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// Andres F. Cardona 1, 2, 3, * , Leonardo Rojas 4, 5, * , Beatriz Wills 2, * , Oscar Arrieta 6, * , Hernan Carranza 1, 2, 3 , Carlos Vargas 1, 2, 3 , Jorge Otero 1, 2, 3 , Luis Corrales-Rodriguez 7 , Claudio Martin 8 , Noemi Reguart 9 , Pilar Archila 2 , July Rodriguez 2 , Mauricio Cuello 10 , Carlos Ortiz 1 , Sandra Franco 1 , Christian Rolfo 11 , Rafael Rosell 12 , on behalf of the CLICaP # 1 Clinical and Traslational Oncology Group, Institute of Oncology, Clinica del Country, Bogota, Colombia 2 Foundation for Clinical and Applied Cancer Research (FICMAC), Bogota, Colombia 3 Clinical and Traslational Research Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad el Bosque, Bogota, Colombia 4 Clinical Oncology Department, Centro Javeriano de Oncologia, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogota, Colombia 5 Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia 6 Thoracic Oncology Unit, Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia (INCan), Mexico City, Mexico 7 Medical Oncology Department, Hospital San Juan de Dios, San Jose, Costa Rica 8 Thoracic Oncology Unit, Alexander Fleming Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina 9 Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain 10 Clinical Oncology Department, Hospital de Clinicas-UdeLAR, Montevideo, Uruguay 11 Early Clinical Trials Unit, Oncology Department, Antwerp University Hospital and Center for Oncological Research (CORE), Antwerp University, Edegem, Belgium 12 Medical Oncology Department, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain # Latin American Consortium for Lung Cancer Investigation * These authors have contributed equally to this study Correspondence to: Andres F. Cardona, email: andres.cardona@clinicadelcountry.com , a_cardonaz@yahoo.com Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, BIM deletion, EGFR mutation, survival Received: February 24, 2016 Accepted: August 24, 2016 Published: September 19, 2016 ABSTRACT Background: Germline alterations in the proapoptotic protein Bcl-2-like 11 (BIM) can have a crucial role in diverse tumors. To determine the clinical utility of detecting BIM deletion polymorphisms (par4226 bp/ par363 bp) in EGFR positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) we examined the outcomes of patients with and without BIM alterations. Results: BIM deletion was present in 14 patients (15.7%). There were no significant differences between patients with and without BIM -del in clinical characteristics or EGFR mutation type; however, those with BIM -del had a worse overall response rate (ORR) to erlotinib (42.9% vs. 73.3% in patients without BIM -del ; p=0.024) as well as a significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) (10.8 BIM -del+ vs. 21.7 months for patients without BIM -del ; p=0.029) and overall survival (OS) (15.5 BIM -del+ vs. 34.0 months for patients without BIM -del ; p=0.035). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that BIM -del+ was an independent indicator of shorter PFS (HR 3.0; 95%CI 1.2-7.6; p=0.01) and OS (HR 3.4; 95%CI 1.4-8.3; p=0.006). Methods: We studied 89 NSCLC Hispanic patients with EGFR mutation who were treated with erlotinib between January 2009 and November 2014. BIM deletion polymorphisms (BIM -del ) was analyzed by PCR in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of tumor biopsies. We retrospectively analyzed clinical characteristics, response rate, toxicity, and outcomes among patients with and without BIM- del . Conclusions: The incidence of BIM -del found in Hispanic patients is similar to that previously described in Asia. This alteration is associated with a poor clinical response to erlotinib and represents an independent prognostic factor for patients who had NSCLC with an EGFR mutation.

The expansion of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a suppressive population able to hamper the immune response against cancer, correlates with tumor progression and overall survival in several cancer types. We have previously shown that MDSCs can be induced in vitro from precursors present in the bone marrow and observed that these cells are able to actively proliferate in the presence of activated T cells, whose activation level is critical to drive the suppressive activity of MDSCs. Here we investigated at molecular level the mechanisms involved in the interplay between MDSCs and activated T cells. We found that activated T cells secrete IL-10 following interaction with MDSCs which, in turn, activates STAT3 phosphorylation on MDSCs then leading to B7-H1 expression. We also demonstrated that B7-H1+ MDSCs are responsible for immune suppression through a mechanism involving ARG-1 and IDO expression. Finally, we show that the expression of ligands B7-H1 and MHC class II both on in vitro-induced MDSCs and on MDSCs in the tumor microenvironment of cancer patients is paralleled by an increased expression of their respective receptors PD-1 and LAG-3 on T cells, two inhibitory molecules associated with T cell dysfunction. These findings highlight key molecules and interactions responsible for the extensive cross-talk between MDSCs and activated T cells that are at the basis of immune suppression.

In breast cancer, constitutive activation of NF-κB has been reported, however, the impact of genetic variation of the pathway on patient prognosis has been little studied. Furthermore, a combination of genetic variants, rather than single polymorphisms, may affect disease prognosis. Here, in an extensive dataset (n = 30,431) from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium, we investigated the association of 917 SNPs in 75 genes in the NF-κB pathway with breast cancer prognosis. We explored SNP-SNP interactions on survival using the likelihood-ratio test comparing multivariate Cox’ egression models of SNP pairs without and with an interaction term. We found two interacting pairs associating with prognosis: patients simultaneously homozygous for the rare alleles of rs5996080 and rs7973914 had worse survival (HRinteraction 6.98, 95% CI=3.3-14.4, P=1.42E-07), and patients carrying at least one rare allele for rs17243893 and rs57890595 had better survival (HRinteraction 0.51, 95% CI=0.3-0.6, P = 2.19E-05). Based on in silico functional analyses and literature, we speculate that the rs5996080 and rs7973914 loci may affect the BAFFR and TNFR1/TNFR3 receptors and breast cancer survival, possibly by disturbing both the canonical and non-canonical NF-κB pathways or their dynamics, whereas, rs17243893-rs57890595 interaction on survival may be mediated through TRAF2-TRAIL-R4 interplay. These results warrant further validation and functional analyses. ispartof: Oncotarget vol:6 issue:35 pages:37979-94 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Worldwide, the incidence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past decades. More knowledge about the complex etiology of obesity is needed in order to find additional approaches for treatment and prevention. Investigating the exome sequencing data of 30 extremely obese subjects (BMI 45–65 kg/m2) shows that predicted damaging missense variants in olfactory receptor genes on chromosome 1q and rare predicted damaging variants in the protocadherin (PCDH) beta-cluster genes on chromosome 5q31, reported in our previous work, co-localize in subjects with extreme obesity. This implies a synergistic effect between genetic variation in these gene clusters in the predisposition to extreme obesity. Evidence for a general involvement of the olfactory transduction pathway on itself could not be found. Bioinformatic analysis indicates a specific involvement of the PCDH beta-cluster genes in controlling tissue development. Further mechanistic insight needs to await the identification of the ligands of the 1q olfactory receptors. Eventually, this may provide the possibility to manipulate food flavor in a way to reduce the risk of overeating and of extreme obesity in genetically predisposed subjects. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12263-015-0465-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

β2-Agonist inhibitors can relieve chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms by stimulating cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling. A-kinase-anchoring proteins (AKAPs) compartmentalize cAMP signaling by establishing protein complexes. We previously reported that the β2-agonist fenoterol, direct activation of protein kinase A (PKA), and exchange factor directly activated by cAMP decrease cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced release of neutrophil attractant interleukin-8 (IL-8) from human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells. In the present study, we tested the role of AKAPs in CSE-induced IL-8 release from ASM cells and assessed the effect of CSE on the expression levels of different AKAPs. We also studied mRNA and protein expression of AKAPs in lung tissue from patients with COPD. Our data show that CSE exposure of ASM cells decreases AKAP5 and AKAP12, both capable of interacting with β2-adrenoceptors. In lung tissue of patients with COPD, mRNA levels of AKAP5 and AKAP12 were decreased compared with lung tissue from controls. Using immunohistochemistry, we detected less AKAP5 protein in ASM of patients with COPD Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage II compared with control subjects. St-Ht31, which disrupts AKAP-PKA interactions, augmented CSE-induced IL-8 release from ASM cells and diminished its suppression by fenoterol, an effect mediated by disturbed ERK signaling. The modulatory role of AKAP-PKA interactions in the anti-inflammatory effects of fenoterol in ASM cells and the decrease in expression of AKAP5 and AKAP12 in response to cigarette smoke and in lungs of patients with COPD suggest that cigarette smoke-induced changes in AKAP5 and AKAP12 in patients with COPD may affect efficacy of pharmacotherapy.

Embryonic stem cells are maintained in a self-renewing and pluripotent state by multiple regulatory pathways. Pluripotent-specific transcriptional networks are sequentially reactivated as somatic cells reprogram to achieve pluripotency. How epigenetic regulators modulate this process and contribute to somatic cell reprogramming is not clear. Here we performed a functional RNAi screen to identify the earliest epigenetic regulators required for reprogramming. We identified components of the SAGA histone acetyltransferase complex, in particular Gcn5, as critical regulators of reprogramming initiation. Furthermore, we showed in mouse pluripotent stem cells that Gcn5 strongly associates with Myc and that, upon initiation of somatic reprogramming, Gcn5 and Myc form a positive feed-forward loop that activates a distinct alternative splicing network and the early acquisition of pluripotency-associated splicing events. These studies expose a Myc–SAGA pathway that drives expression of an essential alternative splicing regulatory network during somatic cell reprogramming.

ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes alter chromatin structure through interactions with chromatin substrates such as DNA, histones, and nucleosomes. However, whether chromatin remodeling complexes have the ability to regulate nonchromatin substrates remains unclear. Saccharomyces cerevisiae checkpoint kinase Mec1 (ATR in mammals) is an essential master regulator of genomic integrity. Here we found that the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex is capable of regulating Mec1 kinase activity. In vivo, Mec1 activity is reduced by the deletion of Snf2, the core ATPase subunit of the SWI/SNF complex. SWI/SNF interacts with Mec1, and cross-linking studies revealed that the Snf2 ATPase is the main interaction partner for Mec1. In vitro, SWI/SNF can activate Mec1 kinase activity in the absence of chromatin or known activators such as Dpb11. The subunit requirement of SWI/SNF-mediated Mec1 regulation differs from that of SWI/SNF-mediated chromatin remodeling. Functionally, SWI/SNF-mediated Mec1 regulation specifically occurs in S phase of the cell cycle. Together, these findings identify a novel regulator of Mec1 kinase activity and suggest that ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes can regulate nonchromatin substrates such as a checkpoint kinase.

// Annemarie Boleij 1 , Bastiaan B.J. Tops 2 , Paul D.M. Rombout 1 , Elizabeth M. Dequeker 3 , Marjolijn J.L. Ligtenberg 1,2 , J. Han van Krieken 1 and Dutch RAS EQA Initiative 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 1 Department of Pathology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 2 Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 3 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Biomedical Quality Assurance Research Unit, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 4 C.J.M. van Noesel, Academic Medical Center (AMC), Department of Pathology, Amsterdam 5 C.C. Scheidel-Jacobse (Technical specialist), J.A. Kummer (Pathologist/KMBP), P. Roepman (KMBP in training), St. Antonius Ziekenhuis, Department of Pathology, Nieuwegein 6 C.F.M. Prinsen (KMBP), S.H.M. van den Berg-van Erp (Pathologist), Canisius Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis (CWZ), Department of Pathology, Nijmegen 7 J.M.H.H. van Gorp, Diakonessenhuis, Laboratory for Pathology, Utrecht 8 P.M. Nederlof, Dutch Cancer Institute (NKI), Amsterdam. 9 E. Caspers, St. Elisabeth Ziekenhuis, Department of Molecular Pathology, Tilburg 10 W.N.M. Dinjens, E.C.W. Beerens, Erasmus MC, Department of Pathology, Molecular Diagnostics, Rotterdam 11 N.A. ‘t Hart, Isala, Department of Pathology, Zwolle 12 A.J.C. van den Brule, Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis, Molecular Diagnostics, ‘s-Hertogenbosch 13 R. van der Geize (KMBP), S.A. Riemersma (Pathologist), Laboratory for Pathology Oost-Nederland (LABPON), Hengelo 14 T. van Wezel (KMBP), H. Morreau (Pathologist), R. van Eijk (Technical specialist), Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Department of Pathology, Leiden 15 J.W.M. Jeuken, Laboratory for Pathology and Medical Microbiology (PAMM), Eindhoven 16 A. Dirkx, Pathan B.V., Molecular Diagnostics, Rotterdam 17 M. Klomp, Rijnstate Ziekenhuis, Department of Pathology, Arnhem 18 W.T.M van Blokland, University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht, Molecular Pathology, Utrecht 19 A. ter Elst (Technical specialist/KMBP in training), E. Schuuring (KMBP), A. Diepstra (Pathologist), University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Department of Pathology, Groningen 20 D.A.M. Heideman (KMBP), N.C.T. van Grieken (Pathologist), D. Sie (Technical specialist), VU-University Medical Center (VUMC), Department of Pathology, Amsterdam Correspondence to: J.Han van Krieken, email: // Keywords : RAS, colorectal cancer, metastasis, quality control, next generation sequencing Received : February 09, 2015 Accepted : March 18, 2015 Published : April 12, 2015 Abstract In 2013 the European Medicine Agency (EMA) restricted the indication for anti-EGFR targeted therapy to metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with a wild-type RAS gene, increasing the need for reliable RAS mutation testing. We evaluated the completeness and reproducibility of RAS -testing in the Netherlands. From 17 laboratories, tumor DNA of the first 10 CRC cases tested in 2014 in routine clinical practice was re-tested by a reference laboratory using a custom next generation sequencing panel. In total, 171 CRC cases were re-evaluated for hotspot mutations in KRAS , NRAS and BRAF . Most laboratories had introduced complete RAS -testing (65%) and BRAF -testing (71%) by January 2014. The most employed method for all hotspot regions was Sanger sequencing (range 35.7 – 49.2%). The reference laboratory detected all mutations that had been found in the participating laboratories ( n = 92), plus 10 additional mutations. This concerned three RAS and seven BRAF mutations that were missed due to incomplete testing of the participating laboratory. Overall, the concordance of tests performed by both the reference and participating laboratory was 100% (163/163; κ-static 1.0) for RAS and 100% (144/144; κ-static 1.0) for BRAF . Our study shows that RAS and BRAF mutations can be reproducibly assessed using a variety of testing methods.

