesters in Biomedicine and Tissue Engineering: Synthesis, Structure-Properties Relationships and Additive Manufacturing

The success of Tissue Engineering (TE) based approaches is strongly dependent on the development of novel biomaterials for the design of 3D matrices with tailored biomechanical properties to promote the regeneration of human tissues and organs.This review covers the critical aspects related with the preparation of new unsaturated polyester (UP) resin formulations with suitable biological, chemical, thermal and morphological properties for the additive manufacturing (AM) of TE constructs. In this context, the basic principles of available AM technologies, with a special focus on novel stereolithography processes such as microstereolithography (micro-SLA), stereo-thermal-lithography (STLA), two-photon polymerization (TPP) and nanostereolithography (nano-SLA), are also presented and discussed. Ultimately, the present review will provide a better insight into the limitations and potential of combining UP and AM towards the rationale design/fabrication of complex artificial tissue substitute

Avance en el diagnóstico de enfermedades neurológicas : una señal de alerta temprana

Fil: Serra, Jorge A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentina.Fil: Domínguez, Raúl O. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina; Argentina.Fil: Lustig, Eugenia S. de. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto Roffo; Argentina.Fil: Marschoff, Enrique R. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.A las graves consecuencias que ocasionan para las personas que las padecen, algunas enfermedades\nneurológicas, como el mal de Alzheimer, presentan además otro inconveniente: su detección resulta\nmuy dificultosa y se basa fundamentalmente en la evaluación médica. Luego de años de trabajo, un\ngrupo multidisciplinario de investigadores de la UBA ha logrado un promisorio avance que permitiría\ndiagnosticar y diferenciar entre sí a este tipo de dolencias, a través de un análisis de sangre que\nmediría el estrés oxidativo de los posibles afectados

The 4q25 variant rs13143308T links risk of atrial fibrillation to defective calcium homoeostasis

Aims: Single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 4q25 have been associated with risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) but the exiguous knowledge of the mechanistic links between these risk variants and underlying electrophysiological alterations hampers their clinical utility. Here, we tested the hypothesis that 4q25 risk variants cause alterations in the intracellular calcium homoeostasis that predispose to spontaneous electrical activity. Methods and results: Western blotting, confocal calcium imaging, and patch-clamp techniques were used to identify mechanisms linking the 4q25 risk variants rs2200733T and rs13143308T to defects in the calcium homoeostasis in human atrial myocytes. Our findings revealed that the rs13143308T variant was more frequent in patients with AF and that myocytes from carriers of this variant had a significantly higher density of calcium sparks (14.1¿±¿4.5 vs. 3.1¿±¿1.3 events/min, P¿=¿0.02), frequency of transient inward currents (ITI) (1.33¿±¿0.24 vs. 0.26¿±¿0.09 events/min, P¿<¿0.001) and incidence of spontaneous membrane depolarizations (1.22¿±¿0.26 vs. 0.56¿±¿0.17 events/min, P¿=¿0.001) than myocytes from patients with the normal rs13143308G variant. These alterations were linked to higher sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium loading (10.2¿±¿1.4 vs. 7.3¿±¿0.5¿amol/pF, P¿=¿0.01), SERCA2 expression (1.37¿±¿0.13 fold, P¿=¿0.03), and RyR2 phosphorylation at ser2808 (0.67¿±¿0.08 vs. 0.47¿±¿0.03, P¿=¿0.01) but not at ser2814 (0.28¿±¿0.14 vs. 0.31¿±¿0.14, P¿=¿0.61) in patients carrying the rs13143308T risk variant. Furthermore, the presence of a risk variant or AF independently increased the ITI frequency and the increase in the ITI frequency observed in carriers of the risk variants was exacerbated in those with AF. By contrast, the presence of a risk variant did not affect the amplitude or properties of the L-type calcium current in patients with or without AF. Conclusions: Here, we identify the 4q25 variant rs13143308T as a genetic risk marker for AF, specifically associated with excessive calcium release and spontaneous electrical activity linked to increased SERCA2 expression and RyR2 phosphorylation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Tuning the bioactivity of tensioactive deoxy glycosides to structure: antibacterial activity versus selective cholinesterase inhibition rationalized by molecular docking

New octyl/dodecyl 2,6-dideoxy-D-arabino-hexopyranosides have been synthesized by a simple but efficient methodology based on the reaction of glycals with alcohols catalysed by triphenylphosphane hydrobromide, deprotection, regioselective tosylation and reduction. Their surface-active properties were evaluated in terms of adsorption and aggregation parameters and compared with those of 2-deoxy-D-glycosides and 2,6-dideoxy-L-glycosides. Deoxygenation at the 6-position led to a decrease in the critical micelle concentration, and an increase in the adsorption efficiency (pC20) promoting aggregation more efficiently than adsorption. With regard to the antibacterial activity, dodecyl 2,6-dideoxy-α-L-arabino-hexopyranoside was the most active compound towards Bacillus anthracis (MIC 25 μM), whereas its enantiomer exhibited a MIC value of 50 μM. Both 2,6-dideoxy glycosides were active towards Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria monocytogenes. In contrast, none of the 2-deoxy glycosides was significantly active. These results and the data on surface activity suggest that aggregation is a key issue for antimicrobial activity. Beyond infection, Alzheimer’s disease also threatens elderly populations. In the search for butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) selective inhibition, 2- deoxy glycosides were screened in vitro by using Ellman’s assay. Octyl 2-deoxy-α-D-glycoside was found to be a BChE selective inhibitor promoting competitive inhibition. Docking studies supported these results as they pinpoint the importance of the primary OH group in stabilizing the BChE inhibitor complex. A size-exclusion mechanism for inhibition has been proposed based on the fact that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) exhibits several bulky residues that hinder access to the active-site cavity. This work shows how the deoxygenation pattern, configuration and functionality of the anomeric centre can tune physical and surface properties as well as the bioactivity of these multifunctional and stereochemically rich molecules.FEDER e FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering estructural defense responses in tomato for resistance against the bacterial wilt

Trabajo presentado en 5th International Symposium on Plant Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers (PADiBA) celebrado en Dundee (Escocia) del 13 al 15 de septiembre de 2022

La Web Semántica Como Herramienta para el Apoyo a la Docencia

La web semántica consiste en un nuevo paradigma web para acceder, buscar, compartir y gestionar información a través de la combinación de tecnologías y de estructuras de gestión del conocimiento. El concepto de web semántica proporciona herramientas para el almacenamiento, intercambio y consulta de esta información mediante el desarrollo y la inclusión de metadatos y ontologías del cuerpo de conocimiento. La estructura de los datos que proporciona permite que sea consultada automáticamente por usuarios humanos o sistemas informáticos, mejorando su interoperabilidad. El desarrollo de la web semántica supone una evolución del desarrollo web en general hacia una web más inteligente o web 3.0. Este paradigma puede ser aprovechado en los procesos de docencia-aprendizaje para estructurar, almacenar y compartir los contenidos mediante sistemas automáticos de consultas alojados en web semánticas que tratan sobre los cuerpos de conocimiento de las materias. La disciplina informática es especialmente adecuada para este propósito debido a su complejidad y a la gran variedad de términos que maneja. Por otra parte, su desarrollo en continua evolución propicia la implantación de mecanismos automáticos de mantenimiento y de actualización de los nuevos contenidos