Chitosan, Chitosan/IgG-Loaded, and N-Trimethyl Chitosan Chloride Nanoparticles as Potential Adjuvant and Carrier-Delivery Systems.

This work proposes a feasible, reproducible, and low-cost modified method to manufacture chitosan, chitosan/IgG-protein-loaded, and trimethylated chitosan nanoparticles, using microfluidics combined with the microemulsion technique, which differs from the traditional batch process of chitosan-based nanoparticles. The synthesis process consists of generating microreactors of chitosan-based polymer in a poly-dimethylsiloxane ψ-shaped microfluidic device and then crosslinking with sodium tripolyphosphate outside the cell. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrates an improvement in size control and distribution of the solid-shape chitosan nanoparticles (~80 nm) compared to the batch synthesis. Regarding chitosan/IgG-protein-loaded nanoparticles, these presented a core-shell morphology having a diameter of close to 15 nm. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies confirmed the ionic crosslinking between the amino groups of chitosan and the phosphate groups of sodium tripolyphosphate in the fabricated samples and the total encapsulation of IgG protein during the fabrication of chitosan/IgG-loaded nanoparticles. Then, an ionic crosslinking and nucleation-diffusion process of chitosan-sodium tripolyphosphate was carried out during the nanoparticle formation, with and without IgG protein loading. The use of N-trimethyl chloride chitosan nanoparticles in vitro on human-keratinocyte-derived cell line HaCaT did not show side effects independently of its concentration from 1 to 10 µg/mL. Therefore, the proposed materials could be used as potential carrier-delivery systems.

Identification of Compound Heterozygous EVC2 Gene Variants in Two Mexican Families with Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (EvCS) is an autosomal recessive ciliopathy with a disproportionate short stature, polydactyly, dystrophic nails, oral defects, and cardiac anomalies. It is caused by pathogenic variants in the EVC or EVC2 genes. To obtain further insight into the genetics of EvCS, we identified the genetic defect for the EVC2 gene in two Mexican patients. METHODS: Two Mexican families were enrolled in this study. Exome sequencing was applied in the probands to screen potential genetic variant(s), and then Sanger sequencing was used to identify the variant in the parents. Finally, a prediction of the three-dimensional structure of the mutant proteins was made. RESULTS: One patient has a compound heterozygous EVC2 mutation: a novel heterozygous variant c.519_519 + 1delinsT inherited from her mother, and a heterozygous variant c.2161delC (p.L721fs) inherited from her father. The second patient has a previously reported compound heterozygous EVC2 mutation: nonsense mutation c.645G > A (p.W215*) in exon 5 inherited from her mother, and c.273dup (p.K92fs) in exon 2 inherited from her father. In both cases, the diagnostic was Ellis-van Creveld syndrome. Three-dimensional modeling of the EVC2 protein showed that truncated proteins are produced in both patients due to the generation of premature stop codons. CONCLUSION: The identified novel heterozygous EVC2 variants, c.2161delC and c.519_519 + 1delinsT, were responsible for the Ellis-van Creveld syndrome in one of the Mexican patients. In the second Mexican patient, we identified a compound heterozygous variant, c.645G > A and c.273dup, responsible for EvCS. The findings in this study extend the EVC2 mutation spectrum and may provide new insights into the EVC2 causation and diagnosis with implications for genetic counseling and clinical management.

Room-temperature synthesis of nanometric and luminescent silver-MOFs.

