Morphological changes in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in response to Bis-Naphthalimidopropylspermidine-treatment.

The effects of bis-naphthalimidopropylspermidine (BNIPSpd), a representative of a novel class of polyamine derivatives with antiproliferative properties on the morphology of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were studied. BNIPSpd was shown to cause cytoplasmic shrinkage, observed by monitoring the cells by means of phase-contrast microscopy. Chromatin condensation and nucleolar disintegration were also detected by Hoechst 33342 and Giemsa staining the cells, treated with 10 μM BNIPSpd for 8h. Taken together the morhological changes observed strongly suggested that the growth inhibition of MCF- 7 cells in response to BNIPSpd-treatment is realized via an induction of apoptosis. Moreover, nucleolus appears to be an important target in the mode of cytotoxic action of this novel polyamine derivative

SOME METHODS USED TO POTENTIATE SELF-LEARNING AND PEER TEACHING BY TOXICOLOGY STUDENTS

Rebut: maig de 2006. Acceptat: desembre de 2006 RESUMEN Este artículo describe y comenta varios métodos que hemos diseñado y utilizado con éxito para potenciar el aprendizaje activo con nuestros estudiantes de Farmacia y Veterinaria, en la enseñanza de la Toxicología mediante estrategias cooperativas y de autoaprendizaje. El primero de los métodos que describimos es un trabajo en grupo en el que los estudiantes realizan un periódico toxicológico semanal o quincenal. Los otros dos métodos se realizan por los estudiantes, de forma individual. En uno, los estudiantes han de preparar un informe breve pero crítico, sobre un fármaco retirado del mercado debido a su toxicidad o sus reacciones adversas; en el otro, se le pidió a cada estudiante que trajese al laboratorio cinco sustancias tóxicas junto a una ficha toxicológica para cada uno y sobre los que debía realizar un breve presentación a sus compañeros. Cada una de estas actividades se recompensaba con puntos adicionales para la nota final de la asignatura. Asimismo, se discuten las principales ventajas y desventajas de cada uno de los métodos. PALABRAS CLAVE: Autoaprendizaje, aprendizaje activo, peer teaching, toxicología, trabajos prácticos. ABSTRACT In this paper we describe and comment on several methods that we have devised and implemented successfully to potentiate active learning with both our Pharmacy and Veterinary Toxicology students, by means of cooperative and self-learning strategies. One of the methods we describe is a group exercise in which the students make up a weekly/fortnightly toxicology newspaper. The other two methods are more individualistic in nature. In one the students had to prepare a short, critical report on a drug withdrawn from the market because of toxicity or adverse reactions whereas in the other, each student was asked to bring to the laboratory five toxic items together with a written report on the toxicity of each and to give a short presentation on all or some of those items to their colleagues. Each of these activities was rewarded with extra points towards the final mark in the subject. Here we also discuss the main advantages an

Practical lessons of Toxicology outside the classroom: recognition of toxic plants “in situ”

Resúmenes IV Congreso VetDoc de Docencia Veterinaria, León 2017 (6-7 de Julio)[ES] Dentro de los objetivos generales que pretendemos conseguir en los alumnos de 2º de Grado de Veterinaria que cursan la materia de Toxicología, se encuentra el estudio de los agentes, naturales o de síntesis, que pueden producir intoxicación aguda o crónica, su identificación, mecanismo de acción, diagnóstico clínico o experimental de la toxicidad. Todo ello mediante un aprendizaje activo y crítico por parte del alumno

