Role of PumB antitoxin as a transcriptional regulator of the PumAB type-II toxin-antitoxin system and its endoribonuclease activity on the PumA (toxin) transcript.

The PumAB type-II toxin-antitoxin (TA) system is encoded by pumAB genes that are organized into an operon. This system is encoded by the pUM505 plasmid, isolated from a Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical strain. The pumA gene encodes a putative RelE toxin protein (toxic component), whereas the pumB gene encodes a putative HTH antitoxin protein.

Role of the Non-Canonical RNAi Pathway in the Antifungal Resistance and Virulence of Mucorales.

Mucorales are the causal agents for the lethal disease known as mucormycosis. Mortality rates of mucormycosis can reach up to 90%, due to the mucoralean antifungal drug resistance and the lack of effective therapies. A concerning urgency among the medical and scientific community claims to find targets for the development of new treatments.

Patterns of genetic diversity in Colombia for 38 indels used in human identification.

The current population of Colombia has a genetic heterogeneity resulting from different migrations from other continents and within the country. In addition, there are small groups in their territory that have remained isolated and therefore have a different genetic pool in relation to that of the neighbouring urban populations. This population stratification must be considered in forensic analysis, being more complex for markers with marked intercontinental differentiation.

The Evolutionary Significance of RNAi in the Fungal Kingdom.

RNA interference (RNAi) was discovered at the end of last millennium, changing the way scientists understood regulation of gene expression. Within the following two decades, a variety of different RNAi mechanisms were found in eukaryotes, reflecting the evolutive diversity that RNAi entails. The essential silencing mechanism consists of an RNase III enzyme called Dicer that cleaves double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) generating small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), a hallmark of RNAi.

Antimicrobial resistance profiles of microorganisms isolated from hospitalized patients in Dominican Republic.

Objective: To define the antimicrobial resistance profiles of the microorganisms most commonly isolated from hospitalized adult patients in Dominican Republic (DR).

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study of phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility patterns was conducted using data from 3 802 clinical microbiology reports specifying positive bacterial cultures in samples collected from patients admitted to the clinical, surgery, and intensive care units (ICU) at three tertiary-level care hospitals in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros from 1 January 2016 - 31 December 2017. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test ( ≤ 0.

Systemic Type I IFN Inflammation in Human ISG15 Deficiency Leads to Necrotizing Skin Lesions.

Most monogenic disorders have a primary clinical presentation. Inherited ISG15 deficiency, however, has manifested with two distinct presentations to date: susceptibility to mycobacterial disease and intracranial calcifications from hypomorphic interferon-II (IFN-II) production and excessive IFN-I response, respectively. Accordingly, these patients were managed for their infectious and neurologic complications.

Effect of vaccination against oral HPV-16 infection in high school students in the city of Cali, Colombia.

Introduction: In recent years, an association between HPV-16 and oropharyngeal cancers has been reported. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate whether vaccination decreases the exposure of HPV-16 in the oral cavity.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of vaccination on oral HPV-16 infection in high school students in the city of Cali, Colombia.

A GHEP-ISFG collaborative study on the genetic variation of 38 autosomal indels for human identification in different continental populations.

A collaborative effort was carried out by the Spanish and Portuguese Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (GHEP-ISFG) to promote knowledge exchange between associate laboratories interested in the implementation of indel-based methodologies and build allele frequency databases of 38 indels for forensic applications. These databases include populations from different countries that are relevant for identification and kinship investigations undertaken by the participating laboratories. Before compiling population data, participants were asked to type the 38 indels in blind samples from annual GHEP-ISFG proficiency tests, using an amplification protocol previously described.

II - Insulin processing in mitochondria.

Our objective was to know how insulin is processing in mitochondria; if IDE is the only participant in mitochondrial insulin degradation and the role of insulin degradation on IDE accumulation in mitoplasts. Mitochondria and its fractions were isolated as described by Greenwalt. IDE was purified and detected in immunoblot with specific antibodies.

Outlining the Ancestry Landscape of Colombian Admixed Populations.

The ancestry of the Colombian population comprises a large number of well differentiated Native communities belonging to diverse linguistic groups. In the late fifteenth century, a process of admixture was initiated with the arrival of the Europeans, and several years later, Africans also became part of the Colombian population. Therefore, the genepool of the current Colombian population results from the admixture of Native Americans, Europeans and Africans.

Protease and hemicellulase assisted extraction of dietary fiber from wastes of Cynara cardunculus.

The action of protease and hemicellulase for the extraction of fractions enriched in soluble fiber from bracts and stems of Cynara cardunculus was evaluated. Using a two-factor simplex design comprising protease amounts of 0-200 μL and hemicellulase amounts of 0-200 mg for 5 g of material, we explored the effect of a 5 h enzymatic treatment at 40 °C on the chemical composition and yield of the fractions isolated. The fractions contained inulin and pectin.

Evaluating the X chromosome-specific diversity of Colombian populations using insertion/deletion polymorphisms.

The European and African contribution to the pre-existing Native American background has influenced the complex genetic pool of Colombia. Because colonisation was not homogeneous in this country, current populations are, therefore, expected to have different proportions of Native American, European and African ancestral contributions. The aim of this work was to examine 11 urban admixed populations and a Native American group, called Pastos, for 32 X chromosome indel markers to expand the current knowledge concerning the genetic background of Colombia.

Comparison of the genetic background of different Colombian populations using the SNPforID 52plex identification panel.

Various strategies for analysing SNP markers and genotyping have been published with the goal of obtaining informative profiles from biological samples that contain only small amounts of template and/or degraded DNA. In this study, a multiplex assay of 52 autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was used to analyse 438 individuals from urban populations from different regions of Colombia, as well as a sample of 50 Native American individuals of the Pastos ethnic group from Nariño. To determine if significant differences in these 52 SNPs exist between the distinct regions of Colombia, genetic distance and admixture analyses were performed based on the available data for 17 different Colombian population groups and for population groups from Africa, Europe and America.

Plasma cortisol activity in rats under conditions of chronic stress supplemented with resveratrol.

Objective: To determine the activity of cortisol in rats treated with exogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and a resveratrol supplement.

Methods: Forty-eight adult female rats and 16 male rats of the strain (Rattus norvegicus) that were three months old and with body weights ranging from 200 to 250 g for females and 300 to 350 g for males were used and kept in controlled environmental conditions: temperature of 20±2° C and light-dark cycles of 14 and 10 hours. They were fed a balanced diet and had free access to water.

Sequential NO production by mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum during induced apoptosis.

Early stages of rat thymocyte apoptosis measured as annexin-V positive events and induced by methylprednisolone (MPS), etoposide, and thapsigargin, showed a sequential increase in nitric oxide (NO) production by mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Thapsigargin induced the highest NO production, a sevenfold increase as compared with untreated thymocytes, in mitochondrial and microsomal membranes. MPS and etoposide were equally effective in increasing NO production by mitochondrial membranes by a factor of 4-5, with only a slight increase in NO production by endoplasmic reticulum membranes.