Microlophus atacamensis as a biomonitor of coastal contamination in the Atacama Desert, Chile: An evaluation through a non-lethal technique.

In this report, we investigated the accumulation of heavy metals in the lizard Microlophus atacamensis, in three coastal areas of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We captured reptiles in a non-intervened area (Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar, PAZ), an area of mining impact (Caleta Palitos, PAL) and an active industrial zone (Puerto de Caldera, CAL). Our methods included a non-lethal sampling of reptiles' tails obtained by autotomy and a few sacrificed animals to perform a stomach contents analysis. The concentrations of lead, copper, nickel, zinc and cadmium were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in both soil and prey and compared to those recorded in the lizards' tails. Data obtained from lizard tails captured in PAL showed significantly high concentrations of Pb, Cu, Ni, and Zn compared to the other two sites PAZ and CAL. We did not find statistically significant differences among PAZ, PAL and CAL soils, probably due to the similar geological composition of the sites. However, the regional background values for Pb indicate contamination or at least metal enrichment in soils of the three sites, for Cu the global background values indicate contamination for the three sites, and for Cd both the regional and global backgroud values show high values. The analysis of the stomach content showed differences in the food sources of the lizards among the sites studied. The concentration of heavy metal in lizard tissues versus prey delivered values of the Trophic Transfer Factor higher than one (1), suggesting that food may be a primary source of metals in the tissues of M. atacamensis. Calculations of the Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF) and the Ecological Risk (IR) resulted in values higher than one (1) indicating the relevance of this process in the sites studied. In this article, we report relationships between environmental contaminants, mainly putative preys, and concentrations found in lizard tails, which is more substantial in areas with historical heavy metal contamination such as PAL where the non-lethal technique developed in this research suggests a process of metal bioaccumulation in M. atacamensis.

Data on metal accumulation in the tails of the lizard Microlophus atacamensis in a coastal zone of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: A non-destructive biomonitoring tool for heavy metal pollution.

In this data article, we investigated the accumulation of heavy metals in the lizard Microlophus atacamensis, in three coastal areas of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We captured lizards in a non-intervened area (Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar, PAZ), an area of mining impact (Caleta Palitos, PAL) and an active industrial zone (Puerto de Caldera, CAL). Our methods included a non-lethal sampling of lizard's tails obtained by autotomy. The concentrations of lead, copper, nickel, zinc and cadmium were measured in both soil and prey and compared to those recorded in the lizards' tails. We estimated metal concentrations in the soil, in putative prey and M. atacamensis tails, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In order to characterize the trophic ecology of M. atacamensis and to relate it to possible differences in metal loads between sites, we included a few slaughtered animals to perform a stomach contents analysis (SCA). The software R Core Team (2019) was used to carry out all statistical tests to evaluate and analyze the data, applying a priori and a posteriori statistical tests to test the variance and mean hypotheses. Analysis of the data of the content of heavy metals in the tails, prey and soil inhabited by M. atacamensis in PAZ, PAL and CAL showed that the concentration of metals found in the tails and the range of environmental exposure to heavy metals of these animals were related. This article shows for the first time a quantification of the metal concentration on lizard tissues with a non-lethal technique in anthropically disturbed sites in the South Pacific.

[Effects of the Bright Bodies Program in Chilean obese children]. / Impacto del Programa de manejo de la obesidad Bright Bodies aplicado a niños y adolescentes chilenos.

BACKGROUND: Yale University's Bright Bodies Program consists on a lifestyle intervention, in areas such as nutrition and exercise, while focusing on behavior modification and family support. AIM: To evaluate the impact of the Program in Chilean children and adolescents with obesity who participated in the Program during 8 months. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The weight management Program was carried out during 8 months and consisted in weekly sessions directed by dietitians or psychologists and exercise sessions twice per week in charge of physical education teachers. The family component was based on sessions for parents or caregivers to achieve the same goals of children activities. RESULTS: Twenty eight obese children aged 9.5 ± 2 years completed the eight months of intervention. There was a significant 5% reduction of body mass index (BMI), a 15% reduction of BMI z score and a 2.9% reduction of waist circumference. Bioelectrical impedance showed a 9% reduction of percentage body fat and a 7% increase in lean body mass. Blood pressure, blood glucose, total and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides decreased significantly, without changes in HOMA-IR. The frequency of metabolic syndrome decreased from 36% at baseline to 18% at the end of the intervention. A 43% reduction in caloric intake and an improvement in physical condition was also observed. CONCLUSIONS: The Bright Bodies Program produced significant and positive changes on anthropometric and metabolic parameters in this group of children.

Impacto del Programa de manejo de la obesidad Bright Bodies aplicado a niños y adolescentes chilenos / Effects of the Bright Bodies Program in Chilean obese children

Background: Yale University’s Bright Bodies Program consists on a lifestyle intervention, in areas such as nutrition and exercise, while focusing on behavior modification and family support. Aim: To evaluate the impact of the Program in Chilean children and adolescents with obesity who participated in the Program during 8 months. Material and Methods: The weight management Program was carried out during 8 months and consisted in weekly sessions directed by dietitians or psychologists and exercise sessions twice per week in charge of physical education teachers. The family component was based on sessions for parents or caregivers to achieve the same goals of children activities. Results: Twenty eight obese children aged 9.5 ± 2 years completed the eight months of intervention. There was a significant 5% reduction of body mass index (BMI), a 15% reduction of BMI z score and a 2.9% reduction of waist circumference. Bioelectrical impedance showed a 9% reduction of percentage body fat and a 7% increase in lean body mass. Blood pressure, blood glucose, total and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides decreased significantly, without changes in HOMA-IR. The frequency of metabolic syndrome decreased from 36% at baseline to 18% at the end of the intervention. A 43% reduction in caloric intake and an improvement in physical condition was also observed. Conclusions: The Bright Bodies Program produced significant and positive changes on anthropometric and metabolic parameters in this group of children.

Immunoproteasome deficiency modifies the alternative pathway of NFκB signaling.

Immunoproteasome is a protease abundant in immune cells and also present, albeit at lower concentrations, in cells outside the immune system. Recent evidence supports a novel role for the immunoproteasome in the cellular stress response potentially through regulation of NFκB signaling, which is the primary response to multiple stressors. The current study tests whether the Classical or Alternative Pathways are regulated by immunoproteasome following chronic TNFα exposure in cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells isolated from wild-type mice and mice deficient in one (LMP2, L2) or two (LMP7 and MECL-1, L7M1) immunoproteasome subunits. Assays were performed to assess the expression of NFκB responsive genes, the content and activity of NFκB transcription factors (p65, p50, p52, cRel, RelB), and expression and content of regulatory proteins (IκBα, A20, RPS3). Major findings include distinct differences in expression of NFκB responsive genes in both KO cells. The mechanism responsible for the altered gene expression could not be established for L7M1 since no major differences in NFκB transcription factor content or activation were observed. However, L2 cells exhibited substantially higher content and diminished activation of NFκB transcription factors associated with the Alternative Pathway and delayed termination of the Classical Pathway. These results provide strong experimental evidence supporting a role for immunoproteasome in modulating NFκB signaling.

Corneal wound healing is compromised by immunoproteasome deficiency.

Recent studies have revealed roles for immunoproteasome in regulating cell processes essential for maintaining homeostasis and in responding to stress and injury. The current study investigates how the absence of immunoproteasome affects the corneal epithelium under normal and stressed conditions by comparing corneas from wildtype (WT) mice and those deficient in two immunoproteasome catalytic subunits (lmp7(-/-)/mecl-1(-/-), L7M1). Immunoproteasome expression was confirmed in WT epithelial cells and in cells of the immune system that were present in the cornea. More apoptotic cells were found in both corneal explant cultures and uninjured corneas of L7M1 compared to WT mice. Following mechanical debridement, L7M1 corneas displayed delayed wound healing, including delayed re-epithelialization and re-establishment of the epithelial barrier, as well as altered inflammatory cytokine production compared to WT mice. These results suggest that immunoproteasome plays an important role in corneal homeostasis and wound healing.