Three silver-MOFs were prepared using an optimized, room-temperature methodology starting from AgNO3 and dicarboxylate ligands in water/ethanol yielding Ag 2 BDC, Ag 2 NDC (UAM-1), and Ag 2 TDC (UAM-2) at 38%-48% (BDC, benzenedicarboxylate; NDC, 1,8-naphthalene-dicarboxylate; TDC, p-terphenyl-4,4″-dicarboxylate). They were characterized by PXRD/FT-IR/TGA/photoluminescence spectroscopy, and the former two by SEM. These materials started decomposing at 330°C, while showing stability. The crystal structure of UAM-1 was determined by PXRD, DFT calculations, and Rietveld refinement. In general, the structure was 3D, with the largest Ag-O bond interlinking 2D layers. The FT-IR spectra revealed 1450 and 1680 bands (cm-1) of asymmetrically stretching aniso-/iso-bidentate -COO in coordination with 2/3-Ag atoms, accompanied by Ag-O bands at 780-740 cm-1, all demonstrating the network formation. XRD and SEM showed nanometric-scale crystals in Ag2BDC, and UAM-1 developed micrometric single-stranded/agglomerated fibrillar particles of varying nanometric widths. Luminescence spectroscopy showed emission by Ag2BDC, which was attributed to ligand-to-metal or ligand-to-metal-metal transitions, suggesting energy transfer due to the short distance between adjacent BDC molecules. UAM-1 and UAM-2 did not show luminescence emission attributable to ligand-to-metal transition; rather, they presented only UV emission. The stabilities of Ag2BDC and UAM-1 were evaluated in PBS/DMEM/DMEM+FBS media by XRD, which showed that they lost their crystallinity, resulting in AgCl due to soft-soft (Pearson's principle) affinity.

Expression of Pregnancy Specific ß-1 Glycoprotein 1 in Cervical Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND: Cervical Cancer (CC) is a worldwide public health concern associated with genetic alterations, among these the gain of the 19q chromosome harboring the Pregnancy Specific Glycoproteins (PSG) gene family. These proteins play a critical role in pregnancy, with participation in immunotolerance, angiogenesis, and invasion processes, which are also observed in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the molecular alterations of PSG1 and its relationship with CC. METHODS: PSG1 Copy Number Variation (CNV) was evaluated in 31 CC and eight normal cervical tissues by qPCR. PSG1 expression was correlated with HPV detection and IL-10 and TGF-ß expression in CC samples. Finally, PSG1 protein expression was evaluated by immunofluorescence in CC cell lines, by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray, and by immunoblotting in the sera of women with normal cervix, pre-invasive lesions, and CC. RESULTS: PSG1 showed a gain of 25.6% in CNV and gene expression in CC. There was a lack of PSG1 expression in normal cervical epithelium and positive immunostaining in 57% of CC tissues, while all CC cell lines expressed PSG1. Finally, PSG1 was immunodetected in 90% of pre-invasive lesions and in all CC serum samples, but not in healthy women. PSG1 expression correlates with the expression of IL-10 and TGF-ß in CC tissues, but not with the presence of HPV. CONCLUSION: These data show evidence of the differential expression of PSG1 in CC that could explain its participation in tumor-biology and immunotolerance mechanisms. Further, its immunodetection could provide early detection of this cancer.

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia: clinical and molecular review.

Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia (HED) is a genetic human disorder which affects structures of ectodermal origin. Although there are autosomal recessive and dominant forms, X-linked (XL) is the most frequent form of the disease. This XL-HED phenotype is associated with mutations in the gene encoding the transmembrane protein ectodysplasin-1 (EDA1), a member of the TNFα-related signaling pathway. The proteins from this pathway are involved in signal transduction from ectoderm to mesenchyme leading to the development of ectoderm-derived structures in the fetus such as hair, teeth, skin, nails, and eccrine sweat glands. The aim of this review was to update the main clinical characteristics of HED regarding to recent molecular advances in the comprehension of all the possible genes involved in this group of disorders since it is known that Eda-A1-Edar signaling has multiple roles in ectodermal organ development, regulating their initiation, morphogenesis, and differentiation steps. The knowledge of the biological mechanisms that generate HED is needed for both a better detection of possible cases and for the design of efficient prevention and treatment approaches.

Predicting Human miRNA-like Sequences within Human Papillomavirus Genomes.

