Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Mostrar: 20 | 50 | 100
Resultados 1 - 20 de 310
Filtrar
2.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 121(17): e2321303121, 2024 Apr 23.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38640342

RESUMO

Understanding the transient dynamics of interlinked social-ecological systems (SES) is imperative for assessing sustainability in the Anthropocene. However, how to identify critical transitions in real-world SES remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we present an evolutionary framework to characterize these dynamics over an extended historical timeline. Our approach leverages multidecadal rates of change in socioeconomic data, paleoenvironmental, and cutting-edge sedimentary ancient DNA records from China's Yangtze River Delta, one of the most densely populated and intensively modified landscapes on Earth. Our analysis reveals two significant social-ecological transitions characterized by contrasting interactions and feedback spanning several centuries. Initially, the regional SES exhibited a loosely connected and ecologically sustainable regime. Nevertheless, starting in the 1950s, an increasingly interconnected regime emerged, ultimately resulting in the crossing of tipping points and an unprecedented acceleration in soil erosion, water eutrophication, and ecosystem degradation. Remarkably, the second transition occurring around the 2000s, featured a notable decoupling of socioeconomic development from ecoenvironmental degradation. This decoupling phenomenon signifies a more desirable reconfiguration of the regional SES, furnishing essential insights not only for the Yangtze River Basin but also for regions worldwide grappling with similar sustainability challenges. Our extensive multidecadal empirical investigation underscores the value of coevolutionary approaches in understanding and addressing social-ecological system dynamics.


Assuntos
Ecossistema , Rios , Eutrofização , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais/métodos
3.
J Peripher Nerv Syst ; 2024 Apr 10.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38600685

RESUMO

Advances in the understanding of cytokines have revolutionized mechanistic treatments for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, as exemplified by rheumatoid arthritis. We conducted a systematic literature review on the role of cytokines and chemokines in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). Ovid Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched until August 31, 2022 for human studies investigating cytokines levels in CIDP or MMN. Fifty-five articles on 1061 CIDP patients and 86 MMN patients were included, with a median of 18 patients per study (range 3-71). Studies differed in the inclusion criteria, type of assay, manufacturer, control subjects, and tested biological material. Only a minority of studies reported data on disease activity. Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, CXCL10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), were elevated in CIDP compared to controls in most of the studies. IL-6 and TNF-α levels are also correlated with disability. In MMN patients, IL-1Ra was elevated in the majority of the reports. While acknowledging the challenges in comparing studies and the various limitations of the studies, including small patient numbers, particularly in MMN, our review suggests that IL-6, IL-17, CXCL10, and TNF-α might play a role in CIDP pathogenesis. Larger studies are needed in MMN.

4.
New Phytol ; 2024 Apr 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38581206

RESUMO

The development of terrestrial ecosystems depends greatly on plant mutualists such as mycorrhizal fungi. The global retreat of glaciers exposes nutrient-poor substrates in extreme environments and provides a unique opportunity to study early successions of mycorrhizal fungi by assessing their dynamics and drivers. We combined environmental DNA metabarcoding and measurements of local conditions to assess the succession of mycorrhizal communities during soil development in 46 glacier forelands around the globe, testing whether dynamics and drivers differ between mycorrhizal types. Mycorrhizal fungi colonized deglaciated areas very quickly (< 10 yr), with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi tending to become more diverse through time compared to ectomycorrhizal fungi. Both alpha- and beta-diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were significantly related to time since glacier retreat and plant communities, while microclimate and primary productivity were more important for ectomycorrhizal fungi. The richness and composition of mycorrhizal communities were also significantly explained by soil chemistry, highlighting the importance of microhabitat for community dynamics. The acceleration of ice melt and the modifications of microclimate forecasted by climate change scenarios are expected to impact the diversity of mycorrhizal partners. These changes could alter the interactions underlying biotic colonization and belowground-aboveground linkages, with multifaceted impacts on soil development and associated ecological processes.

