Universidad del Desarrollo

About: Universidad del Desarrollo is a education organization based out in Santiago, Chile. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Entrepreneurship. The organization has 2695 authors who have published 3578 publications receiving 52302 citations.

Connexin-46 Contained in Extracellular Vesicles Enhance Malignancy Features in Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract: Under normal conditions, almost all cell types communicate with their neighboring cells through gap junction channels (GJC), facilitating cellular and tissue homeostasis. A GJC is formed by the interaction of two hemichannels; each one of these hemichannels in turn is formed by six subunits of transmembrane proteins called connexins (Cx). For many years, it was believed that the loss of GJC-mediated intercellular communication was a hallmark in cancer development. However, nowadays this paradigm is changing. The connexin 46 (Cx46), which is almost exclusively expressed in the eye lens, is upregulated in human breast cancer, and is correlated with tumor growth in a Xenograft mouse model. On the other hand, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have an important role in long-distance communication under physiological conditions. In the last decade, EVs also have been recognized as key players in cancer aggressiveness. The aim of this work was to explore the involvement of Cx46 in EV-mediated intercellular communication. Here, we demonstrated for the first time, that Cx46 is contained in EVs released from breast cancer cells overexpressing Cx46 (EVs-Cx46). This EV-Cx46 facilitates the interaction between EVs and the recipient cell resulting in an increase in their migration and invasion properties. Our results suggest that EV-Cx46 could be a marker of cancer malignancy and open the possibility to consider Cx46 as a new therapeutic target in cancer treatment.

The WWW (and an H) of Mobile Application Usage in the City: The What, Where, When, and How

Abstract: People fulfill their informational needs through smartphones, however, little is known regarding how the urban fabric and the activities that take place in it affect the usage of mobile applications. In this regard, starting from an anonymized dataset of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) data from the largest telecommunications operator in Chile, we focus on the following questions: What are the most popular applications used in the city Where are they spatially clustered When does an application is more frequently used And How does the urban context and the mobility patterns relate to application usage As a result, we observed that specific applications present high spatial clustering, while the most popular services are geographically dispersed throughout the entire city. Clusters appear in places of high floating population; however, hotspots vary in space depending on the application. Interestingly, we found that commuting plays an important role, both in terms of rush hours and transportation infrastructure. We present a discussion on these results, focusing on how the physical space and the daily commuting routine affect the pattern of data consumption and represent an important aspect in mobile users behavioral studies.

Concurrent Versus Sequential Intrapleural Instillation of Tissue Plasminogen Activator and Deoxyribonuclease for Pleural Infection.

Abstract: Background:Treatment of pleural infection with instillation of sequential intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and human recombinant deoxyribonuclease (DNase) twice daily for a total of 6 doses has been shown to decrease surgical referral and improve radiographic imaging. This labor-inten