Computed tomography with segmentation and quantification of individual organs in a D. melanogaster tumor model.

Drosophila melanogaster tumor models are growing in popularity, driven by the high degree of genetic as well as functional conservation to humans. The most common method to measure the effects of a tumor on distant organs of a human cancer patient is to use computed tomography (CT), often used in diagnosing cachexia, a debilitating cancer-induced syndrome most visibly characterized by loss of muscle mass. Successful application of high resolution micro-CT scanning of D. melanogaster was recently reported and we here present the segmentation of all visible larval organs at several stages of tumor development. We previously showed the strong expected reduction in muscle mass as the tumor develops, and we here report a surprisingly strong reduction also in gut and Malpighian tubules (kidney) volume. Time-point of tumor development was found to have a stronger correlation to cachectic organ volume loss than tumor volume, giving support to the previously proposed idea that tumor size does not directly determine degree of cachexia.

Host autophagy mediates organ wasting and nutrient mobilization for tumor growth.

During tumor growth-when nutrient and anabolic demands are high-autophagy supports tumor metabolism and growth through lysosomal organelle turnover and nutrient recycling. Ras-driven tumors additionally invoke non-autonomous autophagy in the microenvironment to support tumor growth, in part through transfer of amino acids. Here we uncover a third critical role of autophagy in mediating systemic organ wasting and nutrient mobilization for tumor growth using a well-characterized malignant tumor model in Drosophila melanogaster. Micro-computed X-ray tomography and metabolic profiling reveal that RasV12 ; scrib-/- tumors grow 10-fold in volume, while systemic organ wasting unfolds with progressive muscle atrophy, loss of body mass, -motility, -feeding, and eventually death. Tissue wasting is found to be mediated by autophagy and results in host mobilization of amino acids and sugars into circulation. Natural abundance Carbon 13 tracing demonstrates that tumor biomass is increasingly derived from host tissues as a nutrient source as wasting progresses. We conclude that host autophagy mediates organ wasting and nutrient mobilization that is utilized for tumor growth.

Persona y filiación en la legislación actual y en Código Civil y Comercial Unificado / Person and affiliation in current legislation and in Unified Civil and Commercial Code

El Código de Comercio de nuestro país, fue instituido en 1862. Sus autores fueron Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield y Eduardo Acevedo.Vélez Sarsfield escribió "en solitario" el Código Civil que se sancionó en 1871. La ley 17711/68 le aplicó modificaciones parciales.Transcurrido algo más de un siglo y medio,la evolución de usos, costumbres y saberes exigió modificar las normas para adecuarlas a la situación actual. Ricardo L. Lorenzetti, Elena Highton de Nolasco y Aída Kemelmajer de Carlucci, destacados legistas, revisaron, actualizaron y unificaron ambos códigos. Los expertos aseguran que la propuesta introdujo criterios novedosos en los derechos relacionados con la integridad física y espiritual, la vida, la salud, la expresión de las ideas, la preservación de la intimidad, la vida privada, la imagen y la identidad.Muchos observadores, entre ellos el Consejo Académico de Ética en Medicina (CAEEM), plantearon su preocupación ante aspectos tales como el doble inicio de la personalidad, la gestación post mortem y la maternidad por sustitución,que comprometen e importan a la dignidad del ser humano. Cuestionaban los beneficios de unificar los códigos civil y comercial para la dignidad humana. Luego de algunas reformas, se instituyó el Código Civil y Comercial Unificado que rige desde el 1 de agosto de 2015. Un experto legista comparte la opinión que expuso en una ponencia presentada en la Academia Nacional de Ciencias Morales y Políticas.