RESUMO
The involvement of NK and other cytotoxic cells is considered the first defense line against cancer. However, a significant lack of information prevails on the possible roles played by factors considered characteristic of primitive cells, such as c-kit and Sca-1, in activating these cells, particularly in melanoma models subjected to treatments with substances under investigation, such as the case of norcantharidin. In this study, B16F1 murine melanoma cells were used to induce tumors in DBA/2 mice, estimating the proportions of NK and iNKT cells; the presence of activation (CD107a+) and primitive/activation (c-kit+/Lya6A+) markers and some tumor parameters, such as the presence of mitotic bodies, nuclear factor area, NK and iNKT cell infiltration in the tumor, infiltrated tumor area, and infiltrating lymphocyte count at 10x and 40x in specimens treated with pentoxifylline, norcantharidin, and the combination of both drugs. Possible correlations were estimated with Pearson's correlation analysis. It should be noted that, despite having demonstrated multiple correlations, immaturity/activation markers were related to these cells' activation. At the tumor site, iNKT cells are the ones that exert the cytotoxic potential on tumor cells, but they are confined to specific sites in the tumor. Due to the higher number of interactions of natural killer cells with tumor cells, it is concluded that the most effective treatment was PTX at 60 mg/kg + NCTD at 0.75 mg/kg.
RESUMO
Diatoms play key roles in primary production and carbon fixation at a global scale and in some cases these species live on marine ecosystems impacted by crude oil (CO) spills. Halamphora oceanica, a new diatom species from the Southwest of the Gulf of Mexico was isolated and cultured in the laboratory and was exposed to water accommodated fraction (WAF) of different Maya CO loads at 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10g/L by 96h. A battery of biomarkers involved in oxidative stress (O2â¢, H2O2, TBARS, ROOH, RC=O, SOD, CAT, GPx), biotransformation and conjugation (total CYP450 activity and GST) moreover fatty acid (FA) metabolism (FA levels, fatty-acid synthase and acyl-CoA oxidase) were measured. Obtained results suggest that increases of PAHs in the medium (below to EC50) acts as external forces able to turn-on regulatory mechanisms on H. oceanica involved in both, on the PAHs uptake and changing its aerobic metabolism to anaerobic metabolism. However, the growth of this microalgae species evaluated as chlorophyll "a" and pheophytin levels increased as the WAF concentration indicating that PAHs and other hydrosoluble hydrocarbons were used as carbon and energy sources by unidentified enzymes not evaluated in the current study. Our hypothesis was also corroborated by IBRv2. In the current study, we suppose the change from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism as a strategy for Halamphora oceanica survival exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons.