2024-03-28T15:27:57Zhttp://oai-repositori.upf.edu/oai/requestoai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/211362022-12-12T14:00:22Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Neutralizing antibodies in Multiple Sclerosis a model-based analysis of Interferon beta signaling pathway in macrophages
Domingo Espinós, Júlia, 1991-
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisors: Jordi Garcia Ojalvo i/nElena Abad
Multiple Sclerosis is the most common non-traumatic cause of neurological/ndisability in young people. There is no cure yet, and until recently, few long-term/ntherapies existed. Interferon beta (IFNβ) was the first treatment, and remains the most/ncommonly prescribed. One of the most significant problems of IFNβ therapy is the/nproduction of drug specific antibodies. Up to 45% of patients develop neutralizing/nantibodies (NAbs) to IFNβ products. The neutralizing antibody binds to the biological/nagent preventing its interaction with its receptor, inhibiting the biological action of the/nprotein, which abrogates the clinical efficacy of IFNβ treatment. Interferon-beta/nmediates its response by binding to its high affinity cell surface receptor and initiating/nthe JAK/STAT signalling cascade. In this project we have analyzed the IFNβ signaling/npathway in macrophages when neutralizing antibodies are present. The response to/nthis pathway after IFNβ stimulation shows a transient oscillatory rhythm of STAT1/nphosphorylation, which varies as NAbs concentration increases. To improve our/nunderstanding of that behavior, we extended an existing mathematical model based on/nnonlinear ordinary differential equations of JAK/STAT pathway by including IFN-NAb/nassociation and IFN-activation receptor. Combining our theoretical model with/nexperimental data we could study the role of neutralizing antibodies on the molecular/nresponse and determine its lifetime after cytokine stimulation.
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/21136
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/211352021-02-16T08:40:11Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Evolutionary analysis of genetic variants involved in rare diseases
Walsh Capdevila, Sandra, 1991-
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Ferran Casals López
Next-generation sequencing techniques such as exome sequencing can successfully detect all genetic variants in a human exome and it has been useful together with the implementation of variant filters to identify causing-disease mutations. Two filters are/nmainly used for the mutations identification: low allele frequency and the computational annotation of the genetic variant. Bioinformatic tools to predict the effect of a given/nvariant may have errors due to the existing bias in databases and sometimes show a limited coincidence among them. Advances in functional and comparative genomics are needed in order to properly annotate these variants./nThe goal of this study is to: first, functionally annotate Common Variable Immunodeficiency disease (CVID) variants with the available bioinformatic methods in order to assess the reliability of these strategies. Sencondly, as the development of new methods to reduce the number of candidate genetic variants is an active and necessary field of research, we are exploring the utility of gene function information at organism level as a filter for rare disease genes identification. Recently, it has been proposed that only 10-15% of human genes are essential and therefore we would expect that severe rare diseases are mostly caused by mutations on them. Our goal is to determine whether or not these rare and severe diseases are caused by deleterious mutations in these essential genes. If this hypothesis were true, taking into account essential genes as a filter would be an interesting parameter to identify causingdisease mutations.
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/21135
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència Creative Commons
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/211372018-01-24T08:29:56Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
El tabaco y la reproducción masculina
López Martín, Alexandra
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisores: Beatriz Carrasco i Gemma Arroyo
Actualmente se estima la población infértil entre el 10%-15%, y el pronóstico es que vaya en ascenso; además los últimos datos muestran que en el mundo, hoy en día, existen un 47% de hombres fumadores. Por este motivo este trabajo tiene como objetivo determinar cómo afecta el hábito de fumar a la reproducción masculina, concretamente a los parámetros seminales, a las hormonas reproductoras y a la fragmentación del ADN espermático. Además, también hemos querido estudiar si el hábito de fumar provoca mutaciones y aneuploidías en la línea germinal, y si éstas, en caso de existir, pueden afectar a la descendencia./nPara realizar esta revisión, la cual integra dos meta-análisis, se han utilizado diferentes bases de datos para poder recoger y estudiar artículos epidemiológicos, clínicos y experimentales. Los resultado obtenidos, a partir de un total de 28 estudios, muestran que existe una reducción porcentual media en la concentración de espermatozoides del 12,4% en los fumadores respecto a los no fumadores, en la movilidad espermática la reducción es del 10.3% y en la morfología del 13.6%. También se ha determinado que los fumadores presentan todas las hormonas reproductoras estudiadas incrementadas y que tienen un mayor porcentaje de fragmentación del ADN espermático. Además, mostramos que el tabaco causa aneuploidías y mutaciones en las células germinales, pudiendo causar enfermedades genéticas en la descendencia, como el cáncer./nConcluimos que el hecho de no fumar o de dejar de fumar puede proporcionar beneficios en la fertilidad masculina y en la descendencia.
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
2013-09-30
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/21137
spa
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/226752018-01-24T08:04:00Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Aplicación de la técnica de MALDI-TOF MS en la identificación de microbacterias
Barba Corredera, Natalia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: Margarita Salvadó Costa
Tradicionalmente la identificación bacteriana se ha basado en métodos fenotípicos y test bioquímicos, los cuales conllevan elevados costes asociados y prolongados tiempos de respuesta que interfieren de forma directa en el pronóstico del paciente. Como consecuencia han aparecido nuevos métodos alternativos con el objetivo de aumentar la eficiencia del proceso de identificación, siendo el método más importante el MALDI-TOF MS. Éste se basa en el cálculo del tiempo de migración de las proteínas de cada microorganismo, generando por tanto un espectro de masas característico de cada especie que permite su fácil identificación. Así, esta técnica ha adquirido especial/nimportancia en la identificación de micobacterias debido a la dificultad que éstas/npresentan para ser identificadas por los métodos diagnósticos actuales, permitiendo un diagnóstico rápido y eficaz en un breve periodo de tiempo. En este estudio se ha/nprocedido a evaluar la eficacia de MALDI-TOF MS a partir del procesamiento de 33/nmuestras clínicas, las cuales fueron inicialmente identificadas mediante técnicas actuales y posteriormente procesadas por MALDI-TOF MS para comparar los resultados obtenidos. Todos los resultados fueron positivos, por lo que se puede considerar el método de MALDI-TOF como una alternativa real a las técnicas actuales para la identificación de micobacterias.
Traditionally bacterial identification is based on phenotypic and biochemical test methods, which involve high associated costs and long response times that interfere directly in the patient's prognosis. Consequently there are new alternative methods in order to increase the efficiency of identification process, being the most important method MALDI-TOF MS. This is based on the calculation of the migration time of microorganism’s proteins, generating a spectrum of masses characteristic of each species, allowing easy identification. Thus, this technique has become particularly important in the identification of mycobacteria due to the difficulty of their identification by current diagnostic methods, allowing rapid and effective diagnosis in a short time. This study has been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of MALDI-TOF MS from the processing of 33 clinical samples, which were initially identified using current techniques and subsequently processed by MALDI-TOF MS to compare the results. All results were positive, so the MALDI-TOF method can be considered as a real alternative to the current techniques for the identification of mycobacteria.
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/22675
spa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/226762018-01-24T08:04:01Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Gil Ortega, Joan
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Josep Lloreta Trull
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a prevalent disease but its molecular mechanism remains unknown. Using human tissue samples from 16 patients diagnosed with BPH, we performed an ultrastructural study to clarify the mechanism and the role of glandular cells in this pathology. We have made a description of all the changes that suffers the prostatic epithelium. We have shown that the glandular architecture presents many non-physiological forms such as papillae and papillary fronds. Basal cells present a prominent nucleolus, cytoplasmic projections through the basal memebrane, with caveolae along them. On the other hand, we have found in luminal cell abundant lysosomal-like granules, lipofuscin and myelinoid bodies in the cytoplasm. Another notable finding is the presence of mast cells surrounding the pathologic glands very close to the basal membrane. Some ultrastructural findings have been reported in induced prostatic hyperplasia in the dog.
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/22676
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/226772018-01-24T08:04:00Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Orexin A affects GABAa receptor recirculation after stimulation with Propofol
León Francí, Sofia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisors: Berta Alsina i Henrik Andresson
Propofol, the intravenous anaesthetic, involves the GABAA receptors in its signalling/ncascade, altering the vesicular transport and inducing neurite retraction. The neuropeptide Orexin A, produced by the lateral and posterior hypothalamus has an essential role regulating the arousal system. It is capable of reducing the anaesthetic effects of various anaesthetic drugs as well as enhancing wakefulness in rats. Recent data from our lab suggests that Orexin A can affect the recirculation of the GABAA receptors. In order to further understand the anaesthetic mechanism of Propofol and how Orexin A can revert its effect, we wanted to investigate the effect of Orexin A on GABAA receptors in Propofol-treated SHSY5Y cells. Samples were treated with medium (control), Propofol, Orexin A or Orexin A + Propofol and immunofluorescent labelling was performed against GABAA receptor β2 and α1 subunits. We could see the number of surface receptors was reduced in the double-treated cells compared to the others. However, the quantitation of signal intensities did not result in any significant differences between treatments.
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
2014-09-16
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/22677
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/230712018-01-24T08:06:36Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Genetic control of the expression pathway in hub genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Llobet Reixach, Laura
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Robert Castelo
The genetic bases of complex traits are a challenging matter of study, given the/ncomplexity of the underlying regulation. High-throughput technologies enable collecting/ndata about cellular traits, such as gene expression, which acts as an intermediate/nmolecular layer between genotype and phenotype. In this project, we carried out a/nstatistical analysis to identify loci involved in regulation of gene expression (known as/nexpression quantitative trait loci - eQTL), map them on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae/ngenome and quantify their contribution by estimating the proportion of expression/nvariance explained by them. We have compared data from six different experimental/nconditions to study the influence played by environment in genetic control of expression. In addition, we also calculate the degree of connectivity of our genes under/nstudy with all other genes of the data set, so correlation between connectivity and/ngenetic control of gene expression can be analyzed. Our results indicate that genes/nwith a strong genetic regulation of their expression levels show also a large degree of/nconnectivity with other genes, becoming hubs in the underlying gene regulatory/nnetwork. Additionally, they are characterized by a very homogenous eQTL map,/ndespite environmental conditions; in contrast to those genes with a very poor genetic/nregulation, which show a very variable control of gene expression.
