Publications by authors named "Mabel Vidal"

Chile is the second-largest producer of Atlantic salmon (), a key industry facing challenges such as infestations by , which cause significant economic losses. However, there are no studies exploring how environmental variables in marine culture centers affect salmon's immune response, considering their poikilothermic characteristics. This study analyzed the effect of the seasonal temperature on the skin transcriptome of Atlantic salmon infested with in fjord-based farms in the Aysén Region during autumn and spring.

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Complex gill disease (CGD) poses significant challenges in Atlantic salmon aquaculture, leading to reduced growth, higher production costs, and increased mortality rates. CGD is influenced by a multifactorial interaction of environmental factors and pathogens. Given the impact of CGD and the lack of molecular studies aimed at characterizing and modulating it, this study analyzed the modulation of genes and biological processes that occur in the CGD-affected gill filaments of Atlantic salmon.

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Peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) are critical for understanding systemic immune responses and assessing the organism's health. In immunological studies, particularly with aquaculture-relevant species like Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), ensuring PBL viability during sample storage is important, especially when samples must be transported over long distances. Anticoagulants are essential for preventing blood clotting and preserving cellular integrity; however, their effects on leukocyte populations in salmonids remain poorly studied.

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Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common manifestation of oral cancer. It has been proposed that periodontal pathogens contribute to OSCC progression, mainly by their virulence factors. However, the main periodontal pathogen and its mechanism to modulate OSCC cells remains not fully understood.

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Quantitative understanding of microbial growth is an essential prerequisite for successful control of pathogens as well as various biotechnology applications. Even though the growth of cell populations has been extensively studied, microbial growth remains poorly characterised at the spatial level. Indeed, even isogenic populations growing at different locations on solid growth medium typically show significant location-dependent variability in growth.

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Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, infections continue to surge globally. Presently, the most effective strategies to curb the disease and prevent outbreaks involve fostering immunity, promptly identifying positive cases, and ensuring their timely isolation. Notably, there are instances where the SARS-CoV-2 virus remains infectious even after patients have completed their quarantine.

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Introduction: Long-term pulmonary dysfunction (L-TPD) is one of the most critical manifestations of long-COVID. This lung affection has been associated with disease severity during the acute phase and the presence of previous comorbidities, however, the clinical manifestations, the concomitant consequences and the molecular pathways supporting this clinical condition remain unknown. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize L-TPD in patients with long-COVID and elucidate the main pathways and long-term consequences attributed to this condition by analyzing clinical parameters and functional tests supported by machine learning and serum proteome profiling.

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Article Synopsis
  • The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants, particularly the Omicron variant, poses a substantial danger by potentially undermining immunity from vaccinations and previous infections, leading to increased reinfections and localized outbreaks in regions like Chile.
  • A study analyzing 578,670 COVID-19 tests from April 2020 to July 2022 found that the highest rates of reinfection in Chile occurred during the fourth and fifth waves, with an average gap of 372 days between infections.
  • Despite a significant vaccination rate, the results indicate that the Omicron variant is highly effective at evading immune responses, emphasizing the need for informed public health strategies to address these challenges.
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Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare pathology in Western countries. However, it constitutes a relevant health problem in Asia and Latin America, with a high mortality in middle-aged Chilean women. The limited therapeutic options for GBC require the identification of targetable proteins with prognostic value for improving clinical management support.

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect several countries. One of the best ways to control its spread is the timely identification of infected patients for isolation and quarantine. While an episode of infection lasts an average of 8-10 days from the onset of symptoms, there is literature describing long-lasting viral persistence events.

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CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells play a key role in cellular immune responses against cancer by cytotoxic responses and effector lineages differentiation, respectively. These subsets have been found in different types of cancer; however, it is unclear whether tumor-infiltrating T-cell subsets exhibit similar transcriptome profiling across different types of cancer in comparison with healthy tissue-resident T-cells. Thus, we analyzed the single cell transcriptome of five tumor-infiltrating CD4-T, CD8-T and Treg cells obtained from different types of cancer to identify specific pathways for each subset in malignant environments.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Continuous RT-qPCR testing and genomic surveillance helped to identify a case of reinfection in a homeless individual 58 days after initial diagnosis, with different viral variants involved.
  • * It highlights the need for intensive genomic surveillance, particularly for vulnerable groups like homeless populations in Chile, who face health care access challenges and poor viral traceability.
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Article Synopsis
  • Vaccine administration is key in the fight against COVID-19, but emerging variants like B.1.621 (Mu) can challenge vaccine-induced immunity.
  • A study from Santiago, Chile, compares four fully vaccinated patients (with CoronaVac) who exhibited varying symptoms of COVID-19 to four unvaccinated patients, revealing that the unvaccinated had more severe symptoms.
  • The findings indicate that vaccinated individuals generally experience milder symptoms, suggesting that the CoronaVac vaccine provides protective effects against the B.1.621 (Mu) variant.
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Tissue regeneration is often impaired in patients with metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus and obesity, exhibiting reduced wound repair and limited regeneration capacity. We and others have demonstrated that wound healing under normal metabolic conditions is potentiated by the secretome of human endothelial cell-differentiated mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC-EC). However, it is unknown whether this effect is sustained under hyperglycemic conditions.

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The immune system plays a key role in the protective response against oral cancer; however, the tumor microenvironment (TME) impairs this anti-cancer response by modulating T helper (Th) responses and promoting an anti-inflammatory environment. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and Th2 effector cells (Teff) are associated with poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the main immunomodulatory mechanisms associated with the enrichment of these subsets in OSCC remain unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Whole human genome sequencing provides insights into population history and genetic diseases, but there's limited data on Southern Cone Native Americans, particularly the Mapuche-Huilliche from Southern Chile.
  • - A study of 11 Mapuche-Huilliche individuals revealed around 3.1 million single nucleotide variants, including 403,383 novel variants, along with numerous copy number and structural variants, indicating a genetically distinct population with indigenous ancestry.
  • - The findings highlight genetic variants linked to major health issues in Chile, suggesting potential tools for diagnostics and prevention in both native and mixed Latin American populations.
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Core promoters are crucial for gene regulation, providing blueprints for the assembly of transcriptional machinery at transcription start sites (TSSs). Empirically, TSSs define the coordinates of core promoters and other regulatory sequences. Thus, experimental TSS identification provides an essential step in the characterization of promoters and their features.

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Background: Currently, Tectona grandis is one of the most valuable trees in the world and no transcript dataset related to secondary xylem is available. Considering how important the secondary xylem and sapwood transition from young to mature trees is, little is known about the expression differences between those successional processes and which transcription factors could regulate lignin biosynthesis in this tropical tree. Although MYB transcription factors are one of the largest superfamilies in plants related to secondary metabolism, it has not yet been characterized in teak.

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