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ENKI-DB, es un sistema de información taxonómica y molecular de especies propias de la biodiversidad colombiana, accesible vía Internet. Mediante ENKI-DB se tiene acceso inmediato a toda la información taxonómica y molecular presente en las bases de datos SPICA®, SIB, EMBL y UNIPROT para especies propias de la biodiversidad colombiana exclusivamente. Hasta la fecha el sistema ha logrado enlazar 10 808 registros de especies propias de la biodiversidad colombiana (presentes en las bases de datos SIB y SPICA®), para las que han encontrado 1 976 751 registros molecula­res, 96 337 provenientes de las bases de datos de información proteica (UniprotKb, Uniref y Uniparc) y 1 880 414 de la base de datos EMBL de DNA. Aunque esta información se encuentra presente también, de manera independiente, en cada una de estas bases de datos, a través de ENKI- DB los datos son accesibles desde una sola interfase y de manera integrada y depurada. El sistema permite además realizar alineamientos locales utilizando la implementación del algoritmo BLAST del NCBI. ENKI- DB ha sido desarrollado en su totalidad en PHP y PERL, haciendo uso de las librerías Bio-PHP, Bio-PERL y utilizando la base de datos MySQL como repositorio central de información. ENKI-DB es accesible vía Internet, de manera completamente gratuita y pública en la siguiente dirección: http://bioinf.ibun.unal.edu.co/enkidb/ Contacto: cenbio_nal@unal.edu.co Palabras clave: ENKI, molecular, taxonomía, biodiversidad colombiana, bioinformática.ENKI-DB is a taxonomic and molecular integration system for Colombian species which is available on the internet. This system provides users with immediate access to all taxonomic and molecular data present in SPICA®, SIB, EMBL and UNIPROT databases for all Colombian species. To date, our system has been able to link 10,808 Colombian species (SIB and SPICA® databases) to 1 976 751 molecular entries, 96 337 from UniprotKb, Uniref and Uniparc and 1,880,414 from the EMBL DNA datábase. Although this information is also available on each datábase independently, ENKI-DB allows users to reach all that integrated information through one interface. We have also integrated the NCBI-BLAST programme with the ENKI-DB system which allows users to run pair-wise comparisons on the same ENKI-DB web interface. ENKI-DB has been developed with Bio-PHP and Bio-PERL and uses MySQL RDBMS as backup. Availability: http://bioinf.ibun.unal.edu.co/enkidb/ Contact: cenbio_nal@unal.edu.co Key words: ENKI, molecular integration system, taxonomy, Colombian biodiversity, bioinformatics.

Abstract Background Members of the genus Phytophthora are notorious pathogens with world-wide distribution. The most devastating species include P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae. In order to develop molecular methods for routinely characterizing their populations and to gain a better insight into the organization and evolution of their genomes, we used an in silico approach to survey and compare simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in transcript sequences from these three species. We compared the occurrence, relative abundance, relative density and cross-species transferability of the SSRs in these oomycetes. Results The number of SSRs in oomycetes transcribed sequences is low and long SSRs are rare. The in silico transferability of SSRs among the Phytophthora species was analyzed for all sets generated, and primers were selected on the basis of similarity as possible candidates for transferability to other Phytophthora species. Sequences encoding putative pathogenicity factors from all three Phytophthora species were also surveyed for presence of SSRs. However, no correlation between gene function and SSR abundance was observed. The SSR survey results, and the primer pairs designed for all SSRs from the three species, were deposited in a public database. Conclusion In all cases the most common SSRs were trinucleotide repeat units with low repeat numbers. A proportion (7.5%) of primers could be transferred with 90% similarity between at least two species of Phytophthora. This information represents a valuable source of molecular markers for use in population genetics, genetic mapping and strain fingerprinting studies of oomycetes, and illustrates how genomic databases can be exploited to generate data-mining filters for SSRs before experimental validation.

Background: The nerve growth factor (NGF) has been previously shown to be involved in cellular proliferation, differentiation, survival, or wound healing. This factor displays a variety of biological effects that yet remain to be explored. Previous data on cell lines show a pro‐inflammatory role of NGF on monocytes. Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate the pro‐inflammatory effect of NGF, using a model of fresh human monocytes. Methods: Monocytes obtained from PBMC were exposed to NGF at various concentrations. Alternatively, monocytes were exposed to BSA, the NGF carrier protein without the NGF. Gene expression and cytokine release in the supernatant were monitored. Results: We found that NGF increased the expression of pro‐inflammatory, chemotactic, and remodeling genes such as interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, and C‐X‐C motif ligand (CXCL)8. The protein levels of CXCL8 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐9 were also increased in the cell supernatants following NGF exposure. BSA alone was found to drive part of this response, bringing nuance to the inflammatory potential of the NGF. Conclusion: These data suggest that NGF is able to enhance monocyte inflammatory responses once cells are stimulated with another signal but is possibly not able to directly activate it. This could have implications for example in patients with bacterial infections, where NGF could worsen the local inflammation by over‐activating immune cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guanylhydrazones have shown promising antitumor activity in preclinical tumor models in several studies. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the cytotoxic effect of a series of synthetic guanylhydrazones. Different human tumor cell lines, by including HCT-8 (colon carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma) and SF-295 (glioblastoma) were continuous exposed to guanylhydrazone derivatives for 72 hours and growth inhibition of tumor cell lines and macrophages J774 was measured using tetrazolium salt (MTT) assay. Compounds 7, 11, 16 and 17 showed strong cytotoxic activity with IC50 values lower than 10 μmol L−1 against four tumor cell lines. Among them, 7 was less toxic to non-tumor cells. Finally, obtained data suggest that guanylhydrazones may be regarded as potential lead compounds for the design of novel anticancer agents.

Microgrooved surfaces are recognized as an important strategy of tissue engineering to promote the alignment of bone cells. In this work, we have investigated the mechanical and morphological aspects of osteoblasts cells after interaction with different micro‐structured polymeric surfaces. Femtosecond laser writing technique was used for the construction of circular and parallel microgrooved patterns in biocompatible polymeric surfaces based on pentaerythritol triacrylate. Additionally, we have studied the influence of the biocompatible TiO2 nanocrystals (NCs) related to the cell behavior, when incorporated to the photoresin. The atomic force microscopy technique was used to investigate the biomechanical reaction of the human osteoblast‐like MG‐63 cells for the different microgroove. It was demonstrated that osteoblasts grown on circular microgrooved surfaces exhibited significantly larger Young's modulus compared to cells sown on flat films. Furthermore, we could observe that TiO2 NCs improved the circular microgrooves effects, resulting in more populated sites, 34% more elongated cells, and increasing the cell stiffness by almost 160%. These results can guide the design and construction of effective scaffold surfaces with circular microgrooves for tissue engineering and bone regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]