Modulation of the oviductal environment by gametes

The notion of a gamete recognition system that alerts females to the presence of gametes in their reproductive tract profoundly influences our understanding of the physiology of events leading to conception and the bearing of offspring. Here, we show that the female responds to gametes within her tract by modulating the environment in which pregnancy is initially established. We found distinct alterations in oviductal gene expression as a result of sperm and oocyte arrival in the oviduct, which led directly to distinct alterations to the composition of oviductal fluid in vivo. This suggests that either gamete activates a cell-type-specific signal transduction pathway within the oviduct. This gamete recognition system presents a mechanism for immediate and local control of the oviductal microenvironment in which sperm transport, sperm binding and release, capacitation, transport of oocytes, fertilization, and early cleavage-stage embryonic development occur. This may explain the mechanisms involved in postcopulatory sexual selection, where there is evidence suggesting that the female reproductive tract can bias spermatozoa from different males in the favour of the more biologically attractive male. In addition, the presence of a gamete recognition system explains the oviduct's ability to tolerate spermatozoa while remaining intolerant to pathogens.     

Antigenic Characteristics of Rhinovirus Chimeras Designed in silico for En5hanced Presentation of HIV-1 gp41 Epitopes

The development of an effective AIDS vaccine remains the most promising long-term strategy to combat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS. Here, we report favorable antigenic characteristics of vaccine candidates isolated from a combinatorial library of human rhinoviruses displaying the ELDKWA epitope of the gp41 glycoprotein of HIV-1. The design principles of this library emerged from the application of molecular modeling calculations in conjunction with our knowledge of previously obtained ELDKWA-displaying chimeras, including knowledge of a chimera with one of the best 2F5-binding characteristics obtained to date. The molecular modeling calculations identified the energetic and structural factors affecting the ability of the epitope to assume conformations capable of fitting into the complementarity determining region of the ELDKWA-binding, broadly neutralizing human mAb 2F5. Individual viruses were isolated from the library following competitive immunoselection and were tested using ELISA and fluorescence quenching experiments. Dissociation constants obtained using both techniques revealed that some of the newly isolated chimeras bind 2F5 with greater affinity than previously identified chimeric rhinoviruses. Molecular dynamics simulations of two of these same chimeras confirmed that their HIV inserts were partially preorganized for binding, which is largely responsible for their corresponding gains in binding affinity. The study illustrates the utility of combining structure-based experiments with computational modeling approaches for improving the odds of selecting vaccine component designs with preferred antigenic characteristics. The results obtained also confirm the flexibility of HRV as a presentation vehicle for HIV epitopes and the potential of this platform for the development of vaccine components against AIDS.     

Leptina: un péptido con potencial terapéutico en sujetos obesos

Obesity is the result of a positive balance between total energy intake and its catabolism. Although many factors are involved in the regulation of energy metabolism, the discovery of leptin led to energy homeostasis being investigated in greater depth. Since its identification, leptin has been considered important in the development of obesity, given its anorexigenic effect and influence on food intake and energy expenditure. Leptin is involved in diverse physiological processes such as energy balance, appetite and body weight control, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and reproduction. However, to be able to function, this hormone has many specific receptors both centrally (hypothalamus) and peripherally in the skeletal muscle, lungs and kidneys. This study aims to review the key aspects relating leptin to the development of obesity and discusses its potential as an anorectic agent.     

Mapping of genetic abnormalities of primary tumours from metastatic CRC by high-resolution SNP arrays

Background

For years, the genetics of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) have been studied using a variety of techniques. However, most of the approaches employed so far have a relatively limited resolution which hampers detailed characterization of the common recurrent chromosomal breakpoints as well as the identification of small regions carrying genetic changes and the genes involved in them.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here we applied 500K SNP arrays to map the most common chromosomal lesions present at diagnosis in a series of 23 primary tumours from sporadic CRC patients who had developed liver metastasis. Overall our results confirm that the genetic profile of metastatic CRC is defined by imbalanced gains of chromosomes 7, 8q, 11q, 13q, 20q and X together with losses of the 1p, 8p, 17p and 18q chromosome regions. In addition, SNP-array studies allowed the identification of small (<1.3 Mb) and extensive/large (>1.5 Mb) altered DNA sequences, many of which contain cancer genes known to be involved in CRC and the metastatic process. Detailed characterization of the breakpoint regions for the altered chromosomes showed four recurrent breakpoints at chromosomes 1p12, 8p12, 17p11.2 and 20p12.1; interestingly, the most frequently observed recurrent chromosomal breakpoint was localized at 17p11.2 and systematically targeted the FAM27L gene, whose role in CRC deserves further investigations.

Conclusions/Significance

In summary, in the present study we provide a detailed map of the genetic abnormalities of primary tumours from metastatic CRC patients, which confirm and extend on previous observations as regards the identification of genes potentially involved in development of CRC and the metastatic process.