Charting the course of Physiology within the post-Bologna European higher education area: Insights from Portugal.

The future of physiology has been a recurrent concern for physiologists and Physiological Societies within post-Bologna Europe and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Our paper provides an overview of Physiology teaching and research in Portugal, an EU member state and part of the EHEA. A descriptive study was designed to analyze data publicly available from the National Higher Education Directorate agency (DGES) from September to November 2022 to find all Portuguese syllabi containing at least one discipline related to human Physiology. A detailed database was established, including teaching staff, with a total of 365 courses/degrees and 764 Physiology disciplines. A bibliometric analysis of the identifiable lecturers' scientific production between 2017 and 2022 was made using Web of Science and PUBMED databases. Physiology is part of all health-related professions. However, universities and technical colleges differ greatly in programs, staff backgrounds, and scientific profiles. Medical schools were found to provide the most complete formation. Noteworthy, the profession of Physiologist has practically no expression within the EHEA, compared with the USA-UK realities. A better knowledge and understanding of these Physiology modalities in teaching and research within the EHEA will be instrumental to defining a stronger identity for European Physiology in the near future.

The Dietary Isothiocyanate Erucin Reduces Kidney Cell Motility by Disturbing Tubulin Polymerization.

SCOPE: Epidemiological evidence associates the consumption of cruciferous vegetables with reduced risk of several cancers, including renal cell carcinoma. Erucin can be generated by in vivo reduction of sulforaphane or by enzymatic hydrolysis of glucoerucin. Contrarily to sulforaphane, only limited studies have addressed the anticancer properties of erucin. This study aims at evaluating the impact of erucin on renal cell biology. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effects of erucin were assessed in 786-O and Vero-E6 cells, representative of human renal cancer and non- cancer kidney cells, respectively. Erucin induced a concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability and cell cycle arrest at G2/Mitosis. In Vero-E6 cells erucin modestly reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species levels while in 786-O no effects were detected. After erucin treatment, both cell lines revealed altered morphology, with a concentration-dependent change from an elongated shape towards a smaller round conformation. Moreover, erucin affected cell adhesion and strongly altered the tubulin network structure and specifically microtubule polymerization. These results are in line with the observed decrease in collective and single cell migration and G2/Mitosis arrest. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, erucin may have a beneficial impact in reducing the motility of renal cancer cells. Our results contribute to explore possible dietary approaches for secondary/tertiary renal cancer chemoprevention.

Polyphenols and Their Metabolites in Renal Diseases: An Overview.

Kidney diseases constitute a worldwide public health problem, contributing to morbidity and mortality. The present study aimed to provide an overview of the published data regarding the potential beneficial effects of polyphenols on major kidney diseases, namely acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, diabetic nephropathy, renal cancer, and drug-induced nephrotoxicity. This study consists of a bibliographical review including in vitro and in vivo studies dealing with the effects of individual compounds. An analysis of the polyphenol metabolome in human urine was also conducted to estimate those compounds that are most likely to be responsible for the kidney protective effects of polyphenols. The biological effects of polyphenols can be highly attributed to the modulation of specific signaling cascades including those involved in oxidative stress responses, anti-inflammation processes, and apoptosis. There is increasing evidence that polyphenols afford great potential in renal disease protection. However, this evidence (especially when in vitro studies are involved) should be considered with caution before its clinical translation, particularly due to the unfavorable pharmacokinetics and extensive metabolization that polyphenols undergo in the human body. Future research should consider polyphenols and their metabolites that indeed reach kidney tissues.

Self-Assembly Nanoparticles of Natural Bioactive Abietane Diterpenes.

Different approaches have been reported to enhance penetration of small drugs through physiological barriers; among them is the self-assembly drug conjugates preparation that shows to be a promising approach to improve activity and penetration, as well as to reduce side effects. In recent years, the use of drug-conjugates, usually obtained by covalent coupling of a drug with biocompatible lipid moieties to form nanoparticles, has gained considerable attention. Natural products isolated from plants have been a successful source of potential drug leads with unique structural diversity. In the present work three molecules derived from natural products were employed as lead molecules for the synthesis of self-assembled nanoparticles. The first molecule is the cytotoxic royleanone 7α-acetoxy-6ß-hydroxyroyleanone (Roy, 1) that has been isolated from hairy coleus (Plectranthus hadiensis (Forssk.) Schweinf). ex Sprenger leaves in a large amount. This royleanone, its hemisynthetic derivative 7α-acetoxy-6ß-hydroxy-12-benzoyloxyroyleanone (12BzRoy, 2) and 6,7-dehydroroyleanone (DHR, 3), isolated from the essential oil of thicket coleus (P. madagascariensis (Pers.) Benth.) were employed in this study. The royleanones were conjugated with squalene (sq), oleic acid (OA), and/or 1-bromododecane (BD) self-assembly inducers. Roy-OA, DHR-sq, and 12BzRoy-sq conjugates were successfully synthesized and characterized. The cytotoxic effect of DHR-sq was previously assessed on three human cell lines: NCI-H460 (IC50 74.0 ± 2.2 µM), NCI-H460/R (IC50 147.3 ± 3.7 µM), and MRC-5 (IC50 127.3 ± 7.3 µM), and in this work Roy-OA NPs was assayed against Vero-E6 cells at different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/mL). The cytotoxicity of DHR-sq NPs was lower when compared with DHR alone in these cell lines: NCI-H460 (IC50 10.3 ± 0.5 µM), NCI-H460/R (IC50 10.6 ± 0.4 µM), and MRC-5 (IC5016.9 ± 0.5 µM). The same results were observed with Roy-OA NPs against Vero-E6 cells as was found to be less cytotoxic than Roy alone in all the concentrations tested. From the obtained DLS results, 12BzRoy-sq assemblies were not in the nano range, although Roy-OA NP assemblies show a promising size (509.33 nm), Pdl (0.249), zeta potential (-46.2 mV), and spherical morphology from SEM. In addition, these NPs had a low release of Roy at physiological pH 7.4 after 24 h. These results suggest the nano assemblies can act as prodrugs for the release of cytotoxic lead molecules.

A mutation in FRIZZLED2 impairs Wnt signaling and causes autosomal dominant omodysplasia.

Autosomal dominant omodysplasia is a rare skeletal dysplasia characterized by short humeri, radial head dislocation, short first metacarpals, facial dysmorphism and genitourinary anomalies. We performed next-generation whole-exome sequencing and comparative analysis of a proband with omodysplasia, her unaffected parents and her affected daughter. We identified a de novo mutation in FRIZZLED2 (FZD2) in the proband and her daughter that was not found in unaffected family members. The FZD2 mutation (c.1644G>A) changes a tryptophan residue at amino acid 548 to a premature stop (p.Trp548*). This altered protein is still produced in vitro, but we show reduced ability of this mutant form of FZD2 to interact with its downstream target DISHEVELLED. Furthermore, expressing the mutant form of FZD2 in vitro is not able to facilitate the cellular response to canonical Wnt signaling like wild-type FZD2. We therefore conclude that the FRIZZLED2 mutation is a de novo, novel cause for autosomal dominant omodysplasia.