Molecular and Clinical Implications of Somatostatin Receptor Profile and Somatostatin Analogues Treatment in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) incidence has increased by 50% over the last decade. Unfortunately, surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy are still the mainstream modality of treatment, underscoring the need for alternative therapies. Somatostatin-analogues (SSA) are efficacious and safe treatments for a variety of tumors, but the presence of somatostatin-receptors (SSTs) and pharmacological effects of SSA on OSCC are poorly known. In this study, we demonstrated that SST2 and SST3 levels were significantly higher in OSCC, compared to adjacent healthy control tissues. SST2 expression was associated with less regional metastasis and a lower recurrence rate. Moreover, SST2 was elevated in OSCC and associated with histopathological good prognosis factors, such as high peritumoral inflammation, smaller depth of invasion, and expansive vs. infiltrative front of tumor invasion. Importantly, treatment with different SSA (octreotide, lanreotide, and pasireotide) significantly reduced cell-proliferation in OSCC primary cell cultures. Altogether, this study demonstrated that SST2 is overexpressed in OSCC vs. healthy tissues and could represent a novel prognostic biomarker, since its expression is associated with tumors that show better prognostic factors and less recurrent rate. Moreover, our data unveil clear antitumoral effects of SSAs on OSCC, opening new avenues to explore their potential as targeting therapy to OSCC

Ghrelin-O-Acyltransferase (GOAT) Enzyme as a Novel Potential Biomarker in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Objectives: The association between the presence and alterations of the components of the ghrelin system and the development and progression of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) is still controversial and remains unclear. Methods: Here, we systematically evaluated the expression levels (by quantitative-PCR) of key ghrelin system components of in gastroenteropancreatic (GEP)-NETs, as compared to non-tumor adjacent (NTA; n = 42) and normal tissues (NT; n = 14). Then, we analyzed their putative associations with clinical-histological characteristics. Results: The results indicate that ghrelin and its receptor GHSR1a are present in a high proportion of normal tissues, while the enzyme ghrelin-O-acyltransferase (GOAT) and the splicing variants In1-ghrelin and GHSR1b were present in a lower proportion of normal tissues. In contrast, all ghrelin system components were present in a high proportion of tumor and NTA tissues. GOAT was significantly overexpressed (by quantitative-PCR (qPCR)) in tumor samples compared to NTA, while a trend was found for ghrelin, In1-ghrelin and GHSR1a. In addition, expression of these components displayed significant correlations with key clinical parameters. The marked overexpression of GOAT in tumor samples compared to NTA regions was confirmed by IHC, revealing that this enzyme is particularly overexpressed in gastrointestinal NETs, where it is directly correlated with tumor diameter. Conclusions: These results provide novel information on the presence and potential pathophysiological implications of the ghrelin system components in GEP-NETs, wherein GOAT might represent a novel diagnostic biomarker

Dietary Intervention Modulates the Expression of Splicing Machinery in Cardiovascular Patients at High Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Development: From the CORDIOPREV Study

Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has become a major health problem worldwide. T2DM risk can be reduced with healthy dietary interventions, but the precise molecular underpinnings behind this association are still incompletely understood. We recently discovered that the expression profile of the splicing machinery is associated with the risk of T2DM development. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of 3-year dietary intervention in the expression pattern of the splicing machinery components in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients within the CORDIOPREV study. Expression of splicing machinery components was determined in PBMCs, at baseline and after 3 years of follow-up, from all patients who developed T2DM (Incident-T2DM, n = 107) and 108 randomly selected non-T2DM subjects, who were randomly enrolled in two healthy dietary patterns (Mediterranean or low-fat diets). Dietary intervention modulated the expression of key splicing machinery components (i.e., up-regulation of SPFQ/RMB45/RNU6, etc., down-regulation of RNU2/SRSF6) after three years, independently of the type of healthy diet. Some of these changes (SPFQ/RMB45/SRSF6) were associated with key clinical features and were differentially induced in Incident-T2DM patients and non-T2DM subjects. This study reveals that splicing machinery can be modulated by long-term dietary intervention, and could become a valuable tool to screen the progression of T2DM

Optimización de las técnicas de cultivo en Parmelina carporrhizans y P. quercina

Universidad Complutense de Madri

Exploring symbiont fidelity among lichen symbioses and the common alga Trebouxia decolorans s.l.: differents levels of intrathalline photobiont diversity in Xanthoria parietina and Anaptychia ciliaris

Francesco Dal Grande (Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft fuer Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Goethe Universitat, Frankfurt am Main, Germany). Comunicación ofrecida por David Alors Rodríguez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Characterization of Fungus-Specific Microsatellite Markers in the Lichen-Forming Fungus Parmelina Carporrhizans (Parmeliaceae)

