SGnn: A Web Server for the Prediction of Prion-Like Domains Recruitment to Stress Granules Upon Heat Stress.

Proteins bearing prion-like domains (PrLDs) are essential players in stress granules (SG) assembly. Analysis of data on heat stress-induced recruitment of yeast PrLDs to SG suggests that this propensity might be connected with three defined protein biophysical features: aggregation propensity, net charge, and the presence of free cysteines. These three properties can be read directly in the PrLDs sequences, and their combination allows to predict protein recruitment to SG under heat stress.

DispHred: A Server to Predict pH-Dependent Order-Disorder Transitions in Intrinsically Disordered Proteins.

The natively unfolded nature of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) relies on several physicochemical principles, of which the balance between a low sequence hydrophobicity and a high net charge appears to be critical. Under this premise, it is well-known that disordered proteins populate a defined region of the charge-hydropathy (C-H) space and that a linear boundary condition is sufficient to distinguish between folded and disordered proteins, an approach widely applied for the prediction of protein disorder. Nevertheless, it is evident that the C-H relation of a protein is not unalterable but can be modulated by factors extrinsic to its sequence.

pH-Dependent Aggregation in Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Is Determined by Charge and Lipophilicity.

Protein aggregation is associated with an increasing number of human disorders and premature aging. Moreover, it is a central concern in the manufacturing of recombinant proteins for biotechnological and therapeutic applications. Nevertheless, the unique architecture of protein aggregates is also exploited by nature for functional purposes, from bacteria to humans.

Morphine infusor pump switch to oral methadone.

Between 2014 and 2017, four patients with widespread cancer were referred to a home palliative care team from a hospital in Oviedo (Spain) with subcutaneous elastomeric infusion pump containing 180-260 mg/day of morphine for previously uncontrolled pain. 3-4 rotations were performed over 5-11 days, gradually substituting morphine for oral methadone (three times a day) to minimise the risks of rapid conversion, with a highly variable final subcutaneous morphine:oral methadone ratio (5:1 to 17:1), guided by the absence of pain, and to enhance the patient's functional capacity avoiding device dependence. The final methadone dose varied between 15 and 39 mg/day.

Melatonin Cytotoxicity Is Associated to Warburg Effect Inhibition in Ewing Sarcoma Cells.

Melatonin kills or inhibits the proliferation of different cancer cell types, and this is associated with an increase or a decrease in reactive oxygen species, respectively. Intracellular oxidants originate mainly from oxidative metabolism, and cancer cells frequently show alterations in this metabolic pathway, such as the Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis). Thus, we hypothesized that melatonin could also regulate differentially oxidative metabolism in cells where it is cytotoxic (Ewing sarcoma cells) and in cells where it inhibits proliferation (chondrosarcoma cells).

Mechanisms involved in the pro-apoptotic effect of melatonin in cancer cells.

It is well established that melatonin exerts antitumoral effects in many cancer types, mostly decreasing cell proliferation at low concentrations. On the other hand, induction of apoptosis by melatonin has been described in the last few years in some particular cancer types. The cytotoxic effect occurs after its administration at high concentrations, and the molecular pathways involved have been only partially determined.

[Family medicine: the Cinderella of undergraduate studies? Study of the views of medical students about the speciality of family and community medicine].

Objective: To find the views of students doing the last year of medicine on the specialty of family and community medicine (FCM).

Design: Cross-sectional study through self-administered questionnaire.

Setting: Medical faculties of the Universities of Oviedo and Cantabria.