5.
PLoS One ; 19(4): e0298905, 2024.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38578734

RESUMO

Nematodes are keystone actors of soil, freshwater and marine ecosystems, but the complexity of morphological identification has limited broad-scale monitoring of nematode biodiversity. DNA metabarcoding is increasingly used to assess nematode diversity but requires universal primers with high taxonomic coverage and high taxonomic resolution. Several primers have been proposed for the metabarcoding of nematode diversity, many of which target the 18S rRNA gene. In silico analyses have a great potential to assess key parameters of primers, including taxonomic coverage, resolution and specificity. Based on a recently-available reference database, we tested in silico the performance of fourteen commonly used and one newly optimized primer for nematode metabarcoding. Most primers showed very good coverage, amplifying most of the sequences in the reference database, while four markers showed limited coverage. All primers showed good taxonomic resolution. Resolution was particularly good if the aim was the identification of higher-level taxa, such as genera or families. Overall, species-level resolution was higher for primers amplifying long fragments. None of the primers was highly specific for nematodes as, despite some variation, they all amplified a large number of other eukaryotes. Differences in performance across primers highlight the complexity of the choice of markers appropriate for the metabarcoding of nematodes, which depends on a trade-off between taxonomic resolution and the length of amplified fragments. Our in silico analyses provide new insights for the identification of the most appropriate primers, depending on the study goals and the origin of DNA samples. This represents an essential step to design and optimize metabarcoding studies assessing nematode diversity.


Assuntos
Ecossistema , Nematoides , Humanos , Animais , DNA Ribossômico/genética , Código de Barras de DNA Taxonômico , Nematoides/genética , RNA Ribossômico 18S/genética , Biodiversidade
6.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 6389, 2024 03 16.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38493253

RESUMO

The present work aimed to predict the fate of two pesticides, copper (Cu) and glyphosate in a Mediterranean basin with an intermittent river and to assess the ecotoxicological risk related to their presence in water bodies coupling field measurements of streamflow and pesticide concentrations, and an eco-hydrological model. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was calibrated and, subsequently used to assess predicted environmental concentrations of pesticides in surface waters. The ecotoxicological risk related to the presence of Cu and glyphosate in surface water was assessed at the reach scale by using the Toxicity to Exposure Ratio approach (TER). Measurements of glyphosate concentrations (< 0.5 µg l-1) exceeded the maximum European threshold of environmental quality standards for pesticides (EQS) of 0.1 µg l-1. High concentrations of glyphosate were predicted in the wet season and in September, when glyphosate is mostly used in vineyards and olive grove productions. Acute risk (TER < 100) associated with the presence of glyphosate was detected for several reaches. High concentrations of Cu (< 6.5 µg l-1), mainly used as a fungicide in vineyards, were predicted in several river reaches. The results of the ecotoxicological risk assessment revealed that November and January were the critical months during which most of the river reaches showed a chronic risk associated with the presence of Cu.


Assuntos
Praguicidas , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Praguicidas/toxicidade , Praguicidas/análise , Rios , Solo , Água , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Medição de Risco
7.
J Chem Inf Model ; 64(8): 3034-3046, 2024 Apr 22.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38504115

RESUMO

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) that engage two biological targets at once are a promising technology in degrading clinically relevant protein targets. Since factors that influence the biological activities of PROTACs are more complex than those of a small molecule drug, we explored a combination of computational chemistry and deep learning strategies to forecast PROTAC activity and enable automated design. A new method named PROTACable was developed for the de novo design of PROTACs, which includes a robust 3-D modeling workflow to model PROTAC ternary complexes using a library of E3 ligase and linker and an SE(3)-equivariant graph transformer network to predict the activity of newly designed PROTACs. PROTACable is available at https://github.com/giaguaro/PROTACable/.

8.
Eur J Prev Cardiol ; 2024 Mar 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38456769

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Wild-type transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTRwt-CA) affects older adults and is currently considered as a rare disorder. OBJECTIVE: We investigated for the first time the prevalence of ATTRwt-CA in elderly individuals from the general population. METHODS: General practitioners from Pisa, Italy, proposed a screening for ATTRwt-CA to all their patients aged 65-90 years, until 1,000 accepted. The following red flags were searched: interventricular septal thickness ≥12 mm, any echocardiographic, ECG or clinical hallmark of CA, or high sensitivity-troponin T ≥14 ng/L. Individuals with at least one red flag (n=346) were asked to undergo the search for a monoclonal protein and bone scintigraphy, and 216 accepted. RESULTS: Four patients received a non-invasive diagnosis of ATTRwt-CA. All complained of dyspnea on moderate effort. A woman and a man aged 79 and 85 years, respectively, showed an intense cardiac tracer uptake (grade 3), left ventricular (LV) wall thickening, grade 2 to 3 diastolic dysfunction, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) >1,000 ng/L. Two other patients (a man aged 74 years and a woman aged 83 years) showed a grade 2 uptake, an increased LV septal thickness, but preserved diastolic function, and NT-proBNP <300 ng/L. The prevalence of ATTR-CA in subjects ≥65 years was calculated as 0.46% (i.e., 4 out of the 870 subjects completing the screening, namely 654 not meeting the criteria for Step 2 and 216 progressing to Step 2). CONCLUSIONS: ATTRwt-CA is uncommon in elderly subjects from the general population, but more frequent than expected for a rare disease.


