The diverse metabolic heterogeneity of stem cells in a BRCA+/-breast cancer population.

Breast cancers are very heterogeneous tissues constituted by epithelial cancer cells and an abnormal tumor microenvironment - cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), activated adipocytes, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and others. The aim of the study is to cancer cells and their microenvironment, which behave like a complex and heterogeneous metabolic ecosystem, where cancer cells can reprogram their metabolism as a result of interaction with the components of the microenvironment. The study was based on cancer stem cells (CSC) that were isolated from breast tumors by magnetic separation (AutoMACS). We used spectrophotometric methods for the measurement of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymatic activity. For these experiments, we used breast cancer and normal stem cell lines. Analyses showed that the proportion of BRCA+ CSC cells was in accordance with the relatively low percentages of CSCs in BRCA+ tumors. ALHD was significantly higher in the CSCs-high BRCA+ breast cancer and CSCs-low BRCA- breast cancer cells, compared with the CSCs-low BRCA+ breast cancer. Breast cancer from BRCA mutation carriers harbor more "high-energy" cell sub-populations than "low-energy" and have their more aggressive phenotype. Key oncogenic pathways known to be dysregulated in breast cancer also regulate stem-cell behavior.

Pediatric biobanks and parents of disabled children associations opinions on establishing children repositories in developing countries.

Pediatric biobanks are an indispensable resource for the research needed to bring advances in personalized medicine into pediatric medical care. It is unclear how or when these advances in medical care may reach children, but it is unlikely that research in adults will be adequate. We conducted the screening for a hypothetic problem in various European and American pediatric biobanks based on online surveys through e-mail distribution based on the Biobank Economic Modeling Tool (BEMT) questionnaire model. Participants in the survey had work experience in biobanking for at least 3 years or more. Contact information about the survey participants was confirmed on the social networks profiles (LinkedIn), as well as on generally available websites. First, we tried creating a model which can show the pediatric preclinical and basic clinical phase relationship and demonstrate how pediatric biobanking is linked to this process. Furthermore, we tried to look for new trends, and the final goal is to put the acquired knowledge into practice, so medical experts and patients could gain usable benefit from it. We concluded that leading positions must take into account ethical and legal aspects when considering the decision to include children in the biobank collection. However, communication with parents and children is essential. The biobank characteristics influence the biobank's motives to include children in the consent procedure. Moreover, the motives to include children influence how the children are involved in the consent procedure and the extent to which children are able to make voluntary decisions as part of the consent procedure.