Publications by authors named "Maria-Julieta Gonzalez"

Article Synopsis
  • Sjögren's disease is a chronic autoimmune condition primarily causing dry mouth and eyes, alongside other symptoms.
  • It involves reduced saliva production and changes in the quality of mucins, which are essential for mouth and eye hydration.
  • A protein called Giantin is mislocalized in the salivary glands of Sjögren’s patients, disrupting its interaction with enzymes that modify mucins, potentially explaining decreased mucin sulfation in these individuals.
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Salivary secretory dysfunction in SS-patients is associated with altered proteostasis, upregulation of ATF6α and components of the ERAD complex, such as SEL1L, and downregulation of XBP-1s and GRP78. Hsa-miR-424-5p is downregulated and hsa-miR-513c-3p is overexpressed in salivary glands from SS-patients. These miRNAs emerged as candidates that could regulate ATF6/SEL1L and XBP-1s/GRP78 levels, respectively.

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Article Synopsis
  • Primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a disease that affects the salivary and tear glands, making it hard for people to produce saliva and tears.
  • In patients with SS, stress on their cells causes changes in important proteins that help the cells deal with stress, but this can lead to inflammation and other health problems.
  • Researchers studied saliva glands from SS patients and found that certain stress-related proteins were activated more in these patients compared to those without SS, which may affect how well the cells function.
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Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and can be treated with glucocorticoids (GC), although some patients are unresponsive to this therapy. The transcription factor LRH-1/ is critical to intestinal cortisol production (intestinal steroidogenesis), being reduced in UC patients. However, the relationship between LRH-1 expression and distribution with altered corticosteroid responses is unknown.

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (sRNA), that alter gene expression by binding to target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and repressing translation. Dysregulated miRNA expression has been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome (SS). The aim of this study was to characterize the global profile of sRNAs in labial salivary glands (LSG) from SS-patients and to validate potential miRNA candidates implicated in glandular inflammation.

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Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease that mainly affects salivary glands (SG) and is characterized by overactivation of the type I interferon (IFN) pathway. Type I IFNs can decrease the levels of hsa-miR-145-5p, a miRNA with anti-inflammatory roles that is downregulated in SG from SS-patients. Two relevant targets of hsa-miR-145-5p, mucin 1 (MUC1) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) are overexpressed in SS-patients and contribute to SG inflammation and dysfunction.

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Relevant reviews highlight the association between dysfunctional mitochondria and inflammation, but few studies address the contribution of mitochondria and mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) contact sites (MERCs) to cellular homeostasis and inflammatory signaling. The present review outlines the important role of mitochondria in cellular homeostasis and how dysfunctional mitochondrion can release and misplace mitochondrial components (cardiolipin, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and mitochondrial formylated peptides) through multiple mechanisms. These components can act as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and induce an inflammatory response via pattern recognition receptors (PRRs).

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Objective: This systematic review aims to describe the value of saliva as a noninvasive sample for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in comparison with the current method for sample collection, the nasopharyngeal swab.

Study Design: We conducted a systematic review of the literature following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations. We searched in 5 databases (PubMed, Cochrane, EBSCO, Elsevier, and MEDLINE) and included articles published between December 2019 and July 2020.

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Objective: Altered homeostasis of salivary gland (SG) epithelial cells in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) could be the initiating factor that leads to inflammation, secretory dysfunction and autoimmunity. Autophagy is an important homeostatic mechanism, whose deficiency is associated with inflammation and accumulation of Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) components. We aimed to evaluate whether autophagy is altered in labial SG (LSG) epithelial cells from primary SS (pSS) patients and whether this contributes to inflammation through the JAK-STAT pathway.

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Objectives: Myofibroblasts constitute a specific cell phenotype involved in connective tissue healing. Diabetes alters the wound healing response. However, it is not clear whether diabetes modifies the involvement of myofibroblasts in periodontal wounds.

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Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by mucosa damage associated with an uncontrolled inflammatory response. This immunological impairment leads to altered inflammatory mediators such as IL-33, which is shown to increase in the mucosa of active UC (aUC) patients. MicroRNAs present a distorted feature in inflamed colonic mucosa and are potential IL-33 regulating candidates in UC.

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Phenylketonuric (PKU) patients are a population at risk for sleep disorders due to deficits in neurotransmitter synthesis. We aimed to study the prevalence of sleep disorders in early-treated PKU children and adolescents and assessed correlations with dopamine and serotonin status. We compared 32 PKU patients (16 females, 16 males; mean age 12 years), with a healthy control group of 32 subjects (16 females, 16 males; mean age 11.

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Objectives: Xerostomia in SS patients has been associated with low quality and quantity of salivary mucins, which are fundamental for the hydration and protection of the oral mucosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate if cytokines induce aberrant mucin expression and whether tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is able to counteract such an anomaly.

Methods: Labial salivary glands from 16 SS patients and 15 control subjects, as well as 3D acini or human submandibular gland cells stimulated with TNF-α or IFN-γ and co-incubated with TUDCA, were analysed.

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In colorectal cancer (CRC), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the most abundant component from the tumor microenvironment (TM). CAFs facilitate tumor progression by inducing angiogenesis, immune suppression and invasion, thus altering the organization/composition of the extracellular matrix (i.e.

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Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), collectively known as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), are caused by a complex interplay between genetic, immunologic, microbial and environmental factors. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is increasingly considered to be causatively related to IBD and is strongly affected by components of a Western life style. Bacteria that ferment fibers and produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are typically reduced in mucosa and feces of patients with IBD, as compared to healthy individuals.

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Identifying diseases displaying chronic low plasma Coenzyme Q (CoQ) values may be important to prevent possible cardiovascular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate plasma CoQ concentrations in a large cohort of pediatric and young adult patients. We evaluated plasma CoQ values in 597 individuals (age range 1 month to 43 years, average 11 years), studied during the period 2005-2016.

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A complex network of chemokines can influence cancer progression with the recruitment and activation of hematopoietic cells, including macrophages to the supporting tumor stroma promoting carcinogenesis and metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between tissue and plasma chemokine levels involved in macrophage recruitment with tumor-associated macrophage profile markers and clinicopathological features such as tumor-node-metastases stage, desmoplasia, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular endothelial growth factor plasma content. Plasma and tumor/healthy mucosa were obtained from Chilean patients undergoing colon cancer surgery.

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Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune exocrinopathy associated with severe secretory alterations by disruption of the glandular architecture integrity, which is fundamental for a correct function and localization of the secretory machinery. Syt-1, PI(4,5)P and Ca are significant factors controlling exocytosis in different secretory cells, the Ca role being the most studied. Salivary acinar cells from SS-patients show a defective agonist-regulated intracellular Ca release together with a decreased IP3R expression level, and this condition may explain a reduced water release.

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Background: Despite dietary intervention, individuals with early treated phenylketonuria (ETPKU) could present neurocognitive deficits and white matter (WM) abnormalities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microstructural integrity of WM pathways across the whole brain in a cohort of paediatric ETPKU patients compared with healthy controls (HCs), by collecting DTI-MRI (diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging) data and diffusion values (mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD) and fractional anisotropy (FA)).

Methods: DTI-MRI data and diffusion values (MD, RD, FA) from WM tracts across the whole brain were analized using Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), in 15 paediatrics TPKU patients (median age: 12 years) and compared with 11 HCs.

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Background: Hyperammonaemia is a key sign of decompensation in organic acidurias (OAs) and can contribute to severe neurological complications, thus requiring rapid treatment.

Methods: A post-hoc analysis of two retrospective studies analysed the efficacy of carglumic acid ± ammonia (NH) scavengers compared with scavengers alone for reducing plasma NH levels in patients with OAs and hyperammonaemia (plasma NH > 60 μmol/L) during decompensation episodes. NH was analysed in 12-h periods at 0-48 h and 24-h periods at 48-120 h.

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Here, we determined the 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-methylcytosine (5mC), Ten Eleven Translocation (TETs), and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) levels in epithelial and inflammatory cells of labial salivary glands (LSG) from Sjögren's syndrome (SS)-patients and the effect of cytokines on HSG cells. LSG from SS-patients, controls and HSG cells incubated with cytokines were analysed. Levels of 5mC, 5hmC, DNMTs, TET2 and MeCP2 were assessed by immunofluorescence.

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For many years, researchers in the field of autoimmunity have focused on the role of the immune components in the etiopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, some studies have demonstrated the importance of target tissues in their pathogenesis and the breach of immune tolerance. The immune system as well as target tissue cells (plasmatic, β-pancreatic, fibroblast-like synoviocytes, thyroid follicular and epithelial cells of the lachrymal glands, salivary glands, intestine, bronchioles and renal tubules) share the characteristic of secretory cells with an extended endoplasmic reticulum (ER).

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Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder characterized by deregulated inflammation triggered by environmental factors. Notably, adherent-invasive (AIEC), a bacterium with the ability to survive within macrophages is believed to be one of such factors. Glucocorticoids are the first line treatment for CD and to date, it is unknown how they affect bactericidal and inflammatory properties of macrophages against AIEC.

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