Wild-type transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTRwt-CA) is a heart condition mostly found in older adults. ATTRwt-CA is considered a rare disease, although no systematic screening have been performed yet. The study aimed to understand how common this disease is among the general population aged 65 to 90 years in Pisa, Italy. To do this, general practitioners offered screening for ATTRwt-CA to their patients within this age group. The initial step of the screening involved checking for certain warning signs (red flags), like abnormal thickness in a part of the heart called the interventricular septum, unusual heart function observed through various tests, or elevated levels of a specific heart protein. Out of 1,000 individuals who began the screening process, 346 showed at least one of these red flags and were further examined using bone scintigraphy (a type of imaging test) and tests for a specific protein related to this condition. Of these, 216 agreed to proceed with these additional tests. The results showed that four of these patients actually had ATTRwt-CA. Their conditions varied in severity, with some showing more intense signs of the disease on the heart scans, thicker heart walls, and higher levels of heart stress proteins. All four patients experienced mild difficulty in breathing during physical activity. Based on these findings, the study concluded that about 0.46% of elderly individuals in the general population might have ATTRwt-CA, indicating that the disease is somewhat more common in this age group than previously thought.

9.
J Environ Manage ; 356: 120672, 2024 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38508002

RESUMO

Microplastic pollution in karst systems is still poorly studied, despite the presence of protected species and habitats, and important water reserves. Vulnerable key species hosted in these habitats could consume or assimilate microplastics, which can irreversibly damage management efforts, and thus ecosystems functionality. This can be particularly true for subterranean water habitats where microplastic pollution effects on wildlife management programs are not considered. The aim of this study is to provide a case study from the Classical Karst Region, which hosts peculiar habitats and key species protected at European level, such as the olm Proteus anguinus. As this area has been deeply exploited and modified over time, and is adjacent to highways, roads and railways, which could contribute to pollution within the karst system, threatening the ecosystems, it provides a perfect model system. In this study we collected and investigated water and sediment samples from aquatic environments of surface and subterranean habitats hosting several subterranean environment-adapted organisms. Examined particles were counted and characterized by size, color and shape via visual identification under a microscope, with and without UV light. Furthermore, spectroscopic analyses were carried out in order to identify microplastics typology. Microplastics were found in all examined habitats. In water, microplastics concentration ranged from 37 to 86 items/L, in sediments from 776 to 2064 items/kg. Fibre-shape was the main present, followed by fragments and beads, suggesting multiple sources of pollution, especially textile products. Most of the particles were fluorescent under UV light and were mainly transparent, while not-fluorescent ones were especially black, blue or brown. Samples contained especially polyesters and copolymers. These results highlight intense MP pollution in karst areas, with significant impacts on water quality, and potential effects on subterranean environment-dwelling species. We stress the importance of monitoring pollution in these critical environments for biodiversity and habitat conservation: monitoring in karst areas must become a priority for habitat and species protection, and water resources management, improving analyses on a larger number of aquatic surface and subterranean habitats.


Assuntos
Microplásticos , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Microplásticos/análise , Plásticos , Ecossistema , Monitoramento Ambiental , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Poluição da Água/análise
12.
Int J Mol Sci ; 25(3)2024 Jan 25.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38338777

RESUMO

We investigated whether we could identify a panel of miRNAs associated with response to treatment in tumor tissues of patients with Hormone Receptor-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer treated with endocrine therapy (ET) and the CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i)i palbociclib. In total, 52 patients were evaluated, with 41 receiving treatment as the first line. The overall median PFS was 20.8 months (range 2.5-66.6). In total, 23% of patients experienced early progression (<6 months). Seven miRNAs (miR-378e, miR-1233, miR-99b-5p, miR-1260b, miR-448, -miR-1252-5p, miR-324-3p, miR-1233-3p) showed a statistically significant negative association with PFS. When we considered PFS < 6 months, miR-378e, miR-99b-5p, miR-877-5p, miR-1297, miR-455-5p, and miR-4536-5p were statistically associated with a poor outcome. In the multivariate analysis, the first three miRNAs confirmed a significant and independent impact on PFS. The literature data and bioinformatic tools provide an underlying molecular rationale for most of these miRNAs, mainly involving the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and cell-cycle machinery as cyclin D1, CDKN1B, and protein p27Kip1 and autophagy. Our findings propose a novel panel of miRNAs associated with a higher likelihood of early progression in patients treated with ET and Palbociclib and may contribute to shed some light on the mechanisms of de novo resistance to CDK4/6i, but this should be considered exploratory and evaluated in larger cohorts.


Assuntos
Neoplasias da Mama , MicroRNAs , Piridinas , Humanos , Feminino , MicroRNAs/metabolismo , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinases , Neoplasias da Mama/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias da Mama/genética , Neoplasias da Mama/metabolismo , Piperazinas/farmacologia , Piperazinas/uso terapêutico , Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica , Receptor ErbB-2/metabolismo , Quinase 4 Dependente de Ciclina/genética
13.
Mol Cancer ; 23(1): 32, 2024 02 13.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38350884

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: the problem in early diagnosis of sporadic cancer is understanding the individual's risk to develop disease. In response to this need, global scientific research is focusing on developing predictive models based on non-invasive screening tests. A tentative solution to the problem may be a cancer screening blood-based test able to discover those cell requirements triggering subclinical and clinical onset latency, at the stage when the cell disorder, i.e. atypical epithelial hyperplasia, is still in a subclinical stage of proliferative dysregulation. METHODS: a well-established procedure to identify proliferating circulating tumor cells was deployed to measure the cell proliferation of circulating non-haematological cells which may suggest tumor pathology. Moreover, the data collected were processed by a supervised machine learning model to make the prediction. RESULTS: the developed test combining circulating non-haematological cell proliferation data and artificial intelligence shows 98.8% of accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 95% specificity. CONCLUSION: this proof of concept study demonstrates that integration of innovative non invasive methods and predictive-models can be decisive in assessing the health status of an individual, and achieve cutting-edge results in cancer prevention and management.


Assuntos
Inteligência Artificial , Neoplasias , Humanos
14.
Nat Plants ; 10(2): 256-267, 2024 02.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38233559

RESUMO

The mechanisms underlying plant succession remain highly debated. Due to the local scope of most studies, we lack a global quantification of the relative importance of species addition 'versus' replacement. We assessed the role of these processes in the variation (ß-diversity) of plant communities colonizing the forelands of 46 retreating glaciers worldwide, using both environmental DNA and traditional surveys. Our findings indicate that addition and replacement concur in determining community changes in deglaciated sites, but their relative importance varied over time. Taxa addition dominated immediately after glacier retreat, as expected in harsh environments, while replacement became more important for late-successional communities. These changes were aligned with total ß-diversity changes, which were more pronounced between early-successional communities than between late-successional communities (>50 yr since glacier retreat). Despite the complexity of community assembly during plant succession, the observed global pattern suggests a generalized shift from the dominance of facilitation and/or stochastic processes in early-successional communities to a predominance of competition later on.


Assuntos
Camada de Gelo , Plantas
15.
Glob Chang Biol ; 30(1): e17057, 2024 Jan.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38273541

RESUMO

The worldwide retreat of glaciers is causing a faster than ever increase in ice-free areas that are leading to the emergence of new ecosystems. Understanding the dynamics of these environments is critical to predicting the consequences of climate change on mountains and at high latitudes. Climatic differences between regions of the world could modulate the emergence of biodiversity and functionality after glacier retreat, yet global tests of this hypothesis are lacking. Nematodes are the most abundant soil animals, with keystone roles in ecosystem functioning, but the lack of global-scale studies limits our understanding of how the taxonomic and functional diversity of nematodes changes during the colonization of proglacial landscapes. We used environmental DNA metabarcoding to characterize nematode communities of 48 glacier forelands from five continents. We assessed how different facets of biodiversity change with the age of deglaciated terrains and tested the hypothesis that colonization patterns are different across forelands with different climatic conditions. Nematodes colonized ice-free areas almost immediately. Both taxonomic and functional richness quickly increased over time, but the increase in nematode diversity was modulated by climate, so that colonization started earlier in forelands with mild summer temperatures. Colder forelands initially hosted poor communities, but the colonization rate then accelerated, eventually leveling biodiversity differences between climatic regimes in the long term. Immediately after glacier retreat, communities were dominated by colonizer taxa with short generation time and r-ecological strategy but community composition shifted through time, with increased frequency of more persister taxa with K-ecological strategy. These changes mostly occurred through the addition of new traits instead of their replacement during succession. The effects of local climate on nematode colonization led to heterogeneous but predictable patterns around the world that likely affect soil communities and overall ecosystem development.


