Since comprehensive analysis of the mammalian genome revealed that the majority of genomic products are transcribed in long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA), increasing attention has been paid to these ...transcripts. The applied next‐generation sequencing technologies have provided accumulating evidence of dysregulated lncRNA in cancer. The implication of this finding can be seen in many forms and at multiple levels. With impacts ranging from integrating chromatin remodeling complexes to regulating transcription and post‐transcriptional processes, aberrant expression of lncRNA may have repercussions in cell proliferation, tumor progression or metastasis. lncRNA may act as enhancers, scaffolds or decoys by physically interacting with other RNA species or proteins, resulting in a direct impact on cell signaling cascades. Even though their functional classification is well‐established in the context of cancer, clearer characterization in terms of their phenotypic outputs is needed to optimize and identify suitable candidates that enable the development of new therapeutic strategies and the design of novel diagnostic approaches. The present article aims to outline different cancer‐associated lncRNA according to their contribution to tumor suppression or tumor promotion based on their most current functional annotations.
lncRNAs involved in tumor plasticity. Aberrantly expressed lncRNAs may have an important impact in the EMT‐MET processes by interacting with diverse signaling cascades.
Microplastics are small (<5mm) fragments of plastic debris that are ubiquitous in coastal areas and in open ocean. We have investigated the occurrence and composition of microplastics in beach ...sediments from the micro-tidal Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Samples were collected on two beaches (northern and southern site) of the western Gulf of Lion showing markedly different characteristics. Sampling was performed along depositional lower, mid and upper beaches and repeated after 1month. Concentrations of microplastics in the northern and southern site were highly variable, ranging from 33 to 798 and from 12 to 187 microplastics per kg of dry sediment, respectively. Highest concentrations were found at three specific locations: nearby a local river mouth, within an accretionary area and in a depositional upper beach. The spatial and temporal distribution of beached microplastics seems to be directly dependent on external forcing such as wind, swell, precipitation, outflow and river mouth proximity.
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•Fibers are the main shape of beached microplastics.•Only 45% of sorted items are spectroscopically validated as plastic polymers.•Same range of MP concentrations than elsewhere along the Mediterranean coast•High small-scale heterogeneity and rapid shifts in MP distribution•River mouth proximity influences the beached MP abundance.
Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Every type of tumours including liver cancer contains cancer stem cells (CSCs). To date, the molecular mechanism regulating the ...development of liver CSCs remains unknown.
In this study, we tried to generate a new model of liver CSCs by converting mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line Huh7 cells conditioned medium (CM). miPSCs treated with CM were injected into the liver of BALB/c nude mice. The developed tumours were then excised and analysed.
The primary cultured cells from the malignant tumour possessed self-renewal capacity, differentiation potential and tumorigenicity in vivo, which were found rich in liver cancer-associated markers as well as CSC markers.
We established a model of liver CSCs converting from miPS and showed different stages of stemness during conversion process. Our CSC model will be important to assess the molecular mechanisms necessary to develop liver CSCs and could help in defeating liver cancer.
The onset of breast cancer among young patients is a major issue in cancer etiology. Our previous study has shown that poor prognosis in young women with breast cancer is associated with lower ...expression of the microRNA miR‐1285‐5p. In this study, we showed that the expression of miR‐1285‐5p is lower in tumor tissues than in normal tissues. Accumulating evidence suggests that miR‐1285‐5p plays critical roles in various types of cancers. However, the functional role of miR‐1285‐5p in breast cancer remains to be elucidated. Here, we showed the tumor‐suppressive role of miR‐1285‐5p and detailed its mechanism of action in breast cancer. Overexpression of miR‐1285‐5p significantly inhibited cell proliferation in breast cancer cells regardless of the tumor subtype. Among the target genes of miR‐1285‐5p, we found that transmembrane protein 194A (TMEM194A) was directly regulated by miR‐1285‐5p. Notably, separation of centrosomes from the nuclear envelope was observed upon knockdown of TMEM194A or overexpression of miR‐1285‐5p. In conclusion, our findings show that miR‐1285‐5p is a tumor suppressor via TMEM194A inhibition in breast cancer.
We showed the tumor‐suppressive role of miR‐1285‐5p and detailed its mechanism of action in breast cancer. Overexpression of miR‐1285‐5p significantly inhibited cell proliferation in breast cancer cells regardless of the tumor subtype. We found that transmembrane protein 194A (TMEM194A) was directly regulated by miR‐1285‐5p. Our findings show that separation of centrosomes from the nuclear envelope was observed upon knockdown of TMEM194A or overexpression of miR‐1285‐5p and reveal the tumor suppressive role of miR‐1285‐5p via TMEM194A inhibition in breast cancer.
Quantitative knowledge about the burial of sedimentary components at the seafloor has wide‐ranging implications in ocean science, from global climate to continental weathering. The use of ...230Th‐normalized fluxes reduces uncertainties that many prior studies faced by accounting for the effects of sediment redistribution by bottom currents and minimizing the impact of age model uncertainty. Here we employ a recently compiled global data set of 230Th‐normalized fluxes with an updated database of seafloor surface sediment composition to derive atlases of the deep‐sea burial flux of calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, total organic carbon (TOC), nonbiogenic material, iron, mercury, and excess barium (Baxs). The spatial patterns of major component burial are mainly consistent with prior work, but the new quantitative estimates allow evaluations of deep‐sea budgets. Our integrated deep‐sea burial fluxes are 136 Tg C/yr CaCO3, 153 Tg Si/yr opal, 20Tg C/yr TOC, 220 Mg Hg/yr, and 2.6 Tg Baxs/yr. This opal flux is roughly a factor of 2 increase over previous estimates, with important implications for the global Si cycle. Sedimentary Fe fluxes reflect a mixture of sources including lithogenic material, hydrothermal inputs and authigenic phases. The fluxes of some commonly used paleo‐productivity proxies (TOC, biogenic opal, and Baxs) are not well‐correlated geographically with satellite‐based productivity estimates. Our new compilation of sedimentary fluxes provides detailed regional and global information, which will help refine the understanding of sediment preservation.
Key Points
Global marine sediment composition (CaCO3, opal, TOC, Fe, Hg, Ba) is presented
Th‐normalized fluxes of major and minor components in the deep sea are constrained
Deep sea budgets and paleo‐proxy applications can be refined with this compilation
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the most prominent cell types in the stromal compartment of the tumor microenvironment. CAFs support multiple aspects of cancer progression, including ...tumor initiation, invasion, and metastasis. The heterogeneous nature of the stromal microenvironment is attributed to the multiple sources from which the cells in this compartment originate. The present study provides the first evidence that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are one of the key sources of CAFs in the tumor niche. We generated CSC-like cells by treating mouse induced pluripotent stem cells with conditioned medium from breast cancer cell lines. The resulting cell population expressed both CSC and pluripotency markers, and the sphere-forming CSC-like cells formed subcutaneous tumors in nude mice. Intriguingly, these CSC-like cells always formed heterogeneous populations surrounded by myofibroblast-like cells. Based on this observation, we hypothesized that CSCs could be the source of the CAFs that support tumor maintenance and survival. To address this hypothesis, we induced the differentiation of spheres and purified the myofibroblast-like cells. The resulting cells exhibited a CAF-like phenotype, suggesting that they had differentiated into the subpopulations of cells that support CSC self-renewal. These findings provide novel insights into the dynamic interplay between various microenvironmental factors and CAFs in the CSC niche.
One of the longest debates in biology has been over the relative importance of different isolating barriers in speciation. However, for most species, there are few data evaluating their relative ...contributions and we can only speculate on the general roles of pre-and postzygotic isolation. Here, we quantify the absolute and cumulative contribution of 19 potential reproductive barriers between two sympatric damselfly sister species, Ischnura elegans and l. graellsii, including both premating (habitat, temporal, sexual and mechanical isolation) and postmating barriers (prezygotic: sperm insemination success and removal rate, oviposition success, fertility, fecundity; postzygotic: hybrid viability, hybrid sterility and hybrid breakdown). In sympatry, total reproductive isolation between l. elegans females and l. graellsii males was 95.2%, owing mostly to a premating mechanical incompatibility (93.4%), whereas other barriers were of little importance. Isolation between l. graellsii females and l. elegans males was also nearly complete (95.8%), which was caused by the cumulative action of multiple prezygotic (n = 4, 75.4%) and postzygotic postmating barriers (n = 5, 7.4%). Our results suggest that premating barriers are key factors in preventing gene flow between species, and that the relative strengths of premating barriers is highly asymmetrical between the reciprocal crosses.
Synapses are integral for healthy brain function and are becoming increasingly recognized as key structures in the early stages of brain disease. Understanding the pathological processes driving ...synaptic dysfunction will unlock new therapeutic opportunities for some of the most devastating diseases of our time. To achieve this we need a solid repertoire of imaging and molecular tools to interrogate synaptic biology at greater resolution. Synapses have historically been examined in small numbers, using highly technical imaging modalities, or in bulk, using crude molecular approaches. However, recent advances in imaging techniques are allowing us to analyze large numbers of synapses, at single-synapse resolution. Furthermore, multiplexing is now achievable with some of these approaches, meaning we can examine multiple proteins at individual synapses in intact tissue. New molecular techniques now allow accurate quantification of proteins from isolated synapses. The development of increasingly sensitive mass-spectrometry equipment means we can now scan the synaptic molecular landscape almost in totality and see how this changes in disease. As we embrace these new technical developments, synapses will be viewed with clearer focus, and the field of synaptopathy will become richer with insightful and high-quality data. Here, we will discuss some of the ways in which synaptic interrogation is being facilitated by methodological advances, focusing on imaging, and mass spectrometry.
Pollution by large-sized plastics and microplastic debris is widespread in all Earth environments, also threatening marine ecosystems worldwide. In this study we determine the load of microplastics ...in the Western Mediterranean Sea and evaluate their aggregation potential into marine aggregates. We report average microplastic abundances of 0.10 ± 0.09 items m−2 (max: 0.50 items m−2). Abundances and chemical composition of microplastics are subject to temporal changes as a function of human activities in the areas of influence and shifting meteorological and sea-state conditions. We find that microplastics were on average smaller in mass than other studies conducted in the Mediterranean Sea indicating longer exposure times in the environment. The microplastic aggregation potential was determined by inspecting formed biogenic aggregates either during sample collection or in the laboratory. Smaller and more angular microplastics dominated in marine aggregates, representing an average 40% in abundance and 25% in mass of microplastics.
•Microplastic concentrations averaged 0.10 ± 0.09 items m−2 and 0.03 ± 0.02 mg m−2.•Reduced sizes and mass of microplastics were found in relation to other studies.•40% in abundance and 25% in mass of microplastics incorporated into aggregates.•Marine aggregates would behave both as floats and ballasts for microplastics.
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