BACKGROUND: This study presents a prediction of putative miRNA within several Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types by using bioinformatics tools and a strategy based on sequence and structure alignment. Currently, little is known about HPV miRNAs. METHODS: Computational methods have been widely applied in the identification of novel miRNAs when analyzing genome sequences. Here, ten whole-genome sequences from HPV-6, -11, -16, -18, -31, -33, -35, -45, -52, and -58 were analyzed. Software based on local contiguous structure-sequence features and support vector machine (SVM), as well as additional bioinformatics tools, were utilized for identification and classification of real and pseudo microRNA precursors. RESULTS: An initial analysis predicted 200 putative pre-miRNAs for all the ten HPV genome variants. To derive a smaller set of pre-miRNAs candidates, stringent validation criteria was conducted by applying <‒10 ΔG value (Gibbs Free Energy). Thus, only pre-miRNAs with total scores above the cut-off points of 90% were considered as putative pre-miRNAs. As a result of this strategy, 19 pre-miRNAs were selected (hpv-pre-miRNAs). These novel pre-miRNAs were located in different clusters within HPV genomes and some of them were positioned at splice regions. Additionally, the 19 identified pre-miRNAs sequences varied between HPV genotypes. Interestingly, the newly identified miRNAs, 297, 27b, 500, 501-5, and 509-3-5p, were closely implicated in carcinogenesis participating in cellular longevity, cell cycle, metastasis, apoptosis evasion, tissue invasion and cellular growth pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The novel putative miRNAs candidates could be promising biomarkers of HPV infection and furthermore, could be targeted for potential therapeutic interventions in HPV-induced malignancies.

Polymorphism rs2275913 of Interleukin-17A is related to more intensive therapy with disease-modifying anti rheumatic drugs in Mexican patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

AIM: The study has two aims: 1) to evaluate the association of IL-17 polymorphism rs2275913 with RA severity and 2) to evaluate if this particular SNP is associated with susceptibility for RA in Mexican patients. METHODS: Seventy-six RA patients and ninety-four healthy controls were included in the study. RA patients were evaluated according to DAS 28. Treatment with DMARD'S was prescribed and radiological damage was evaluated according to the Larsen method. A case-control study was used. Oral epithelial cells were obtained as source for genetic material. DNA was amplified using PCR. Subsequently, a RFLP was carried out. Finally, in order to confirm the IL-17 SNP rs2275913 presence, direct sequencing of the DNA was performed. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed between the RA patients and controls when the prevalence of IL-17 SNP rs2275913 was compared. There was a statistically significant disparity among the two groups with an OR of 5.6 (95%CI 1.5 - 20.9, P=<0.01). In this study was observed that the RA patients who were positive for the IL-17 polymorphism rs2275913 required 3 DMARDs to control the disease compared to 32% of the patients who were negative for the IL-17 polymorphism rs2275913, OR 6.6 (95%CI 1.6 - 27.0, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: This study draws two main conclusions: 1) The presence of IL-17 polymorphism rs2275913 is closely related to a more severe form of the disease and as a result, a higher number of DMARDs required to control it, 2) The presence of IL-17 polymorphism rs2275913 may confer a risk of developing RA in Mexican carriers.

Novel missense mutation in the EDA1 gene identified in a family with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

BACKGROUND: Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a human genetic disorder that affects structures of ectodermal origin such as hair, teeth, and sweat glands. Although there are autosomal recessive and dominant forms, X-linked (XL) is the most frequent form of the disease. This XL-HED phenotype is associated with mutations in the gene encoding the transmembrane protein ectodysplasin-1 (EDA1). We report the clinical and molecular analysis of a novel mutation in exon 1 affecting the transmembrane domain of the protein. METHODS: We have screened 20 members of a family from Yucatán, México, nine men and 11 women, searching clinical and histopathological signs of HED. We searched mutations in EDA1 gene from patients with XL-HED, carriers, and controls. RESULTS: We identified seven men with clinical characteristics of HED showing short toes and plantar hyperkeratosis not reported previously in patients with HED. A mutational study of the EDA1 gene showed that all seven patients with HED carry a novel missense mutation of the nucleotide 409 (c.409T>C) in exon 1, which changes p.Leu56-Pro in the protein amino acid sequence; five women are heterozygous compatible with carrier status. CONCLUSIONS: We found a novel missense mutation in exon 1 of the EDA1 gene in a putative Mayan family from México with XL-HED. We identified in this population some novel clinical signs of HED.

Immortalization of bovine umbilical vein endothelial cells: a model for the study of vascular endothelium.