Student perception of our teaching strategies

La implantación de los nuevos grados, dentro del EEES, supone un aumento en la participación del alumno en su aprendizaje y la introducción de nuevas estrategias docentes. Debido a ello, nuestro objetivo ha sido valorar la opinión de los alumnos sobre tres aspectos: las estrategias docentes utilizadas en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, la metodología de evaluación y la importancia que otorgan a la adquisición de competencias transversales, como hablar en público o trabajar en equipo. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio, a través de una encuesta voluntaria y anónima a los alumnos de tres asignaturas de Farmacia. De los datos obtenidos destacamos que un 93.1% afirmó que la asistencia a clase ayuda a comprender la asignatura y que un 82.8% consideró que la participación activa en el aula le ayuda a aprender. Respecto a las estrategias docentes, los alumnos eligieron las explicaciones del profesor y la pizarra como el método más útil para su aprendizaje, quedando en segundo lugar la realización de ejercicios, prácticas y en último lugar, las presentaciones en Power Point. Como conclusión, los alumnos valoran positivamente aquellas estrategias que fomentan su participación, así como el sistema de evaluación continua. Sin embargo, hemos de resaltar la alta valoración otorgada a las explicaciones del profesor en la pizarra. Por ello, los datos obtenidos deberían hacernos reflexionar sobre la importancia de incluir nuevas estrategias docentes que fomenten la participación del alumno, pero sin olvidar, el valor del que quizá sea el instrumento docente más antiguo, la pizarra y el profesor.The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will change our teaching methodology with the implementation of new teaching strategies and greater participation of students in the learning process. The objective of our study is to evaluate the students’ views in three main areas: a) teaching strategies promoted by the lecturer for the teaching/learning process, b) evaluation methods and c) achieve good competence in other areas such as oral communication skills or team-work. Thus we designed a questionnaire which was filled by Pharmacy students from various years (n=118; 40.5% males and 59.5% females) registered in several subjects. Analysis of data revealed that 93.1% considered that attendance to lectures helped them to understand the topics covered. A good proportion (82.8%) was also of the view that participating in lectures was a good aid to learning. The students valued the teachers explanations and the use of the blackboard as the most useful for them to learn followed by practicals and exercises and lastly by PowerPoint presentations. Our data suggest that students value strategies that make them participate in their own learning process as well as a system of continuing evaluation. The results obtained highlight the importance of teaching strategies which stimulate student participation but also the high value the students allocate to the most classic and characteristic features of any classroom: teacher and blackboard

Study of the approved degrees in pharmacy

La implementación de los estudios universitarios al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES), se ha regulado en España con la publicación del Real Decreto 1393/2007, que establece la ordenación de las enseñanzas universitarias oficiales de Grado, Master y Doctorado. En este contexto, el Ministerio de Educación ya ha aprobado los primeros estudios de Grado en Farmacia adaptados al EEES de algunas universidades españolas. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es analizar los planes de estudio de los títulos de Grado en Farmacia que han sido aprobados. Hemos estudiado la planificación de las enseñanzas en cuanto a los Módulos requeridos para la verificación del título oficial, así como otros Módulos propios. También hemos analizado el porcentaje de carga lectiva de las materias en el plan de estudios, atendiendo a su carácter: básicas, obligatorias y optativas. Por último, hemos examinado la selección de las materias que constituyen los módulos. Podemos concluir que los planes de estudio de las universidades analizadas presentan una gran uniformidad en cuanto a los contenidos formativos. La mayor diversidad en la trayectoria curricular tiene lugar en la selección de las asignaturas optativas, así como en los Módulos de carácter humanístico, estos últimos frecuentes en las universidades privadas.To comply with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Spain, a law was published (RD 1393/2007) which regulates official studies for degrees, masters and doctorates. Several new Pharmacy degrees have been approved by the Ministry for Education according to this law, both in public and private universities. The objective of our work was to analyse these Pharmacy degrees, paying attention to the content of the various modules, as well as to the relative percentage of teaching load within each topic in the curricula according to its nature: basic, obligatory and optional. We can conclude that the degrees of all universities analysed are very homogeneous, particularly in regard to the formative content of the established modules, in accordance to the general guidelines. The greater variation seems to be located in optional subjects as well as in Art and Humanities modules, the latter being quite common in private universities

Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean

[EN] Relationships between environmental factors and oscillations in jellyfish abundance, especially in the early life stages, could help to interpret past increases and also predict scenarios in a changing future. For the first time, we present cubozoan spatial and temporal distributions in the earliest stages and their relationships with different factors. Abundances ofCarybdea marsupialismedusae showed high interannual variability from 2008 to 2014 along the Denia coast (SE Spain, W Mediterranean). During 2015, samples were collected from 11 beaches along 17 km of coastline, 8 times from January to November in order to determine the effects of environmental factors on the distribution of juvenileC.marsupialis. Juveniles (<= 15 mm diagonal bell width) were present from May to July, with more sampled near shore (0-15 m). Most of them occurred in June when their numbers were unequal among beaches (average 0.05 ind m(-3), maximum 6.71 ind m(-3)). We tested distributions of juveniles over time and space versus temperature, salinity, nutrients (N, P and Si), chlorophyll-a(Chl-a), and zooplankton abundance. Temperature and cladocerans (zooplankton group) were significantly positively correlated with juvenile distribution, whereas Chl-aconcentration was weakly negative. By contrast, in 2014, high productivity areas (Chl-aand zooplankton) overlapped the maximum adult abundance (5.2 ind m(-3)). The distribution of juveniles during 2015 did not spatially coincide with the areas where ripe adults were located the previous year, suggesting that juveniles drift with the currents upon release from the cubopolyps. Our results yield important insights into the complexity of cubozoan distributions.This study has received funding through European Commission's LIFE programme [LIFE08 NAT ES64 CUBOMED.eu to C.B. from the Alicante University and V.L.F. from the Institute of Marine Science, CSIC, Spain], and from the D.G Sostenibilidad de la Costa y el Mar from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, the Fundacion Biodiversidad, and the D.G. Agua -Generalitat Valenciana. It has also received support from Parques Nacionales and Ajuntament de Denia. We are grateful for the collaboration of Fundació Baleària, Marina El Portet de Dénia and Marina de Dénia. This work is a contribution from the ¿Ramon Margalef¿ Environmental Research Institute (IMEM) from the University of Alicante, Spain. We are especially grateful for the sampling and laboratory support provided in the Montgó Research Station by NGO ACIF Marina Alta volunteers: Ángela Alba, Ainara Ballesteros, Miguel Escolano, Ángel Fernández, Marta Gil, Héctor Gutiérrez, Ainara Lacalle and Alba Pérez. We would also like to extend our thanks to Jordi Alventosa and Júlia Escrivá from IGIC-Polytechnic Valencia University for their contribution to nutrient analysis. Editing services were provided by Sea Pen Scientific Writing.Bordehore, C.; Fonfría, E.; Alonso, C.; Rubio-Tortosa, B.; Acevedo, M.; Canepa, A.; Falco, S.... (2020). Effects of environmental variables on the distribution of juvenile cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis in the coastal Western Mediterranean. PLoS ONE. 15(6):1-20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230768S120156Purcell, J., Uye, S., & Lo, W. (2007). Anthropogenic causes of jellyfish blooms and their direct consequences for humans: a review. 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Abundance patterns of cubozoans on and near the Great Barrier Reef. Hydrobiologia, 690(1), 257-268. doi:10.1007/s10750-012-1041-0ACEVEDO, M. J., STRAEHLER-POHL, I., MORANDINI, A. C., STAMPAR, S. N., BENTLAGE, B., MATSUMOTO, G. I., … FUENTES, V. L. (2019). Revision of the genus Carybdea (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeidae): clarifying the identity of its type species Carybdea marsupialis. Zootaxa, 4543(4), 515. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4543.4.3Bordehore, C., Fuentes, V. L., Atienza, D., Barberá, C., Fernandez-Jover, D., Roig, M., … Gili, J. M. (2011). Detection of an unusual presence of the cubozoan Carybdea marsupialis at shallow beaches located near Denia, Spain (south-western Mediterranean). Marine Biodiversity Records, 4. doi:10.1017/s1755267211000650Canepa, A., Fuentes, V., Bosch-Belmar, M., Acevedo, M., Toledo-Guedes, K., Ortiz, A., … Gili, J.-M. (2017). 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Washington: American Public Health Association; 2012.Zuur, A. F., Ieno, E. N., Walker, N., Saveliev, A. A., & Smith, G. M. (2009). Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Statistics for Biology and Health. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-87458-6Zuur, A. F., Ieno, E. N., & Smith, G. M. (2007). Analysing Ecological Data. Statistics for Biology and Health. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-45972-1Yang C, Szu-Pyng K, Fen-Bin L, Pen-Shan H. Twelve different interpolation methods: a case study of Surfer 8.0. ISPRS Congr Istanbul. 2004; 778–783.STRAEHLER-POHL, I., & JARMS, G. (2011). Morphology and life cycle of Carybdea morandinii, sp. nov. (Cnidaria), a cubozoan with zooxanthellae and peculiar polyp anatomy. Zootaxa, 2755(1), 36. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2755.1.2Chiaverano, L. M., Holland, B. S., Crow, G. L., Blair, L., & Yanagihara, A. A. (2013). Long-Term Fluctuations in Circalunar Beach Aggregations of the Box Jellyfish Alatina moseri in Hawaii, with Links to Environmental Variability. 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Clonal analysis of Notch1-expressing cells reveals the existence of unipotent stem cells that retain long-term plasticity in the embryonic mammary gland.