// Lynn Feys 1 , Benedicte Descamps 2 , Christian Vanhove 2 , Anne Vral 3 , Liv Veldeman 4 , Stefan Vermeulen 5 , Carlos De Wagter 4 , Marc Bracke 1 and Olivier De Wever 1 1 Department of Radiation Oncology and Experimental Cancer Research, Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 2 Department of Electronics and Information System, iMinds-IBiTech-MEDISIP, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 3 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Physiology Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 4 Department of Radiation Oncology and Experimental Cancer Research, Gent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium 5 Department of Biomedical Science, HoGent, Ghent, Belgium Correspondence to: Olivier De Wever, email: // Keywords : radiotherapy, triple-negative breast cancer, CXCL12, MIF, AMD3100 Received : July 22, 2015 Accepted : August 29, 2015 Published : September 15, 2015 Abstract Radiotherapy is a mainstay in the postoperative treatment of breast cancer as it reduces the risks of local recurrence and mortality after both conservative surgery and mastectomy. Despite recent efforts to decrease irradiation volumes through accelerated partial irradiation techniques, late cardiac and pulmonary toxicity still occurs after breast irradiation. The importance of this pulmonary injury towards lung metastasis is unclear. Preirradiation of lung epithelial cells induces DNA damage, p53 activation and a secretome enriched in the chemokines SDF-1/CXCL12 and MIF. Irradiated lung epithelial cells stimulate adhesion, spreading, growth, and (transendothelial) migration of human MDA-MB-231 and murine 4T1 breast cancer cells. These metastasis-associated cellular activities were largely mimicked by recombinant CXCL12 and MIF. Moreover, an allosteric inhibitor of the CXCR4 receptor prevented the metastasis-associated cellular activities stimulated by the secretome of irradiated lung epithelial cells. Furthermore, partial (10%) irradiation of the right lung significantly stimulated breast cancer lung-specific metastasis in the syngeneic, orthotopic 4T1 breast cancer model. Our results warrant further investigation of the potential pro-metastatic effects of radiation and indicate the need to develop efficient drugs that will be successful in combination with radiotherapy to prevent therapy-induced spread of cancer cells.

The transcription factor MYB has a key role in hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) lineage choice, by enhancing erythropoiesis at the expense of megakaryopoiesis. We previously demonstrated that MYB controls erythroid versus megakaryocyte lineage decision by transactivating KLF1 and LMO2 expression. To further unravel the molecular mechanisms through which MYB affects lineage fate decision, we performed the integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA changes in MYB-silenced human primary CD34+ HPCs. Among the miRNAs with the highest number of predicted targets, we focused our studies on hsa-miR-486-3p by demonstrating that MYB controls miR-486-3p expression through the transactivation of its host gene, ankyrin-1 (ANK1) and that miR-486-3p affects HPCs commitment. Indeed, overexpression and knockdown experiments demonstrated that miR-486-3p supports the erythropoiesis while restraining the megakaryopoiesis. Of note, miR-486-3p also favors granulocyte differentiation while repressing the macrophage differentiation. To shed some light on the molecular mechanisms through which miR-486-3p affects HPCs lineage commitment, we profiled the gene expression changes upon miR-486-3p overexpression in CD34+ cells. Among the genes downregulated in miR-486-3p-overexpressing HPCs and computationally predicted to be miR-486-3p targets, we identified MAF as a miR-486-3p target by 3'UTR luciferase reporter assay. Noteworthy, MAF overexpression was able to partially reverse the effects of miR-486-3p overexpression on erythroid versus megakaryocyte lineage choice. Moreover, the MYB/MAF co-silencing constrained the skewing of erythroid versus megakaryocyte lineage commitment in MYB-silenced CD34+ cells, by restraining the expansion of megakaryocyte lineage while partially rescuing the impairment of erythropoiesis. Therefore, our data collectively demonstrate that MYB favors erythropoiesis and restrains megakaryopoiesis through the transactivation of miR-486-3p expression and the subsequent downregulation of MAF. As a whole, our study uncovers the MYB/miR-486-3p/MAF axis as a new mechanism underlying the MYB-driven control of erythroid versus megakaryocyte lineage fate decision.

Motivation: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are spherical bilayered proteolipids, harboring various bioactive molecules. Due to the complexity of the vesicular nomenclatures and components, online searches for EV-related publications and vesicular components are currently challenging. Results: We present an improved version of EVpedia, a public database for EVs research. This community web portal contains a database of publications and vesicular components, identification of orthologous vesicular components, bioinformatic tools and a personalized function. EVpedia includes 6879 publications, 172 080 vesicular components from 263 high-throughput datasets, and has been accessed more than 65 000 times from more than 750 cities. In addition, about 350 members from 73 international research groups have participated in developing EVpedia. This free web-based database might serve as a useful resource to stimulate the emerging field of EV research. Availability and implementation: The web site was implemented in PHP, Java, MySQL and Apache, and is freely available at http://evpedia.info. Contact: ysgho@postech.ac.kr

Lung cancer is the most feared of all cancers because of its heterogeneity and resistance to available treatments. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the cell population responsible for lung cancer chemoresistance and are a very good model for testing new targeted therapies. Clomipramine is an FDA-approved antidepressant drug, able to inhibit in vitro the E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch and potentiate the pro-apoptotic effects of DNA damaging induced agents in several cancer cell lines. Here, we investigated the potential therapeutic effect of desmethylclomipramine (DCMI), the active metabolite of Clomipramine, on the CSCs homeostasis. We show that DCMI inhibits lung CSCs growth, decreases their stemness potential and increases the cytotoxic effect of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. Being DCMI an inhibitor of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch, we also verified the effect of Itch deregulation on CSCs survival. We found that the siRNA-mediated depletion of Itch induces similar anti-proliferative effects on lung CSCs, suggesting that DCMI might exert its effect, at least in part, by inhibiting Itch. Notably, Itch expression is a negative prognostic factor in two primary lung tumors datasets, supporting the potential clinical relevance of Itch inhibition to circumvent drug resistance in the treatment of lung cancer.

Trastuzumab is a remarkably effective therapy for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) - positive breast cancer (BC). However, not all women with high levels of HER2 benefit from trastuzumab. By integrating mRNA and protein expression data from Reverse-Phase Protein Array Analysis (RPPA) in HER2-positive BC, we developed gene expression metagenes that reflect pathway activation levels. Next we assessed the ability of these metagenes to predict resistance to adjuvant trastuzumab using gene expression data from two independent datasets. 10 metagenes passed external validation (false discovery rate [fdr] < 0.05) and showed biological relevance with their pathway of origin. These metagenes were further screened for their association with trastuzumab resistance. An association with trastuzumab resistance was observed and validated only for the AnnexinA1 metagene (ANXA1). In the randomised phase III Fin-her study, tumours with low levels of the ANXA1 metagene showed a benefit from trastuzumab (multivariate: hazard ratio [HR] for distant recurrence = 0.16[95%CI 0.05-0.5]; p = 0.002; fdr = 0.03), while high expression levels of the ANXA1 metagene were associated with a lack of benefit to trastuzmab (HR = 1.29[95%CI 0.55-3.02]; p = 0.56). The association of ANXA1 with trastuzumab resistance was successfully validated in an independent series of subjects who had received trastuzumab with chemotherapy (Log Rank; p = 0.01). In conclusion, in HER2-positive BC, some proteins are associated with distinct gene expression profiles. Our findings identify the ANXA1metagene as a novel biomarker for trastuzumab resistance., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Self-reactive T cells have shown to have a potential role as regulators of the immune system preventing or even suppressing autoimmunity. One of the most abundant proteins that can be eluted from human HLA molecules is heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). The aims of the current study are to identify HSP70 epitopes based on published HLA elution studies and to investigate whether T cells from healthy individuals may respond to such self-epitopes. A literature search and subsequent in silico binding prediction based on theoretical MHC binding motifs resulted in the identification of seven HSP70 epitopes. PBMCs of healthy controls proliferated after incubation with two of the seven peptides (H167 and H290). Furthermore H161, H290, and H443 induced CD69 expression or production of cytokines IFNγ or TNFα in healthy controls. The identification of these naturally presented epitopes and the response they elicit in the normal immune system make them potential candidates to study during inflammatory conditions as well as in autoimmune diseases.

