New markers for human ovarian cancer that link platinum resistance to the cancer stem cell phenotype and define new therapeutic combinations and diagnostic tools.

Background: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer-related death, due in part to a late diagnosis and a high rate of recurrence. Primary and acquired platinum resistance is related to a low response probability to subsequent lines of treatment and to a poor survival. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that drive platinum resistance is urgently needed.

Coordinated downregulation of Spinophilin and the catalytic subunits of PP1, PPP1CA/B/C, contributes to a worse prognosis in lung cancer.

The scaffold protein Spinophilin (Spinophilin, PPP1R9B) is one of the regulatory subunits of phosphatase-1 (PP1), directing it to distinct subcellular locations and targets. The loss of Spinophilin reduces PP1 targeting to pRb, thereby maintaining higher levels of phosphorylated pRb. Spinophilin is absent or reduced in approximately 40% of human lung tumors, correlating with the malignant grade.

Efficacy of CDK4 inhibition against sarcomas depends on their levels of CDK4 and p16ink4 mRNA.

Sarcomas are malignant tumors accounting for a high percentage of cancer morbidity and mortality in children and young adults. Surgery and radiation therapy are the accepted treatments for most sarcomas; however, patients with metastatic disease are treated with systemic chemotherapy. Many tumors display marginal levels of chemoresponsiveness and new treatment approaches are needed.

High casein kinase 1 epsilon levels are correlated with better prognosis in subsets of patients with breast cancer.

Reliable biological markers that predict breast cancer (BC) outcomes after multidisciplinary therapy have not been fully elucidated. We investigated the association between casein kinase 1 epsilon (CK1ε) and the risk of recurrence in patients with BC. Using 168 available tumor samples from patients with BC treated with surgery +/- chemo(radio)therapy, we scored the CK1ε expression as high (≥ 1.

MAP17 and SGLT1 protein expression levels as prognostic markers for cervical tumor patient survival.

MAP17 is a membrane-associated protein that is overexpressed in human tumors. Because the expression of MAP17 increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation through SGLT1 in cancer cells, in the present work, we investigated whether MAP17 and/or SGLT1 might be markers for the activity of treatments involving oxidative stress, such as cisplatin or radiotherapy. First, we confirmed transcriptional alterations in genes involved in the oxidative stress induced by MAP17 expression in HeLa cervical tumor cells and found that Hela cells expressing MAP17 were more sensitive to therapies that induce ROS than were parental cells.

Dimensions of attention impairment and negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a multidimensional approach using the conners continuous performance test in a Spanish population.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the specific features of attention impairment in patients with schizophrenia and the correlation between those features and the patients' clinical status.

Methods: We administered the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II), with cognitive and clinical scales, to 40 Spanish inpatients with schizophrenia and 40 healthy controls, and used a cross-sectional design to compare the groups' performances. We identified correlations between the measures and used multiple regression analyses to develop models showing how attention impairment contributed to clinical status.

Down-regulation of spinophilin in lung tumours contributes to tumourigenesis.

The scaffold protein spinophilin (Spn, PPP1R9B) is one of the regulatory subunits of phosphatase-1a (PP1), targeting it to distinct subcellular locations and to its target. Loss of Spn reduces PPP1CA levels, thereby maintaining higher levels of phosphorylated pRb. This effect contributes to an increase in p53 activity.

Cellular senescence as a target in cancer control.

Somatic cells show a spontaneous decline in growth rate in continuous culture. This is not related to elapsed time but to an increasing number of population doublings, eventually terminating in a quiescent but viable state termed replicative senescence. These cells are commonly multinucleated and do not respond to mitogens or apoptotic stimuli.

Behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome battery (BADS) in schizophrenia: a pilot study in the Spanish population.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to explore the diagnostic features of the behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome battery (BADS) in the Spanish population of chronic schizophrenia patients, its concurrent validity with other classic neuropsychologic tests of executive dysfunction, and its correlates with clinical variables.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 61 patients with chronic schizophrenia and in a control group of 35 healthy participants. The diagnostic characteristics of the test were studied.

Battery for assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) in schizophrenia: a pilot study in the Spanish population.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to research the following issues in a Spanish population of patients with schizophrenia. (a) The sensitivity and reliability of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) to detect cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. (b) The convergent validity of RBANS on a larger battery of neuropsychological tests sensitive to the cognition disorders typically observed in schizophrenia.

Human Rickettsia sibirica mongolitimonae infection, Spain.

Human Infection, Spain