To identify a possible use for some agroindustrial wastes generated from the sugarcane industry, we evaluated the antioxidant capacity of B and C molasses and vinasses from the sugar and bioethanol production processes. Molasses and vinasses were characterized by physicochemical methods. Subsequently, the samples were diluted in distilled water at five concentrations to obtain aqueous extracts. Total phenolic content (TPC) of the samples was determined using a spectrophotometric method and was expressed in mg equivalents of gallic acid. The antioxidant capacity of each sample was determined by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical) and ABTS (2,2-azino-bis-[3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid]) methods, as well as the ferric-reducing power in FRAP (Ferric-reducing Antioxidant Power) assay. We found that, both for TPC and antioxidant capacity, the vinasses showed significantly higher values than the B and C molasses. These results showed a strong correlation between TPC and antioxidant capacity and revealed a remarkable increase in TPC and total antioxidant agents present in the extracts throughout the sugarcane transformation process. These findings allowed identifying vinasses as the by-product with the best antioxidant properties. Our work constitutes a first step in the study of molasses and vinasses as a promising antioxidant agent and as a novel resource to test in proliferative trials in cellular systems in vitro.

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Emerging evidence suggests an inverse association between cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (NDD). Although phenotypically different, both diseases display a significant imbalance in the ubiquitination/deubiquitination processes. Therefore, we particularly investigated the expression of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases (UCHs: UCH-L1, UCH-L3, UCH-L5 and BAP1), a subfamily of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), using publically available datasets (GTEx, TCGA) and observed altered expression of UCH-L1, UCH-L3, UCH-L5 in 17 cancer types. Interestingly, UCH-L1 (known to be enriched in neurons and interacting with the Parkinson’s disease-associated protein α-synuclein) appeared to be a prognostic indicator of unfavorable outcome in endometrial and urothelial cancer, while increased expression of UCH-L3 and UCH-L5 was associated with poor survival in liver and thyroid cancer, respectively. In normal tissues, UCH-L1 was found to be strongly expressed in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus, while UCH-L3 expression was somewhat higher in the testis. The occurrence of mutation rates in UCHs also suggests that BAP1 and UCH-L5 may play a more dominant role in cancers than UCH-L1 and UCH-L3. We also characterized the functional context and configuration of the repeat elements in the promoter of DUBs genes and found that UCHs are highly discriminatory for catabolic function and are mainly enriched with LINE/CR1 repeats. Regarding the thesis of an inverse association between cancer and NDD, we observed that among all DUBs, UCHs are the one most involved in both entities. Considering a putative therapeutic potential based on presumed common mechanisms, it will be useful to determine whether other DUBs can compensate for the loss of UCH activity under physiological conditions. However, experimental evidence is required to substantiate this argument.

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) corresponds to a set of hereditary disorders, which affects the enamel development in people. It affects the enamel histological structure, and the clinical appearance of the temporal and permanent teeth. AI is described by several enamel phenotypes, which includes hypoplastic, hypomaturation and hipocalcified. In this paper is presented a literature review about the genetic origin of the AI.

Epigenetic mechanisms in crops have emerged as a fundamental factor in plant adaptation and acclimation to biotic and abiotic stresses. Among described epigenetic mechanisms, DNA methylation has been defined as the most studied epigenetic modification involved in several developmental processes. It has been shown that contrasting methylation marks are associated with gene expression variations between cultivated and wild crop species. In this study, we analyzed single‐base resolution methylome maps for Oryza sativa (a cultivated species) and Oryza glumaepatula (a wild species) genotypes grown under control conditions. Our results showed that overall, genome‐wide methylation profiles are mainly conserved between both species, nevertheless, there are several differentially methylated regions with species‐specific methylation patterns. In addition, we analyzed the association of identified DNA methylation marks in relation with Aluminum‐tolerance levels of studied genotypes. We found several differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and DMR‐associated genes (DAGs) that are linked with Al tolerance. Some of these DAGs have been previously reported as differentially expressed under Al exposure in O. sativa . Complementarily a Transposable Elements (TE) analysis revealed that specific aluminum related genes have associated‐TEs potentially regulated by DNA methylation. Interestingly, the DMRs and DAGs between Al‐tolerant and susceptible genotypes were different between O. sativa and O. glumaepatula , suggesting that methylation patterns related to Al responses are unique for each rice species. Our findings provide novel insights into DNA methylation patterns in wild and cultivated rice genotypes and their possible role in the regulation of plant stress responses.