A new bipyridyl derivative 1 bearing rhodamine B as visible fluorophore was designed, synthesized and characterized as a fluorescent and colorimetric sensor for metal ions. Interaction with Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg+, and Hg2+ ions was followed by UV/Vis and emission spectroscopy. Upon addition of these metal ions, different colorimetric and fluorescent responses were observed. “Off‐on‐off” (Cu2+, Zn2+, and Hg2+) and “off‐on” (Hg+ and Cd2+) systems were obtained. Probe 1 was explored to mimic XOR and OR logic operations for the simultaneous detection of Hg+–Cu2+ and Hg+–Zn2+ pairs, respectively. DFT calculations were also performed to gain insight into the lowest‐energy gas‐phase conformation of free receptor 1 as well as the atomistic details of the coordination modes of the various metal ions. S.M.S., E.O., and H.M.S. thank the FCT‐MCTES (Portugal) for their postdoctoral grants SFRH/BPD/64752/2009, SFRH/BPD/72557/2010 and SRFH/BPD/73997/2010, respectively. The authors thank the Scientific Association PROTEOMASS (Portugal) for financial support. C.N. thanks the Xunta de Galicia (Spain) for her postdoctoral contract (I2C program). C.L. and J.L.C. thank REQUIMTE‐FCT PEst‐C/EQB/LA0006/2013 for funding, and the NMR service from the National NMR Facility, supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (RECI/BBB‐BQB/0230/2012) SI

We analyzed the interactions between human primary cells from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and polymeric scaffolds to develop 3D cancer models useful for mimicking the biology of this tumor. Three scaffold types based on two biocompatible polymeric formulations, such as poly(vinyl alcohol)/gelatin (PVA/G) mixture and poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate) (PEOT/PBT) copolymer, were obtained via different techniques, namely, emulsion and freeze-drying, compression molding followed by salt leaching, and electrospinning. In this way, primary PDAC cells interfaced with different pore topographies, such as sponge-like pores of different shape and size or nanofiber interspaces. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence played by the scaffold architecture over cancerous cell growth and function. In all scaffolds, primary PDAC cells showed good viability and synthesized tumor-specific metalloproteinases (MMPs) such as MMP-2, and MMP-9. However, only sponge-like pores, obtained via emulsion-based and salt leaching-based techniques allowed for an organized cellular aggregation very similar to the native PDAC morphological structure. Differently, these cell clusters were not observed on PEOT/PBT electrospun scaffolds. MMP-2 and MMP-9, as active enzymes, resulted to be increased in PVA/G and PEOT/PBT sponges, respectively. These findings suggested that spongy scaffolds supported the generation of pancreatic tumor models with enhanced aggressiveness. In conclusion, primary PDAC cells showed diverse behaviors while interacting with different scaffold types that can be potentially exploited to create stage-specific pancreatic cancer models likely to provide new knowledge on the modulation and drug susceptibility of MMPs.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2) are multisystemic disorders linked to two different genetic loci and characterized by several features including myotonia, muscle weakness and atrophy, cardiac dysfunctions, cataracts and insulin-resistance. In both forms, expanded nucleotide sequences cause the accumulation of mutant transcripts in the nucleus deregulating the activity of some RNAbinding proteins and providing an explanation for the multisystemic phenotype of DM patients. However this pathogenetic mechanism does not explain some histopathological features of DM skeletal muscle like muscle atrophy. It has been observed that DM muscle shares similarities with the ageing muscle, where the progressive muscle weakness and atrophy is accompanied by a lower regenerative capacity possibly due to the failure in satellite cells activation. The aim of our study is to investigate if DM2 satellite cell derived myoblasts exhibit a premature senescence as reported for DM1 and if alterations in their proliferation potential and differentiation capabilities might contribute to some of the histopathological features observed in DM2 muscles. Our results indicate that DM myoblasts have lower proliferative capability than control myoblasts and reach in vitro senescence earlier than controls. Differentely from DM1, the p16 pathway is not responsible for the premature growth arrest observed in DM2 myoblasts which stop dividing with telomeres shorter than controls. During in vitro senescence, a progressive decrease in fusion index is observable in both DM and control myotubes with no significant differences between groups. Moreover, myotubes obtained from senescent myoblasts appear to be smaller than those from young myoblasts. Taken together, our data indicate a possible role of DM2 premature myoblast senescence in skeletal muscle histopathological alterations i.e., dystrophic changes and type 2 fibre atrophy.