2015-01-26
2015-01-26
2014
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/23071
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/230872018-01-24T08:07:06Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Estudio sobre el papel de los receptores NMDA extrasinápticos en la toxicidad del péptido beta-amiloide
Gallardo Mené, Patricia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Francisco J. Muñoz López
La Enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) es una enfermedad neurodegenerativa que se caracteriza por pérdida de memoria progresiva que desemboca en una demencia y un compromiso de todas las funciones cerebrales. La causa de este proceso neurodegenerativo es el aumento en la producción del péptido β-amiloide (Aβ), el cual tiende a agregar en pequeños oligómeros que progresan a fibras formando las placas seniles. Los oligómeros de Aβ (oAβ) son los causantes de la disfunción/nsináptica y muerte neuronal, principalmente en el hipocampo y en el neocórtex. La unión del Aβ a los receptores de NMDA extrasinápticos (eNMDARs) produce una desregulación de la homeostasis del calcio neuronal disparando excitotoxicidad, impidiendo los procesos fisiológicos de formación de memoria. Esta unión también aumenta la producción del propio Aβ al afectar a las enzimas que cortan a la proteína precursora del amiloide (APP) e incluso promueve la síntesis de isoformas de APP más susceptibles de ser procesadas por la vía amiloidogénica. Sin embargo la activación de los NMDARs sinápticos (sNMDARs) induce neuroprotección, haciendo a las neuronas más resistentes. En este trabajo se presenta y discute como las perturbaciones en el balance entre las dos subpoblaciones de NMDARs contribuye al desarrollo de la EA.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive memory/nloss that leads to dementia and commitment of all brain functions. The cause of this/nneurodegenerative disease is the increased production of β-amyloid peptide (Aß), which tends to/naggregate in small oligomers progressing to fibers, which form the senile plaques. Aß oligomers/n(oAβ) cause synaptic dysfunction and neuronal death, particularly in the hippocampus and/nneocortex. Aß binding to extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (eNMDARs) causes a deregulation of/ncalcium homeostasis triggering neuronal excitotoxicity, preventing the physiological processes of/nmemory formation. This union also increases the production of Aß itself by affecting enzymes that/ncut the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and even promotes the synthesis of isoforms most likely to/nbe processed by the amyloidogenic pathway APP. However the activation of synaptic NMDARs/n(sNMDARs) induces neuroprotection, making the neurons more resistant. This paper presents and/ndiscusses how disturbances in the balance between the two subpopulations of NMDARs contributes to the development of AD.
2015-01-30
2015-01-30
2014
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/23087
spa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246512018-01-24T08:03:34Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Ventro-striatal/Nucleus accumbens alterations in adult ADHD: effects of pharmacological treatment: a neuroimaging region of interest study
Franco Emch, Mónica
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Òscar Vilarroya
Tutora UPF: Olga Valverde
The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity and/or hyperactivity. It is one of the most common disorders in childhood with an average prevalence of 5%. Symptoms persist into adulthood in 30-60% of the cases, with 3.4% of the adults maintaining a full-diagnose. Although it is a highly diagnosed disorder, its etiology is still unclear. Currently, the most widely accepted theory points to a dysfunction of the dopamine neurotransmission. ADHD patients present an alteration of the nucleus accumbens (NA). Therefore, this neurostructure is the key target of the pharmacological treatment, mainly Methylphenidate (MPH), which blocks dopamine active transporter (DAT) leading to an increase in dopamine. Despite being the most commonly used pharmacological treatment for ADHD, the neurobiological long-term effects of MPH are poorly understood. Moreover, there is a lack of neuroimaging studies addressing possible changes in brain structure due to pharmacological treatment, especially in adult populations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to apply a ROI analysis to structural magnetic resonance imaging scans to examine whether there were volumetric differences in the nucleus accumbens (NA). The study compared a group of ADHD subjects (n=34) with a group of control subjects (n=33). Addtionally, we studied the NA differences between the sub-group of MPH medicated subjects (n=7) with the sub-group of medication-naïve subjects (n=26). The ADHD group presented a larger NA compared to control group and medicated patients presented a smaller NA compared to non-medicated patients, but none of these differences were statistically significant. It is important to perform more studies with larger and homogeneous samples in order to draw firm conclusions.
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24651
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246522022-11-22T14:01:44Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Computational prediction of RNA secondary structures directing Selenocysteine incorporation in Archaea
Bofill Pumarola, Andreu, 1993-
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Roderic Guigó
The UGA codon is most often translated to a stop codon, serving as a termination/nsignal to the protein synthesis. However, in a few cases this codon can also encodes/nthe 21st amino acid, selenocysteine, which is an analog of cysteine containing/nselenium instead of sulfur. Complex and specific translational machinery is needed to/nrecognize a stem-loop structure named SECIS (SEC Insertion Sequence) element,/npresent in the mRNA of Selenoproteins and essential for selenocysteine insertion./nSelenoproteins are present in the three domains of life: Eukarya, Bacteria and/nArchaea; but not in all their species. However, the SECIS element presents several/ndifferences between these three domains in terms of position in the mRNA/nsequence, stem length, secondary structure and conserved patterns. As UGA is/nnormally a translational stop signal, Selenoproteins are normally misannotated. For/nthis reason, dedicated annotation programs had to be developed. Seblastian (1) is a/ncomputational tool for prediction of Selenoprotein genes, based in the identification/nof eukaryotic SECIS as first step. It allows a quick and accurate detection of/nSelenoproteins in eukaryotic genomes. The annotation and information of SECIS/nelements in archaea species is not much extensive. In this project, I created a/nsecondary structure alignment of Archaea SECIS which serves as a model to identify/nthese elements in genomes. I contributed to the development of a computational tool/nfor prediction of Selenoprotein genes in Archaea, based in the identification of the/nSECIS element as first step. This tool will allow the correction of missannotation of/nSelenoproteins in Archaea domain, and possibly the discovery of novel/nSelenoproteins.
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24652
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution. 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246532018-01-24T08:03:32Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Estandardització de les entrades relatives a fàrmacs en el marc del nou diccionari mèdic català
Guardiola Buxeda, Meritxell
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisors: Ma Antonia Julià i Fèlix Bosch
El Diccionari enciclopèdic de medicina (DEM) és una obra de terminologia mèdica en català que va ser publicada en versió impresa l’any 1990. Des de llavors se n’han fet algunes actualitzacions per a adaptar els continguts als avanços en el coneixement científic i mèdic que es van produint. El 2009 es va iniciar el projecte anomenat DEMCAT, que pretén aconseguir un diccionari renovat i posat al dia, coordinat per experts en terminologia i ciències de la salut, però on també hi puguin participar els usuaris interessats. Actualment hi podem trobar més de 70.000 entrades, organitzades en unes 40 àrees temàtiques, 4.496 de les quals pertanyen a l’àrea de Farmacologia. L’objectiu del treball que presentem és fer una revisió dels més de 1.400 termes que corresponen a noms de fàrmacs, enfocant el treball en la millora de definicions, sinònims, sigles, llengües d’equivalència i notes complementàries d’interès, d’acord amb la metodologia del treball terminològic. La consulta bibliogràfica de treballs com el Diccionario de términos médicos o el Dorland's Medical Dictionary, és clau per desenvolupar aquesta tasca. El resultat d’aquesta revisió serà la creació d’un model de fitxa terminogràfica per als fàrmacs en el DEMCAT, amb la finalitat d’homogeneïtzar-ne la informació i d’optimitzar la validació de les dades. Això permetrà facilitar la feina dels terminòlegs i especialistes i contribuirà a la qualitat terminològica dels nous continguts publicats.
The Diccionari Enciclopèdic de Medicina (Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Medicine; DEM), a medical dictionary in Catalan, was first published in 1990. To ensure that DEM keeps up with the constant advances in science and medicine, the “Encyclopaedic dictionary of medicine in Catalan project” (DEMCAT) was established in 2009. Both terminologists and scientific professionals coordinate this dictionary, and the users can also participate. Nowadays, DEM contains more than 70,000 entries in 40 subject areas, one of which is pharmacology, with 4,496 entries. Our role in this project is to review and update around 1,400 entries corresponding to drug names. We reformulated and improved the definitions, synonyms, acronyms, equivalents in other languages (Spanish, English, and French), and complementary notes in these entries. To carry out with this work we used/navailable terminology resources as references, such as Diccionario de Términos Médicos/nor Dorland's Medical Dictionary. Furthermore, we devised a terminology template for drugs to facilitate the inclusion of the information required in a definition, and it will be used to review all drug-name entries from DEM. Establishing clear guidelines for entries will improve the quality and structural homogeneity of the current and future entries, benefiting both terminologists and scientific professionals.
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24653
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246562018-01-24T08:03:33Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Development of a method to assess glycated albumin
Grifols i Vilella, Carlota
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora/supervisora del treball: Montse Costa
Tutor UPF: Fèlix Bosch
Albumin is the most abundant plasmatic protein as it corresponds to 50% of all the proteins found in plasma. It’s synthesised in the liver and it has a half-life of 19-21 days. Its importance lies on the multiple functions to which it has been associated to: regulates oncotic pressure, transports molecules and has a great antioxidant capacity among others. Albumin can also suffer glycation, a non-enzymatic process in/nwhich sugars are added to a molecule. This process can change albumin’s three-dimensional structure affecting its antioxidant and binding capacity. In the past years, the interest in studying albumin has increased due to its possible implications in different pathologies. Healthy people have a portion of albumin which has been glycated, but this level can be overcome in diseases like diabetes. In addition, as albumin’s half-life is lower than haemoglobin’s, it allows us to determine the glycaemic fluctuations up to 3 weeks before the extraction. For this reason, it is being studied the possibility of using glycated albumin as a glycaemic marker instead of haemoglobin. In this project we will try to validate a method to determine concentrations of glycated albumin.
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
2015-07-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24656
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246722018-01-24T08:04:02Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Vies neuronals implicades en l'addicció al menjar
Aguinaliu Montalbán, Gal·la
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Meritxell Girvent
Co-Tutora: Olga Valverde
La conducta alimentària no respon només a aspectes estrictament fisiològics/nrelacionats amb la supervivència de l’individu i de l’espècie sinó que aquesta també/nestà influenciada per altres factors com factors emocionals, socioculturals i pels/nefectes que poden tenir determinats nutrients sobre el sistema de recompensa/ncerebral. El concepte “addicció al menjar” sembla ser real ja que la ingestió de diferents/nnutrients com ara sucres i greixos, produeixen efectes en el cervell i en el comportament. Diferents vies neuronals que han evolucionat per a respondre davant/nde recompenses naturals també són activades per les drogues d’abús. En el model/nanimal (rates) s’ha demostrat que el sucre, consumit amb excés podria actuar de/nforma natural com una substància que genera abús i per tant amb potencial addictiu./nQuan una substància produeix addicció desencadena els següents comportaments:/nl’afartament, l’abstinència, el desig i la sensibilització creuada. Aquests quatre/ncomponents característics de l’addicció tenen lloc també davant la ingesta excessiva/nde sucres. És a dir, el sucre desencadena en el model animal de rates els trets/ncaracterístics de l’addicció ja anomenats anteriorment. Aquests comportaments són deguts a que la ingesta de sucre produeixen canvis neuronals igual que les que produeixen les substàncies d’abús, com per exemple: alliberació de dopamina a les vies mesolímbiques, augment de l’alliberació de pèptids opioides, i l’augment de l’expressió del mRNA d’encefalines.
