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BACKGROUND. An integrated curriculum enables learning that integrates knowledge and skills, connects concepts and areas of achievement, and brings students closer to the professional world across disciplines and subjects. However, there is little literature on integrated curricula in higher education, especially Health sciences. Existing research highlights that its implementation causes several problems, such as inconsistent educational backgrounds, lack of teaching materials, and inadequate curriculum. Moreover, contemporary pedagogical trends encourage the use of digital interactive materials, which are active, innovative tools and highly popular with students. OBJECTIVE. The primary objective of this quasi-experimental longitudinal study was to assess the effectiveness of digital interactive learning materials in facilitating mastery of the integrated curriculum in the first-year dental students at the Universidad Europea de Valencia (UEV). METHODS. The Genially tool was used to create an educational interactive learning game that integrated the contents about “Cell Junctions” studied in Biology, Physiology, and Histology. It included the classification of cell junctions, differences among anchoring junctions, molecules of adhesion, interaction with leukocyte-endothelium, and the most relevant dental diseases, related to the student’s future professional career. The subjects were ca. 240 first-year undergraduate dental students enrolled in “Cellular Biology and Human genetics” and “Anatomy and Physiology of the Human body”. They were divided into the control group following a master class and the experimental group that played the interactive material after the master class. The student knowledge was evaluated through a 4-question test which was performed with Blackboard Ultra at two different time points: i) a pre-test at the beginning of the course to assess students’ previous knowledge; ii) a post-test at the end of the activity to evaluate the knowledge improvement. To evaluate students’ opinions about the experience, a perception survey was completed, using Microsoft Forms. RESULTS. An improvement was observed in each of the 4 questions of the post-test compared to the pre-test in the experimental group, but not in the control group. 12% of students in the experimental group answered correctly all 4 post-test questions compared to 1% of students in the control group. Regarding the perception survey, 88% of the students found Genially to be an effective tool to learn about Cell Junctions, encouraging them to think about this topic in a new way; 93% stated that it was effective to repeat topics taught in “Cell Biology” and “Anatomy and Physiology”, 79%considered that it was useful to integrate knowledge among different subjects and relate Basic Science concepts to their future professional life as a dentist. Most of the students found the activity entertaining (90%), rewarding (74%), fun (63%), interesting (92%), and a better way to learn compared to a master class (78%). Moreover, 89% of the students would like to repeat a similar experience in another subject and 93% would recommend this activity to other students. CONCLUSION. Genially can be used as an effective tool to consolidate knowledge from different subjects and enhance students' understanding of fundamental scientific concepts. 2022/UEM12 No data SPI 2018 UEV

Historically, traditional laboratory experiments have been given a central and distinctive role in science education. However, virtual laboratories have received considerable attention over the past several years in different areas of knowledge. The main aim of this study is to analyse the impact of the use of both traditional and virtual laboratories in Basic Science Subjects (BSS) in Health Sciences university degrees. For this reason, we have described and analysed different variables such as level of satisfaction, increase in perceived motivation and increase in perceived academic performance. Throughout the academic course the pupils who took part in our study carried out laboratory experiments both traditionally and virtually in different BSS, and they completed a questionnaire to assess their satisfaction and the impact of both approaches at the end of the course. The results point to statistically significant differences in favour of traditional laboratories in all the studied variables, together with some differences between male and female students. In general, students showed more positive attitudes towards traditional experiments. These results emphasize the importance of carrying out hands-on experiments to boost student motivation and perceived performance. XOTRIO1628, 2017, Laureate Education Inc. 1.343 JCR (2021) Q3, 73/94 Biology 0.427 SJR (2021) Q2, 105/322 Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) No data IDR 2021 UEV

The environmental education and the promotion of the sustainability are two of the main axes in the international guidelines around the world. Education institutions must play an active role to achieve environment and sustainability awareness, and government educational policies should provide education institutions the necessary tools. This study tries to analyze the way in which these topics have been integrated in the Spanish compulsory curriculum through the normative review. Specifically, a content analysis has been used to quantify environmental and sustainability references, both in the subjects they integrate and the contents and standards which they relate with. The results show that: (1) there is not a transversal consideration of these terms, (2) the integration is greater in the Secondary Education, (3) environmental and sustainability treatment is mostly theoretical and focused on instrumental subjects, (4) when the approach is practical, it is often linked to reflections processes. Thus, we conclude on the need for governmental institutions to increase the presence of these terms in the educational curriculum and to integrate them in a transversal way and, through specific content, skills that contribute to build a collective social awareness of the importance of these phenomena in our society, including them as content as well as in the initial and continuous training.

