Comparative Metabolic Response between Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and Corn (Zea mays) to a Cu(OH)2 Nanopesticide

Due to their unique properties, copper-based nanopesticides are emerging in the market. Thus, understanding their effect on crop plants is very important. Metabolomics can capture a snapshot of cellular metabolic responses to a stressor. We selected maize and cucumber as model plants for exposure to different doses of Cu(OH)2 nanopesticide. GC-TOF-MS-based metabolomics was employed to determine the metabolic responses of these two species. Results revealed significant differences in metabolite profile changes between maize and cucumber. Furthermore, the Cu(OH)2 nanopesticide induced metabolic reprogramming in both species, but in different manners. In maize, several intermediate metabolites of the glycolysis pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) were up-regulated, indicating the energy metabolism was activated. In addition, the levels of aromatic compounds (4-hydroxycinnamic acid and 1,2,4-benzenetriol) and their precursors (phenylalanine, tyrosine) were enhanced, indicating the activation of shikimate-phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in maize leaves, which is an antioxidant defense-related pathway. In cucumber, arginine and proline metabolic pathways were the most significantly altered pathway. Both species exhibited altered levels of fatty acids and polysaccharides, suggesting the cell membrane and cell wall composition may change in response to Cu(OH)2 nanopesticide. Thus, metabolomics helps to deeply understand the differential response of these plants to the same nanopesticide stressor

Bioenergetics of lung tumors: Alteration of mitochondrial biogenesis and respiratory capacity

International audienceLittle is known on the metabolic profile of lung tumors and the reminiscence of embryonic features. Herein, we determined the bioenergetic profiles of human fibroblasts taken from lung epidermoid carcinoma (HLF-a) and fetal lung (MRC5). We also analysed human lung tumors and their surrounding healthy tissue from four patients with adenocarcinoma. On these different models, we measured functional parameters (cell growth rates in oxidative and glycolytic media, respiration, ATP synthesis and PDH activity) as well as compositional features (expression level of various energy proteins and upstream transcription factors). The results demonstrate that both the lung fetal and cancer cell lines produced their ATP predominantly by glycolysis, while oxidative phosphorylation was only capable of poor ATP delivery. This was explained by a decreased mitochondrial biogenesis caused by a lowered expression of PGC1␣ (as shown by RT-PCR and Western blot) and mtTFA. Consequently, the relative expression of glycolytic versus OXPHOS markers was high in these cells. Moreover, the re-activation of mitochondrial biogenesis with resveratrol induced cell death specifically in cancer cells. A consistent reduction of mitochondrial biogenesis and the subsequent alteration of respiratory capacity was also observed in lung tumors, associated with a lower expression level of bcl2. Our data give a better characterization of lung cancer cells' metabolic alterations which are essential for growth and survival. They designate mitochondrial biogenesis as a possible target for anti-cancer therapy

An unknown invective against Quevedo’s Gracias y desgracias del ojo del culo

Grupo de investigación Francisco de QuevedoThis article aims to give notice about the existence of an unknown invective against Gracias y desgracias del ojo del culo, one of the most famous Francisco de Quevedo’s burlesque works. That printed work is entitled Excelencias y desagravios de los nobilísimos ojos de la cara, y zurriago contra el abogado del nefando ojo del culo. Published in the seventeenth century without date or place of printing, this new invective is now kept in the Biblioteca Valenciana and it has never been described. The author of this work remains hidden behind the pseudonym “Bachiller Polvorín de Tras-Te-Riego”. This new testimony is very interesting for completing the complex puzzle of the abundant controversial texts against Quevedo and his works, which were especially written and divulged along the decade between 1626 and 1635. Additionally, this unknown textual source draw critical attention to one aspect: the fact that this invective could have been one of the earliest among all known invectives so far. Its textual source might have not been one of the numerous preserved manuscripts but the first edition of Quevedo’s text, dated between 1620 and 1626, as the author suggests when describing the atmosphere in the Court of Spain where it was released. However, the real author of the invective and the circumstances of its writing and publishing are still needed of further inquiries.El presente artículo pretende dar noticia sobre la existencia de una invectiva inédita contra Gracias y desgracias del ojo del culo, una de las más famosas obras burlescas de Francisco de Quevedo. La obra impresa se titula Excelencias y desagravios de los nobilísimos ojos de la cara, y zurriago contra el abogado del nefando ojo del culo. Publicada en el siglo XVII, sin fecha ni lugar de impresión, esta nueva invectiva se conserva en la Biblioteca Valenciana y no ha sido descrita previamente. Su autor permanece oculto tras el seudónimo “Bachiller Polvorín de Tras-Te-Riego”. Este nuevo testimonio es muy interesante para completar el complejo rompecabezas de las diatribas y polémicas contra Quevedo y sus obras, que fueron escritas y divulgadas especialmente a lo largo de la década comprendida entre 1626 y 1635. Adicionalmente, esta desconocida fuente textual reclama la atención crítica debido a un rasgo: el hecho de haber podido ser una de las más tempranas entre todas las invectivas hasta ahora conocidas. La diatriba parece no haberse basado en uno de los muchos manuscritos conservados, sino en la primera edición del texto de Quevedo, datado entre 1620 y 1626, como sugiere el autor cuando describe el ambiente de la Corte española donde se difundió. No obstante, el verdadero autor de la invectiva y las circunstancias de su escritura y publicación necesitan aún futuras indagaciones.Este artículo es resultado del proyecto de investigación “Edición crítica y anotada de la obra en prosa de Quevedo, IX” (MINECO, Excelencia 2015, FFI2015-64389-P; AEI/FEDER, UE).S