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24672
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246732018-01-24T08:04:16Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome
Conejo González, Carla
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Renata Bartesaghi
Despite the clinical heterogeneity among individuals with Down syndrome (DS), the uniformity with which they acquire Alzheimer’s disease (AD) neuropathology as they age makes this population important to study; not only to gain a better understanding of AD, but also because there are currently no effective treatments for DS with AD-like dementia. The pathological links between DS and AD are presumably due to the lifelong overexpression of AD-related genes encoded in chromosome 21, most of them triplicated in DS. The dosage-dependent increase of some of these genes in DS, such as the amyloid precursor protein, leads to plaque formation and further tangle aggregation; changes observed in AD. However, the vast number of chromosome 21 gene products and the complexity of the mechanisms they engender have suggested that they might be giving rise to many diverse neuropathological processes. Recently, the discovery of neuroinflammatory changes in the brains of DS individuals as well as the presence of inflammation-related genes within chromosome 21, prompted the/npossibility that early events in DS patients might be accelerating AD pathogenesis. Until the moment, DS mouse models have provided a powerful tool for translational research, being the Ts65Dn model the most widely used. The possibility that this model might also prove similarly useful in evaluating AD treatments for DS emphasizes the need to study the aging process in the Ts65Dn model. This review also delves into novel therapeutic insight, propounding the pro-inflammatory mediator GSK3 as a/npotential target to rescue AD-like neurodegenerative features in the Ts65Dn DS mouse model.
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24673
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/246742018-01-24T08:03:53Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Mycoplasma pneumoniae’s perspectives in systems and synthetic biology
Cano Martínez-Botas, Jaime
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: Maria Lluch Senar
Mycoplasma pneumoniae was initially described in the 1940s as a highly pathogenic organism. Since then it has become recognized as a human lung pathogen which produces primary atypical pneumonia, among other extrapulmonary complications. Moreover, it stands as one of the smallest and best characterized bacteria, known by its reduced genome and lack of cell wall. There is a classification with two main subgroups or clinical isolates of this bacteria, types I and II, which appear to switch predominance in specific geographical areas through time. Nowadays, M. pneumoniae, thanks to its reduced genome, stands as an ideal candidate for achieving both goals of minimal cell and chassis cell within systems and synthetic biology. For these purposes it is necessary the identification of those genetic features associated with pathogenicity within the bacteria. Here we study 22 sequenced clinical isolates of M. pneumoniae through the analysis of SNPs, missense, indels and genome rearrangements. They revealed a new classification of strains and higher levels of CARDs toxin in Type II strains which may indicate increased virulence and pathogenicity in this group.
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
2015-07-29
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24674
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/248522018-01-24T08:10:02Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Cell-‐free DNA analysis in maternal blood, new accurate approach for non-‐invasive/nprenatal screening of chromosomal aneuploidies: review
Sumarroca Bordas, Marina
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Vincenzo Cirigliano
Prenatal screening and diagnostic tests for the detection of fetal chromosomal/nabnormalities are routine standard of care in pregnancy management. Traditional/nmethods consist of a non-invasive combined test, which gives an individual risk,/nfollowed by an invasive procedure if necessary. Recently, non-invasive prenatal testing/n(NIPT) through the analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal blood, has been/nshown to accurately detect common fetal autosomal trisomies during the first trimester/nof pregnancy. About 6-20% of cell free DNA circulating in maternal plasma are small/nDNA molecules coming from apoptotic trophoblastic cells. This approach, whose/nefficacy exceeds by far that of conventional screening, is based on sequencing and/ncounting the cfDNA sequences originating from different maternal and fetal genomic/nregions. In pregnancies with aneuploid fetuses, the extra or missing copy of the/naffected chromosome would alter the proportional representation of this specific/nchromosome in the maternal plasma. This innovative approach is more sensitive and/nspecific, offering a greater detection rate (DR) and a significantly lower false-positive/nrate (FPR), which would result in a reduction of invasive diagnostic procedures that/ncarry a risk of miscarriage. CfDNA testing is gaining widespread acceptability./nHowever, its high cost is actually still limiting its application to high- and intermediaterisk/npatients, identified as such by the conventional first-line method of screening. This/nproject is based on a detailed bibliographic search of recent and relevant studies to/nreview the current state of the art regarding the cfDNA screening test and its future/nperspectives and applicability in clinical practice.
2015-10-16
2015-10-16
2015-10-16
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24852
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/249812018-01-24T08:11:11Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Identification of alternative splicing alterations in small cell lung cancer
Reixachs i Solé, Marina
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Eduardo Eyras
Lung cancers cause 1,5 million casualties per year worldwide. Despite their heterogeneity, lung cancers are classified into two classes as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which include lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell cancer (LUSC). SCLC is the most aggressive type of lung cancer reaching average survival rates of 5% after 5 years from the time of diagnosis. The lack of knowledge about the underlying tumorigenic mechanisms and the lack of effective treatments make the situation more dramatic for SCLC tumours. Our main goal is to obtain a specific splicing signature for SCLC that may provide novel molecular targets for prognosis and therapy. For this purpose, we used the iso-kTSP algorithm, a recently developed computational method able to identify transcript isoform changes across different samples. This comparison-based approach allows to classify RNA-seq data from different tumour or normal samples by establishing a decision rule based on the relative ordering in a ranking of isoform expression values. We applied this method to samples from different lung cancers: SCLC, LUAD and LUSC; and also to normal lung samples. Our results revealed a set of distinct alternative splicing patterns in SCLC with potential functional relevance. This work shows that identification of alterations in alternative splicing can shed light on the study of new molecular mechanisms to develop prognostic and therapeutic targets of SCLC tumours.
2015-11-02
2015-11-02
2015-11-02
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/24981
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/273042018-06-04T07:59:44Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Zika virus : the causal agent of a new congenital syndrome
Palomar Cros, Anna
Díez Antón, Juana, 1962-
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Professora: Juana Díez
Zika virus, a flavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, was first identified in 1947 in a sentinel rhesus monkey in the Zika forest area of Uganda, and later on in humans in Nigeria. Despite having been discovered almost 70 years ago, only about a dozen human infections were reported before 2007 and were mainly confined to the African continent. The Zika virus came to global attention when it caused an explosive outbreak in the island of Yap in Micronesia in 2007 followed by a major outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013. The virus continued to spread and entered the Western hemisphere where a major outbreak was reported in May 2015 in Brazil. For many years Zika virus was considered self-limiting causing a mild disease and with no long-term consequences. However, since the end of 2015, there has been reported an increase in the incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and foetal neurological complications including microcephaly, raising serious worldwide public health concerns. Believed to be only transmitted by mosquitoes, now there have been proposed other non-vector-borne transmission routes including sexual transmission, vertical transmission and blood transfusion transmission. Recently many efforts have been invested in clarifying such worrisome relationship and in developing ZIKV models either in vitro or in vivo. Here, we broadly review what is currently known about this emerging virus and focused on its consequences for brain development.
2016-09-22
2016-09-22
2016-09-22
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/27304
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/273052018-01-24T08:23:01Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Exploració de l'angiogènesi de cèl·lules endotenials microvasculars en cultiu en condicions fisiològiques, patològiques i farmacològiques
Martínez Sánchez, Julia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Maribel Díaz-Ricart i Marta Palomo
L’endoteli és un òrgan format per un nombre elevat de cèl·lules que recobreixen l’interior dels vasos sanguinis. Aquestes cèl·lules endotelials (CEs) tenen capacitat de resposta i davant d’un estímul danyí poden canviar el seu estat d’un fenotip basal a un activat o fins i tot a un disfuncional, on les seves funcions principals es veuen alterades./nL’angiogènesi, la formació de nous tubs sanguinis, és una de les funcions endotelials/nque es veu afectada en aquesta disfunció. Aquesta capacitat té un paper important en/nmolts processos, tant fisiològics com patològics, i per aquest motiu el seu estudi i la seva potencial modulació poden ser de gran utilitat per afrontar malalties en les que ja se sap que existeix una disfunció endotelial. Els objectius d’aquest treball han estat 1) posar a punt una tècnica per l’estudi de l’angiogènesi utilitzant CEs microvasculars en cultiu, 2) explorar si un estat de disfunció endotelial, com el que succeeix en pacients amb insuficiència renal crònica terminal (IRCT), té associada una alteració de l’angiogènesi i 3) investigar l’efecte que pot tenir sobre aquesta funció un fàrmac protector de l’endoteli, com el defibrotide (DF). Els resultats obtinguts al llarg d’aquest estudi demostren que: 1) el creixement de CEs en 3D, utilitzant un medi ric en proteïnes de la membrana basal, permet la formació de petits vasos o tubs; 2) la disfunció endotelial associada a la IRCT es caracteritza per una reducció del procés angiogènic; 3) el DF presenta un efecte antiangiogènic, ja que quan està present en el cultiu, les CEs no són capaces de formar tubs en la mateixa proporció que en una situació control. Aquest estudi presenta uns resultats prou significatius i interessants com per seguir investigant el paper de l’angiogènesi en situacions patològiques com la de la IRCT i la seva potencial modulació amb tractaments farmacològics com el DF.
2016-09-22
2016-09-22
2016-09-22
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/27305
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/324722018-01-24T08:21:09Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Could cannabidiol be the answer for drug addiction? A systematic review of cannabidiol in addictive behaviours
Mallén Bareas, Adrián
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisat per: Fernando Berrendero
Cannabis sativa preparations have been used since antiquity for medicinal purposes. This plant contains more than 60 phytochemicals, being the phytocannabinoids (pCBs) some of them. Despite of the psychoactive properties produced by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), current research is focused on cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive compound. Even though, the mechanism of action of CBD is not clearly understood, it seems to interact with CB1 receptors (CB1R) from the endocannabinoid system (eCB) among many other neurotransmitter systems. Altogether, pre-clinical studies have reported many therapeutic actions of CBD, which improves the treatment of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, inflammatory and carcinogenic diseases. Furthermore, a cannabis whole extract medicine, Sativex®, has just been approved for multiple sclerosis. Besides of this range of effects, the goal of this systematic review is to summarize the therapeutic efficacy of CBD for the treatment of drug addiction. Taken together, the main results of pre-clinical and clinical studies, provide evidence for the therapeutic properties of CBD on opioid, psychostimulants, cannabis and nicotine addiction in humans. Notwithstanding, the efficacy of CBD as a treatment of addictive behaviours has not yet been proved completely and some investigations are still needed.