La aplicación de las herramientas TIC en educación permite atender adecuadamente a la gran diversidad del alumnado actual. En este sentido, los laboratorios virtuales son herramientas excelentes para desarrollar diferentes competencias clave, y pueden ser muy adecuadas para estudiantes de Ciencias de la Salud. XOTRIO1628, 2017, Laureate Education Inc. No data (2018) UEV

Internet-based instruction is currently a commonplace practice in higher education. Not only does this trend open the possibility of blended learning, but it also allows to take into account different talents as well as different ways of learning. To this end, virtual labs, which encompass interactive simulations and animations, are excellent tools to develop diverse key competences and to favour self-assessment and lifelong learning. Nowadays there is an alarming decline in young people’s interest for science studies. This problem may well be especially controversial in students enrolled in Health Sciences degrees, since they consider Natural Science subjects have little to do with their future professional practice. This fact, together with an unsuitable background, may well be leading to a lack of motivation and academic failure. In this regard, we will analyse the performance of ca. 400 pupils enrolled at our university, who will be divided into different groups to carry out either virtual experiments or traditional experiments. Specifically, we will carry statistical analyses of the mean scores, level of motivation and satisfaction, acquired competences, risk of failing and the effect size comparing the use of either virtual labs or hands-on labs. As a result of our intervention, an increase in motivation is expected, as well as in scores, level of understanding and appreciation of natural science subjects. Besides, we expect to verify that the use of only virtual labs is by no means detrimental to their instruction. XOTRIO1628, 2017, Laureate Education Inc. No data (2017) UEV

Metastasis is the main cause of death from melanoma. Chemokines are low molecular weight chemotactic cytokines that facilitate cellular migration. Thus, cells that express receptors for a given chemokine are attracted to the site of its production. As certain chemokines are found in abundance in organs that are common targets of metastasis and receptors for these chemokines are expressed by tumor cells, it was hypothesized that chemokine gradients might selectively facilitate metastasis to these organs. A later finding that these chemokines were produced by tumor cells, with evidence of autocrine effects, obliged the modification of that hypothesis. Many chemokines are also known to have opposing effects according to the type of cell they are acting on (tumor, inflammatory/immune, or endothelial cells), their functional status, or interactions with other molecules. The expression of chemokines and their receptors by melanoma cells enhances tumor progression by altering their microenvironment, stimulating angiogenesis, and inhibiting the immune response.

Resumen Las metastasis son la principal causa de mortalidad en el melanoma. Las quimiocinas son citocinas quimiotacticas de bajo peso molecular que permiten la migracion celular, atrayendo a celulas que expresan sus receptores. Como algunas quimiocinas son abundantes en organos que son asiento comun de metastasis, y sus receptores son expresados por las celulas tumorales, se planteo la hipotesis de que un gradiente de estas quimiocinas facilitaria selectivamente las metastasis a esos organos. El hallazgo posterior de la produccion de estas quimiocinas por las propias celulas tumorales, y su efecto autocrino, obliga a modular esta hipotesis. Ademas, muchas quimiocinas tienen efectos contrapuestos dependiendo del tipo celular sobre el que actuan (tumoral, inflamatorio/ inmunitario, endotelial), su estado funcional y otras interacciones moleculares. En el melanoma las celulas tumorales adquieren ventajas de la expresion de quimiocinas y receptores alterando su microambiente, estimulando la angiogenesis y evadiendo la respuesta inmune, facilitando asi la progresion tumoral.

El melanoma es un tumor maligno que se desarrolla a partir de los melanocitos, células que derivan de la cresta neural. La mayoría de los melanomas se localizan en la piel y menos frecuentemente en mucosas y otras localizaciones. Al igual que en la mayoría de los tumores malignos, la principal causa de mortalidad en el melanoma es la aparición de metástasis, por lo que es muy importante que la detección del tumor tenga lugar antes de que se inicie este proceso. En la mayor parte de casos, el diagnóstico precoz se puede realizar de forma relativamente sencilla, debido a que el melanoma presenta dos fases de crecimiento bien diferenciadas, una radial (intraepidérmica) y otra vertical (intradérmica). En la primera, fase radial, el melanoma prácticamente no tiene capacidad de metastatizar. Sin embargo, la fase de crecimiento vertical del melanoma maligno está asociada a un potencial metastásico importante, lo que a su vez es responsable de una alta tasa de mortalidad. Las quimiocinas son una superfamilia de pequeñas citoquinas con propiedades quimiotácticas. Se ha descrito su relación con el proceso neoplásico a nivel de senescencia, transición epitelio-mesenquimal, crecimiento tumoral, angiogénesis, desarrollo de metástasis y activación del sistema inmune; así como el paso de la fase radial a la vertical y al desarrollo de metástasis en distintas localizaciones en el caso del melanoma. Kawada y cols. demuestran que CXCR3 puede tener un papel importante en el proceso de metástasis de células de la línea B16F10 (línea celular de melanoma) hacia los ganglios linfáticos en ratones, y que la abundancia de las quimiocinas CXCL9 y CXCL10 en los ganglios linfáticos facilita la aparición de metástasis mediada por CXCR3. Recientemente se ha caracterizado un nuevo receptor de citocinas, CXCR7, cuya expresión está implicada en la formación de metástasis linfáticas y peor pronóstico en cáncer de mama y de pulmón. Este receptor tiene dos ligandos, CXCL11 y CXCL12, que también se unen la los receptores CXCR3 y CXCR4 respectivamente, y cuyo papel en la progresión e invasión del cáncer es bien conocido Sabiendo que las quimiocinas y sus receptores también se expresan en numerosos tipos de células tumorales, planteamos la hipótesis de que los niveles de expresión de los receptores CXCR3-A, CXCR7 y sus ligandos, las quimiocinas CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11 y CXCL12, así como la proporción ligando/receptor en el microambiente tumoral podrían estar implicados en los mecanismos de diseminación metastásica del melanoma cutáneo humano. Para ello estudiamos la expresión de estas moléculas muestra provenientes de tumores humanos (qPCR) y las relacionamos con los distintos grupos de progresión tumoral, así como con las variables clínico-patológicas. También se estudiaron 9 líneas celulares mediante IHQ y q PCR, para demostrar la expresión de estas moléculas por las propias células de melanoma. Nuestros resultados mostraron cómo las células de melanoma y también las del microambiente tumoral expresan las quimiocinas y receptores de quimiocinas estudiados; además indican cómo los niveles de CXCR7 y CXCL12 disminuyen con la progresión tumoral, mientras que los niveles de expresión relacionados con CXCR3 y sus receptores aumentan. Además los niveles de CXCL12 y CXCR7 se correlacionan con un seguimiento clínico favorable del paciente.

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a highly abundant housekeeping gene. GAPDH overexpression has been reported in diverse types of human cancers including cutaneous melanoma. Our goal was to quantify GAPDH mRNA and protein expression in the whole spectrum of primary and metastatic melanomas in the search for a specific role for this ubiquitous molecule during tumor progression.Intratumoral GAPDH mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR in 71 cases, including 29 primary melanomas and 42 metastatic cases. Relative expression levels in thin (≤1 mm) and thick (1 mm) primary tumors and 'in-transit', lymph node and distant metastases were compared. Similarly, protein expression was investigated by means of immunohistochemistry. Specific exons of GAPDH were analyzed by DNA sequencing.GAPDH mRNA expression was significantly up-regulated in thick melanomas when compared to primary thin melanomas. Similar differences were also encountered between metastatic melanomas when compared to lymph-node metastatic melanomas. Interestingly, GAPDH protein immunoexpression was higher in thick melanomas and distant metastases than in thin tumors and lymph node metastases, respectively. However, no specific point-mutations in GAPDH-specific exons were found in any patient.Deregulation of GAPDH during melanoma progression was demonstrated in our series by mRNA and protein expression studies.

Esta comunicación tiene como finalidad proponer una forma de trabajar con los estudiantes mediante la elaboración de mapas conceptuales a través de conceptos previos dados por el profesor y, de este modo, enseñarles a elaborar sus propios mapas conceptuales en el futuro, en tanto que herramienta eficaz para promover un aprendizaje significativo. SIN FINANCIACIÓN No data 2015 UEV

A novel human malignant melanoma cell line, designated MEL-RC08, was established from a pericranial metastasis of a malignant melanoma of the skin. The cell line has been subcultured for more than 150 passages and is tumorigenic in nude mice. Growth kinetics, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, and molecular techniques for analysis of the genes implicated in cell cycle control; mutations in BRAF, NRAS, C-KiT, RB, and TP53 genes; and amplification of MDM2, CDK4, and cyclin D1 have been studied. Cytogenetically, the tumor and the cell line showed a hypertriploid karyotype with many clonal numeric and structural abnormalities. DNA flow cytometry showed an aneuploid peak with a DNA index value of 1.5. Mutations in TP53 and BRAF genes were demonstrated in both tumor and cell line. Furthermore, stem cell marker CD133 expression was detected in most cells, together with other stem cell markers, suggesting the presence of cells with tumor-initiating potential in this cell line.

Aim: The aim of this preliminary study was to detect cytological changes in the oral mucosa after using a mouth wash with alcohol. Material and Methods: A prospective double-blind, controlled study was performed, for 6 months. Group 1 consisted of 30 subjects who used a mouth rinse with 26.9% of alcohol [Listerine ® ] and Group 2 consisted of 30 subjects who used a mouth rinse with the same ingredients but with no alcohol. We obtained three cytological samples from the oral mucosa. The presence of cytological atypia, binucleation and karyorrhesis, and type of cells were studied. We also used a fluorescent in situ hybridization technique (FISH) in 15 samples in each group, for the micronucleus. Results: We found no clinical mucosal alteration after using the mouth wash at the end of the study in either group. We observed no cytological differences between the groups at the end of the study (p>0.05). Regarding the study of the micronucleus by FISH, we observed no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Our results showed no cytological alteration in patients using a mouth rinse with alcohol, but these findings should be considered preliminary results, to be confirmed in a greater sample of patients.