Publications by authors named "Alma Chavez-Blanco"

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health problem with diverse clinical manifestations. Different cells of the immune response participate in containing the infection, mainly through the development of granulomas. Mast cells (MCs) are hematopoietic cells that participate in the immune response to different pathogens, and in vitro evidence indicates that they can be activated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, triggers an uncontrolled immune response that leads to harmful inflammation and lung damage.
  • Mast cells (MCs), known for their role in inflammation, are linked to severe COVID-19 cases, particularly through their mediator carboxypeptidase A3 (CPA3).
  • The study found that in severe COVID-19 cases, increased CPA3-expressing MCs correlate with the development of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), indicating that excessive inflammation contributes to ongoing tissue damage and impaired healing.
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Introduction: The treatment of advanced cervical cancer is continuously developing. There is a critical need to explore new treatment options to improve cure rates and make treatment more affordable. Despite efforts in prevention, cervical cancer remains the fourth most common cancer worldwide in terms of both incidence and mortality.

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In this work, we performed anti-proliferative assays for the compound -(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propylpentanamide (HO-AAVPA) on breast cancer (BC) cells (MCF-7, SKBR3, and triple-negative BC (TNBC) MDA-MB-231 cells) to explore its pharmacological mechanism regarding the type of cell death associated with G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) expression. The results show that HO-AAVPA induces cell apoptosis at 5 h or 48 h in either estrogen-dependent (MCF-7) or -independent BC cells (SKBR3 and MDA-MB-231). At 5 h, the apoptosis rate for MCF-7 cells was 68.

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Lymphoma is a disease that affects countless lives each year. In order to combat this disease, researchers have been exploring the potential of DNMTi and HDACi drugs. These drugs target the cellular processes that contribute to lymphomagenesis and treatment resistance.

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Introduction: The pharmacological treatment of cancer has evolved from cytotoxic to molecular targeted therapy. The median survival gains of 124 drugs approved by the FDA from 2003 to 2021 is 2.8 months.

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Drug repurposing of widely prescribed patent-off and cheap drugs may provide affordable drugs for cancer treatment. Nevertheless, many preclinical studies of cancer drug repurposing candidates use in vitro drug concentrations too high to have clinical relevance. Hence, preclinical studies must use clinically achievable drug concentrations.

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Background: Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in 112 countries and is the leading cause of death in eighteen. In addition to continuing research on prevention and early diagnosis, improving treatments and making them more affordable is imperative. In this sense, the therapeutic repurposing of low-cost and widely available drugs could reduce global mortality from this disease.

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Therapeutic repurposing emerged as an alternative to the traditional drug discovery and development model (DDD) of new molecular entities (NMEs). It was anticipated that by being faster, safer, and cheaper, the development would result in lower-cost drugs. As defined in this work, a repurposed cancer drug is one approved by a health regulatory authority against a non-cancer indication that then gains new approval for cancer.

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The Gram-negative bacteria Brucella abortus is a major cause of brucellosis in animals and humans. The host innate immune response to B. abortus is mainly associated with phagocytic cells such as dendritic cells, neutrophils, and macrophages.

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Mast cells (MC) play a central role in the early containment of bacterial infections, such as that caused by Listeria monocytogenes (L.m). The mechanisms of MC activation induced by L.

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Background: Worldwide, gastric cancer is ranked the fifth malignancy in incidence and the third malignancy in mortality. Gastric cancer causes an altered metabolism that can be therapeutically exploited.

Objective: The objective of this study is to provide an overview of the significant metabolic alterations caused by gastric cancer and propose a blockade.

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Cancer therapy advances have yet to impact global cancer mortality. One of the factors limiting mortality burden reduction is the high cost of cancer drugs. Cancer drug repurposing has already failed to meet expectations in terms of drug affordability.

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(L.m) is efficiently controlled by several cells of the innate immunity, including the Mast Cell (MC). MC is activated by L.

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The immune response plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection ranging from protection to tissue damage and all occur in the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS patients display elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines and innate immune cells, and T and B cell lymphocytes have been implicated in this dysregulated immune response. Mast cells are abundant resident cells of the respiratory tract and are able to release different inflammatory mediators rapidly following stimulation.

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The malignant energetic demands are satisfied through glycolysis, glutaminolysis and de novo synthesis of fatty acids, while the host curses with a state of catabolism and systemic inflammation. The concurrent inhibition of both, tumor anabolism and host catabolism, and their effect upon tumor growth and whole animal metabolism, have not been evaluated. We aimed to evaluate in colon cancer cells a combination of six agents directed to block the tumor anabolism (orlistat + lonidamine + DON) and the host catabolism (growth hormone + insulin + indomethacin).

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Valproic acid (VPA) is a drug commonly used for epileptic seizure control. Recently, it has been shown that VPA alters the activation of several immune cells, including Natural Killer (NK) cells, which play an important role in the containment of viruses and intracellular bacteria. Although VPA can increase susceptibility to extracellular pathogens, it is unknown whether the suppressor effect of VPA could affect the course of intracellular bacterial infection.

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Cancer upregulates glycolysis, glutaminolysis and lipogenesis, and induces a catabolic state in patients. The concurrent inhibition of both tumor anabolism and host catabolism, and the energetic consequences of such an approach, have not previously been fully investigated. In the present study, CT26.

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Background And Objective: Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) are important therapeutic targets for many types of human cancers. A derivative of valproic acid, N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propylpentanamide (HOAAVPA), has antiproliferative properties on some cancer cell lines and inhibits the HDAC1 isoform.

Materials And Methods: In this work, HO-AAVPA was tested as an antiproliferative agent in U87-MG (human glioblastoma) and U-2 OS cells (human osteosarcoma), which are types of cancer that are difficult to treat, and its antiangiogenic properties were explored.

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Mast cell activation through the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) plays a central role in allergic reactions. FcεRI-mediated activation triggers multiple signaling pathways leading to degranulation and synthesis of different inflammatory mediators. IgE-mediated mast cell activation can be modulated by different molecules, including several drugs.

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Purpose: Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that exhibits antitumor effects in preclinical studies, and as such is currently being repositioned for cancer treatment. However, divergences exist regarding its employed doses in preclinical works. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the antitumor effects of ivermectin are observable at clinically feasible drug concentrations.

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Background: Our research group has developed some Valproic Acid (VPA) derivatives employed as anti-proliferative compounds targeting the HDAC8 enzyme. However, some of these compounds are poorly soluble in water.

Objective: Employed the four generations of Polyamidoamine (G4 PAMAM) dendrimers as drug carriers of these compounds to increase their water solubility for further in vitro evaluation.

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Lonidamine, 6-Diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) and orlistat are well known inhibitors of glycolysis, glutaminolysis and of fatty acid synthesis, respectively. Although their antitumor effects have been explored in detail, the potential inhibition of the malignant metabolic phenotype and its influence on the expression of chemokines and growth factors involved in colon cancer, have not been previously reported to the best of our knowledge. In the present study, dose-response curves with orlistat, lonidamine or DON were generated from cell viability assays conducted in SW480 colon cancer cells.

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Ribavirin exhibits inhibitory effects on the epigenetic enzyme enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), which participates in lymphomagenesis. Additionally, preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the anti‑lymphoma activity of this drug. To further investigate the potential of ribavirin as an anticancer treatment for lymphoma, the tumor‑suppressive effects of ribavirin were analyzed in lymphoma cell lines.

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