Assuntos
Ecossistema , Nematoides , Animais , Solo , Camada de Gelo , Biodiversidade
16.
Neurol Sci ; 45(2): 727-733, 2024 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37702830

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: To investigate the utility of regular serum VEGF (sVEGF) levels assessment in the monitoring of POEMS syndrome. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data of 30 patients with POEMS syndrome whose sVEGF was tested regularly every 6 months. sVEGF levels after treatment were measured and correlated with disability (Overall Neuropathy Limitations Scale, ONLS), clinical impairment (measured with the modified Clinical Response Evaluation Scale, mCRES), and relapse-free survival. The ability of sVEGF to predict disease flares during remission and refractory disease was also analysed. RESULTS: Patients with normalised serum VEGF levels (< 1000 pg/ml) at 6 months showed prolonged relapse-free survival (at 3-year 94% for complete VEGF response, 57% partial, 0% none, p < 0.001) and greater later clinical improvement (median ΔmCRES complete VEGF response -5 vs partial -4, p = 0.019, and vs no VEGF response -2, p = 0.006). After remission, the sensitivity of 6-month sVEGF monitoring in predicting clinical relapse was 58% with a specificity of 100%. In patients refractory to treatment, the sensitivity in predicting further clinical worsening was 15%. In addition, in 25% of the patients in remission and 16% of those refractory to therapy, sVEGF levels only increased at the time of relapse. CONCLUSIONS: Regular sVEGF assessment is a valid biomarker in the prediction of disease reactivation in POEMS syndrome and was particularly useful during the phase of remission.


Assuntos
Síndrome POEMS , Fator A de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular , Humanos , Síndrome POEMS/diagnóstico , Estudos Retrospectivos , Recidiva
17.
Neurol Sci ; 45(3): 1087-1095, 2024 Mar.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37773576

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at determining whether, net of motor confounders, neuropsychological features affect functional independence (FI) in activities of daily living (ADLs) in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. METHODS: N = 88 ALS patients without frontotemporal dementia were assessed for FI-Katz's Basic ADL Scale (BADL) and Lawton-Brody's Instrumental ADL Scale (IADL)-, cognition-Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)-and behaviour-Beaumont Behavioural Inventory and Dimensional Apathy Scale. The association between cognitive and behavioural measures and BADL/IADL scores was assessed by covarying for demographics, anxiety and depression levels, disease duration and motor confounders-i.e. ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) scores, progression rate and both King's and Milano-Torino stages. RESULTS: Higher scores on the ECAS-Language were associated with higher IADL scores (p = 0.005), whilst higher apathetic features-as measured by the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS)-were inversely related to the BADL (p = 0.003). Whilst IADL scores were related to all ECAS-Language tasks, the DAS-Initiation was the only subscale associated with BADL scores. Patients with abnormal ECAS-Language (p = 0.023) and DAS (p = 0.008) scores were more functionally dependent than those without. DISCUSSION: Among non-motor features, language changes and apathetic features detrimentally affect FI in non-demented ALS patients.


Assuntos
Esclerose Amiotrófica Lateral , Demência Frontotemporal , Humanos , Atividades Cotidianas , Estado Funcional , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Cognição
18.
J Neurol ; 271(2): 794-803, 2024 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37801095

