Nataša Hulak

Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC): Advances through omics technologies, towards ESCC salivaomics.

Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the two main subtypes of oesophageal cancer, affecting mainly populations in Asia. Though there have been great efforts to develop methods for a better prognosis, there is still a limitation in the staging of this affection. As a result, ESCC is detected at advances stages, when the interventions on the patient do not have such a positive outcome, leading in many cases to recurrence and to a very low 5-year survival rate, causing high mortality. A way to decrease the number of deaths is the use of biomarkers that can trace the advance of the disease at early stages, when surgical or chemotherapeutic methodologies would have a greater effect on the evolution of the subject. The new high throughput omics technologies offer an unprecedented chance to screen for thousands of molecules at the same time, from which a new set of biomarkers could be developed. One of the most convenient types of samples is saliva, an accessible body fluid that has the advantage of being non-invasive for the patient, being easy to store or to process. This review will focus on the current status of the new omics technologies regarding salivaomics in ESCC, or when not evaluated yet, the achievements in related diseases.

Characterization of Enterococcal Community Isolated from an Artisan Istrian Raw Milk Cheese: Biotechnological and Safety Aspects

In this study, prevalence, biotechnological and safety profiles of 588 Enterococcus isolates isolated from raw milk and Istrian cheese during different stages of ripening were analyzed. Despite the low and variable presence of enterococci in milk ((3.65±2.93) log CFU/mL), highly comparable enterococcal populations were established after 30 days of cheese ripening ((7.96±0.80) log CFU/g), confirming Enterococcus spp. as a major part of the core microbiota of Istrian cheese. The dominant species were E. faecium (53.8%) and E. faecalis (42.4%), while minor groups, consisting of E. durans (2.84%) and E. casseliflavus (0.95%), also occurred. A pronounced intraspecies variability was noticed based on molecular fingerprinting, with 35 strains (genotypes) detected. Most of the genotypes were farm-specific with one third being shared between the farms. This genotype variability reflected particular differences of Istrian cheese production, mainly variable salt concentration, ripening temperature and air humidity as well as microclimatic or vegetation conditions. There was considerable variation between the strains of the same species regarding wide range of biotechnologically important traits as well as their ability to survive in simulated gastrointestinal conditions. A considerable number of strains were resistant to critically important antibiotics such as tetracycline (43.56%), erythromycin (35.79%) and vancomycin (23.48%). Polymerase chain reaction-based detection did not identify any of the common genetic determinants for vancomycin and erythromycin resistance; for tetracycline tetM gene was detected. The presence of virulence genes including agg, efaAfs, gelE, cylM, cylB, cylA, esp, efaAfm, cob and cpd was frequently recorded, especially among E. faecalis strains.

Role of metabolism during viral infections, and crosstalk with the innate immune system

Viruses have been for long polemic biological particles which stand in the twilight of being living entities or not. As their genome is reduced, they rely on the metabolic machinery of their host in order to replicate and be able to continue with their infection process. The understanding of their metabolic requirements is thus of paramount importance in order to develop tailored drugs to control their population, without affecting the normal functioning of their host. New advancements in high throughput technologies, especially metabolomics are allowing researchers to uncover the metabolic mechanisms of viral replication. In this short review, we present the latest discoveries that have been made in the field and an overview of the intrinsic relationship between metabolism and innate immunity as an important part of the immune system.

Fever as an important resource for infectious diseases research.

Fever or pyrexia is a process where normal body temperature is raised over homeostasis conditions. Although many effects of fever over the immune system have been known for a long time, it has not been until recent studies when these effects have been evaluated in several infection processes. Results have been promising, as they have reported new ways of regulation, especially in RNA molecules. In light of these new studies, it seems important to start to evaluate the effects of pyrexia in current research efforts in host-pathogen interactions. Viruses and bacteria are responsible for different types of infectious diseases, and while it is of paramount importance to understand the mechanisms of infection, potential effects of fever on this process may have been overlooked. This is especially relevant because during the course of many infectious diseases the organism develops fever. Due to the lack of specific treatments for many of those afflictions, experimental evaluation in fever-like conditions can potentially bring new insights into the infection process and can ultimately help to develop treatments. The aim of this review is to present evidence that the temperature increase during fever affects the way the infection takes place, for both the pathogen and the host.