New perspectives in radiation oncology: Young radiation oncologist point of view and challenges

AimTo assess the role of the young radiation oncologist in the context of important recent advancements in the field of radiation oncology, and to explore new perspectives and competencies of the young radiation oncologist.BackgroundRadiation oncology is a field that has rapidly advanced over the last century. It holds a rich tradition of clinical care and evidence-based practice, and more recently has advanced with revolutionary innovations in technology and computer science, as well as pharmacology and molecular biology.Materials and methodsSeveral young radiation oncologists from different countries evaluated the current status and future directions of radiation oncology.ResultsFor young radiation oncologists, it is important to reflect on the current practice and future directions of the specialty as it relates to the role of the radiation oncologist in the comprehensive management of cancer patients. Radiation oncologists are responsible for the radiation treatment provided to patients and its subsequent impact on patients’ quality of life. Young radiation oncologists must proactively master new clinical, biological and technical information, as well as lead radiation oncology teams consisting of physicists, dosimetrists, nurses and technicians.ConclusionsThe role of the young radiation oncologist in the field of oncology should be proactive in developing new competencies. Above all, it is important to remember that we are dealing with the family members and loved ones of many individuals during the most difficult part of their lives.     

Effect of vitamin D3 on behavioural and biochemical parameters in diabetes type 1‐induced rats

Diabetes is associated with long‐term complications in the brain and reduced cognitive ability. Vitamin D₃ (VD₃) appears to be involved in the amelioration of hyperglycaemia in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic rats. Our aim was to analyse the potential of VD₃ in avoiding brain damage through evaluation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), Na⁺K⁺‐adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and delta aminolevulinate dehydratase (δ‐ALA‐D) activities and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels from cerebral cortex, as well as memory in STZ‐induced diabetic rats. Animals were divided into eight groups (n = 5): control/saline, control/metformin (Metf), control/VD₃, control/Metf + VD₃, diabetic/saline, diabetic/Metf, diabetic/VD₃ and diabetic/Metf + VD₃. Thirty days after treatment, animals were submitted to contextual fear‐conditioning and open‐field behavioural tests, after which they were sacrificed and the cerebral cortex was dissected. Our results demonstrate a significant memory deficit, an increase in AChE activity and TBARS levels and a decrease in δ‐ALA‐D and Na⁺K⁺‐ATPase activities in diabetic rats when compared with the controls. Treatment of diabetic rats with Metf and VD₃ prevented the increase in AChE activity when compared with the diabetic/saline group. In treated diabetic rats, the decrease in Na⁺K⁺‐ATPase was reverted when compared with non‐treated rats, but the increase in δ‐ALA‐D activity was not. VD₃ prevented diabetes‐induced TBARS level and improved memory. Our results show that VD₃ can avoid cognitive deficit through prevention of changes in important enzymes such as Na⁺K⁺‐ATPase and AChE in cerebral cortex in type 1 diabetic rats. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vibrio Trends in the Ecology of the Venice Lagoon

Vibrio is a very diverse genus that is responsible for different human and animal diseases. The accurate identification of Vibrio at the species level is important to assess the risks related to public health and diseases caused by aquatic organisms. The ecology of Vibrio spp., together with their genetic background, represents an important key for species discrimination and evolution. Thus, analyses of population structure and ecology association are necessary for reliable characterization of bacteria and to investigate whether bacterial species are going through adaptation processes. In this study, a population of Vibrionaceae was isolated from shellfish of the Venice lagoon and analyzed in depth to study its structure and distribution in the environment. A multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) was developed on the basis of four housekeeping genes. Both molecular and biochemical approaches were used for species characterization, and the results were compared to assess the consistency of the two methods. In addition, strain ecology and the association between genetic information and environment were investigated through statistical models. The phylogenetic and population analyses achieved good species clustering, while biochemical identification was demonstrated to be imprecise. In addition, this study provided a fine-scale overview of the distribution of Vibrio spp. in the Venice lagoon, and the results highlighted a preferential association of the species toward specific ecological variables. These findings support the use of MLSA for taxonomic studies and demonstrate the need to consider environmental information to obtain broader and more accurate bacterial characterization.     

Halobacterial megaplasmids are negatively supercoiled

Several covalently closed circular halobacterial megaplasmids (up to more than 500 kb) from different strains of Halolerax mediterranei, have been resolved by orthogonal-field alternating gel electro-phoresis (OFAGE). These molecules seem to be negatively supercoiled in vivo, as deduced from the effect of intercalating agents affecting their topology and, therefore, their electrophoretic mobility. It has also been demonstrated that the topolsomerase II Inhibitor novobiocin affects the native topological state of halobacterial megaplasmids impeding their migration in OFAGE under standard conditions for resolution of large supercoiled molecules.     

Deconstructing the long-standing a priori assumption that serial homology generally involves ancestral similarity followed by anatomical divergence

It has long been assumed that serial homologues are ancestrally similar—polysomerism resulting from a “duplication” or “repetition” of forms—and then often diverge—anisomerism, for example, as they become adapted to perform different tasks as is the case with the forelimb and hind limbs of humans. However, such an assumption, with crucial implications for comparative, evolutionary, and developmental biology, and for evolutionary developmental biology, has in general not really been tested by a broad analysis of the available empirical data. Perhaps not surprisingly, more recent anatomical comparisons, as well as molecular knowledge of how, for example, serial appendicular structures are patterned along with different anteroposterior regions of the body axis of bilateral animals, and how “homologous” patterning domains do not necessarily mark “homologous” morphological domains, are putting in question this paradigm. In fact, apart from showing that many so-called “serial homologues” might not be similar at all, recent works have shown that in at least some cases some “serial” structures are indeed more similar to each other in derived taxa than in phylogenetically more ancestral ones, as pointed out by authors such as Owen. In this article, we are taking a step back to question whether such assumptions are actually correct at all, in the first place. In particular, we review other cases of so-called “serial homologues” such as insect wings, arthropod walking appendages, Dipteran thoracic bristles, and the vertebrae, ribs, teeth, myomeres, feathers, and hairs of chordate animals. We show that: (a) there are almost never cases of true ancestral similarity; (b) in evolution, such structures—for example, vertebra—and/or their subparts—for example, “transverse processes”—many times display trends toward less similarity while in many others display trends toward more similarity, that is, one cannot say that there is a clear, overall trend to anisomerism.     

Dual miRNA Targeting Restricts Host Range and Attenuates Neurovirulence of Flaviviruses

Mosquito-borne flaviviruses are among the most significant arboviral pathogens worldwide. Vaccinations and mosquito population control programs remain the most reliable means for flavivirus disease prevention, and live attenuated viruses remain one of the most attractive flavivirus vaccine platforms. Some live attenuated viruses are capable of infecting principle mosquito vectors, as demonstrated in the laboratory, which in combination with their intrinsic genetic instability could potentially lead to a vaccine virus reversion back to wild-type in nature, followed by introduction and dissemination of potentially dangerous viral strains into new geographic locations. To mitigate this risk we developed a microRNA-targeting approach that selectively restricts replication of flavivirus in the mosquito host. Introduction of sequences complementary to a mosquito-specific mir-184 and mir-275 miRNAs individually or in combination into the 3’NCR and/or ORF region resulted in selective restriction of dengue type 4 virus (DEN4) replication in mosquito cell lines and adult Aedes mosquitos. Moreover a combined targeting of DEN4 genome with mosquito-specific and vertebrate CNS-specific mir-124 miRNA can silence viral replication in two evolutionally distant biological systems: mosquitoes and mouse brains. Thus, this approach can reinforce the safety of newly developed or existing vaccines for use in humans and could provide an additional level of biosafety for laboratories using viruses with altered pathogenic or transmissibility characteristics.     

Isolation,Culture and Long-Term Maintenance of Primary Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons From Embryonic Rodent Brains

Degeneration of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons is the pathological hallmark of Parkinson’s diseae. Study of the biological processes involved in physiological functions and vulnerability and death of these neurons is imparative to understanding the underlying causes and unraveling the cure for this common neurodegenerative disorder. Primary cultures of mesDA neurons provide a tool for investigation of the molecular, biochemical and electrophysiological properties, in order to understand the development, long-term survival and degeneration of these neurons during the course of disease. Here we present a detailed method for the isolation, culturing and maintenance of midbrain dopaminergic neurons from E12.5 mouse (or E14.5 rat) embryos. Optimized cell culture conditions in this protocol result in presence of axonal and dendritic projections, synaptic connections and other neuronal morphological properties, which make the cultures suitable for study of the physiological, cell biological and molecular characteristics of this neuronal population.