Metabolic features of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles: challenges and opportunities.

Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TDEVs) play crucial roles in intercellular communication both in the local tumor microenvironment and systemically, facilitating tumor progression and metastatic spread. They carry a variety of molecules with bioactive properties, such as nucleic acids, proteins and metabolites, that trigger different signaling processes in receptor cells and induce, among other downstream effects, metabolic reprogramming. Interestingly, the cargo of TDEVs also reflects the metabolic status of the producing cells in a time- and context-dependent manner, providing information on the functionality and state of those cells.

[A panel model of the relationships between loneliness and depression in older adults].

Antecedents And Objective: The declining birth rate and increasing life expectancy have led to an aging population, causing challenges at the economic, social and healthcare levels. Ensuring and maintaining high levels of well-being and mental health in older adults is crucial for successful aging. Given that previous literature indicates that perceived loneliness and depressive symptoms constitute significant obstacles to their quality of life, the aim of this study is to examine how perceived loneliness and depression intertwined in community-dwelling older adults over time.

Fatty acid oxidation is critical for the tumorigenic potential and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer stem cells.

Background: We have previously demonstrated the significant reliance of pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells (PaCSCs) on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), which enables versatile substrate utilization, including fatty acids (FAs). Notably, dysregulated lipid scavenging and aberrant FA metabolism are implicated in PDAC progression.

Methods & Results: Our bioinformatics analyses revealed elevated expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in PDAC tissue samples compared to normal tissue samples, which correlated with a stemness signature.

Physico-chemical characterization of the tumour microenvironment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive lethal malignancy that accounts for more than 90% of pancreatic cancer diagnoses. Our research is focused on the physico-chemical properties of the tumour microenvironment (TME), including its tumoural extracellular matrix (tECM), as they may have an important impact on the success of cancer therapies. PDAC xenografts and their decellularized tECM offer a great material source for research in terms of biomimicry with the original human tumour.

Structural Validity and Internal Consistency of the Adolescents and Children Risk of Abuse and Maltreatment Parental Scale (ACRAM-PS).

There is a clear need for developing a comprehensive, unbiased, and psychometrically sound tool to assess child maltreatment. The aim of this study is to examine the structural validity, internal consistency, and convergent validity of a newly developed child maltreatment assessment instrument. A total of 286 professionals of the child protection system participated in the study, completing a total of 645 cases of children and adolescents.

Pharmacological targeting of the receptor ALK inhibits tumorigenicity and overcomes chemoresistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely aggressive disease characterized by its metastatic potential and chemoresistance. These traits are partially attributable to the highly tumorigenic pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs). Interestingly, these cells show unique features in order to sustain their identity and functionality, some of them amenable for therapeutic intervention.

Metabolic determinants of stemness in medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastomas (MBs) are the most prevalent brain tumours in children. They are classified as grade IV, the highest in malignancy, with about 30% metastatic tumours at the time of diagnosis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subset of tumour cells that can initiate and support tumour growth.

Macrophages direct cancer cells through a LOXL2-mediated metastatic cascade in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Objective: The lysyl oxidase-like protein 2 (LOXL2) contributes to tumour progression and metastasis in different tumour entities, but its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been evaluated in immunocompetent in vivo PDAC models.

Design: Towards this end, we used PDAC patient data sets, patient-derived xenograft in vivo and in vitro models, and four conditional genetically-engineered mouse models (GEMMS) to dissect the role of LOXL2 in PDAC. For GEMM-based studies, ; ; mice (KPC) and the ; mice (KC) were crossed with allele floxed mice ( ) or conditional overexpressing mice (R26 ) to generate KPCL2 or KCL2 and KPCL2 or KCL2 mice, which were used to study overall survival; tumour incidence, burden and differentiation; metastases; epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT); stemness and extracellular collagen matrix (ECM) organisation.

Measurement Invariance of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) in Peruvian and Spanish Older Adults.

Although the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) has been validated in some European and American countries, there are no studies that evaluate its factorial invariance among different nations. In this sense, the objective of the study is to evaluate the factorial invariance of the BRCS in samples of older adults in Peru and Spain, using multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. 236 older adults from Peru participated (Mean age = 72.

Lipid droplets as metabolic determinants for stemness and chemoresistance in cancer.

Previously regarded as simple fat storage particles, new evidence suggests that lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic and functional organelles involved in key cellular processes such as membrane biosynthesis, lipid metabolism, cell signalling and inflammation. Indeed, an increased LD content is one of the most apparent features resulting from lipid metabolism reprogramming necessary to support the basic functions of cancer cells. LDs have been associated to different cellular processes involved in cancer progression and aggressiveness, such as tumorigenicity, invasion and metastasis, as well as chemoresistance.

Glucose and Amino Acid Metabolic Dependencies Linked to Stemness and Metastasis in Different Aggressive Cancer Types.