2017-06-28
2017-06-28
2016
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/32472
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/330342018-01-24T08:10:02Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Efectes antitrombòtics de la dieta mediterrània
Gispert Bronsoms, Ariadna
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Dr. Álvaro Hernáez
Cotutora: Dra. Meritxell Girvent
Les malalties cardiovasculars són la causa principal de mortalitat en el món. Aquestes
s’afavoreixen per una sèrie de factors de risc que poden augmentar si no es segueix
una dieta correcta. Entre ells trobem els estats d’hipercoagulabilitat. La dieta mediterrània ha mostrat ser un dels elements que més pot reduir els factors de risc cardiovascular gràcies a tots els elements que la conformen: verdures i fruites en gran quantitat, peix blau i carn en menor proporció i nivells moderats d’alcohol. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és descriure quins d’aquests aliments tenen efectes sobre la cascada de trombosi i estudiar els mecanismes moleculars pels quals diferents components de la dieta mediterrània poden afectar la funció plaquetària, la cascada de coagulació i la fibrinòlisi. Per realitzar aquesta revisió s’ha utilitzat un mètode de cerca sistemàtica per adquirir informació sobre els sistemes que promouen o inhibeixen la coagulació i la seva relació amb els aliments més característics de la dieta mediterrània. L’oli d’oliva, el peix blau, el tomàquet, el vi negre, l’all i la ceba són els aliments dins el marc de la dieta mediterrània que han estat més investigats en l’entorn del sistema de
coagulació. Principalment la seva acció es basa en regular la via de les plaquetes,
reduint-ne l’activació i l’agregació. No obstant, també modulen la cascada de coagulació i fibrinòlisi evitant processos trombogènics. D’aquesta forma, els diferents components de la dieta mediterrània, així com aquesta en el seu conjunt, aporten beneficis sobre la salut cardiovascular mitjançant la regulació del sistema de coagulació.
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33034
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/330352018-01-24T08:15:24Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
L’obesitat com a factor de risc pel càncer de mama: evidències epidemiològiques, mecanismes moleculars i epigenètics
Achaerandio Torres, Mireya
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Meritxell Girvent Montllor, UPF
Co-tutora: Mª José Carrera Santaliestra, UAB
L’augment del consum de dietes hipercalòriques i el sedentarisme són responsables de l’augment de la prevalença d’obesitat en els últims anys. L’excés de greix blanc, sobretot el visceral, produeix una alteració de les funcions metabòliques promovent el
desenvolupament de malalties cardiovasculars, diabetis mellitus tipus 2 i d’alguns tipus de càncer, entre d’altres el càncer de mama. L’objectiu del present treball és revisar els estudis epidemiològics que donen solidesa a aquesta relació, estudiar els mecanismes cel·lulars, epigenètics i vies metabòliques implicades en promoure el desenvolupament tumoral mamari en l’obesitat, així com estudiar si el patró dietètic té influència sobre el desenvolupament del càncer de mama. Per a dur a terme el present treball s’han revisat articles publicats al PubMed utilitzant les paraules claus adients als objectius. Els mecanismes pels quals l’obesitat pot incrementar el risc de desenvolupament tumoral mamari que s’han relacionat amb la desregulació dels nivells d’adipocines, augment dels nivells d’estrògens i de insulina i la instauració d’un estat inflamatori característic de l’obesitat. Aquests factors actuen a nivell del material genètic de diferents maneres afavorint que les cèl·lules malignitzin. En conclusió, l’obesitat és una condició que promou la desregulació de factors que augmenten el risc de desenvolupar càncer de mama; així mateix, la dieta mediterrània sembla que pot tenir un efecte protector.
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33035
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/330392018-01-24T08:15:24Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Assessing neural circuit dynamics of antipsychotic drugs
Chanovas Colomé, Jordi
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: M. Victòria Puig
Tutora: Berta Alsina
In vivo extracellular recording of simultaneous neural responses from different neurons at the same time allows to understand the interaction between neurons and to determine neural dynamics in different brain circuits. These neural responses are transmembrane currents that can be measured in the extracellular space with high temporal resolution (i.e. ms) by placing electrodes extracellularly. Spikes or action potentials are one of the major contributors to the extracellular signal. These are required for effective communication across different brain areas and abnormal spiking activity is found in some neurological diseases. Extracting spikes from extracellular recordings is an arduous task that requires to reliably discern spike contributions from different neurons recorded near the electrode from the background electrical noise. Here, multi-unit activity (i.e. aggregate spiking activity of a neural population close to the electrode) is quantified to assess neural circuit dynamics of antipsychotic drugs in freely-moving mice in the prefronto-hippocampal circuit. Results show that multi-unit activity is reduced by antipsychotic drugs both in hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex. Decrease in the firing rate of neuronal populations seems to be mediated mainly by the
stimulation of serotonin 1A receptor and/or blockage of serotonin 2A receptor.
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
2017-10-18
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33039
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/330542018-01-24T08:20:38Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Apropem la recerca a batxillerat: una aproximació didàctica per elaborar treballs de
recerca de l'àmbit de la biomedicina
Núñez Garcia, Gemma
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Mar Carrió
L’aprenentage de les ciències mitjançant la indagació promou el desenvolupament de la competència científica, però actualment hi ha escassos recursos destinats a l’alumnat de batxillerat per fer recerca des d’un punt de vista indagador. Això comporta que els centres escolars contactin amb els centres d’investigació per realitzar el treball de recerca (TR) i, conseqüentment, genera desigualtats d’oportunitats entre l’alumnat. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi va ser dissenyar materials didàctics per afavorir la realització de TR de qualitat, a través de la indagació i el treball autònom. Es va estudiar d’on provenien la majoria de treballs finalistes del premi PRBB (2011-2017) i quins eren els seus aspectes forts i millorables. Es va dissenyar una activitat per fer una lectura cooperativa d’un article d’investigació que es va avaluar mitjançant la seva implementació en una escola, un qüestionari i l’observació; una guia general per elaborar bons TR i una proposta de TR amb la col·laboració d’un grup d’investigació, que es van avaluar amb un qüestionari. Els resultats mostren que la majoria de
treballs premiats pertanyen a escoles públiques i que la competència científica no sempre s’assoleix; que l’aprenentatge cooperatiu és positiu per l’adquisició de continguts i competències; i que l’elaboració de material didàctic específic podria generar treballs autònoms i sostenibles. Com a conclusió, considerem que cal dissenyar més recursos didàctics per enfortir el desenvolupament de la competència científica entre l’alumnat de batxillerat i que la incorporació de metodologies docents
actives a les aules permetria anar més enllà de la mera transmissió de coneixements.
2017-10-20
2017-10-20
2017-10-20
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33054
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/330912018-01-24T08:35:41Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Impacts of climate change on global health: a scoping review on the case of malaria
Güil Oumrait, Núria
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Fernando García Benavides
Anthropogenic climate change is having a potential impact on human health, being one of the main environmental and health challenges of our time. Malaria, the major killer of children worldwide, is critically the most climate sensitive vector-borne disease in the world. However, the link between climate change and malaria is still a subject of discussion within the scientific community and a question that remains unresolved. This scoping review aims to elucidate this relation through evidence collected from time series analyses, geographical comparison and outbreak studies performed in different endemic countries of malaria. Our results reveal that climatic variables (temperature, rainfall and humidity) are the prime determinants of geographical distribution,
seasonality and incidence trends of malaria. Historical records in temperature rise and precipitation trends on account of anthropogenic global warming are clearly propitiating the occurrence of local malaria outbreaks, and the anomalous geographical shift of the vector and parasite towards regions where populations are immunologically unprepared. Furthermore, this review introduces computational models as a tool to predict forthcoming malaria scenarios driven by climate change, and discusses the possible implications for Western and low-income countries in the near future.
2017-10-25
2017-10-25
2017-10-25
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33091
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/332112018-01-24T08:36:24Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Neuroinflamació i sistema opioide endogen en el dolor neuropàtic experimental
García Guillén, Júlia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Míriam Martínez i Josep-Eladi Baños
El dolor neuropàtic és degut a una malaltia que afecta al sistema somatosensorial, produint-se canvis en les vies nociceptives que alteren la conducció normal dels impulsos nerviosos. Es caracteritza per percebre com a estímuls dolorosos aquells que són innocus (al·lodínia), i per respondre de manera exagerada als dolorosos (hiperalgèsia). Durant l’última dècada, s’ha descobert que la patogènesi del dolor neuropàtic no es restringeix únicament a una activitat neuronal aberrant, sinó que també intervenen cèl·lules immunitàries i glials. L’activació d’aquestes cèl·lules
al nervi lesionat, al gangli de l’arrel dorsal i a la mèdul·la espinal, contribueix al manteniment del dolor neuropàtic al produir i secretar mediadors proinflamatoris i substàncies algògenes que sensibilitzen i estimulen els nociceptors i les seves dianes sinàptiques. El sistema immune també allibera citocines antiinflamatòries i mediadors analgèsics, que contribueixen a reduir la sensibilització de les terminacions nociceptives i a limitar la resposta inflamatòria. Els opioides endògens produeixen efectes analgèsics, immunosupressors i antiinflamatoris a l’actuar sobre els
receptors opioides expressats en neurones i cèl·lules immunitàries. La balança entre mediadors pro i antiinflamatoris serà decisiva per determinar la cronificació del dolor. En aquest treball es revisa la contribució del sistema immunitari en el desenvolupament i manteniment del dolor neuropàtic i el paper del sistema opioide endogen en la modulació de la resposta neuroinflamatòria.
2017-11-13
2017-11-13
2017-11-13
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33211
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/338472018-02-14T02:32:14Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Vagus nerve stimulation as a therapy for treatment resistant depression
Martínez Martínez, Andrea
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Andrés Ozaita Mintegui
The major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent chronic disease considered one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. MDD is predicted to be the leading cause of disability by the year 2020. From all patients with MDD, at least 10% to 20% suffer treatment resistant depression (TDR) since they do not have satisfactory response to current available treatments. This paper summarizes the current pathophysiological hypothesis of depression including the alterations in monoaminergic transmission, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neuroplasticity and inflammation, and their relation with an adjuvant therapeutic strategy, the vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). This recently accepted therapy consists in the stimulation through implanted electrodes of the left vagus nerve, which is known to be a direct connection between the nervous system and the periphery. This therapy has been accepted for the treatment of epilepsy and depression but is also under study for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders. In conclusion, although VNS is nowadays an invasive therapy, it has shown effectiveness in the treatment of mental and inflammatory disorders and promises to be an additional strategy in the treatment of a variety of diseased states.
2018-02-13
2018-02-13
2017
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/33847
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución 3.0 España
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/351922018-07-20T01:31:18Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Lowering effects of hydroxytyrosol on homocysteine plasma concentrations after wine intake in humans
Guerra Albà, Mercè
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Director: Dr. Rafael de la Torre Fornell
Homocysteine is considered to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Moderate alcohol
consumption has been associated with beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases.
However, whether these effects are due to ethanol or to non-alcoholic components of
alcoholic beverages including wine is still controversial. We designed a study that tries
to demonstrate that one of the most potent dietary antioxidant compounds,
hydroxytyrosol is responsible for cardiovascular health benefits provided by moderate
wine consumption. Instead of administering hydroxytyrosol, we will benefit from the
endogenous bioconversion described by us of tyrosol, a simple phenol quite abundant
in wine, to hydroxytyrosol. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of
hydroxytyrosol after wine + tyrosol intake on homocysteine plasma concentrations. 20
subjects at high cardiovascular risk were randomized in a crossover trial. All received:
(i) water ad libitum, (ii) 1 or 2 glasses (men) of white wine (14g ethanol/glass; 1-1,25 mg
tyrosol/glass) and (iii) 1 or 2 glasses (men) of white wine each supplemented with a
capsule of tyrosol (25mg) in a randomized crossover design. Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol
were measured in urine two times in each intervention, homocysteine concentrations
were measured in plasma and endothelial function was measured using the Peripheral
Arterial Tone (PAT signal). An increase on hydroxytyrosol urine metabolites was
observed after wine + tyrosol intake together with a reduction on homocysteine
concentrations. No differences were observed on the endothelial function. These results
support a beneficial effect of the phenolic compounds of wine on cardiovascular risk factors/cardiovascular diseases.
