Author Correction: Osmotic modulation of chromatin impacts on efficiency and kinetics of cell fate modulation

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Osmotic modulation of chromatin impacts on efficiency and kinetics of cell fate modulation

Chromatin structure is a major regulator of transcription and gene expression. Herein we explore the use of osmotic modulation to modify the chromatin structure and reprogram gene expression. In this study we use the extracellular osmotic pressure as a chromatin structure and transcriptional modulator. Hyposmotic modulation promotes chromatin loosening and induces changes in RNA polymerase II (Pol II) activity. The chromatin decondensation opens space for higher amounts of DNA engaged RNA Pol II. Hyposmotic modulation constitutes an alternative route to manipulate cell fate decisions. This technology was tested in model protocols of induced pluripotency and transdifferentiation in cells growing in suspension and adherent to substrates, CD34⁺ umbilical-cord-blood (UCB), fibroblasts and B-cells. The efficiency and kinetics of these cell fate modulation processes were improved by transient hyposmotic modulation of the cell environment.

Production of Electrospun Fast-Dissolving Drug Delivery Systems with Therapeutic Eutectic Systems Encapsulated in Gelatin

Fast-dissolving delivery systems (FDDS) have received increasing attention in the last years. Oral drug delivery is still the preferred route for the administration of pharmaceutical ingredients. Nevertheless, some patients, e.g. children or elderly people, have difficulties in swallowing solid tablets. In this work, gelatin membranes were produced by electrospinning, containing an encapsulated therapeutic deep-eutectic solvent (THEDES) composed by choline chloride/mandelic acid, in a 1:2 molar ratio. A gelatin solution (30% w/v) with 2% (v/v) of THEDES was used to produce electrospun fibers and the experimental parameters were optimized. Due to the high surface area of polymer fibers, this type of construct has wide applicability. With no cytotoxicity effect, and showing a fast-dissolving release profile in PBS, the gelatin fibers with encapsulated THEDES seem to have promising applications in the development of new drug delivery systems.

A comparison between pure active pharmaceutical ingredients and therapeutic deep eutectic solvents: Solubility and permeability studies

THEDES, so called therapeutic deep eutectic solvents are here defined as a mixture of two components, which at a particular molar composition become liquid at room temperature and in which one of them is an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). In this work, THEDES based on menthol complexed with three different APIs, ibuprofen (ibu), BA (BA) and phenylacetic acid (PA), were prepared. The interactions between the components that constitute the THEDES were studied by NMR, confirming that the eutectic system is formed by H-bonds between menthol and the API. The mobility of the THEDES components was studied by PFGSE NMR spectroscopy. It was determined that the self-diffusion of the species followed the same behavior as observed previously for ionic liquids, in which the components migrate via jumping between voids in the suprastructure created by punctual thermal fluctuations. The solubility and permeability of the systems in an isotonic solution was evaluated and a comparison with the pure APIs was established through diffusion and permeability studies carried out in a Franz cell. The solubility of the APIs when in the THEDES system can be improved up to 12 fold, namely for the system containing ibu. Furthermore, for this system the permeability was calculated to be 14×10^-5cm/s representing a 3 fold increase in comparison with the pure API. With the exception of the systems containing PA an increase in the solubility, coupled with an increase in permeability was observed. In this work, we hence demonstrate the efficiency of THEDES as a new formulation for the enhancement of the bioavailability of APIs by changing the physical state of the molecules from a solid dosage to a liquid system.

Oxidative Stress, DNA, Cell Cycle/Cell Cycle Associated Proteins and Multidrug Resistance Proteins: Targets of Human Amniotic Membrane in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The anticancer effects of human amniotic membrane (hAM) have been studied over the last decade. However, the action mechanisms responsible for these effects are not fully understood until now. Previously results reported by our team proved that hAM is able to induce cytotoxicity and cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a worldwide high incident and mortal cancer. Therefore, this experimental study aimed to investigate the cellular targets of hAM protein extracts (hAMPE) in HCC through in vitro studies. Our results showed that hAMPE is able to modify oxidative stress environment in all HCC cell lines, as well as its cell cycle. hAMPE differently targets deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), P21, P53, β-catenin and multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins in HCC cell lines. In conclusion, hAMPE has several targets in HCC, being clear that the success of this treatment depends of a personalized therapy based on the biological and genetic characteristics of the tumor.