Malignant cells are commonly characterised by being capable of invading tissue, growing self-sufficiently and uncontrollably, being insensitive to apoptosis induction and controlling their environment, for example inducing angiogenesis. Amongst them, a subpopulation of cancer cells, called cancer stem cells (CSCs) shows sustained replicative potential, tumor-initiating properties and chemoresistance. These characteristics make CSCs responsible for therapy resistance, tumor relapse and growth in distant organs, causing metastatic dissemination.

Quality of Life in European Older Adults of SHARE Wave 7: Comparing the Old and the Oldest-Old.

CASP-12 (Control, Autonomy, Self-realization, and Pleasure scale) is one of the most common internationally used measures for quality of life in older adults, although its structure is not clearly established. Current research aims to test the factor structure of the CASP-12, so as to provide evidence on reliability and external validity, and to test for measurement invariance across age groups. Data from 61,355 Europeans (≥60 years old) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe wave 7 were used.

Inhibition of Mitochondrial Dynamics Preferentially Targets Pancreatic Cancer Cells with Enhanced Tumorigenic and Invasive Potential.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest tumors, partly due to its intrinsic aggressiveness, metastatic potential, and chemoresistance of the contained cancer stem cells (CSCs). Pancreatic CSCs strongly rely on mitochondrial metabolism to maintain their stemness, therefore representing a putative target for their elimination. Since mitochondrial homeostasis depends on the tightly controlled balance between fusion and fission processes, namely mitochondrial dynamics, we aim to study this mechanism in the context of stemness.

Molecular and Metabolic Subtypes Correspondence for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Classification.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common form of pancreatic cancer, is an extremely lethal disease due to late diagnosis, aggressiveness and lack of effective therapies. Considering its intrinsic heterogeneity, patient stratification models based on transcriptomic and genomic signatures, with partially overlapping subgroups, have been established. Besides molecular alterations, PDAC tumours show a strong desmoplastic response, resulting in profound metabolic reprogramming involving increased glucose and amino acid consumption, as well as lipid scavenging and biosynthesis.

Glutathione metabolism is essential for self-renewal and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer stem cells.

Background: Cellular metabolism regulates stemness in health and disease.  A reduced redox state is essential for self-renewal of normal and cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, while stem cells rely on glycolysis, different CSCs, including pancreatic CSCs, favor mitochondrial metabolism as their dominant energy-producing pathway.

Exploiting oxidative phosphorylation to promote the stem and immunoevasive properties of pancreatic cancer stem cells.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the fourth leading cause of cancer death, has a 5-year survival rate of approximately 7-9%. The ineffectiveness of anti-PDAC therapies is believed to be due to the existence of a subpopulation of tumor cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are functionally plastic, and have exclusive tumorigenic, chemoresistant and metastatic capacities. Herein, we describe a 2D in vitro system for long-term enrichment of pancreatic CSCs that is amenable to biological and CSC-specific studies.

Measurement of the will to live in older adults: Transcultural adaptation, validity and reliability of the Will-to-Live Scale.

Objective: The Will-to-Live Scale (WTLS) is used to measure the will to live in older adults; however, there is no Spanish version. The objective of the study was to translate the WTLS into Spanish, assess its internal structure, reliability, and the correlates between WTLS and life satisfaction, resilience, and depression in older Peruvian adults.

Method: The participants were 235 Peruvian older adults (M=72.

Erratum: Pérez-Belmonte, S., et al. Subtypes of Depression: Latent Class Analysis in Spanish Old People with Depressive Symptoms. 2020, , 70.

The authors wish to make the following erratum to this paper [...

ISG15 and ISGylation is required for pancreatic cancer stem cell mitophagy and metabolic plasticity.

Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs) drive pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, chemoresistance and metastasis. While eliminating this subpopulation of cells would theoretically result in tumor eradication, PaCSCs are extremely plastic and can successfully adapt to targeted therapies. In this study, we demonstrate that PaCSCs increase expression of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) and protein ISGylation, which are essential for maintaining their metabolic plasticity.

Subtypes of Depression: Latent Class Analysis in Spanish Old People with Depressive Symptoms.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most disabling disorders and the one that most contributes to disability. When it occurs in older people, it is an additional burden to their potential physical and cognitive deficiencies, making MDD an important public health problem that supposes a large investment in health. There is a clear lack of consistency between the subtypes of depression found in the literature, ranging from two to seven classes, with three being the most commonly found non-melancholic, melancholic and psychotic, or putative psychotics.

Cancer associated fibroblast FAK regulates malignant cell metabolism.

Emerging evidence suggests that cancer cell metabolism can be regulated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), but the mechanisms are poorly defined. Here we show that CAFs regulate malignant cell metabolism through pathways under the control of FAK. In breast and pancreatic cancer patients we find that low FAK expression, specifically in the stromal compartment, predicts reduced overall survival.

Mitochondrial determinants of chemoresistance.

Chemoresistance constitute nowadays the major contributor to therapy failure in most cancers. There are main factors that mitigate cell response to therapy, such as target organ, inherent sensitivity to the administered compound, its metabolism, drug efflux and influx or alterations on specific cellular targets, among others. We now know that intrinsic properties of cancer cells, including metabolic features, substantially contribute to chemoresistance.