Publications by authors named "Ana Pequeno-Valtierra"
Transmissible cancers are a rare phenomenon in which cancer cells are passed between individuals, leading to the development of neoplasia in the host organism. Transmissible cancers have been identified in three independent clonal lineages in mammals and eight different clonal lineages in bivalves. This study focused on the development of a multiplex PCR assay for the detection of two types of bivalve transmissible neoplasias (BTN) of cockles Cerastoderma edule (CedBTN1 and CedBTN2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer is a multifaceted genetic disease characterized by the acquisition of several essential hallmarks. Notably, certain cancers exhibit horizontal transmissibility, observed across mammalian species and diverse bivalves, the latter referred to as hemic neoplasia. Within this complex landscape, epigenetic mechanisms such as histone modifications and cytosine methylation emerge as fundamental contributors to the pathogenesis of these transmissible cancers.
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- - Transmissible cancers like bivalve transmissible neoplasia (BTN) can spread between marine organisms, particularly affecting species like the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa.
- - Researchers examined over 6,800 cockles, diagnosed 390 cases of BTN tumors, and analyzed genomic variation in 61 tumors, confirming the presence of two BTN lineages with links to blood cell origins.
- - The study found significant genomic instability in the BTN tumors, including whole-genome duplications and mutations, and suggested a long history of clonal evolution in these transmissible cancers.
There are sex differences in microglia, which can maintain sex-related gene expression and functional differences in the absence of circulating sex steroids. The angiotensin type 2 (AT2) receptors mediate anti-inflammatory actions in different tissues, including brain. In mice, we performed RT-PCR analysis of microglia isolated from adult brains and RNA scope in situ hybridization from males, females, ovariectomized females, orchiectomized males and brain masculinized females.
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- * Researchers sequenced the genomes of eight warty venus clams with HN from two locations over 1000 nautical miles apart, revealing the presence of genetic material from two clam species.
- * Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the leukaemia originated in striped venus clams and was transmitted to warty venus clams, where it continues to spread as a contagious cancer in the Southern European seas.
Article Synopsis
- Most cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), often develop through genomic changes that promote tumor growth, with specific focus on the effects of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV).
- HBV integrates its DNA into the tumor genome, leading to significant alterations like chromosomal fusions and deletions, contributing to cancer development in about 8% of HCC cases.
- These mutations usually happen early in liver cancer evolution, sometimes up to 20 years before a cancer is diagnosed, highlighting the need to study liver cancer genomes for potential HBV-related changes.
Article Synopsis
- - The presence of emerging contaminants, particularly marine biotoxins from toxic microalgae, in food raises significant food safety concerns influenced by various factors, including climate change.
- - Climate change is impacting marine environments and the proliferation of harmful microalgae, leading to new occurrences of toxins like ciguatera and tetrodotoxins in the EU, which were previously limited to tropical regions.
- - The European Food Safety Authorities (EFSA) prioritize risk assessment and management of these emerging biotoxins due to their increasing presence and potential health risks, highlighting a gap in research focused on climate change's effects on food safety.
Article Synopsis
- Recent research has highlighted the potential risk of these toxins in Atlantic subtropical regions, leading to efforts in identifying and confirming the specific toxins involved.
- Neuroblastoma cell assays (N2a) are effectively used for toxicity screening, while LC-MS/MS serves for confirmation despite challenges with reference materials; this study confirmed Caribbean Ciguatoxin-1 and its metabolites as major contributors to toxicity in a fish sample from Selvagen Islands, Portugal.