Publications by authors named "Carlos Conde"

Article Synopsis
  • This systematic review examines how individuals with epilepsy (PWE), healthcare professionals (HP), and caregivers (CG) participate in the design of medical devices for epilepsy.
  • The review found a steady increase in publications related to user involvement in medical device development (MDD) from 1999 to 2023, with various tools aimed at seizure detection and prevention being the main focus.
  • It emphasizes the importance of user perspectives in MDD, noting that involvement mostly occurs in four out of five development stages, and calls for more effective engagement to improve device quality and patient outcomes.
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Objectives: As epilepsy management medical devices emerge as potential technological solutions for prediction and prevention of sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP), there is a gap in understanding the features and priorities that should be included in the design of these devices. This study aims to bridge the gap between current technology and emerging needs by leveraging insights from persons with epilepsy (PWE) and caregivers (CG) on current epilepsy management devices and understanding how SUDEP awareness influences preferences and design considerations for potential future solutions.

Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys were designed to survey PWE and CG on medical device design features, SUDEP awareness, and participation in medical device research.

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Article Synopsis
  • Faithful cell division depends on the correct attachment of kinetochores to microtubules that pull chromosomes apart, and errors can occur during mitosis.
  • Proteins like AURORA B and AURORA A help to destabilize incorrect attachments, while MPS1 also plays a role in weakening the connections between kinetochores and microtubules, ensuring proper alignment.
  • The study reveals that MPS1 activates AURORA A kinase (AAK) at centrosomes to facilitate error correction, demonstrating a communication pathway that helps maintain chromosome integrity during cell division.
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During mitosis, the interaction of kinetochores (KTs) with microtubules (MTs) drives chromosome congression to the spindle equator and supports the segregation of sister chromatids. Faithful genome partition critically relies on the ability of chromosomes to establish and maintain proper amphitelic end-on attachments, a configuration in which sister KTs are connected to robust MT fibers emanating from opposite spindle poles. Because the capture of spindle MTs by KTs is error prone, cells use mechanisms that sense and correct inaccurate KT-MT interactions before committing to segregate sister chromatids in anaphase.

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The relationship between kinetochores and nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) is intimate but poorly understood. Several NPC components and associated proteins are relocated to mitotic kinetochores to assist in different activities that ensure faithful chromosome segregation. Such is the case of the Mad1-c-Mad2 complex, the catalytic core of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), a surveillance pathway that delays anaphase until all kinetochores are attached to spindle microtubules.

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The Early-Response to Dehydration six-like (ERD6l) is one of the largest families of sugar transporters in plants, however, is also one of the less studied with very few members characterized. In this work, we identified 18 members of the grapevine ERD6l family, analyzed their promoters and putative topology and additionally functionally characterized the member VvERD6l13. VvERD6l13 was strongly up-regulated in grape berries infected with Botrytis cinerea and Erysiphe necator in cv.

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Silicon (Si) supplementation has been shown to improve plant tolerance to different stresses, and its accumulation in the aerial organs is mediated by NIP2;1 aquaporins (Lsi channels) and Lsi2-type exporters in roots. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that grapevine expresses a functional NIP2;1 that accounts for root Si uptake and, eventually, Si accumulation in leaves. Own-rooted grapevine cuttings of the cultivar Vinhão accumulated >0.

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To maintain genome stability, chromosomes must be equally distributed among daughter cells at the end of mitosis. The accuracy of chromosome segregation requires sister-kinetochores to stably attach to microtubules emanating from opposite spindle poles. However, initial kinetochore-microtubule interactions are able to turnover so that defective attachment configurations that typically arise during early mitosis may be corrected.

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The spindle checkpoint protects against aneuploidy by ensuring that dividing cells only proceed with chromosome segregation once all kinetochores are stably attached to spindle microtubules. The checkpoint protein MAD1 localizes to the corona, a structural expansion of the kinetochore forming in the absence of microtubule attachment, but molecular mechanism or functional significance of this localization remains unknown. Recent results now show that cyclin B1 recruits MAD1 to the corona and that this MAD1 pool is required for robust checkpoint signaling.

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The involvement of aquaporins in rain-induced sweet cherry ( L.) fruit cracking is an important research topic with potential agricultural applications. In the present study, we performed the functional characterization of PaPIP1;4, the most expressed aquaporin in sweet cherry fruit.

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The newly-identified SWEETs are high-capacity, low-affinity sugar transporters with important roles in numerous physiological mechanisms where sugar efflux is critical. SWEETs are desirable targets for manipulation by pathogens and their expression may be transcriptionally reprogrammed during infection. So far, few plant SWEET transporters have been functionally characterized, especially in grapevine.

