Striatins and STRIPAK complex partners in clinical outcomes of patients with breast cancer and responses to drug treatment

Objective: Striatins(STRNs) family, which contains three multi-domain scaffolding proteins, are cornerstones of the striatins interacting phosphatase and kinase(STRIPAK) complex. Although the role of the STRIPAK complex in cancer has become recognized in recent years, its clinical significance in breast cancer has not been fully established.Methods: Using a freshly frozen breast cancer tissue cohort containing both cancerous and adjacent normal mammary tissues, we quantitatively evaluated the transcript-level expression of all members within the STRIPAK complex along with some key interacting and regulatory proteins of STRNs. The expression profile of each molecule and the integrated pattern of the complex members were assessed against the clinical-pathological factors of the patients. The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA) dataset was used to evaluate the breast cancer patients’ response to chemotherapies. Four human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-361, MCF-7, and SKBR-3, were subsequently adopted for in vitro work.Results: Here we found that high-level expressions of STRIP2, calmodulin, CCM3, MINK1 and SLMAP were respectively associated with shorter overall survival(OS) of patients. Although the similar pattern observed for STRN3, STRN4 and a contrary pattern observed for PPP2CA, PPP2CB and PPPR1A were not significant, the integrated expression profile of STRNs group and PPP2 group members constitutes a highly significant prognostic indicator for OS [P<0.001, hazard ratio(HR)=2.04, 95% confidence interval(95% CI), 1.36-3.07] and disease-free survival(DFS)(P=0.003, HR=1.40, 95% CI, 1.12-1.75). Reduced expression of STRN3 has an influence on the biological functions including adhesiveness and migration. In line with our clinical findings, the breast cancer cells responded to STRN3 knockdown with changes in their chemo-sensitivity, of which the response is also breast cancer subtype dependent.Conclusions: Our results suggest a possible role of the STRIPAK complex in breast cancer development and prognosis. Among the members, the expression profile of STRN3 presents a valuable factor for assessing patients’ responses to drug treatment.

Levels of Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Cobalt (Co) in Cow Milk from Selected Areas of Zanzibar Island, Tanzania

Milk is one of the very important nutrients of human diet. The presence of toxic elements in milk may threaten the public health. This study reports the levels of Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co) and Lead (Pb) in raw cow’s milk collected from different areas of Zanzibar Island during March - May 2016. The samples of raw milk were analyzed by Thermo Scientific-Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer for quantitative determination of the metals in the matrix. The concentration of Co in this study ranged from ND at Mwanakwerekwe (MK1 and MK2) to a maximum of 0.004 mg/L at Mshelishelini (MS5) and Fuoni (F5) sites with mean concentration of 0.020 ± 0.003 mg/L for all sites. Concentration of Pb ranged between 0.05 - 0.51 mg/L at Fuoni (F7) and Mwanakwerekwe (MK1) respectively, with mean concentration of 0.263 ± 0.031 mg/L for all sites. However, Cd was only detected in one sample collected at Fuoni (F3) with a concentration of 0.001 mg/L. The results revealed that cow’s milk is contaminated with toxic metals, particularly Pb which exceeded the WHO maximum permissible level of 0.02 mg/L. The study furthermore sheds light on possible consequences to public health. It is recommended that, stakeholders especially in Zanzibar such as Zanzibar Food and Drug Authorities (ZFDA) and Zanzibar Bureau of Standards (ZBS) as well as researchers, use the findings of this study for policy making, future study plans, formulation of technical strategies to control milk contamination, risk assessment and develop new alternative methods to measure milk contamination even at a low detection limit for the sake of the consumers’ welfare before posing any serious effects to their health.

Levels and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Marine Sediments of Eastern Bank Wesha Peninsular, Pemba Island, Tanzania

Levels of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from sediments collected in July 2017, a week after tanks oil leak in the bay of Wesha Peninsular, Pemba Island are reported. Four sampling points were chosen alongside the mangroves where a total of twenty samples were collected during the low tides. Eight PAHs were detected with concentrations ranging from ND to 53.42 ng/g (dw). Total PAHs in sediments was 158.38 ng⋅g-1. Phenanthrene residues (lower molecular weight) were dominant followed by pyrene (higher molecular weight PAHs) accounting for 90% and 40% detection frequencies, respectively. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the concentrations of PAHs among sites (p < 0.05, ANOVA). Vertical distribution of PAHs shows no definite patterns with sediment depth, however, composition patterns of PAHs along sediment depth indicate that higher molecular weight PAHs tend to remain in middle layer (2 - 4 cm). The results advocate the needs of proper monitoring to avoid the possible consequences to the public health.

Short-Term Disturbance Effects of Outdoor Education Stream Classes on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Outdoor education programs frequently offer stream classes that teach students how to assess water quality based on the composition of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Repeatedly using the same site for stream classes can cause disturbance that could negatively impact aquatic macroinvertebrates. However, the impact of outdoor education stream classes on short term temporal trends of aquatic macroinvertebrates has not been evaluated. Our objective was to quantify whether outdoor education stream classes caused localized and short-term impacts on the aquatic macroinvertebrate community. We sampled aquatic macroinvertebrates over a five day period in May 2014 from an impacted riffle subjected to repeated substrate disturbance by outdoor education stream classes and an unimpacted riffle that was not subjected to stream classes within an agricultural stream in central Ohio. We did not observe a difference in macroinvertebrate community response variables between different time periods or among days within the impacted riffle as part of our within riffle analysis. We documented that macroinvertebrate abundance and dorsoventrally flattened clinger abundance was greater within the unimpacted riffle than the impacted riffle. Macroinvertebrate evenness was greater in the impacted riffle than the unimpacted riffle. In the impacted riffle percent clingers was greater on Monday than on Friday. Conversely, in the unimpacted riffle percent clingers was greater on Friday than on Monday. Our results indicated that outdoor education stream classes did not alter short term temporal trends of macroinvertebrate community structure within an impacted riffle, but the stream classes resulted in differences in community structure between an impacted and unimpacted riffle. Our results suggest that outdoor education centers should avoid repeatedly using the same site for their stream classes to prevent negatively impacting aquatic macroinvertebrates.