Effects of Injectable Solutions on the Quality of Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells for Immunotherapy.

Therapeutic vaccines based on monocyte-derived dendritic cells have been shown to be promising strategies and may act as complementary treatments for viral infections, cancers, and, more recently, autoimmune diseases. Alpha-type-1-polarized dendritic cells (aDC1s) have been shown to induce type-1 immunity with a high capacity to produce interleukin-12p70 (IL-12p70). In the clinical use of cell-based therapeutics, injectable solutions can affect the morphology, immunophenotypic profile, and viability of cells before delivery and their survival after injection. In this sense, preparing a cell suspension that maintains the quality of aDC1s is essential to ensure effective immunotherapy. In the present study, monocytes were differentiated into aDC1s in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF. On day 5, the cells were matured by the addition of a cytokine cocktail consisting of IFN-α, IFN-γ, IL-1ß, TNF-α, and Poly I:C. After 48 hr, mature aDC1s were harvested and suspended in two different solutions: normal saline and Ringer's lactate. The maintenance of cells in suspension was evaluated after 4, 6, and 8 hr of storage. Cell viability, immunophenotyping, and apoptosis analyses were performed by flow cytometry. Cellular morphology was observed by electron microscopy, and the production of IL-12p70 by aDC1s was evaluated by ELISA. Compared with normal saline, Ringer's lactate solution was more effective at maintaining DC viability for up to 8 hr of incubation at 4 or 22°C.

ALCAPA syndrome: A rare etiology of cardiac arrest in a teenager.

ALCAPA syndrome is a rare congenital heart disease and a cause of myocardial ischemia in pediatric population. The authors present the case of a 10-year-old girl admitted to the emergency room after experiencing cardiac arrest at school. In the echocardiogram, the inability to identify the origin of the left coronary artery raised the hypothesis of abnormal origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). A CT-scan and a cardiac catheterization were performed confirming the diagnosis. Infants with the syndrome may have myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. She successfully underwent cardiac surgery. Most undiagnosed patients die within the first year of life, and it is necessary to develop an extensive network of collaterals to ensure survival. ALCAPA syndrome rarely manifests in late childhood, teenagers, and adults and may be an important cause of sudden cardiac arrest.

Radiologic confirmation of bilateral cervical ribs in an adolescent.

A previously healthy 14-year-old girl presented to an unscheduled consultation with recent symptoms of myalgias, sore throat, and rhinorrhea. Her physical examination was unremarkable except for bilateral, firm supraclavicular masses. Concern for malignancy lead to investigation and the radiologic diagnosis of bilateral, asymptomatic cervical ribs was made.

Functional diversity influence in forest wood stock: a study of the brazilian savanna / Influência da diversidade funcional no estoque florestal: um estudo do cerrado

Research regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services has been demonstrating a positive correlation among the ecosystem processes, such as the carbon sink into plant biomass and the quantity of carbon in natural vegetation. Nonetheless, it is hard to understand the biodiversity measurements, because they involve gene, phenotypic, population, species, community and ecosystem diversity. The functional diversity refers to the species richness and variety, their characteristics and how that affects the functioning of an ecosystem. Primary productivity is a key factor that affects the functioning of a forest ecosystem. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence of functional diversity on the woody volume productivity (as a proxy for primary production) in the Brazilian savanna. We used six functional characteristics, and to verify the relation between forest production and functional diversity facets, we tested many models. Regarding wood volume, the best models were the exponential and logarithmic. None of the linear models showed significant regression parameters as there was no additive relationship among the multifaceted aspects of functional diversity and wood volume. We found a positive correlation between the functional diversity and primary productivity, which can be used to forecast the effects of diversity variation on ecosystem services.

Pesquisas sobre biodiversidade e serviços ecossistêmicos tem demonstrado uma correlação positiva entre os processos do ecossistema, como a absorção de carbono pela biomassa vegetal. No entanto, é difícil entender a medida da biodiversidade, porque ela envolve a diversidade de genes, fenotípica, população, espécie, comunidade e ecossistema. A diversidade funcional ser refere a quantidade e a variedade de espécies, suas características e como isso afeta o funcionamento de um ecossistema. Produtividade primária é um fator chave que afeta o funcionamento de um ecossistema florestal. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência da diversidade funcional quanto à produtividade de volume de madeira. Usamos seis características funcionais. Para verificar a relação entre a produção florestal e aspectos da diversidade funcional, testamos diversos modelos. Em relação ao volume, os melhores modelos foram os exponenciais e logarítmicos. Nenhum dos modelos lineares mostrou parâmetros significativos ou regressão, ou seja, não existe relação aditiva entre os aspectos multifacetados da diversidade funcional e o volume de madeira. Encontramos uma correlação positiva entre a diversidade funcional e a produtividade primária que permite uma melhor previsão dos efeitos das alterações da diversidade funcional sobre os serviços ecossistêmicos.

