Browsing by Author "Cancino, Jorge"

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    Lack of canonical activities of connexins in highly aggressive human prostate cancer cells
    (2024) Asencio, Catalina; Véliz, Loreto; Flores-Faúndes, Emilia; Azócar, Lorena; Echeverría, Carolina E.; Torres-Estay, Verónica; Orellana Villena, Viviana; Ramírez-Santelices, Catalina; Sotomayor, Paula; Cancino, Jorge; Kerr, Bredford; Fernández-Olivares, Ainoa; Retamal, Mauricio A.; Sáez, Juan C.; Godoy, Alejandro S.
    Connexins (Cxs) have the ability to form channels that allow the exchange of ions/metabolites between adjacent cells (gap junction channels, GJC) or between the intra- and extra-cellular compartments (hemichannels, HC). Cxs were initially classified as tumor suppressors. However, more recently, it has been shown that Cxs exert anti- and pro-tumorigenic effects depending on the cell and tissue context. In prostate cancer (PCa), the expression and functionality of Cxs remain highly controversial. Here, we analyzed the expression pattern of Cx26, Cx32, Cx37, Cx40, Cx43 and Cx45 in PCa cell lines with increasing levels of tumor aggressiveness (LNCaP < LNCaP-C4-2 < Du-145 < PC-3). In addition, GJ and HC activities were evaluated in the PCa cell lines using dye coupling and dye uptake assays, respectively. Lastly, the cellular localization of Cx26, Cx32, and Cx43 was analyzed in LNCaP and PC-3 cell lines using immunofluorescence analyses. Our results showed a positive association between the mRNA levels of Cx26, Cx37 and Cx45 and the degree of aggressiveness of PCa cells, a negative association in the case of Cx32 and Cx43, and no clear pattern for Cx40. At the protein level, a negative relationship between the expression of Cx26, Cx32 and Cx43 and the degree of aggressiveness of PCa cell lines was observed. No significant differences were observed for the expression of Cx37, Cx40, and Cx45 in PCa cell lines. At the functional level, only LNCaP cells showed moderate GJ activity and LNCaP and LNCaP-C4-2 cells showed HC activity. Immunofluorescence analyses confirmed that the majority of Cx26, Cx32, and Cx43 expression was localized in the cytoplasm of both LNCaP and PC3 cell lines. This data indicated that GJ and HC activities were moderately detected only in the less aggressive PCa cells, which suggest that Cxs expression in highly aggressive PCa cells could be associated to channel-independent roles.
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    Potencia aeróbica máxima en el obeso: Valores de referencia
    (2019) Cancino, Jorge; Olivares, Mariela; Maiz, Cristóbal; Soto, Johana; Palacio, Ana; Pino, Johanna
    Background: The evaluation of physical fitness is important to determine workloads and to assess the effectiveness of exercise interventions in obese people. Aim: To determine the maximum aerobic power output (MAPO) in overweight and obese individuals and to establish reference parameters for the Chilean population. Material and methods: One hundred five men and 218 women performed a cycle ergometer test up to 85% of their maximum heart rate. MAPO was determined by linear extrapolation of the theoretical maximum heart rate. Results: Among men, MAPO values were 234.9 ± 48.4 w for body mass index (BMI) values between 30 and 34.9 kg/m2, 235.1 ± 69.7 w for BMI between 35 and 39.9 kg/m2, 270.2 ± 86.5 w for BMI over 40 kg/m2. MAPO relative values were 2.27 ± 0.5, 2.16 ± 0.6 and 1.96 ± 0.8 w/kg, respectively. Among women, MAPO was 172.6 ± 36.1 w for a BMI < 30 kg/m2, 169.2 ± 39.4 w for BMI between 30 and 34.9 kg/m2, 179.5 ± 48.8 w f179.5 ± 48.8 w for BMI between 35 and 39.9 kg/m2 and 202.3 ± 57.3 w for BMI of 40 kg/m2 or over. The relative values were 2.33 ± 0.5; 2.02 ± 0.5; 1.91 ± 0.5 and 1.81 ± 0.5 w / kg (p < 0.05). Conclusions: MAPO estimation with a cycle ergometer test is well tolerated in overweight and obese individuals. MAPO decreased along with BMI increments in women. No association between BMI and MAPO in men was observed.
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    Practices Used in Estimating the Cost of Capital and Investment Appraisal in the Chilean Forestry Sector
    (2015) Acuna, Eduardo; Cancino, Jorge; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Mena, Pablo; Sánchez, Karen
    The proper determination of cost of capital is crucial in the maximization of forest enterprises value as it depends on the capital budgeting decisions made by the managers. It is unknown whether the firm size has an effect on the techniques used to determine the cost of capital in the Chilean forestry sector. The main objective of this research was to determine the practices used by decision makers from the forestry sector to estimate the cost of capital and, at the same time, how their investments how evaluated. In order to carry out this study, a survey was conducted by using the SurveyMonkey online tool. The final survey consisted of 20 questions. A total of 189 people from 49 companies were registered. The study allows concluding that the net present value (NPV) is the main investment appraisal used by decision makers from the Chilean forestry sector. On the other hand, the estimation of the cost of capital is mostly performed by means of the Cost of Debt method. In addition, it was verified that there is a lack of knowledge on the budging techniques used worldwide.

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