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The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) relies on the recruitment of Mad1-C-Mad2 to unattached kinetochores but also on its binding to Megator/Tpr at nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) during interphase. However, the molecular underpinnings controlling the spatiotemporal redistribution of Mad1-C-Mad2 as cells progress into mitosis remain elusive. Here, we show that activation of Mps1 during prophase triggers Mad1 release from NPCs and that this is required for kinetochore localization of Mad1-C-Mad2 and robust SAC signaling.

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Accurate chromosome segregation in mitosis requires sister kinetochores to bind to microtubules from opposite spindle poles. The stability of kinetochore-microtubule attachments is fine-tuned to prevent or correct erroneous attachments while preserving amphitelic interactions. Polo kinase has been implicated in both stabilizing and destabilizing kinetochore-microtubule attachments.

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The cytoskeleton protein α-fodrin plays a major role in maintaining structural stability of membranes. It was also identified as part of the brain γ-tubulin ring complex, the major microtubule nucleator. Here, we investigated the requirement of α-fodrin for microtubule spindle assembly during mitotic progression.

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Alternative polyadenylation generates transcriptomic diversity, although the physiological impact and regulatory mechanisms involved are still poorly understood. The cell cycle kinase Polo is controlled by alternative polyadenylation in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR), with critical physiological consequences. Here, we characterized the molecular mechanisms required for alternative polyadenylation.

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Mitosis requires extensive rearrangement of cellular architecture and of subcellular structures so that replicated chromosomes can bind correctly to spindle microtubules and segregate towards opposite poles. This process originates two new daughter nuclei with equal genetic content and relies on highly-dynamic and tightly regulated phosphorylation of numerous cell cycle proteins. A burst in protein phosphorylation orchestrated by several conserved kinases occurs as cells go into and progress through mitosis.

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The grapevine VvCAX3 mediates calcium transport in the vacuole and is mostly expressed in green grape berries and upregulated by Ca , Na and methyl jasmonate. Calcium is an essential plant nutrient with important regulatory and structural roles in the berries of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.).

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Faithfull genome partitioning during cell division relies on the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC), a conserved signaling pathway that delays anaphase onset until all chromosomes are attached to spindle microtubules. Mps1 kinase is an upstream SAC regulator that promotes the assembly of an anaphase inhibitor through a sequential multi-target phosphorylation cascade. Thus, the SAC is highly responsive to Mps1, whose activity peaks in early mitosis as a result of its T-loop autophosphorylation.

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A MIP (Major Intrinsic Protein) subfamily called Uncharacterized Intrinsic Proteins (XIP) was recently described in several fungi and eudicot plants. In this work, we cloned a XIP from grapevine, VvXIP1, and agrobacterium-mediated transformation studies in Nicotiana benthamiana revealed that the encoded aquaporin shows a preferential localization at the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Stopped-flow spectrometry in vesicles from the aqy-null yeast strain YSH1172 overexpressing VvXIP1 showed that VvXIP1 is unable to transport water but is permeable to glycerol.

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Objective: To report 14 patients with immune-mediated relapsing symptoms post-herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) and to compare the clinical and immunologic features of the teenage and adult group with those of young children.

Methods: Prospective observational study of patients diagnosed between June 2013 and February 2015. Immunologic techniques have been reported previously.

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Two grapevine glucose-6-Pi plastidial transporters differently expressed in plant organs and in response to environmental and hormonal signals are characterized. They are involved in starch accumulation in berries and canes. In grapevine, starch accumulation in the trunk is important for winter storage of carbon and in the flower for reproductive development.

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Maintenance of genomic stability during eukaryotic cell division relies on the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC), which has evolved as a surveillance mechanism that monitors kinetochore-microtubule attachment and prevents APC/C-mediated mitotic exit until all chromosomes are properly attached to the mitotic spindle. Reversible protein phosphorylation has long been accredited as a regulatory mechanism of the SAC. Nevertheless, knowledge of how several mitotic kinases act in concert within the signaling pathway to orchestrate SAC function is still emerging.

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Maintenance of genomic stability during eukaryotic cell division relies on the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) that prevents mitotic exit until all chromosomes are properly attached to the spindle. Polo is a mitotic kinase proposed to be involved in SAC function, but its role has remained elusive. We demonstrate that Polo and Aurora B functional interdependency comprises a positive feedback loop that promotes Mps1 kinetochore localization and activity.

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Introduction: The Consolider-Ingenio 2010 project SCARCE, with the full title "Assessing and predicting effects on water quantity and quality in Iberian Rivers caused by global change" aims to examine and predict the relevance of global change on water availability, water quality, and ecosystem services in Mediterranean river basins of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as their socio-economic impacts. Starting in December 2009, it brought together a multidisciplinary team of 11 partner Spanish institutions, as well as the active involvement of water authorities, river basin managers, and other relevant agents as stakeholders.

Methods: The study areas are the Llobregat, Ebro, Jucar, and Guadalquivir river basins.

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