Premise of the study: Microsatellite loci were developed to study the lichen-forming fungus Parmelina (Parmeliaceae) in different habitats of western Europe and the Mediterranean for baseline studies to understand the effects of climate change on its distribution. Methods and Results: We cultured P. carporrhizans from ascospores for genomic sequencing with Illumina HiSeq. We successfully developed 11 polymorphic microsatellite markers and associated primer sets and assessed them with 30 individuals from two of the Canary Islands. The average number of alleles per locus was 8.8. Nei's unbiased gene diversity of these loci ranged from 0.53 to 0.91 in the tested populations. Amplification in two closely related species ( P. tiliacea , P. cryptotiliacea ) yielded only limited success. Conclusions: The new microsatellite markers will allow the study of genetic diversity and population structure in P. carporrhizans . We propose eight markers to combine in two multiplex reactions for further studies on a larger set of populations

Panmixia and dispersal from the Mediterranean Basin to Macaronesian Islands of a macrolichen species

The Mediterranean region, comprising the Mediterranean Basin and the Macaronesian Islands, represents a center of diversification for many organisms. The genetic structure and connectivity of mainland and island microbial populations has been poorly explored, in particular in the case of symbiotic fungi. Here we investigated genetic diversity and spatial structure of the obligate outcrossing lichen-forming fungus Parmelina carporrhizans in the Mediterranean region. Using eight microsatellite and mating-Type markers we showed that fungal populations are highly diverse but lack spatial structure. This is likely due to high connectivity and long distance dispersal of fungal spores. Consistent with low levels of linkage disequilibrium and lack of clonality, we detected both mating-Type idiomorphs in all populations. Furthermore we showed that the Macaronesian Islands are the result of colonization from the Mediterranean Basin. The unidirectional gene flow, though, seemed not to be sufficient to counterbalance the effects of drift, resulting in comparatively allelic poor peripheral populations. Our study is the first to shed light on the high connectivity and lack of population structure in natural populations of a strictly sexual lichen fungus. Our data further support the view of the Macaronesian Islands as the end of the colonization road for this symbiotic ascomycete

An Integrative Approach for Understanding Diversity in the Punctelia rudecta Species Complex (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

High levels of cryptic diversity have been documented in lichenized fungi, especially in Parmeliaceae, and integrating various lines of evidence, including coalescent-based species delimitation approaches, help establish more robust species circumscriptions. In this study, we used an integrative taxonomic approach to delimit species in the lichen-forming fungal genus Punctelia (Parmeliaceae), with a particular focus on the cosmopolitan species P. rudecta. Nuclear, mitochondrial ribosomal DNA and protein-coding DNA sequences were analyzed in phylogenetic and coalescence-based frameworks. Additionally, morphological, ecological and geographical features of the sampled specimens were evaluated. Five major strongly supported monophyletic clades were recognized in the genus Punctelia, and each clade could be characterized by distinct patterns in medullary chemistry. Punctelia rudecta as currently circumscribed was shown to be polyphyletic. A variety of empirical species delimitation methods provide evidence for a minimum of four geographically isolated species within the nominal taxon Punctelia rudecta, including a newly described saxicolous species, P. guanchica, and three corticolous species. In order to facilitate reliable sample identification for biodiversity, conservation, and air quality bio-monitoring research, these three species have been epitypified, in addition to the description of a new species

Differences in the sexual aposymbiotic phase of the reproductive cycles of <i>Parmelina carporrhizans</i> and <i>P. quercina</i>. Possible implications for their reproductive biology

AbstractOur knowledge of ontogenetic development and reproductive biology in lichen-forming fungi is rather poor. Here, we aim to advance our understanding of the reproductive biology of Parmelina carporrhizans and P. quercina for which mycobiont fungi of both species were cultured in aposymbiotic conditions from ascospores. For P. carporrhizans 48 hours were necessary for 98·6% of apothecia to eject spores, while for P. quercina 100% of apothecia ejected spores in the first 24 hours. In P. quercina, large apothecia ejected more spores than smaller ones. In both species the percentage of spores germinating seemed independent of apothecium size. The percentage germination was higher in P. carporrhizans (72·4%) than in P. quercina (14·3%). Moreover, P. carporrhizans was grown more successfully on culture media than P. quercina. These results suggest that these species have different reproductive strategies, given that P. carporrhizans expels larger spores and in greater numbers than P. quercina as well as having different nutritional requirements (since P. carporrhizans grew successfully in the selected media but P. quercina did not). These characteristics may explain the sympatric speciation of these species.</jats:p