Visualizing and Interacting with Kernelized Data

Kernel-based methods have experienced a substantial progress in the last years, tuning out an essential mechanism for data classification, clustering and pattern recognition. The effectiveness of kernel-based techniques, though, depends largely on the capability of the underlying kernel to properly embed data in the feature space associated to the kernel. However, visualizing how a kernel embeds the data in a feature space is not so straightforward, as the embedding map and the feature space are implicitly defined by the kernel. In this work, we present a novel technique to visualize the action of a kernel, that is, how the kernel embeds data into a high-dimensional feature space. The proposed methodology relies on a solid mathematical formulation to map kernelized data onto a visual space. Our approach is faster and more accurate than most existing methods while still allowing interactive manipulation of the projection layout, a game-changing trait that other kernel-based projection techniques do not have.

Psycho-Oncology in Portugal: It is Different from the Rest of the World?

Introduction

Psycho-Oncology (PO) is a specific psychiatric approach to cancer patients. The main psychiatric disorders observed are delirium and adjustment disorders (AD) and the most frequent treatments used are pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic.

With regard to the type of cancer, the most frequent in Portugal are breast, digestive and prostate.

Objective

Analyze the activity of PO in a district general hospital in Portugal.

Aims

Demonstrate that the main core in PO is similar in the world.

Methods

Prospective longitudinal study, during one year.

Results

The sample had 130 patients (369 evaluations), mainly male, with the mean age of 64.22 years. The most frequent psychiatric diagnoses were delirium (56 cases; 43%) and AD (44; 34%) and the main interventions used were pharmacologic and psycho-education. The most common frequent cancers were digestive (54; 42%), urologic (16; 12%) and breast (15; 11%). This high frequency of urologic cancer was interpreted as a consequence of the sample and its geographic location, but it was also a reflection of the large number of requests made by this specialty. The majority of cancers had an advanced stage (84% vs 16%) that can be explained by the sample but also by health culture in Portugal, which is reflected in the inpatient services: Oncology (51; 39%) and Palliative Care (25; 19%).

Conclusions

The type of psychiatric disorders and treatments offered in PO is preserved around the world. The authors propose to do more studies, namely if the relation with others specialties affects psychiatric treatment of the patient.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Dissolution enhancement of active pharmaceutical ingredients by therapeutic deep eutectic systems

A therapeutic deep eutectic system (THEDES) is here defined as a deep eutectic solvent (DES) having an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as one of the components. In this work, THEDESs are proposed as enhanced transporters and delivery vehicles for bioactive molecules. THEDESs based on choline chloride (ChCl) or menthol conjugated with three different APIs, namely acetylsalicylic acid (AA), benzoic acid (BA) and phenylacetic acid (PA), were synthesized and characterized for thermal behaviour, structural features, dissolution rate and antibacterial activity. Differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy showed that ChCl:PA (1:1), ChCl:AA (1:1), menthol:AA (3:1), menthol:BA (3:1), menthol:PA (2:1) and menthol:PA (3:1) were liquid at room temperature. Dissolution studies in PBS led to increased dissolution rates for the APIs when in the form of THEDES, compared to the API alone. The increase in dissolution rate was particularly noticeable for menthol-based THEDES. Antibacterial activity was assessed using both Gram-positive and Gram-negative model organisms. The results show that all the THEDESs retain the antibacterial activity of the API. Overall, our results highlight the great potential of THEDES as dissolution enhancers in the development of novel and more effective drug delivery systems.

Valorization of fatty acids-containing wastes and byproducts into short- and medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates

Olive oil distillate (OOD), biodiesel fatty acids-byproduct (FAB) and used cooking oil (UCO) were tested as inexpensive carbon sources for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) with different composition using twelve bacterial strains. OOD and FAB were exploited for the first time as alternative substrates for PHA production. UCO, OOD and FAB were used by Cupriavidus necator and Pseudomonas oleovorans to synthesize the homopolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, while Pseudomonas resinovorans and Pseudomonas citronellolis produced mcl-PHA polymers mainly composed of hydroxyoctanoate and hydroxydecanoate monomers. The highest polymer content in the biomass was obtained for C. necator (62 wt.%) cultivated on OOD. Relatively high mcl-PHA content (28-31 wt.%) was reached by P. resinovorans cultivated in OOD. This study shows, for the first time, that OOD is a promising substrate for PHA production since it gives high polymer yields and allows for the synthesis of different polymers (scl- or mcl-PHA) by selection of the adequate strains.