Microlophus atacamensis as a biomonitor of coastal contamination in the Atacama Desert, Chile: An evaluation through a non-lethal technique.

In this report, we investigated the accumulation of heavy metals in the lizard Microlophus atacamensis, in three coastal areas of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We captured reptiles in a non-intervened area (Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar, PAZ), an area of mining impact (Caleta Palitos, PAL) and an active industrial zone (Puerto de Caldera, CAL). Our methods included a non-lethal sampling of reptiles' tails obtained by autotomy and a few sacrificed animals to perform a stomach contents analysis.

Data on metal accumulation in the tails of the lizard in a coastal zone of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: A non-destructive biomonitoring tool for heavy metal pollution.

In this data article, we investigated the accumulation of heavy metals in the lizard , in three coastal areas of the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. We captured lizards in a non-intervened area (Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar, PAZ), an area of mining impact (Caleta Palitos, PAL) and an active industrial zone (Puerto de Caldera, CAL). Our methods included a non-lethal sampling of lizard's tails obtained by autotomy.

[Effects of the Bright Bodies Program in Chilean obese children].

Background: Yale University's Bright Bodies Program consists on a lifestyle intervention, in areas such as nutrition and exercise, while focusing on behavior modification and family support.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of the Program in Chilean children and adolescents with obesity who participated in the Program during 8 months.

Material And Methods: The weight management Program was carried out during 8 months and consisted in weekly sessions directed by dietitians or psychologists and exercise sessions twice per week in charge of physical education teachers.

Immunoproteasome deficiency modifies the alternative pathway of NFκB signaling.

Immunoproteasome is a protease abundant in immune cells and also present, albeit at lower concentrations, in cells outside the immune system. Recent evidence supports a novel role for the immunoproteasome in the cellular stress response potentially through regulation of NFκB signaling, which is the primary response to multiple stressors. The current study tests whether the Classical or Alternative Pathways are regulated by immunoproteasome following chronic TNFα exposure in cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells isolated from wild-type mice and mice deficient in one (LMP2, L2) or two (LMP7 and MECL-1, L7M1) immunoproteasome subunits.

Corneal wound healing is compromised by immunoproteasome deficiency.

Recent studies have revealed roles for immunoproteasome in regulating cell processes essential for maintaining homeostasis and in responding to stress and injury. The current study investigates how the absence of immunoproteasome affects the corneal epithelium under normal and stressed conditions by comparing corneas from wildtype (WT) mice and those deficient in two immunoproteasome catalytic subunits (lmp7(-/-)/mecl-1(-/-), L7M1). Immunoproteasome expression was confirmed in WT epithelial cells and in cells of the immune system that were present in the cornea.

A novel role for the immunoproteasome in retinal function.

Purpose: The immunoproteasome is a proteasome subtype with a well-characterized role in the immune system. The presence of high immunoproteasome concentrations in the photoreceptors and synaptic regions of the immune-privileged retina implies a role in visual transmission. In this study, immunoproteasome knockout (KO) mice lacking either one (lmp7(-/-), L7) or two (lmp7(-/-)/mecl-1(-/-), L7M1) catalytic subunits of the immunoproteasome were used to test the hypothesis that it is essential for the maintenance of normal retinal function.

Immunoproteasome deficiency alters retinal proteasome's response to stress.

Our previous work demonstrated that immunoproteasome is up-regulated in the retina and brain in response to injury that does not involve an inflammatory response (J. Neurochem. 2008; 106:158).

The charged milieu: a major player in fertilization reactions.

In previous studies, we have found that negatively charged, but not uncharged, amino acids and sugars block sea urchin fertilization. These studies were developed from modeling work in non-living systems using derivatized agarose beads that suggested that charge-charge bonding may control at least some adhesive interactions. In the present study, the effects of positively charged, negatively charged and uncharged molecules were examined in the sea urchin sperm-egg system in over 300 individual trials.