EphrinB2 drives perivascular invasion and proliferation of glioblastoma stem-like cells.

Glioblastomas (GBM) are aggressive and therapy-resistant brain tumours, which contain a subpopulation of tumour-propagating glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSC) thought to drive progression and recurrence. Diffuse invasion of the brain parenchyma, including along preexisting blood vessels, is a leading cause of therapeutic resistance, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that ephrin-B2 mediates GSC perivascular invasion. Intravital imaging, coupled with mechanistic studies in murine GBM models and patient-derived GSC, revealed that endothelial ephrin-B2 compartmentalises non-tumourigenic cells. In contrast, upregulation of the same ephrin-B2 ligand in GSC enabled perivascular migration through homotypic forward signalling. Surprisingly, ephrin-B2 reverse signalling also promoted tumourigenesis cell-autonomously, by mediating anchorage-independent cytokinesis via RhoA. In human GSC-derived orthotopic xenografts, EFNB2 knock-down blocked tumour initiation and treatment of established tumours with ephrin-B2-blocking antibodies suppressed progression. Thus, our results indicate that targeting ephrin-B2 may be an effective strategy for the simultaneous inhibition of invasion and proliferation in GBM.

Ki-67 Expression in CRC Lymph Node Metastasis Does Not Predict Survival.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Molecular markers may improve clinicopathologic staging and provide a basis to guide novel therapeutic strategies which target specific tumour-associated molecules according to individual tumour biology; however, so far, no ideal molecular marker has been found to predict disease progression. We tested Ki-67 proliferation marker in primary and lymph node metastasis of CRC. We observed a statistical significant difference between the positive rates of neoplastic cells positively stained by Ki-67 in both sites, with remarkable increased number of Ki-67 positive cells in primary tumor cells compared to cancer cells that invaded lymph nodes. We can speculate that the metastatic CRC in lymph node can be more resistant to the drugs that target cellular division.

Espécies potenciais para recuperação de áreas de floresta estacional semidecidual com exploração de minério de ferro na serra do espinhaço / Potential species for recovery areas semideciduous forest in iron exploration in the serra espinhaço

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a flora arbustiva-arbórea em um fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual na região da Serra do Espinhaço para propor espécies para recuperação das áreas degradadas pela exploração de minério de ferro em ecossistemas congêneres. O levantamento florístico e estrutural da vegetação arbustivo-arbórea foi realizado em setembro de 2007 por meio do método dos pontos quadrantes, tendo como critério de inclusão altura do fuste superior a 1,3 m. Os indivíduos foram estratificados entre adulto (DAP ≥ 5,0 cm) e juvenil (DAP < 5,0 cm). Foram amostrados 90 pontos, onde foram identificadas 94 espécies, 70 gêneros e 32 famílias botânicas. Para o índice de diversidade de Shannon, os valores apresentados para cada compartimento foram 3,96 nat.ind-1 e 3,94 nat.ind-1; e a equabilidade de Pielou foi de 0,896 e 0,938, respectivamente, para os estrados juvenil e adulto. As famílias que mais se destacaram quanto ao número de espécies foram Myrtacea (17), Fabaceae (12), Rubiaceae (8), Euphrobiaceae (6), Sapindaceae (5) e Lauraceae (5). Para a recuperação da área foram selecionados sete grupos de espécies que serão utilizados. As características das espécies foram suficientes para a definição de grupos funcionais que poderão ser utilizados na recuperação de áreas degradadas.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the tree flora in a fragment of semi deciduous forest in the region of the Espinhaço, with aim to propose species for restoration of areas degraded by mining exploitation of iron in similar ecosystems. The inventory floristic and structural of vegetation of shrubs and trees was conducted in September 2007, by the quadrants-point method according to the method of minimum distances, whose inclusion criterion of the stem above the height 1.3 m. The individual were stratified into adults (DBH ≥ 5.0 cm) and juvenile (DBH <5.0 cm). We sampled 90 points, which were identified 94 species, 70 genera and 32 families. For the diversity index of Shannon, values presented for each layer were 3.96 nats.ind-1 and 3.94 nats.ind-1, and equability of Pielou were 0.896 and 0.938, respectively for layer juvenile and adult. Families that stood out by the number of species were Myrtaceae (17), Fabaceae (12), Rubiaceae (8), Euphrobiaceae (6), Sapindaceae (5) and Lauraceae (5). For the recovery area were selected seven groups of species that will be used for recuperation of degraded areas. The characteristics of the species were sufficient for the definition of functional groups that can be used in recuperation of degraded areas.