Chronic consumption of high fat diets (HFD) is a risk factor for the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, and it is also associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer´s disease. Palmitic acid (PA) is a major component of HFD, and high concentrations of this saturated fatty acid exerts pleiotropic actions in cells. The PA effects have been largely studied in peripheral tissues where is considered a driving force for the development of many metabolic diseases such as obesity, insulin resistance and Type II diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) has a great capacity to regenerate its tissues; however, the fidelity and success of its regenerative process diminish with age. Retrotransposons make up the largest portion of the axolotl genome, and their expression may be involved in this age-related decline. Through an integrative analysis of repetitive element expression using RNA sequencing, it is shown that Ty3 retrotransposons are highly upregulated in the axolotl as an effect of chronological aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Founder variants (FVs) are genetic alterations inherited from a common ancestor that are frequently observed in genetically homogeneous populations. FVs significantly influence the prevalence of genetic disorders in specific populations; however, these variants have never been comprehensively described for the Mexican population.
Aim: This systematic review aimed to summarize and describe FVs of Mexican origin and their association with specific health conditions.
Scientifica (Cairo)
November 2024
The axolotl, known for its remarkable regenerative abilities, is an excellent model for studying regenerative therapies. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms governing its regenerative potential remain uncertain. In this study, we collected samples from axolotls of different ages, including 8-year-old individuals and 8-month-old juveniles, obtaining their blastemas 10 days after amputation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome is a genetic condition that increases the risk of breast cancer by 80% and that of ovarian cancer by 40%. The most common pathogenic variants (PVs) causing HBOC occur in the gene, with more than 3850 reported mutations in the gene sequence. The prevalence of specific PVs in has increased across populations due to the effect of founder mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rise in life expectancy has significantly increased the occurrence of age-related chronic diseases, leading to escalating expenses for both society and individuals. Among the main factors influencing health and lifespan, lifestyle takes a forefront position. Specifically, nutrition, mental activity, and physical exercise influence the molecular and functional mechanisms that contribute to the prevention of major age-related diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
February 2025
Testicular cancer (TCa) is a rare malignancy affecting young men worldwide. Sociodemographic factors, especially socioeconomic level (SEL) and healthcare access, seem to impact TCa incidence and outcomes, particularly among Hispanic populations. However, limited research has explored these variables in Hispanic groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTesticular germ-cell tumors (TGCT) have been widely recognized for their outstanding survival rates, commonly attributed to their high sensitivity to cisplatin-based therapies. Despite this, a subset of patients develops cisplatin resistance, for whom additional therapeutic options are unsuccessful, and ~20% of them will die from disease progression at an early age. Several efforts have been made trying to find the molecular bases of cisplatin resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurooncol
January 2023
Chromatin maintenance and remodeling are processes that take place alongside DNA repair, replication, or transcription to ensure the survival and adaptability of a cell. The environment and the needs of the cell dictate how chromatin is remodeled; particularly where and which histones are deposited, thus changing the canonical histone array to regulate chromatin structure and gene expression. Chromatin is highly dynamic, and histone variants and their chaperones play a crucial role in maintaining the epigenetic regulation at different genomic regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite having a favorable response to platinum-based chemotherapies, ~15% of Testicular Germ-Cell Tumor (TGCT) patients are platinum-resistant. Mortality rates among Latin American countries have remained constant over time, which makes the study of this population of particular interest. To gain insight into this phenomenon, we conducted whole-exome sequencing, microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization, and copy number analysis of 32 tumors from a Mexican cohort, of which 18 were platinum-sensitive and 14 were platinum-resistant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstate Cancer Prostatic Dis
September 2022
Background: Risk stratification or progression in prostate cancer is performed with the support of clinical-pathological data such as the sum of the Gleason score and serum levels PSA. For several decades, methods aimed at the early detection of prostate cancer have included the determination of PSA serum levels. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview about recent advances in the discovery of new molecular biomarkers through transcriptomics, genomics and artificial intelligence that are expected to improve clinical management of the prostate cancer patient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy due to the lack of reliable biomarkers, effective treatment, and chemoresistance. Improving the diagnosis and the development of targeted therapies is still needed. The molecular pathomechanisms driving HGSC progression are not fully understood though crucial for effective diagnosis and identification of novel targeted therapy options.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm defined by the presence of t(9;22) translocation whose origin has been associated with the tridimensional genome organization. This rearrangement leads to the fusion of BCR and ABL1 genes giving rise to a chimeric protein with constitutive kinase activity. Imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), is used as a first-line treatment for CML, though ~40% of CML patients do not respond.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell cycle progression requires control of the abundance of several proteins and RNAs over space and time to properly transit from one phase to the next and to ensure faithful genomic inheritance in daughter cells. The proteasome, the main protein degradation system of the cell, facilitates the establishment of a proteome specific to each phase of the cell cycle. Its activity also strongly influences transcription.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Mol Diagn
October 2021
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in women worldwide, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy has emerged as an option for the management of locally advanced breast cancer. Extensive efforts have been made to identify new molecular markers to predict the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Transcripts that do not encode proteins, termed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), have been shown to display abnormal expression profiles in different types of cancer, but their role as biomarkers in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy has not been extensively studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of the consumption of high-fat diets (HFD) have been studied to unravel the molecular pathways they are altering in order to understand the link between increased caloric intake, metabolic diseases, and the risk of cognitive dysfunction. The saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid (PA), is the main component of HFD and it has been found increased in the circulation of obese and diabetic people. In the central nervous system, PA has been associated with inflammatory responses in astrocytes, but the effects on neurons exposed to it have not been largely investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 is an infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2), which has caused a global outbreak. Current research efforts are focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection in order to propose drug-based therapeutic options. Transcriptional changes due to epigenetic regulation are key host cell responses to viral infection and have been studied in SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV; however, such changes are not fully described for SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Dev Biol
February 2022
The axolotl ( has been a widely studied organism due to its capacity to regenerate most of its cells, tissues and whole-body parts. Since its genome was sequenced, several molecular tools have been developed to study the mechanisms behind this outstanding and extraordinary ability. The complexity of its genome due to its sheer size and the disproportionate expansion of a large number of repetitive elements, may be a key factor at play during tissue remodeling and regeneration mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGene mutations are strongly associated with tumor progression and are well known in cancer development. However, recently discovered epigenetic alterations have shown the potential to greatly influence tumoral response to therapy regimens. Such epigenetic alterations have proven to be dynamic, and thus could be restored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtrasynaptic α -subunit containing GABA (α -GABA ) receptors participate in chronic pain. Previously, we reported a sex difference in the action of α -GABA receptors in dysfunctional pain. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAstrocytoma is the most common type of primary brain tumor. The risk factors for astrocytoma are poorly understood; however, germline genetic variants account for 25% of the risk of developing gliomas. In this study, we assessed the risk of astrocytoma associated with variants in AGT, known by its role in angiogenesis, TP53, a well-known tumor suppressor and the DNA repair gene MGMT in a Mexican population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNAs are small noncoding transcripts that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression via base-pairing complementarity. Their role in cancer can be related to tumor suppression or oncogenic function. Moreover, they have been linked to processes recognized as hallmarks of cancer, such as apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, and proliferation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe identification of prognostic biomarkers is a priority for patients suffering from high-grade serous ovarian cancer (SOC), which accounts for >70% of ovarian cancer (OC) deaths. Meanwhile, borderline ovarian cancer (BOC) is a low malignancy tumor and usually patients undergo surgery with low probabilities of recurrence. However, SOC remains the most lethal neoplasm due to the lack of biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring midbrain development, dopamine neuron differentiation occurs before birth. Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation and demethylation as well as post-translational modification of histones occur during neurogenesis. Here, we administered histamine (HA) into the brain of E12 embryos and observed significant lower immunoreactivity of Lmx1a+ and Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH)+ cells, with parallel decreases in the expression of early (, and late () midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) genes.
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