A new genus of caponiid spiders with its phylogenetic placement within Nopinae and the description of a new species of Orthonops Chamberlin, 1924 from Eastern Mexico (Araneae: Synspermiata, Caponiidae).

A new caponiid genus, Aamunops gen. n., is described and its phylogenetic placement within Nopinae tested using a published morphological data matrix. This genus includes four species collected during three standardized inventories in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. All specimens were collected inside plots of oak forests and tropical wet forests fragments, from leaf litter using active searching, sifted litter processed with Berlese funnels and pitfall traps. Aamunops gen. n. was recovered monophyletic under equal and implied weighting schemes including the following species: Aamunops olmeca sp. n., A. chimpa sp. n., A. misi sp. n. and A. noono sp. n. An additional character for females and two new characters states for males were added to the published dataset. In addition, Orthonops confuso sp. n. is described and its phylogenetic affinities discussed. More information regarding these inventories and additional images for the described species can be found online at http://www.unamfcaracnolab.com.

Clinical significance of cathepsin D concentration in tumor cytosol of primary breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cathepsin D is the proteolytic enzyme most frequently implicated as a prognostic factor in primary breast cancer. In the present study we evaluated by means of an immunoradiometric assay the tumor content of this protease in primary breast cancer, its relationship with tumor-related clinical and pathological parameters, and its prognostic significance in a large series of breast cancer patients. METHOD: The study comprised 1033 women with histologically established invasive breast cancer. Cathepsin D was measured in cytosol samples by means of an immunoradiometric assay to determine the total amount of cathepsin D (52 kDa, 48 kDa and 34 kDa). Evaluation of relapse-free survival and cause-specific survival was performed in the group of 1003 patients without evidence of metastasis at the time of initial diagnosis. The median follow-up of the patients who were free of recurrence was 54 months. RESULTS: Cathepsin D levels showed a wide range among the studied tumors (n=1033; median (range) 41 (0.9-2504) pmol/mg protein). Statistical analysis showed that the median cathepsin D levels were considerably higher in large tumors (T2-4) than in smaller ones (T1) (p=0.017), as well as in node-positive than in node-negative tumors (p=0.004). Cathepsin D levels were also higher in ductal tumors than in the other histological types (p=0.001), as well as in moderately or poorly differentiated tumors (p<0.001). Likewise, the median value of the protease was significantly higher in ER or PgR-positive tumors than in hormone receptor-negative ones (p=0.011 and p=0.004, respectively), as well as in aneuploid tumors than in diploid tumors (p=0.029). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that elevated cathepsin D levels (>59 pmol/mg protein) were notably associated with a shorter cause-specific survival in the whole group of patients with breast cancer, as well as in the subgroup of node-positive patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that elevated intratumoral cathepsin D levels may identify a subset of node-positive breast cancer patients showing a high probability of earlier death. (Int J Biol Markers 2005; 20: 103-11).