Tumour malignancy loss and cell differentiation are associated with induction of gef gene in human melanoma cells.

BACKGROUND: Gene therapy is a new method used to induce cancer cell differentiation. Our group previously showed that transfection of the gef gene from Escherichia coli, related to cell-killing functions, may be a novel candidate for cancer gene therapy. Its expression leads to cell cycle arrest unrelated to the triggering of apoptosis in MS-36 melanoma cells. OBJECTIVES: To determine the basis of the antiproliferative effect of the gef gene in this cell line. METHODS: Transmission electron microscopy, apoptosis analysis by confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and immunocytochemical analysis were used. RESULTS: Ultrastructural analysis showed a strikingly different morphology after treatment with dexamethasone and expression of the gef gene, with large accumulations of pigment throughout the cell cytoplasm and presence of melanosomes in different stages of development. High mitochondrial turnover and myeloid bodies, characteristics of neurone cells, were also observed. In addition, both immunocytochemical and indirect immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in HMB-45, Ki-67 and CD44 antigen expression and an increase in S100 and p53 expression in gef gene-transfected MS-36 melanoma cells that were correlated with the duration of dexamethasone treatment. In the present work, we report that gef gene not only reduces cell proliferation in transfected melanoma MS-36TG cell line but also induces morphological changes clearly indicative of melanoma cell differentiation and a reduction in tumour malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the hypothesis that the gef gene offers a new approach to differentiation therapy in melanoma.

Methodology in the European higher education area for the Anatomy learning in the Health Sciences

Development of the European Higher Education Area is linked to the adoption of a new educational model. Thus, in the Health Sciences, basic science knowledge must be integrated with the clinical skills that students will require in their professional activity. The Anatomy and Embryology Teaching Investigation Group at our university (UGR-N-40-UCUA) designed a specific questionnaire to analyse specific items that affect Anatomy learning. It also developed a teaching methodology for the acquisition of anatomic knowledge, integrating theory and practice, including individual and collective tasks for students and leading to future self-learning. Analyses were performed in different groups of first-year students at the School of Medicine of Granada University, School of Nursing of Almería University and School of Physiotherapy of Jaén University. It was found that application of this teaching methodology achieved an improvement in two areas considered essential by these students, i.e. a better understanding of several aspects of the study subject, and greater satisfaction with their acquisition of anatomic and embryologic knowledge (AU)

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Role of the organization of subjects and the educational resources used in their teaching in the Anatomy education-learning process

Within the three-year nursing degree course in Spain, the way in which anatomy teaching is organised shows distinct differences between different universities. At the University of Jaén, first-year students have human anatomy (HA) as a separate subject, whereas at the University of Almeria, anatomy is included within a larger module called the structure and function of the human body (SFHB). The aim of this study was to analyze the reaction of students to the organization of their anatomy courses, the resources used in their teaching, their contents, and the tutoring and evaluation system. For this purpose, a 35-item questionnaire was designed to address aspects related to these objectives and administered at the end of the 2005-6 academic year to 82 students of taking human anatomy at the University of Jaén and 52 students taking structure and function of human body at the University of Almeria. Results obtained showed differences in the evaluation of the educational organization of these subjects at the two universities. The approval rating of Jaen students for the relationship between their theoretical and practical education/training was 25% lower than that of Almeria students. This difference appears to be related to the different distributions of credits between the two subjects in the courses surveyed. Students appeared more highly to value the resources that were most frequently used during the course, suggesting that students may value most highly those resources employed most frequently within a course. There were some similarities between the students at the different universities in the importance they assigned to the different thematic units of the respective subjects. Finally, both groups revealed a preference for face-to-face tutorial sessions and for evaluation by written examinations (AU)

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Anatomy teaching to physiotherapy students: Preliminary study in the European higher education area setting

The integration of the Spanish university system within the European Higher Education Area implies a change in the current educational model towards a more flexible system that establishes the equivalence of degrees and encourages greater competition among courses. In this system, students will be expected to make a greater contribution to real learning in order for it to be more useful in their future professional activity. These changes will involve new student-teacher relationships, new methodologies, new teaching strategies and different evaluation systems. The success of this project will depend on a thorough knowledge of the present state of the courses that we teach. This is the first study to address the current state of human anatomy and embryology learning in the physiotherapy degree course. The analysis was performed in first-year students and focussed on the subject designated the structure and function of the human body, skeletal and muscle system anatomy at the Universities of Almería and Jaén. Student opinions were sought on the appropriateness of these subjects to their degree, on the methods used in practice and theory classes and on the evaluation and tutorial systems. Results obtained were similar between the two universities included in this study and indicated that: 1) students have a good opinion of the usefulness of the subject contents in human anatomy and embryology, 2) students prefer the new technologies to traditional educational systems, and 3) students have a positive appreciation of written examination versus oral examination or continuous continuous assessment. These findings will assist teachers of anatomy and embryology to establish approaches to improve the quality of learning in the setting of the European Higher Education Area (AU)

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Pedagogic evaluation of anatomical teaching for a medical and surgical degree at the University of Granada

Anatomy has been classically considered as a basic foundation for the teaching of medicine, developing a decisive role in medical education and for future professional activity. But, in common with other scientific disciplines, it has grown simultaneously with technology and communication sciences and in a much prescribed manner. The purpose of our study was to estimate different parameters related to the quality of the anatomical teaching at the University of Granada. In trying to achieve this, we have focused on the Human Anatomy I and II courses (given in the first and second years of the medical degree respectively). Once the examinations in these courses were completed, a questionnaire was filled by the students in which they had to estimate, in a one to five range, the adaptation and the adjustment of different aspects related to the development of the course. The results indicated that the students were in favour of practical classes compared to theoretical tuition. On the other hand, the pedagogical organisation of the courses was highly valued by the students, particularly in relation to the adaptation of programme objectives and to the recommended bibliography (both for textbooks and atlases). The best estimated didactic resource for the practical aspect of the subject was the use of human anatomical specimens, and the most favoured procedure in the theoretical classes was the use of the blackboard. For the examinations and assessments, no special preference for any evaluation method was found, but the use of complementary papers (e.g. use of monographs, oral expositions) was considered by the students to be of very little importance (AU)

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