Variaciones temporales y distribución horizontal del zooplancton en algunos cauces secundarios del rio Paraná Medio

The object of this work was to determine the principal characteristics of the Zooplankton of several secondary rivers of the Middle Paraná River. Special emphasis was given to the influence of the most important physical factors relation to the hydrologic cycle.

Transparency, depth, pH, temperature, and speed stream data were obtained in the field. Data on hydrometric level and discharge of the Santa Fe and Correntoso rivers were also available. A summary of physical and chemical data is shown.

With respect to the Zooplankton the following aspects were analyzed: density; biomass; specific diversity; equitability, faunistic distance.     

Expression of collier in the premandibular segment of myriapods: support for the traditional Atelocerata concept or a case of convergence?

Background  

A recent study on expression and function of the ortholog of the Drosophila collier (col) gene in various arthropods including insects, crustaceans and chelicerates suggested a de novo function of col in the development of the appendage-less intercalary segment of insects. However, this assumption was made on the background of the now widely-accepted Pancrustacea hypothesis that hexapods represent an in-group of the crustaceans. It was therefore assumed that the expression of col in myriapods would reflect the ancestral state like in crustaceans and chelicerates, i.e. absence from the premandibular/intercalary segment and hence no function in its formation.     

Inhibitors of protein synthesis involved in memory disruption: A study of their effects on sympathetic ganglion isolated in vitro

The effect of puromycin, puromycin-aminonucleoside, cycloheximide and acetoxycycloheximide has been tested on the function of the superior cervical ganglion of rat, by recording the postganglionic response evoked by preganglionic stimulation. All the compounds examined exerted a depressant effect, which was prompt and reversible with puromycin and its aminonucleoside, but slow and irreversible with the glutarimides. A correlation of these effects with inhibition of protein synthesis has been examined. The relevance of these findings for experiments on memory disruption reported in the literature is discussed.     

The small molecule SI113 hinders epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and subverts cytoskeletal organization in human cancer cells

The small molecule SI113 is an inhibitor of the kinase activity of SGK1, a key biological regulator acting on the PI3K/mTOR signal transduction pathway. Several studies demonstrate that this compound is able to strongly restrain cancer growth in vitro and in vivo, alone or in associative antineoplastic treatments, being able to elicit an autophagic response, either cytotoxic or cytoprotective. To elucidate more exhaustively the molecular mechanisms targeted by SI113, we performed activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) proteomic analysis using a kinase enrichment procedure. This technique allowed the identification via mass spectrometry of novel targets of this compound, most of them involved in functions concerning cell motility and cytoskeletal architecture. Using a glioblastoma multiforme, hepatocarcinoma and colorectal carcinoma cell line, we recognized an inhibitory effect of SI113 on cell migration, invading, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. In addition, these cancer cells, when exposed to this compound, showed a remarkable subversion of the cytoskeletal architecture characterized by F-actin destabilization, phospho-FAK delocalization, and tubulin depolimerization. These results were definitely concordant in attributing to SI113 a key role in hindering cancer cell malignancy and, due to its negligible in vivo toxicity, can sustain performing a Phase I clinical trial to employ this drug in associative cancer therapy.