Edelfosine-induced metabolic changes in cancer cells that precede the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis

Background  

Metabolic flux profiling based on the analysis of distribution of stable isotope tracer in metabolites is an important method widely used in cancer research to understand the regulation of cell metabolism and elaborate new therapeutic strategies. Recently, we developed software Isodyn, which extends the methodology of kinetic modeling to the analysis of isotopic isomer distribution for the evaluation of cellular metabolic flux profile under relevant conditions. This tool can be applied to reveal the metabolic effect of proapoptotic drug edelfosine in leukemia Jurkat cell line, uncovering the mechanisms of induction of apoptosis in cancer cells.     

Diaphragm muscle fiber function and structure in humans with hemidiaphragm paralysis

Recent studies proposed that mechanical inactivity of the human diaphragm during mechanical ventilation rapidly causes diaphragm atrophy and weakness. However, conclusive evidence for the notion that diaphragm weakness is a direct consequence of mechanical inactivity is lacking. To study the effect of hemidiaphragm paralysis on diaphragm muscle fiber function and structure in humans, biopsies were obtained from the paralyzed hemidiaphragm in eight patients with hemidiaphragm paralysis. All patients had unilateral paralysis of known duration, caused by en bloc resection of the phrenic nerve with a tumor. Furthermore, diaphragm biopsies were obtained from three control subjects. The contractile performance of demembranated muscle fibers was determined, as well as fiber ultrastructure and morphology. Finally, expression of E3 ligases and proteasome activity was determined to evaluate activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The force-generating capacity, as well as myofibrillar ultrastructure, of diaphragm muscle fibers was preserved up to 8 wk of paralysis. The cross-sectional area of slow fibers was reduced after 2 wk of paralysis; that of fast fibers was preserved up to 8 wk. The expression of the E3 ligases MAFbx and MuRF-1 and proteasome activity was not significantly upregulated in diaphragm fibers following paralysis, not even after 72 and 88 wk of paralysis, at which time marked atrophy of slow and fast diaphragm fibers had occurred. Diaphragm muscle fiber atrophy and weakness following hemidiaphragm paralysis develops slowly and takes months to occur.     

Fairy, tadpole, and clam shrimps (Branchiopoda) in seasonally inundated clay pans in the western Mojave Desert and effect on primary producers

Background

Fairy shrimps (Anostraca), tadpole shrimps (Notostraca), clam shrimps (Spinicaudata), algae (primarily filamentous blue-green algae [cyanobacteria]), and suspended organic particulates are dominant food web components of the seasonally inundated pans and playas of the western Mojave Desert in California. We examined the extent to which these branchiopods controlled algal abundance and species composition in clay pans between Rosamond and Rogers Dry Lakes. We surveyed branchiopods during the wet season to estimate abundances and then conducted a laboratory microcosm experiment, in which dried sediment containing cysts and the overlying algal crust were inundated and cultured. Microcosm trials were run with and without shrimps; each type of trial was run for two lengths of time: 30 and 60 days. We estimated the effect of shrimps on algae by measuring chlorophyll content and the relative abundance of algal species.

Results

We found two species of fairy shrimps (Branchinecta mackini and B. gigas), one tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus lemmoni), and a clam shrimp (Cyzicus setosa) in our wet-season field survey. We collected Branchinecta lindahli in a pilot study, but not subsequently. The dominant taxa were C. setosa and B. mackini, but abundances and species composition varied greatly among playas. The same species found in field surveys also occurred in the microcosm experiment. There were no significant differences as a function of experimental treatments for either chlorophyll content or algal species composition (Microcoleus vaginatus dominated all treatments).

Conclusions

The results suggest that there was no direct effect of shrimps on algae. Although the pans harbored an apparently high abundance of branchiopods, these animals had little role in regulating primary producers in this environment.