Breast cancer is a heterogeneous pathology. There are subgroups with different molecular characteristics, and they must be identified to direct the therapy and to have a clear prognosis. HER2/neu (human epidermal growth receptor factor 2/neuro glioblastoma derived oncogene homolog) receptor overexpression is a characteristic that must be evaluated in each population. We apply the monoclonal antibody technique in the indigenous population of Peru, we also correlate the presence of the receptor with global survival. It’s an experimental, prospective and analytical study. Twenty three samples were evaluated, obtained from patients with adenocarcinoma of the breast. The HER2/neu expression was determined by immunohistochemical technique (monoclonal antibodies). The results were verified 10 cases were positive for overexpression (43.47%). The negative cases were 13 (56.52%). The overall survival at 3 years was 69.90% for the Her2/neu positive and 85.00% for negative, showed statistically significant differences (p=0.017). Finally, it was feasible to apply the monoclonal antibody technique and to statistically correlate HER2/neu overexpression with TNM clinical stage, predicting less survival when present. Applying an immunohistochemical technique is feasible in native Peruvian women. The main benefit is to apply biological therapy with monoclonal antibodies, according to their molecular profile.

One of the leading trends in the modern tissue engineering is the development of new effective methods of decellularization aimed at the removal of cellular components from donor tissue reducing its immunogenicity and the risk of rejection. Supercritical CO2 (scCO2) extraction can significantly improve the outcome of decellularization, reduce contamination and time costs. The resulting products can serve as personalized tools for tissue-engineering therapy of various somatic pathologies. However, decellularization of complex 3D structures, such as the aortic root, requires optimization of the parameters, including preconditioning medium composition, type of co-solvent, values of pressure and temperature insight the scCO2 reactor, etc. In our work, using an ovine aortic root model, we performed a comparative analysis of the efficiency of decellularization using approaches based on various combinations of these parameters. The protocols were based on combinations of treatment in alkaline, ethanol or detergent solutions with scCO2 extraction at different modes. Based on a histological analysis, we have selected an optimal protocol for the decellularization of ovine aortic root employing preconditioning in a detergent solution. The positive effects of scCO2 on the decellularization extent, cytotoxicity and histoarchitecture of the tissue were demonstrated.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disorder which affects about 80% of the population above 65 years revealing radiographic evidence of OA. Recently, more and more researches have been conducted on the molecular mechanism of OA to find target treatments. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play a key role in genome regulation. Nucleolar GTP-binding Protein 3 (GNL3) is abundantly expressed in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and correlates with chondrocytes differentiation. Here we report the transcriptome study of GNL3, which regulates transcription in osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to analyze the global transcription level in HeLa cells. The results showed that the expression of IL24 and PTN was down-regulated when GNL3 was knocked down. Likewise, in the lesions of osteoarthritis, the expression level of GNL3, IL24 and PTN gene were significantly up-regulated compared with the control group. IL24 contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis by inducing bone cells apoptosis at the joint, and PTN contributes to the progression of osteoarthritis by promoting angiogenesis. This study aimed to assess the association between GNL3 and both of these two downstream genes as a potential biomarker for investigating the development of OA.

In the present work, novel core-shell polymer magnetic colloids are prepared and employed as a potential candidate in ultrasensitive molecular imaging. The synthesized colloids possess high colloidal stability, magnetization (43.85 emu g-1) and uniformity of particle size with an average diameter of 527 nm. FTIR spectrum of magnetic emulsion shows two characteristic peaks at 570 and 630 cm-1 which related to Fe-O vibration bands. Both T1 and T2 relaxation times were successfully measured. Based on signal intensities, the prepared colloids observed to perform as better T2 weighted contrast agents. The T2-weighted MR images showed significant signal intensity reduction and contrast darkening. Moreover, the prepared colloids were also employed to fabricate thin films via a facile method of layer by layer self-assembled multilayers (LBL-SAMU) to explore their potential application in imaging. Uniform particle size distribution with spherical morphologies was obtained for the fabricated bilayers. In addition, a 20% increment in iron contents was observed for 5-15 bilayer thin films decorated with film colloidal particles. The reported work opens new avenues for designing powerful T2 contrast agents in various biomedical applications such as analysis of biomacromolecules, diagnostics, and therapy.

Despite improvement in short-term outcomes, long-term results for kidney transplant recipients remain suboptimal. Immunological rejection is a leading cause of graft failure and recent research points to undetected “silent” subclinical acute rejection as a key component of this problem. While biopsies remain the gold-standard method for detecting silent rejection, non-invasive methods offer significant advantages especially in terms of patient safety and for serial monitoring of stable patients. This manuscript details the real-life challenges involved in the ultimately successful development and commercialization of TruGraf, a clinically validated, blood-based gene expression assay that offers the potential to reduce the use of surveillance (protocol) biopsies in renal transplant recipients with stable renal function.

In vertebrates, intercellular communication is largely mediated by connexins, a family of structurally related transmembrane proteins that assemble to form hemichannels (HCs) at the plasma membrane. HCs are upregulated in different brain disorders; hence represent innovative therapeutic targets and identifying modulators of Cx-based HCs is of great interest for better understanding their function and defining new treatments. In this study, we developed automated versions of two different cell-based assays to identify new pharmacological modulators of HCs. The first assay follows the incorporation of a fluorescent dye, Yo-Pro, by real-time imaging while the second is based on the quenching of a fluorescent protein, YFPQL, by iodide after iodide uptake. These assays were then used to screen a collection of 2,242 approved drugs and compounds under development. This study led to the identification of 11 new HC blockers, active in the two assays, with 5 drugs active on HC but not on gap junction (GJ) activities. To our knowledge, this is the first screening on HC activity and our results suggest the potential of a new use of already approved drugs in CNS disorders with HC impairments.

Vitamin D insufficiency is closely related to various kinds of metabolic diseases. Acted as a marker of vitamin D status, 25-HydroxyvitaminD3 detection possesses important practical significance. In this study, highly sensitive fluorescent detection of 25-HydroxyvitaminD3 using truncated affinity-improved aptamers were developed, based on fluorescence intensity changes of PicoGreen (PG) generated upon binding to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) formed through hybridization of aptamer and corresponding complementary strand. Four truncated aptamers were obtained by intercepting the small hairpin loop as the functional domain and retaining double helix structural domains of different lengths that exist in the selected original 25-HydroxyvitaminD3 aptamer. Under the optimized PG concentration, we conducted comparison experiments for affinity and specificity of these four truncated aptamers. Among them, the shortest aptamer with only 21 bp, D3-4, was found to show the highest affinity and specificity to 25-HydroxyvitaminD3, with the limit of detection of 0.04μg/mL, which solved the problem that original long aptamer could not applied for this fluorescent detection of 25-HydroxyvitaminD3. The truncated 25-HydroxyvitaminD3-specific aptamer with highly enhanced affinity performs promising application in sensitive detection of 25-HydroxyvitaminD3.