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: There is an unmet need in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to provide specific biomarkers for the disease. Due to their easy availability, we aimed to investigate whether routine blood parameters provide useful clues for phenotypic classification and disease prognosis. METHODS: We analyzed a large inpatient cohort of 836 ALS patients who underwent deep phenotyping with evaluation of the clinical and neurophysiological burden of upper (UMN) and lower (LMN) motor neuron signs. Disability and progression rate were measured through the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and its changes during time. Cox regression analysis was performed to assess survival associations. RESULTS: Creatinine significantly correlated with LMN damage (r = 0.38), active (r = 0.18) and chronic (r = 0.24) denervation and baseline ALSFRS-R (r = 0.33). Creatine kinase (CK), alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) transaminases correlated with active (r = 0.35, r = 0.27, r = 0.24) and chronic (r = 0.37, r = 0.20, r = 0.19) denervation, while albumin and C-reactive protein significantly correlated with LMN score (r = 0.20 and r = 0.17). Disease progression rate showed correlations with chloride (r = -0.19) and potassium levels (r = -0.16). After adjustment for known prognostic factors, total protein [HR 0.70 (95% CI 0.57-0.86)], creatinine [HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.81-0.92)], chloride [HR 0.95 (95% CI 0.92-0.99)], lactate dehydrogenase [HR 0.99 (95% CI 0.99-0.99)], and AST [HR 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.02)] were independently associated with survival. CONCLUSIONS: Creatinine is a reliable biomarker for ALS, associated with clinical features, disability and survival. Markers of nutrition/inflammation may offer additional prognostic information and partially correlate with clinical features. AST and chloride could further assist in predicting progression rate and survival.


Assuntos
Esclerose Amiotrófica Lateral , Humanos , Creatinina , Cloretos , Progressão da Doença , Prognóstico , Biomarcadores
19.
J Biomech ; 162: 111909, 2024 Jan.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38118308

RESUMO

The properties of organs, tissues, organoids, and other systems of cells, are influenced by the spatial localization and distribution of their elements. Here, we used networks to describe distributions of cells on a surface where the small-world coefficient (SW) of the networks was varied between SW~1 (random uniform distributions) and SW~10 (clustered distributions). The small-world coefficient is a topological measure of graphs: networks with SW>1 are topologically biased to transmit information. For each system configuration, we then determined the total energy U as the sum of the energies that describe cell-cell interactions - approximated by a harmonic potential. The graph of energy (U) across the configuration space of the networks (SW) is the energy landscape: it indicates which configuration a system of cells will likely assume over time. We found that, depending on the model parameters, the energy landscapes of 2D distributions of cells may be of different types: from type I to type IV. Type I and type II systems have high probability to evolve into random distributions. Type III and type IV systems have a higher probability to form clustered architectures. A great many of simulations indicated that cultures of cells with high initial density and limited sensing range could evolve into clustered configurations with enhanced topological characteristics. Moreover, the strongest the binding between cells, the greater the likelihood that they will assume configurations characterized by finite values of SW. Results of the work are relevant for those working the field of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, the formation of in-vitro-models, the analysis of neuro-degenerative diseases.


Assuntos
Células , Metabolismo Energético , Células/metabolismo
20.
Sci Rep ; 13(1): 20357, 2023 11 21.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37990043

RESUMO

Cardiac myxoma (CM) is a potentially life-threatening disease because frequently asymptomatic or debuts with aspecific manifestations. Definitive diagnosis is established by histopathological assessment including tumor and endothelial cell markers. To derive a specific panel of circulating cells antigenically detectable, pre-surgery peripheral blood samples of CM patients were analyzed. Pre-surgery peripheral blood samples from patients with CM were simultaneously analyzed for Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs) that were matched with tumor tissue profiles and with patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) distinguishing tumor regions. Moreover, CECs values in CM patients were further matched with CEC's levels in cardiovascular disease and control subjects. The blood-derived cytological specimens detected at least 1-3 CTCs/ml in 10 tested CM samples (p = 0.0001) showing specific CM features preserved in the central zones of the tumor. The central zone of the primary tumor, supported by a vessel density rate (55 ± 7%), with a proliferative profile of 32 ± 3% and a percentage of Calretininpos cells (p = 0.03), is the principal site of CTCs (r = 00) dissemination. The subsets of endothelial cells recognized in the blood were indifferent to their topological distribution within the tumor and corresponding PDXs. With further refinement and validation in large cohorts, multiparametric liquid biopsies can optimally integrate clinically informative datasets and maximize their utility in pre-surgery evaluation of CM patients. Blood-derived culture's protocol provides a versatile method capable of viable analysis of CTCs of non-hematological rare tumors which conventional antibody-mediated analytical platform is unable to perform. Distinctive blood- based cell phenotype contributes to differentiate CM from other differentials assuring its prompt surgical resection by combining blood-based cell biomarkers integrated with clinically informative datasets.


Assuntos
Doenças Cardiovasculares , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Células Neoplásicas Circulantes , Humanos , Células Endoteliais/patologia , Biomarcadores Tumorais , Células Neoplásicas Circulantes/patologia , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patologia
SELEÇÃO DE REFERÊNCIAS
DETALHE DA PESQUISA
...