Musicoterapia en parálisis cerebral / Music therapy in cerebral palsy

Acercarse al niño a través de lo sonoro-corporal, es acogerlo cuando las barreras del lenguaje verbal no lo permiten. En muchos casos la parálisis cerebral limita a algunos movimientos, gestos y balbuceos la expresividad del sujeto, afectándolo física, emocional y socialmente. La presente monografía da cuenta del proceso musicoterapéutico realizado con un niño que presenta parálisis cerebral como diagnóstico médico y que habita en un hogar de menores perteneciente a la FUNDACIÓN PARA EL NIÑO LIMITADO, COANIL. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es exponer de forma clara y organizada la experiencia vivida a lo largo de todo el proceso terapéutico y que a través del análisis de los resultados obtenidos, fundamentado en los planteamientos teóricos de Gustavo Gauna y Patricia Sabbatella permitan fortalecer las razones por la cual debe la musicoterapia considerarse dentro de equipos multidiciplinarios como un co-ayudante en la habilitación de niños que presentan parálisis cerebral. (AU)

A novel role for the immunoproteasome in retinal function.

PURPOSE: The immunoproteasome is a proteasome subtype with a well-characterized role in the immune system. The presence of high immunoproteasome concentrations in the photoreceptors and synaptic regions of the immune-privileged retina implies a role in visual transmission. In this study, immunoproteasome knockout (KO) mice lacking either one (lmp7(-/-), L7) or two (lmp7(-/-)/mecl-1(-/-), L7M1) catalytic subunits of the immunoproteasome were used to test the hypothesis that it is essential for the maintenance of normal retinal function. METHODS: Wild-type (WT) and immunoproteasome KO mice lacking either one (L7) or two (L7M1) catalytic subunits of the immunoproteasome were studied to determine the importance of the immunoproteasome in maintaining normal retinal function and morphology. Changes in retinal morphology were assessed in mice 2 to 24 months of age. Retinal function was measured with electroretinography (ERG), and relative content of select retinal proteins was assessed by immunoblot analysis. RESULTS: Retinal morphometry showed no major abnormalities in age-matched WT or KO mice. No significant difference was observed in the levels of proteins involved in vision transmission. ERGs from KO mice exhibited an approximate 25% decrease in amplitude of the dark- and light-adapted b-waves and faster dark-adapted b-wave implicit times. CONCLUSIONS: Immunoproteasome deficiency causes defects in bipolar cell response. These results support a previously unrecognized role for the immunoproteasome in vision transmission.

Immunoproteasome deficiency alters retinal proteasome's response to stress.

Our previous work demonstrated that immunoproteasome is up-regulated in the retina and brain in response to injury that does not involve an inflammatory response (J. Neurochem. 2008; 106:158). These results suggest additional non-immune functions for the immunoproteasome in the cellular stress response pathway. The present study further investigates the potential involvement of the immunoproteasome in responding to the chronic stress of aging or oxidant exposure in the retina and cultured retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells from knock-out mice missing either one (lmp7(-/-)) or two (lmp7(-/-)/mecl-1(-/-)) immunoproteasome subunits. We show that aging and chronic oxidative stress up-regulates immunoproteasome in the retina and RPE from wild-type mice. No up-regulation of LMP2 was observed in retinas or RPE lacking MECL-1 and/or LMP7, suggesting that the full complement of immunoproteasome subunits is required to achieve maximal up-regulation in response to stress. We also show that RPE deficient in immunoproteasome are more susceptible to oxidation-induced cell death, supporting a role for immunoproteasome in protecting from oxidative stress. These results provide key mechanistic insight into novel aspects of proteasome biology and are an important first step in identifying alternative roles for retinal immunoproteasome that are unrelated to its role in the immune response.

The charged milieu: a major player in fertilization reactions.

In previous studies, we have found that negatively charged, but not uncharged, amino acids and sugars block sea urchin fertilization. These studies were developed from modeling work in non-living systems using derivatized agarose beads that suggested that charge-charge bonding may control at least some adhesive interactions. In the present study, the effects of positively charged, negatively charged and uncharged molecules were examined in the sea urchin sperm-egg system in over 300 individual trials. The results indicate that depending on the specific molecules utilized, both sperm and egg are exquisitely sensitive to charged but not uncharged molecules and to pH changes in sea water caused by some of the charged molecules. It is shown that egg activation, as well as sperm motility and sperm-egg interactions, can be affected by charged molecules. One compound, fructose-1-phosphate blocked fertilization in S. purpuratus sea urchins but not in Lytechinus pictus sea urchins. These findings indicate that charge alone cannot explain all the results. In this case, the presence of a ketone instead of an aldehyde group indicates that species-specific components may control fertilization reactions. The present study is a comprehensive survey of the effects of charge, pH and molecular structure on the fertilization activation continuum in a model system of sea urchins.