2018-07-19
2018-07-19
2018-07-19
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35192
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/351932018-07-20T01:31:18Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Estudi observacional retrospectiu de les característiques clíniques dels pacients de la comunitat gitana sotmesos a cirurgia bariàtrica
Dacosta Pova, Marta
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Dr. Albert Goday Arno
Cotutora: Dra. Meritxell Girvent Montllor
L’obesitat és considerada una pandèmia d’escala mundial, amb una prevalença actual a Espanya d’un 21,6%, destacant un percentatge més elevat quan s’estudia la comunitat gitana. Quan l’obesitat assoleix el grau III o obesitat mòrbida, el tractament més efectiu és la cirurgia bariàtrica. Tot i l’alta prevalença d’obesitat en membres de la comunitat gitana, fins ara no es tenia constància de com responien aquests pacients al tractament quirúrgic. El present estudi pretén conèixer millor les característiques clíniques i la resposta a la cirurgia bariàtrica de les persones de la comunitat gitana que pateixen obesitat greu, per tal de poder-los oferir millors eines preventives i assistencials. Per a complir amb l’objectiu s’ha realitzat un estudi clínic observacional retrospectiu d’una cohort prospectiva de 577 pacients, 32 dels quals pertanyen a la comunitat gitana, sotmesos a cirurgia bariàtrica entre gener de 2005 i maig de 2018. S’han trobat diferències en les característiques clíniques basals entre els pacients que pertanyen a la comunitat gitana i els que no, així com en el nivell educatiu. Tot i aquestes diferències inicials, en l’evolució postoperatòria al llarg de dotze mesos no han mostrat diferències significatives respecte a la resta de pacients en la pèrdua d’excés de pes ni en la millora dels paràmetres bioquímics i de pressió arterial, demostrant que ambdós grups responen igual de bé a la cirurgia en aquest període de temps.
2018-07-19
2018-07-19
2018-07-19
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35193
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/354422018-09-14T01:31:33Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
El nou repte de les addiccions conductuals: l’ús problemàtic del mòbil: estudi transversal en l’alumnat de Barcelona
Olivella Cirici, Marc
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Glòria Pérez (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona)
En un món on el mòbil és la millor eina per estar sempre disponible, el seu consum es pot convertir en un problema quan s’utilitza d’una manera injustificada i desmesurada. Malgrat ser la millor eina per un gran nombre de finalitats, hi ha persones que poden fer-ne un ús problemàtic, consultant la pantalla de manera incontrolada i compulsiva. Hi ha evidències de les semblances d’aquest trastorn amb l’addicció a les drogues, tant pel que fa a les bases neurobiològiques com a la simptomatologia. En aquest estudi, mitjançant l’estratificació per edat i sexe, hem observat l’alta prevalença d’aquest fenomen en tots els grups del jovent de la ciutat de Barcelona, no obstant hem observat diferències entre els menors i majors de 16 anys així com entre els nois i les noies, essent aquestes últimes el col·lectiu amb major prevalença d’ús problemàtic del mòbil. S’ha pogut associar l’ús problemàtic del mòbil a una sèrie de variables explicatives. Per una banda, variables contextuals com les relacions amb la família i amb l’escola. Per altra banda, variables individuals com la mala salut mental, el consum excessiu d’alcohol, la presència de pantalles durant el sopar, l’ús del mòbil abans d’anar a dormir i un abús del visionat de pantalles. Finalment, basant-nos en els nostres resultats, hem pogut fer recomanacions sobre intervencions que incideixin en les habilitats parentals dins les famílies, les habilitats educatives a les escoles i en una major consciència i sensibilització a la societat en general, serà un dels nous reptes en salut pública.
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35442
cat
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/354432018-09-17T15:59:56Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Environmental enrichment and epigallocatequin-3-gallate normalize aberrant neural activity in a murine model of Down Syndrome
Vilademunt Alcaide, Marta
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Maria Victoria Puig Velasco i Fernando Giraldez Orgaz
Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic disease underlying intellectual disability. It is characterized by memory impairment and brain morphological and molecular alterations resulting in poor executive performance. Different mouse models have been developed to understand DS, Ts65Dn being the best characterized. Even though a lot is known about genetic, morphological and molecular abnormalities in this model, neural activity alterations are poorly understood. It has been described that environmental enrichment (EE) and the green tea extract epigallocatequine-3-gallate (EGCG) rescue cognitive impairment in Ts65Dn mice; however, the cellular mechanisms underlying their therapeutic action are not well understood. The present work reports the presence of an aberrant prefrontal cortex and hippocampal multi-unit activity (MUA) in Ts65Dn mice when compared to wild-type non-trisomic mice. The results show that EE and EGCG, when administered in combination, normalize this aberrant neural activity of trisomic mice, although, statistically significant differences were only reported in the prefrontal cortex. Therefore, additional data needs to be analysed to enhance statistical robustness and demonstrate further this effect also in the hippocampus. Aside its limitations, this work provides novel and valuable neurophysiological information that may be used to understand DS cognitive normalization both in mouse models and humans.
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35443
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/354442018-09-14T01:31:38Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Nanoheaters and amoeboid-like motile cells: designing a new delivery system
Bellot Herrero, Carlota
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Pilar Rivera Gil
Pharmacological success is strongly determined by how a drug is delivered to its target structure. This is the reason why the development of improved and new drug delivery strategies is one of the greatest pharmacological research focuses. The present work proposes a novel cell-based drug delivery system based on the use of fast migrating
amoeboid-like fragments without nucleus and the photo-induced thermal properties of gold nanoheaters as release triggers. The objective is to determine the practical feasibility of this concept following different strategies, starting with the use of zebrafish embryo cells. This type of cells was later rejected for this aim due to the impossibility to load them with nanoheaters using the tested procedures. HeLa cells were then deemed as good candidates to orientate future proof-of-concept tests in this direction.
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35444
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/354452018-09-14T01:31:41Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Identification of war victims of the 20th century from Poland through DNA testing from skeletal remains
Badell Garcia, Irina
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Marià Senti Clapes (UPF) i Andrzej Ossowski (PUM)
Identification through forensic methods is crucial in crime investigations. The Polish Genetic Database of Victims of Totalitarianism (PBGOT) is allowing the positive identification of many victims of Communist and Nazi regimes which have remained unknown for a long time. Forensic science is advancing really fast and the application of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques in the identification of victims has
completely changed the procedures making them faster, more accurate and less propitious to contamination and manipulation errors. The main objective of this project is to present real-life cases of victims identified with the PBGOT as we continue to identify all the remaining victims. Bones such as teeth and femur were chosen for the analysis because DNA is better conserved in long bones and teeth. Samples were cleaned manually and chemically. Afterwards, bone powder was obtained using a
freezer mill and it was kept at -20ºC. DNA was extracted with PrepFiler BTA Forensic DNA Extraction Kit (Applied Biosystems) and analyzed with GenoProof 3.0.7. The identified victims presented here are Petr B., Tadeusz Stabrowski and Hieronim Dekutowski.
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
2018-09-13
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/35445
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/416792019-06-01T01:30:59Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Analysis of the cholinergic system in Alzheimer’s disease: a study of toxicity and regulation of stress response in cholinergic cells
Salvador i Mata, Bertran
Tutor: Francisco J. Muñoz
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that slowly impairs the cognitive abilities of the patient, leading to a progressive neuronal loss. The main molecular neuropathological hallmarks are the intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and the extracellular accumulation of amyloid-β peptide forming senile plaques. Among the different cell types affected, early alterations have been described in the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, together with intraneuronal accumulation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) on these cells, and deficits in the cholinergic system, hence hypothesizing a possible epicenter for the onset of the disease in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, although the mechanisms and processes involved remain unknown. This project will help to better understand those mechanisms by studying basal forebrain cholinergic neurons susceptibility to stressors. The cholinergic cell line SN56.B5.G4 and primary cultures derived from the nucleus basal of Meynert of mice will be used in the study consisting in the analysis of: i) the response of cholinergic neurons to peroxide and Aβ; ii) the role of calbindin in the protection against Aβ induced neurotoxicity;
iii) the intracellular trafficking of Aβ. Together with this, studies in glucose-deprivation scenarios will be performed. Moreover, slices of mice brains at different ages will be used to evaluate the trafficking of the intracellular Aβ, in order to describe possible mechanisms of Aβ delivery to other brains regions such as cortical areas or hippocampus. Altogether,
this project aim’s is to provide useful information to better understand the onset and progression of the disease and to describe possible targets to prevent it.
2019-05-31
2019-05-31
2015-06-19
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/41679
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/422222019-08-02T01:30:55Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Targeting acute myeloid leukemia stem cell: current status and clinical application
Gutierrez Tordera, Laia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Ruth Muñoz Risueño i Mariano Sentí Clapés
Since the discovery of leukemic stem cells by Dick and Bonnet in 1996, therapeutic targets have been searched to specifically eliminate this population and, thus, avoid recurrent episodes of relapse in these patients. To date, different molecular targets have been identified in the population of leukemic stem cells that can be pharmacologically modulated. The therapeutic targets for which a drug has been developed and the clinical trials in patients with AML are identified and correlated with the published preclinical data. The therapeutic targets and drugs described against leukemic stem cells are searched in journals indexed in MedLine. The preclinical regulatory reports are searched on the website of the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration). To identify the approved clinical trials, the registry www.clinicaltrial.gov is consulted. Therapeutic targets or drugs are grouped according to their mechanism of action and efficacy in clinical trials and a search is made to identify which preclinical data are critical for predicting positive results in patients. The analysis will allow the development of a method to identify the clinical potential of preclinical studies described with drugs against leukemic stem cells.
2019-08-01
2019-08-01
2019-08-01
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/42222
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/422232019-08-02T01:30:54Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Dispositiu mèdic per combatre la falta de sacietat en pacients amb Síndrome de Prader-Willi
Figueras Cervera, Marta
Garcia Codina, Gal·la
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutora: Elisabet Rosell
La Síndrome de Prader-Willi (SPW) és un trastorn poc freqüent causat per una falta d’expressió del cromosoma 15. Els afectats pateixen afectacions mentals, físiques i conductuals. Els resultats d’una enquesta realitzada als stakeholders indiquen que les afectacions que més afecten a la qualitat de vida després de les alteracions conductuals, són la falta de sacietat i la hiperfàgia. Actualment no existeix cap tractament farmacològic eficaç a llarg termini per a tractar aquest aspecte de la malaltia. Per aquesta raó neix SatiaTech, un dispositiu mèdic que té com a objectiu indicar quan els pacients estan saciats, de tal manera que sàpiguen quan han de parar de menjar evitant així, complicacions futures. La mesura de la sacietat es fa mitjançant la detecció de leptina, insulina, i glucosa en el líquid intersticial. SatiaTech utilitza la tecnologia de Microneedles (MN) com a mètode d'absorció, i un sistema d’elèctrodes per mesurar canvis en la impedància, proporcionals a la concentració de les molècules.
2019-08-01
2019-08-01
2019-08-01
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/42223
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/422242021-10-18T10:48:21Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Spontaneous neuronal activity is correlated to statistical learning performance: computation of ALFF and fALFF indices on resting-state fMRI
Sanahuja Irene, Sandra
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Miguel Burgaleta Díaz
Statistical learning (SL) is a mechanism that enables us to detect and learn probabilistic regularities and patterns from the environment. Previous studies have explored the role of SL in resting-state functional connectivity, but none of them has focused on spontaneous neuronal activity (SNA) and whether it can predict performance at a word segmentation task. Here we compute the functional segregation indices, ALFF and fALFF, on resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data and correlate them to statistical learning performance after listening to an artificial language stream. Our results show that there is a significant negative correlation between fALFF index and SL performance after a 4-minute exposure at bilateral temporo-occipital junction. This region seems to play a role in auditory attention and speech perception and, according to our results, is relevant for statistical learning when SNA is taken into account.
2019-08-01
2019-08-01
2019
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/42224
eng
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/423322019-09-27T01:30:33Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Pavel Florensky, reverse perspective and the neurosciences
Díaz Calvete, Júlia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutor: Fernando Giráldez Orgaz
The way we perceive the world has always been a major concern of philosophy and art. Pavel Florensky was a Russian polymath who wrote Reverse Perspective (1920), a rather unique essay on perception and art. His analysis confronted two representation
methods: linear perspective, characteristic of Renaissance works, and reverse perspective, characteristic of Russian icons and Byzantine art. Florensky argued that the use of reverse perspective and multiple viewpoints (polycentredness) in Russian icons, far from ‘imperfections’, were superior ways of representation. Moreover, departing from rules of linear projection and the use of incongruent shadows, line contours or extreme features were actually required for the ‘essential’ reconstruction of the physical reality. He coined the term ‘physiological space’ as opposed to the physical space to refer to the mechanisms by which we actually see the world. In doing this, Florensky unveiled some fundamental principles of the organization of human perception that anticipated the current neuroscientific approach to art.
2019-09-26
2019-09-26
2019
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/42332
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/459352021-10-18T10:47:56Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Revisió i actualització de les entrades de fàrmacs indispensables en el nou Diccionari enciclopèdic de medicina (DEMCAT)
Cerrillo Moya, Carlota
Escala Crusells, Clara
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutores TERMCAT: M. Antònia Julià i Sílvia Escrig
Tutor Fundació Dr. Antoni Esteve: Fèlix Bosch
D’ençà que es va publicar el Diccionari de medicina de Manuel Corachan, l’any 1936, la terminologia mèdica en català no ha evolucionat a un ritme constant; ans al contrari, ha hagut de superar nombrosos entrebancs. Gairebé 80 anys després de l’aparició d’aquesta obra, entre el 2009 i el 2015, la terminologia mèdica en català ha pres una nova embranzida amb la posada en marxa del projecte del nou Diccionari enciclopèdic de medicina de Catalunya (DEMCAT). El DEMCAT és un portal en línia amb una estructura interna consolidada, que agrupa la totalitat d’entrades en més de 40 àrees
temàtiques diferents, entre elles l’àrea de farmacologia. Els termes pertanyents a aquesta àrea han experimentat un procés de revisió i actualització intermitent, dut a terme per terminòlogues i especialistes. L’objectiu d’aquest treball ha estat seleccionar 200 fàrmacs indispensables que han de constar al DEMCAT i, a continuació, dur a terme la revisió i actualització de la seva entrada al diccionari. La metodologia s’ha estructurat en tres apartats: la contextualització històrica del projecte, la selecció de 200 fàrmacs de rellevància i, finalment, el treball terminològic. Els resultats inclouen les
fitxes actualitzades dels fàrmacs seleccionats, de les quals 13 eren de nova creació. La tasca duta a terme ha suposat una aportació significativa a la tasca de revisió i estandardització del DEMCAT i, al mateix temps, ha permès optimitzar el procés de revisió de les fitxes de cara al futur. Així doncs, aquest treball és un pas endavant a l’hora de disposar d’una eina de consulta actualitzada i avalada per experts
de terminologia mèdica i científica en català.
The Diccionari de medicina by Manuel Corachan was released in 1936; this was the first ensemble of medical terms in Catalan to be published. Ever since, the evolution of medical Catalan terminology has been intermittent due to many difficulties that have aroused in its way. Between 2009 and 2015, after almost 80 years since the first publication, the Diccionari enciclopèdic de medicina de Catalunya
(DEMCAT) is born. The DEMCAT is available online; it clusters all medical terms in more than 40
subject areas, including pharmacology. This area has undergone a slow update process carried out by terminologists and specialists. The aim of this work has been to select 200 essential drugs, which must be included in the DEMCAT, and afterwards revise and update their dictionary entry. The methodology has been structured in the following sections: historical contextualization of the project, selection of 200 essential active principles and, finally, the terminological work. Results include updated dictionary entries of the selected medicines, 13 of which were created from the ground up. This task is a significant contribution to the revision and standardization of the DEMCAT; besides, it has helped to optimize the review process of the dictionary entries, being useful for future projects. This work is a step forward for medical Catalan terminology, allowing the development of an updated and reliable dictionary curated by experts.
2020-12-02
2020-12-02
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/45935
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/459362021-10-18T10:47:26Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Effects of variability in second language learning in adults
Sánchez López, Rebeca
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: Cristina Baus Márquez (CBC, UPF)
Co-supervisor: Marc Gimeno Martínez (CBC, UPF)
Learning a second language is a difficult task for adults. The present thesis explored how variability in the number of teachers influences second language learning and how this process is modulated by the similarity of the language to be learned with the first
language of the learner. To prove this, two experiments have been conducted: the first
one using pseudowords, and the second with Catalan Sign Language, LSC. 54 native
speakers of Spanish and Catalan participated in each experiment. Variability in the
number of teachers was compared in three conditions: no variability— six repetitions of
each word in the voice of one speaker—, moderate variability— two repetitions of each
word in the voice of three different speakers—, high variability— one repetition of each
word in the voice of six different speakers—. Learning accuracy was measured in two
tasks: picture-to-L2 and L2-to-L1. The results in both experiments revealed a different
influence of variability depending on the task. In the first experiment an effect of variability
was observed in the picture-to-L2 task. In the second experiment, no effect of variability
was observed in any of the tasks. Considering a possible ceiling effect, a retest of the
second experiment was conducted two weeks later. The results reported an effect of
variability in the picture-to-L2 task. These results show that variability enhances second language learning in different modalities regardless of the similarity of the language to
be learned with the first language of the learner.
2020-12-02
2020-12-02
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/45936
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribució-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/461042021-10-18T10:46:58Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Implementation of targeted proteomics methods for the characterization of peptides
and proteins in liquid biopsies
Vila Escutia, Laia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Eduard Sabidó Aguadé (CRG)
Targeted proteomics methods emerged to detect and quantify well-defined sets of peptides with a high degree of specificity and sensitivity. Internal standard triggered-PRM (IS-PRM) was designed to increase the number of peptides monitored in one analysis without affecting the quality of the data obtained by using stable isotopically labeled (SIL) peptides as internal standards. We aimed to investigate the technical reproducibility of a type of IS-PRM method called SureQuant and to quantify the added SIL peptides and their corresponding endogenous forms. Three aliquots of commercially available human serum samples were digested with trypsin and a set of 802 isotopically-labelled standard (SIL) peptides were spiked-in to later be analyzed by LC-MS using SureQuant acquisition method. Instrument variability showed a coefficient of variation (CV) of 9.3%, whereas samplepreparation variability increases up to 34.7% and 39.1%. The technique enabled to detect, on average, 772 SIL peptides and 738 endogenous forms. Data obtained shows very good instrument reproducibility, whereas sample preparation
procedure presents greater variability. Thus, this study proves the need for an improvement to achieve reproducibility and obtain reliable quantitative results.
2020-12-21
2020-12-21
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46104
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/461062021-10-18T10:46:22Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Towards a more sustainable university: exploring PBL-SDG innovative strategies to contribute to the sustainable development
Llerena Bastida, Maria
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora: Mar Carrió Llach (UPF)
With a view to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), UNESCO has been promoting the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a transformational tool to educate critically literate, socially connected and ethically responsible and engaged citizens. In this sense, universities should start incorporating sustainability in different fields of knowledge and investigating efficient learning methods to do so. Previous studies suggest an association between ESD and problem-based (PBL) and project-based (PjBL) learning methodologies. In this context, we hypothesize that i) little has been done to incorporate the SDG into the Human Biology bachelor’s degree; and ii) PBL and PjBL methodologies could be usefull to incorporate the SDG in health sciences studies. The results show that even though there is little presence of the SDG in the Human Biology bachelor’s degree, PBL and PjBL approaches can be very useful aids to work on them. This study provides insight into how student-centered and activelearning
pedagogical practices can be optimally designed and implemented to foster sustainability amongst health sciences university students. And ultimately, intends to be a reference for others to start introducing sustainability in their pedagogical practices and curricula.
2020-12-21
2020-12-21
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46106
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/461082021-10-18T10:45:27Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Antropología de la Guerra Civil Española en Cataluña: estudio de la exhumación de fosas e identificación de víctimas desde 1999 a 2020
Sevillano Oriola, Laia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora: Inmaculada Alemán Aguilera (UGR)
Tutora académica: Nuria B. Centeno (IMIM/UPF)
La Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939) y el principio de la dictadura franquista dejaron muchas víctimas fruto de la violencia y represión, muchas de las cuales fueron enterradas en fosas comunes. Concretamente en Cataluña, se estima una cantidad superior a 14.700 víctimas enterradas en fosas en todo el territorio. Este trabajo consta del análisis de todas las exhumaciones de fosas realizadas en Cataluña desde 1999 a 2020, con un enfoque antropológico para el estudio del perfil biológico y la identificación de las víctimas exhumadas. De las 52 actuaciones arqueológicas, 38 hallaron fosas con individuos de la Guerra Civil. En estos 20 años se han podido exhumar 344 individuos, de los cuales 71 han podido ser estudiados en este trabajo, e identificado únicamente 15. Las víctimas exhumadas eran hombres en un 98,5% de los casos, y un 53,3% eran jóvenes de entre 15 y 35 años. La elevada presencia de lesiones peri-mortem causadas por proyectiles de arma de fuego (en un 52% de los individuos), además de contusiones (9,8%) y lesiones por arma blanca (4,2%) demuestran violencia en su fallecimiento.
2020-12-22
2020-12-22
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46108
spa
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/461282021-10-18T10:45:52Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
The role of Nuclear factor I A (Nfia) during late embryonic neurogenesis
Río Bergé, Clàudia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: Cristina Pujades
The Nuclear factor I A (Nfia) is a transcription factor which seems to be a key element
during late embryonic brain neurogenesis. Since most of the studies about the role of
Nfia in the Central Nervous System (CNS) are mainly focused on later stages, this project
aims to shed light on the role of Nfia at embryonic stages. Firstly, I review the Nfia factor
and its functions in the developing CNS. As there are hints that Nfia activity crosstalks
with Notch signalling, I also review the Notch pathway and its operating mechanisms.
Finally, I discuss the potential interplay between Nfia and Notch signalling. The main
conclusions are that nfia is expressed in progenitor cells of the developing CNS, where
it inhibits neurogenesis by promoting the maintenance of an undifferentiated pool of cells.
These can give rise to late-born neurons. This role of maintaining cells in their
undifferentiated state might be promoted by the synergy between Notch signalling and
Nfia. Further studies are required in order to completely understand how this synergic
mechanism is carried out. To finish this project, I propose several experiments in the
context of zebrafish hindbrain which could help to answer some of the remaining
questions.
2021-01-08
2021-01-08
2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46128
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/467022021-03-10T02:31:07Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
EcR depletion affects ovarian follicle differentiation and oocyte growth in the cockroach Blattella germanica
Rumbo Roig, Mireia
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Director: Maria Dolors Piulachs
Tutora: Elena Bosch
Ecdysteroid hormones in insects regulate a diverse amount of physiological processes during developmental and adult stages. The molecular basis of ecdysteroid signalling has been deeply studied in holometabolous insects with meroistic ovaries, such as Drosophila melanogaster, while in hemimetabolous insects the ecdysone role is still poorly understood. Taking Blattella germanica as an hemimetabolous model with panoistic ovaries, in the present work we have studied the ecdysone role on ovaries during oogenesis by depleting the Ecdysone Receptor (EcR) and characterizing phenotypic differences in 6-day-old last instar nymphs through microscope images. Depletion of EcR mediated by dsRNA-treatment allow us to describe the roles of ecdysone in panoistic ovary. Overall results indicate that ecdysone signalling acts in two different levels: in the germarium controlling ovarian follicle differentiation and in the
vitellarium where it regulates oocyte growth. Thus, ecdysone presents a crucial role in the regulation of oogenesis of B. germanica confirming that it is not an exclusive function of meroistic ovaries.
2021-03-09
2021-03-09
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46702
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/468802021-10-18T10:44:54Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Antimicrobial stewardship strategies against extended-spectrum β-lactamase-carrying enterobacterales: a review
Rovira i Plujà, Jana
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora: Núria Prim, Laboratori de Referència de Catalunya
Tutor: Mariano Sentí, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Multidrug-resistant and extremely-drug resistant (MDR/XDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) are responsible of most healthcare-associated infections worldwide. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection control strategies have been implemented to improve antibiotic use and reduce the emergence of resistance. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are the main β-lactam resistance mechanism in GNB. The aim of this review was to evaluate the current knowledge of ESBL-carrying Enterobacterales within the framework of AMS, especially focusing on the situation in Spain. Rapid identification of MDR/XDR bacteria is essential to improve targeted-treatment. Carbapenems are the most common antibiotics used to treat ESBL infections despite their huge ecological impact. In this context, several carbapenem-spare treatments have been proposed in the recent years. Combinations of β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors may be suitable to treat urinary tract infections but their use in severe infections is controversial. Some new antibacterial drugs seem a good alternative to treat severe infections, but their use should be preserved through AMS strategies. Fluoroquinolones have been associated to the global spread of ESBL-carrying high-risk clones. These antibiotics are widely used both in humans and in food-producing animals, and the consumption in Spain is high. A reduction in fluoroquinolones prescription would be another AMS strategy to reduce the clonal expansion of MDR/XDR high-risk clones. The implementation of AMS strategies aims to have a positive impact to diminish the spread of resistance.
2021-03-22
2021-03-22
2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46880
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/470212021-04-09T06:35:03Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
The role of the neuroimmune system in the pathogenesis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Sopena Rios, Maria
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisora: Olga Valverde Granados
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) results from maternal consumption of alcohol
during pregnancy. Yet preventable, it still is very prevalent as it is estimated that 50% of the women of childbearing age consume alcohol and therefore it represents a major health concern worldwide. Alcohol can have detrimental effects that can persist throughout life on various organs and systems being the central nervous system the most damaged. Mechanisms underlying FASD impairments are not fully understood, however many factors have been established as possible candidates Recent reports have highlighted the importance of the alcohol-induced neuroimmune function in the developing brain impairments. This review discusses the information available about the neuroimmune molecular mechanisms responsible for some of the neuropathological and cognitive outcomes seen in FASD.
2021-04-06
2021-04-06
2020
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/47021
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/480822021-07-06T01:31:02Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Inhibition of TELO2 sensitizes colorectal cancer cells to chemotherapies
Ortiz Gràcia, Alba
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Director: Bérengère Pradet-Balade
Líder del grup: Dominique Helmlinger
Colorectal cancer is the 2nd most killing cancer around the world. Because treatments generally involve DNA damage, high toxicity and undesirable effects are frequently observed, which lead to treatment suspension. Moreover, several resistances to chemotherapy have been reported. Therefore, the research for new therapeutic approaches has become a major challenge. In this project our aim was to test the therapeutic potential of the protein TELO2 in combination with chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. TELO2 impacts the DNA damage response by affecting the stability of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) proteins. Indeed, the three classically used chemotherapies: oxaliplatin, irinotecan and 5-fluorouracil, are based on DNA damage production. We used a HCT116 derivative cell line with an auxin-inducible degron fused the endogenous TELO2 protein. We found additive effect with oxaliplatin, and synergistic effects with low doses of irinotecan and 5-fluorouracil. These results encourage to keep on researching for alternative approaches to enhace the response-rate to colorectal cancer treatments.
2021-07-05
2021-07-05
2019
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/48082
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
© Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/482142021-10-18T10:44:20Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Study of the molecular basis of congenital disorders of glycosylation using yeast as a model organism
Guiu Gonzalez, Neus
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Director: Oriol Gallego Moli
Tutor acadèmic: J. Miguel López-Botet Arbona
Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) are a group of inherited human disorders caused by defects on protein glycosylation. Rft1-CDG is a form of CDG caused by mutations in the gene RFT1. Rft1 is a conserved protein essential for the N-linked glycosylation pathway in the ER. The subcellular localization of Rft1 has not been
explored experimentally, although it is crucial for Rft1 function and protein glycosylation. The purpose of this research is to characterize the subcellular distribution of Rft1 and to investigate the molecular defects caused by Rft1-CDG mutations using S. Cerevisiae as
a model organism. To answer this question, we investigated the colocalization between GFP tagged Rft1 and several mCherry tagged subcellular structures using fluorescence microscopy. We found that wild-type GFP-Rft1 localizes in the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER), the Golgi Apparatus, endosomes and mitochondria. The Rft1-CDG mutations introduced to the GFP-Rft1 strain were R179E, M446V, I340K, G320D, I340R and R75C. Results show that in Rft1-R179E mutant yeast strain, the localization of Rft1 within the cell remains similar to the wild-type. However, the intensity distribution of the GFP-Rft1 fluorescent signal in mutants Rft1-R179E and Rft1-I340K is altered and the duplication time of these particular mutants and Rft1-G320D mutant is increased. Our results provide, for the first time, observations of the impact of Rft1-CDG mutations that can contribute identifying the molecular basis of human CDG.
2021-07-16
2021-07-16
2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/48214
eng
http://https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/484582021-11-03T07:45:06Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Elucidating the pathophysiological role of the apoptosis inducing factor 1 (AIF1) in Alzheimer's disease: a review of its participation in other pathologies
Solé Ariza, Aina
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Francisco José Muñoz
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of age-related dementia, whose progression and development are explained by two well-based hypotheses. The amyloid cascade hypothesis proposes the aggregation of the amyloid ß-peptide (Aß) as the key event that triggers AD, whereas the mitochondrial cascade hypothesis claims that neurodegeneration is caused by oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Even so, both hypotheses are not independent since a relationship between them is already known. Many questions about its physiopathology, however, remain unanswered. The present review proposes the possible participation of the apoptosis inducing factor 1 (AIF1) in AD, a highly relevant mitochondrial protein both for cell survival (OXPHOS process) and for cell death (caspase-independent apoptosis). According to the known functions the AIF1 performs in other pathologies, it can be suggested that the Aß accumulation and oxidative stress produces the release of pro-apoptotic AIF1, which contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in hippocampus neurons. Nevertheless, the dual functionality of AIF1 represents one of the greatest challenges to clearly define the involvement of the protein in AD, so further studies are required in this direction.
2021-09-15
2021-09-15
2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/48458
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/486802021-10-19T01:31:18Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Global prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment
Díaz Guindo, Marta
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Supervisor: Francisco J. Muñoz López (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia worldwide. AD is characterized histopathologically by senile plaques composed of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles consisting of aggregated tau protein. AD onset is preceded by mild cognitive impairment (MCI) where it is supposed that oligomers start to damage synapses. In a world with a rising number of people aged 65 and older, MCI and AD have become a public health problem. Therefore, the aim of this review is to collect the current knowledge on MCI and AD epidemiology, highlighting the social and biological factors that produce regional differences in their prevalence. To achieve this goal, we have searched original articles, meta-analysis publications and reviews published since 2010 on epidemiology. As expected, the epidemiological data show divergent values between countries, age and sexes. Factors such as genetic polymorphisms, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and educational level are changing AD and MCI rates through the last decades. Even though the efforts done to collect population data, further studies need to be performed around the world. Studding the evolution of AD prevalence by ages from normal cognitive status to severe stages of AD will be crucial to foresee economic expenses in the future.
2021-10-18
2021-10-18
2021
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/48680
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/538572022-07-28T01:31:53Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Aturem la transmissió per mosquits: disseny d’un projecte - a partir de la Guia ABPxODS -
pel desenvolupament de les competències clau per a la sostenibilitat
Magrinyà Estrada, Joan
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora: Mar Carrió Llach (MELIS-UPF)
Els problemes d’abast mundial actuals exigeixen un canvi urgent en la nostra manera de pensar i actuar. Per aquest motiu, cal entendre l’educació com un instrument essencial per la transformació social cap a la consecució dels Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible, descrits per l’ONU a l’Agenda 2030. En aquest context, els sistemes educatius han d’incloure pedagogies innovadores de qualitat que promoguin el desenvolupament de les competències clau per a la sostenibilitat, apoderant als estudiants a esdevenir-ne els promotors del canvi. Últimament,
l’aprenentatge basat en projectes està guanyant força com a metodologia capaç de promoure coneixements i habilitats personals en l’alumnat, amb les que respondre a problemàtiques complexes. Així doncs, dins del marc compartit entre ABP i ODS, aquest article presenta el disseny d’un projecte ( Aturem la transmissió per mosquits) elaborat a partir de la Guia ABPxODS, que té com a finalitat impulsar la participació dels estudiants en la generació i divulgació d’estratègies sostenibles per abordar les diferents fites plantejades a l’Agenda 2030, a més de sensibilitzar a la ciutadania local sobre la urgència d’una actuació immediata. Concretament, es focalitza en la problemàtica actual de les malalties transmeses per mosquits arreu del món, per
aprofundir en l’ODS 3 - Salut i benestar.
2022-07-27
2022-07-27
2022-07-27
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/53857
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/544692022-10-19T01:32:13Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Characterizing cortical bioenergetics in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
Ausellé Bosch, Sira
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directors: Arnau Busquets Garcia, Carla Ramon Duaso
Tutor acadèmic: José Aramburu Beltran (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) currently represents the most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide. The complete underlying mechanisms of its physiopathology are still unknown, but brain bioenergetics and the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have emerged as potential novel therapeutic targets in AD. This project aimed to clarify whether mitochondrial alterations could be linked with the behavioural alterations found in a mouse model of AD treated with cannabinoid drugs, considering sex differences as an important factor. First, we assessed the expression of the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) complexes by Western Blot assays in cortex samples from 12-month-old WT and APP/PS1 male and female mice. Despite no significant results were obtained, behavioural correlations indicate an association between conduct and
molecular processes. Furthermore, we performed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to quantify the most relevant metabolites of the Krebs cycle. Our results suggest a few alterations in APP/PS1 male mice in some metabolites and enzymes that could have a role in AD’s pathology. Overall, this study opens the possibility of a feasible interesting link between bioenergetics, cannabinoids and AD pathology. Even though, further research should be performed to achieve a better knowledge of the disease and explore these new targets to improve early diagnosis and therapeutic approaches.
2022-10-18
2022-10-18
2022-10-18
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/54469
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.es_ES
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
CC Reconeixement-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/545972022-10-27T01:32:10Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Study of the mechanism underlying the effect of 5-HT in microglial processes motility
del Río i Torné, Carla
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directores: Anne Roumier, Catherine Béchade
Tutor acadèmic: Francisco J. Muñoz López (Universitat Pomepu Fabra)
Microglia, the brain's resident macrophages, have a distinct ramified morphology
orchestrated by repeated cycles of extension and retraction of their long thin processes,
allowing them to continuously monitor their environment. Microglia play a role in the
homeostasis and functional integrity of the brain parenchyma. Microglia are known to extend their processes in a directional manner in response to tissue damage via activation, by ATP release from damaged sites, of the P2Y12 receptor (P2Y12R) which is expressed by all microglia. Moreover, the laboratory previously reported that the neuromodulator serotonin (5-HT) also has the potential to trigger microglial process outgrowth i.e. “directional motility” toward a focal 5-HT application site. This is allowed sensing of 5-HT by the microglial 5-HT2B receptor (5-HT2BR), which is the main serotonin (5-HT) receptor expressed by microglial cells. Intriguingly, this response to 5-HT also requires microglial P2Y12R and extracellular ATP/ADP, but the mechanism and signaling pathway involved remain elusive. Moreover, it is not known whether all or only a subset of microglia can sense 5-HT. In this work, using the RNA-Scope method, we were able to see the 5-HT2BR expression in different brain regions and notably in a subset of microglial cells. Furthermore, using a fluorescent biosensor for ATP and primary glial cells cultures, we show that 5-HT may trigger the release of ATP by mixed cultures of microglia and astrocytes. Altogether, these findings support the hypothesis
that in vivo, 5-HT could have an effect on a large number of microglial cells by activating
initially only a few, which in turn would trigger the release of ATP and increase processes
motility.
2022-10-26
2022-10-26
2022-10-26
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/54597
eng
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/552712023-01-14T02:32:28Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
De la neurociència a les aules: impacte de les competències socioemocionals en la creativitat i la cognició
Pocurull Masferrer, Aina
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directora: Mar Carrió Llach (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Les emocions tenen un impacte extens i substancial en els processos cognitius, i el seu paper en la cognició i la creativitat és estudiat per diverses línies de recerca, des de l’àmbit educatiu fins al camp de la neurociència. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi és avaluar l’impacte que genera treballar les competències socioemocionals en la cognició i la creativitat dels adolescents. Per aquest motiu, s’ha emprat un disseny quasi experimental on han participat 203 estudiants de secundària de 3 centres educatius de Catalunya; 106 han format part del grup control i 97 de l’experimental. Per dur-ho a terme, ambdós grups han realitzat dos tests: un test de creativitat que analitza la creativitat narrativa, el pensament divergent i el pensament convergent, i un test de cognició, que avalua la memòria de treball. Prèviament, el grup experimental ha fet una dinàmica socioemocional per avaluar l’impacte que les competències socioemocionals treballades han tingut en la creativitat i la cognició. La dinàmica socioemocional no ha mostrat diferències significatives en la memòria de treball, però s’ha evidenciat un impacte significatiu en la creativitat narrativa i el pensament divergent dels estudiants. Aquest estudi suggereix la rellevant importància de treballar les competències socioemocionals a l’aula per potenciar la creativitat.
2023-01-13
2023-01-13
2022
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/55271
cat
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Tots els drets reservats
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/576772023-07-27T01:30:40Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Hindbrain rhombomere centers harbor an heterogenous population of dividing progenitors
Hernández Martin, Ariadna
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Co-directores: Cristina Pujades Corbi, Lydvina Meister
Tutor acadèmic: José Francisco Aramburu Beltran (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
During embryonic development, tissue growth and morphogenesis are interconnected processes and their regulation is essential to correctly develop an organism. This regulation involves the controlled production of different cell types and the precise allocation of stem cell capacities at the right time. The embryonic zebrafish hindbrain is a notable example of how the spatial and temporal acquisition of cell diversity is linked to tissue growth, as neurogenesis depends on the position of progenitor cells along the anteroposterior axis. However, the exact coordination mechanisms behind this process are not fully understood. Through a combination of cell lineage and in vivo imaging, we have discovered certain characteristics of the cell population located in the hindbrain rhombomeric centers. By performing clonal analysis, we have investigated the proliferative capacity of this region, providing new insights into the behavior of this cell population. This work shows the spatiotemporal molecular profile of rhombomeric center. Moreover, our findings suggest that rhombomere centers harbor a heterogeneous progenitor population where proliferative capacities get restricted around 48hpf and this territory gets arrested in G1 cell phase of the cell cycle. In conclusion, centers of rhombomeres present characteristics comparable to long lasting progenitors.
2023-07-26
2023-07-26
2023
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57677
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/576782023-07-27T01:30:40Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Optimization of sTREM2 ELISA to understand the role of microglia in Alzheimer's disease
Miret Milian, Maria
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directors: Marc Suárez-Calvet, Federica Anastasi
Tutor acadèmic: Francisco José Muñoz López (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), a microglial receptor, plays a
crucial role in the innate immune response in Alzheimer's disease (AD), aiding in the
clearance of amyloid beta plaques and preventing Tau propagation. As a result of cleavage, soluble TREM2 (sTREM2) can be detected in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma across the AD continuum, serving as a biomarker of microglial activity. This study aimed to optimize a Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantification of sTREM2 in biofluids. Validation parameters considered for optimization included signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, background noise and coefficient of variation (CV%). Optimal capture and detection antibodies concentrations were determined to be 15.63 ng/ml and 0.125 μg/ml, respectively, resulting in improved assay performance. Despite higher background noise, storing MSD reagents at 4ºC and the use of MSD Small Spot coated-streptavidin plates improved the S/N ratio. Finally, a concentration of 0.0625 μg/ml of secondary antibody rendered a lower background and higher S/N ratio. These optimizations significantly increased the sensitivity and accuracy of the immunoassay, making it a promising tool for the early detection of pathological alterations linked to AD.
2023-07-26
2023-07-26
2023
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57678
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/576792023-07-27T01:30:41Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Assessment of the optical genome mapping technique in splenic marginal zone lymphoma: a comparison with cytogenomic data
Teixidó Mulet, Mar
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Directores: Blanca Espinet Solà, Marta Salido Galeotev
Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) is a genetically heterogeneous entity, entailing the need for further genetic characterization to deepen the knowledge of its prognosis and optimize its diagnosis. Karyotype and FISH assays remain the standard of care (SOC) for hematologic malignancies analysis, techniques that often fail to unveil the genetic complexity of the tumor cells. Optical genome mapping (OGM) is a novel high-resolution non-sequencing technique, recently proposed as a promising diagnostic alternative. Herein, we assess the OGM technique in the genetic characterization of 14 SMZL patients, comparing it to SOC cytogenomic results. OGM uncovered 24 cytogenetically cryptic variants, providing finer alteration breakpoints, unveiling the origin of derivative chromosomes seen in the karyotype, and, thanks to its genelevel resolution, included involved genes relevant to SMZL. The OGM results showed a 70% concordance with SOC techniques, lower than reported in recently published literature in acute leukemias, attributable to telomere and centromere involvement of alterations or a low variant allele frequency (VAF), current limitations which would need further addressing. These results demonstrate the potential advantages of OGM for mature B-cell neoplasms characterization, encouraging the implementation of the OGM technology in the clinical setting alongside traditional cytogenetic techniques.
2023-07-26
2023-07-26
2023
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57679
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/579762023-09-28T01:30:21Zcom_10230_20643com_10230_16441col_10230_20987
Socioeconomic determinants of early neurodevelopment
Vallet Casadevall, Julieta
Treball de fi de grau en Biologia Humana
Tutors: Pol Jiménez-Arenas, Jordi Sunyer (ISGlobal)
Socioeconomic status (SES) can be determinant for human health. Through different mechanisms, a person’s educational level, occupational status and income can define their physical and mental well-being. Considering that in the first years of life and even before being born, infants are especially vulnerable to their environment, we analyze whether social and economic factors may have an effect on early neurological development. Using data from the BiSC cohort (women recruited in three major hospitals in Barcelona) and multivariate regression models, we determine the relationship between maternal educational level, financial management, employment status and health insurance, with the neurodevelopment of their offspring assessed through the Developmental Profile 3 (DP-3) questionnaire. Possible confounding variables, such as sex of the child, weight at birth or maternal age, amongst others, were controlled for statistically. Results indicate that there is no effect of health insurance in early development. Higher time-demanding maternal employment has been found to cluster with lower scores in different dimensions of the DP-3 test. Outcome regarding the influence of maternal education and income is controversial. These effects are discussed, emphasizing the potential role of parental bias while reporting their children’s skills.
2023-09-27
2023-09-27
2023
info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57976
eng
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.ca
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)