Recent lineage tracing studies have revealed that mammary gland homeostasis relies on unipotent stem cells. However, whether and when lineage restriction occurs during embryonic mammary development, and which signals orchestrate cell fate specification, remain unknown. Using a combination of in vivo clonal analysis with whole mount immunofluorescence and mathematical modelling of clonal dynamics, we found that embryonic multipotent mammary cells become lineage-restricted surprisingly early in development, with evidence for unipotency as early as E12.5 and no statistically discernable bipotency after E15.5. To gain insights into the mechanisms governing the switch from multipotency to unipotency, we used gain-of-function Notch1 mice and demonstrated that Notch activation cell autonomously dictates luminal cell fate specification to both embryonic and basally committed mammary cells. These functional studies have important implications for understanding the signals underlying cell plasticity and serve to clarify how reactivation of embryonic programs in adult cells can lead to cancer.Wellcome Trus

Small molecule anionophores promote transmembrane anion permeation matching CFTR activity

Anion selective ionophores, anionophores, are small molecules capable of facilitating the transmembrane transport of anions. Inspired in the structure of natural product prodigiosin, four novel anionophores 1a-d, including a 1,2,3-triazole group, were prepared. These compounds proved highly efficient anion exchangers in model phospholipid liposomes. The changes in the hydrogen bond cleft modified the anion transport selectivity exhibited by these compounds compared to prodigiosin and suppressed the characteristic high toxicity of the natural product. Their activity as anionophores in living cells was studied and chloride efflux and iodine influx from living cells mediated by these derivatives was demonstrated. These compounds were shown to permeabilize cellular membranes to halides with efficiencies close to the natural anion channel CFTR at doses that do not compromise cellular viability. Remarkably, optimal transport efficiency was measured in the presence of pH gradients mimicking those found in the airway epithelia of Cystic Fibrosis patients. These results support the viability of developing small molecule anionophores as anion channel protein surrogates with potential applications in the treatment of conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis derived from the malfunction of natural anion transport mechanisms.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 667079, La Marató de TV3 Foundation (20132730), Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León (Projects BU340U13 and BU092U16

Gitools: Analysis and Visualisation of Genomic Data Using Interactive Heat-Maps

Intuitive visualization of data and results is very important in genomics, especially when many conditions are to be analyzed and compared. Heat-maps have proven very useful for the representation of biological data. Here we present Gitools (http://www.gitools.org), an open-source tool to perform analyses and visualize data and results as interactive heat-maps. Gitools contains data import systems from several sources (i.e. IntOGen, Biomart, KEGG, Gene Ontology), which facilitate the integration of novel data with previous knowledge

Dual mechanism of daunorubicin-induced cell death in both sensitive and MDR-resistant HL-60 cells

Exposure of some acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cells to daunorubicin leads to rapid cell death, whereas other AML cells show natural drug resistance. This has been attributed to expression of functional P-glycoprotein resulting in reduced drug accumulation. However, it has also been proposed that P-glycoprotein-expressing multidrug-resistant (MDR) cells are inherently defective for apoptosis. To distinguish between these different possibilities, we have compared the cell death process in a human AML cell line (HL-60) with a MDR subline (HL-60/Vinc) at doses that yield either similar intracellular daunorubicin concentrations or comparable cytotoxicity. Adjustment of the dose to obtain the same intracellular drug accumulation in the two cell lines did not result in equal cytotoxicity, suggesting the presence of additional resistance mechanisms in the P-glycoprotein-expressing HL-60/Vinc cells. However, at equitoxic doses, similar cell death pathways were observed. In HL-60 cells, daunorubicin induced rapid apoptosis at 0.5–1 μM and delayed mitotic cell death at 0.1 μM. These concentrations are within the clinical dose range. Similarly, HL-60/Vinc cells underwent apoptosis at 50–100 μM daunorubicin and mitotic cell death at 10 μM. These results show, for the first time, that anthracyclines can induce cell death by a dual mechanism in both sensitive and MDR cells. Our results also show that not only the cytotoxicity, but also the kinetics and mechanism of cell death, are dose dependent. Interestingly, regrowth was observed only in association with delayed cell death and the formation of enlarged, often polyploid, cells with micronucleation, suggesting that morphological criteria may be useful to evaluate treatment efficacy in patients with myeloid leukaemias. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig