How a Barcelona Post-Acute Facility became a Referral Center for Comprehensive Management of Subacute Patients With COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic's greatest impact is among older adults. Management of the situation requires a systemic response, and post-acute care (PAC) can provide an adequate mix of active treatment, management of associated geriatric syndromes and palliative care, both in the acute phase, and in post-COVID-19 recovery. In the region of Catalonia, Spain, selected PAC centers have become sites to treat older patients with COVID-19.

Substance P autocrine signaling contributes to persistent HER2 activation that drives malignant progression and drug resistance in breast cancer.

ERBB receptor transmodulation by heterologous G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) generates functional diversity in signal transduction. Tachykinins are neuropeptides and proinflammatory cytokines that promote cell survival and cancer progression by activating several GPCRs. In this work, we found that the pain-associated tachykinin Substance P (SP) contributes to persistent transmodulation of the ERBB receptors, EGFR and HER2, in breast cancer, acting to enhance malignancy and therapeutic resistance.

Targeting of substance P induces cancer cell death and decreases the steady state of EGFR and Her2.

NK1 is a tachykinin receptor highly relevant to tumorigenesis and metastasis development in breast cancer and other carcinomas. Despite the substantial efforts done to develop potent NK1 receptor antagonists, none of these antagonists had shown good antitumor activity in clinical trials. Now, we have tested the effect of inhibition of the neuropeptide Substance P (SP), a NK1 ligand, as a potential therapeutic approach in cancer.

Human HMGCS2 regulates mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and FGF21 expression in HepG2 cell line.

HMGCS2 (hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA synthase 2), the gene that regulates ketone body production, is barely expressed in cultured cell lines. In this study, we restored HMGCS2 expression and activity in HepG2 cells, thus showing that the wild type enzyme can induce fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) and ketogenesis, whereas a catalytically inactive mutant C166A did not generate either process. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α expression also induces fatty acid β-oxidation and endogenous HMGCS2 expression.

Tumor promoting effects of CD95 signaling in chemoresistant cells.

Background: CD95 is a death receptor controlling not only apoptotic pathways but also activating mechanisms promoting tumor growth. During the acquisition of chemoresistance to oxaliplatin there is a progressive loss of CD95 expression in colon cancer cells and a decreased ability of this receptor to induce cell death. The aim of this study was to characterize some key cellular responses controlled by CD95 signaling in oxaliplatin-resistant colon cancer cells.

Ketogenic HMGCS2 Is a c-Myc target gene expressed in differentiated cells of human colonic epithelium and down-regulated in colon cancer.

HMGCS2, the gene that regulates ketone body production, is expressed in liver and several extrahepatic tissues, such as the colon. In CaCo-2 colonic epithelial cells, the expression of this gene increases with cell differentiation. Accordingly, immunohistochemistry with specific antibodies shows that HMGCS2 is expressed mainly in differentiated cells of human colonic epithelium.