Endothelial cells perform a large array of physiological functions that are influenced by their cellular heterogeneity in the different vascular beds. Vein endothelial cells isolated from the umbilical cords are commonly used to study vascular endothelium. Primary cultures of these cells, however, have low proliferative capacity and a limited life span. We have immortalized bovine umbilical vein endothelial cells (BUVEC) by transfection with an expression vector containing the human papillomavirus type 16 E6E7 oncogenes. Expression of E6E7 extended the life span of BUVEC from 40 to more than 1-20 cell replication cycles with no signs of senescence. Four immortalized clones were isolated and found to maintain endothelial cell properties, such as the uptake of acetylated low density lipoprotein, the expression of the von Willebrand protein, the binding of endothelial cell-specific lectins and proliferative responses to the specific endothelial cell mitogen, vascular endothelial growth factor. Moreover, clone BVE-E6E7-1, like its wild-type counterparts, expressed prolactin mRNA and decreased its proliferation in response to the anti-angiogenic 16-kDa fragment of prolactin. This clone showed little signs of genetic instability as revealed by centrosome and chromosome number analysis. Thus, immortalized E6E7 BUVEC cell lines retain endothelial cell characteristics and could facilitate studies to investigate the action of regulatory factors of vascular endothelium. Moreover, being the first non-human umbilical vein endothelial cell lines, their use should provide insights into the mechanisms governing species-related heterogeneity of endothelial cells.

The cervical malignant cells display a down regulation of ER-α but retain the ER-ß expression.

The human cervix is a tissue target of sex steroid hormones as estradiol (E2) which exerts its action through of the estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ER-α and ER-ß). In this study we investigated the expression of ER-α and ER-ß in human invasive cervical carcinomas using immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analyses and compared with that observed in the corresponding normal tissue. The results show nuclear expression of ER-α mainly in the first third of normal cervical epithelium, however, decreased or absent expression were present in invasive cervical carcinoma, indicating that expression of ER-α is lost in cervical cancer. Nevertheless, by RT-PCR we were able to demonstrate mRNA expression of ER-α in invasive cervical tissues. These results suggest that loss of ER-α could be due to a mechanism of post-transcriptional and/or post-translational regulation of its gene during the progression to invasive carcinoma. On the other hand, ER-ß was expressed in normal cervix with an expression pattern similar to ER-α. In addition to its nuclear localization, cytoplasmic immunoreaction of ER-ß was present in the epithelium of invasive cervical carcinomas, suggesting an association between cytoplasmic ER-ß expression and invasive phenotype in the cervical tumors. In summary, the results show that the cervical malignant cells tend to loss the ER-α but maintain the ER-ß actively expressed. Loss of expression of ER-α in neoplastic tissue suggests that the estrogenic effects could be conducted through the ER-ß in human neoplastic cervical tissue. More detailed studies are needed to confirm this suggestion and to determine the role of ER-ß in cervical cancer.

MAGE-A3 expression is an adverse prognostic factor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

This study evaluates the prognostic value of MAGE-A3 expression in 28 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. A significant association was observed between MAGE-A3 expressions, assessed by quantitative real-time RT-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with advanced stages of disease (P < 0.05). Elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and International Prognostic Index (IPI) score were significantly higher in MAGE-A3-positive patients (P = 0.025 and P = 0.004, respectively). Expression of MAGE-A3 was associated with poor response to treatment and a significantly shorter overall survival (P < 0.001). Our data address new information in the association of MAGE-A3 expression and poor prognosis in DLBCL patients.

Different arrangement of human papillomavirus E2 binding sites distinguishes cutaneous types from those associated with mucosal lesions

High-risk-type human papillomavirus DNA sequences are found in a high percentage of carcinomas from the uterine-cervix, with the viral E1-E2 gene region usually disrupted and the E6 and E7 oncoproteins consistently expressed. The E2 protein is known to repress early transcription from genital HPV promoters having a proximal E2 binding site (2BS) close to the TATA box. On the contrary, the E2 protein activates cutaneous early promotes, the E2 protein activates cutaneous early promoters having a longer distance between these sites. Using an in vivo approach we analyzed the regulation, by the BPV-1 E2 protein, of a natural HPV-18 promoter where proximal E2BS were placed at variable positions relative to the TATA box, and of heterologous promoters where E2BS was placed upstream of any other known DNA-binding elements. Our results confirm that the E2 protein represses or activates HPV early gene transcription depending on the distance between the TATA box and the proximal E2BS