Corema album Leaves Mediate DNA Damage in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

Corema (C.) album is a shrub endemic to the Atlantic coast and has been described as yielding beneficial effects for human health. Nevertheless, studies concerning the bioactivity of C. album leaves are scarce. This study aims at investigating the anticancer potential and mode of action, of an hydroethanolic extract of C. album leaves (ECAL) on triple-negative breast cancer. This is a poor survival breast cancer subtype, owing to its high risk of distant reappearance, metastasis rates and the probability of relapse. The ECAL ability to prevent tumor progression through (i) the inhibition of cell proliferation (cell viability); (ii) the induction of apoptosis (morphological changes, TUNEL assay, caspase-3 cleaved) and (iii) the induction of DNA damage (PARP1 and γH2AX) with (iv) the involvement of NF-κB and of ERK1/2 pathways (AlphaScreen assay) was evaluated. ECAL activated the apoptotic pathway (through caspase-3) along with the inhibition of ERK and NF-κB pathways causing DNA damage and cell death. The large polyphenolic content of ECAL was presumed to be accountable for these effects. The extract of C. album leaves can target multiple pathways and, thus, can block more than one possible means of disease progression, evidencing the anticancer therapeutic potential from a plant source.     

The role of diet and temperature in shaping cranial diversification of South American human populations: an approach based on spatial regression and divergence rate tests

Aim Understanding the importance of ecological factors in the origin and maintenance of patterns of phenotypic variation among populations, in an explicit geographical context, is one of the main goals of human biology, ecology and evolutionary biology. Here we study the ecological factors responsible for craniofacial variation among human populations from South America. Location South America. Methods We studied a dataset of 718 males from 40 South American populations, coming from groups that inhabited different geographical and ecological regions. Cranial size and shape variation were studied using 30 cranial measurements. We first used spatial correlograms and interpolated maps to address spatial patterns. We then regressed the shape (principal component scores) and size variables against ecology (mean annual temperature and diet) using multiple and multivariate spatial regression. Finally, the expected magnitudes of shape and size divergence under the influence of genetic drift and mutations alone were evaluated using neutral expectation for the divergence rate. Results The spatial correlograms showed a cline affecting the entire South American distribution. Interpolated maps showed that size and allometric shape vary from south‐east to north‐west. Multiple and multivariate regression analyses suggested that diet has the largest and most significant effect on this pattern of size and allometric shape variation. Finally, the results of the divergence rate test suggested that random processes alone cannot account for the morphological divergence exhibited by cranial size and allometric shape scores among southernmost populations. Main conclusions Correlograms, spatial regression and divergence rate analyses showed that although local factors (neutral processes or local environmental conditions) are important to explain spatial interpopulation differentiation in cranial characteristics among these populations, there is significant correlation of cranial size and allometric shape variation with diet. Gene flow among human populations, or local environmental conditions, could explain spatial variation mainly at smaller spatial scales, whereas the large‐scale pattern of the South American dataset is mainly related to the high proportion of carbohydrates and low proportion of proteins consumed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cachaça</Emphasis> yeast strains: alternative starters to produce beer and bioethanol

This work was performed to verify the potential of yeast strains isolated from cachaça distilleries for two specific biotechnological applications: beer and bioethanol production. In the beer production, the strains were tested for characteristics required in brewery practices, such as: capacity to ferment maltose and maltotriose, ability to grow at lowest temperatures, low H₂S production, and flocculation profile. Among the strains tested, two of them showed appropriate characteristics to produce two different beer styles: lager and ale. Moreover, both strains were tested for cachaça production and the results confirmed the capacity of these strains to improve the quality of cachaça. In the bioethanol production, the fermentation process was performed similarly to that used by bioethanol industries: recycling of yeast biomass in the fermentative process with sulfuric acid washings (pH 2.0). The production of ethanol, glycerol, organic acids, dry cell weight, carbohydrate consumption, and cellular viability were analyzed. One strain presented fermentative parameters similar to PE2, industrial/commercial strain, with equivalent ethanol yields and cellular viability during all fermentative cycles. This work demonstrates that cachaça distilleries seem to be an interesting environment to select new yeast strains to be used in biotechnology applications as beer and bioethanol production.