The Groucho/transducin-like Enhancer of split 1 (Gro/TLE1):Hes1 transcriptional repression complex acts in cerebral cortical neural progenitor cells to inhibit neuronal differentiation. The molecular mechanisms that regulate the anti-neurogenic function of the Gro/TLE1:Hes1 complex during cortical neurogenesis remain to be defined. Here we show that prolyl isomerase Pin1 (peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase NIMA-interacting 1) and homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) are expressed in cortical neural progenitor cells and form a complex that interacts with the Gro/TLE1:Hes1 complex. This association depends on the enzymatic activities of both HIPK2 and Pin1, as well as on the association of Gro/TLE1 with Hes1, but is independent of the previously described Hes1-activated phosphorylation of Gro/TLE1. Interaction with the Pin1:HIPK2 complex results in Gro/TLE1 hyperphosphorylation and weakens both the transcriptional repression activity and the anti-neurogenic function of the Gro/TLE1:Hes1 complex. These results provide evidence that HIPK2 and Pin1 work together to promote cortical neurogenesis, at least in part, by suppressing Gro/TLE1:Hes1-mediated inhibition of neuronal differentiation.

Dictyostelium development is induced by starvation. The adenylyl cyclase gene ACA is one of the first genes expressed upon starvation. ACA produces extracellular cAMP that induces chemotaxis, aggregation, and differentiation in neighboring cells. Using insertional mutagenesis we have isolated a mutant that does not aggregate upon starvation but is rescued by adding extracellular cAMP. Sequencing of the mutated locus revealed a new gene, DdMYB2,whose product contains three Myb repeats, the DNA-binding motif of Myb-related transcription factors. Ddmyb2–null cells show undetectable levels of ACA transcript and no cAMP production. Ectopic expression of ACA from a constitutive promotor rescues differentiation and morphogenesis of Ddmyb2–null mutants. The results suggest that development in Dictyostelium starts by starvation-mediated DdMyb2 activation, which induces adenylyl cyclase activity producing the differentiation-inducing signal cAMP.

Aims: The long-term failure of autologous saphenous vein bypass grafts due to neointimal thickening is a major clinical\ud burden. Identifying novel strategies to prevent neointimal thickening is important. Thus, this study aimed to identify\ud microRNAs (miRNAs) that are dysregulated during neointimal formation and determine their pathophysiological\ud relevance following miRNA manipulation.\ud Methods\ud and results:\ud We undertook a microarray approach to identify dysregulated miRNAs following engraftment in an interpositional\ud porcine graft model. These profiling experiments identified a number of miRNAs which were dysregulated following\ud engraftment. miR-21 levels were substantially elevated following engraftment and these results were confirmed by\ud quantitative real-time PCR in mouse, pig, and human models of vein graft neointimal formation. Genetic ablation\ud of miR-21 in mice or grafted veins dramatically reduced neointimal formation in a mouse model of vein grafting. Furthermore, pharmacological knockdown of miR-21 in human veins resulted in target gene de-repression and a signifi-\ud cant reduction in neointimal formation.\ud Conclusion: This is the first report demonstrating that miR-21 plays a pathological role in vein graft failure. Furthermore, we also\ud provided evidence that knockdown of miR-21 has therapeutic potential for the prevention of pathological vein graft\ud remodelling.