Browsing by Autor "C. Contreras"

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Author Reply to Peer Reviews of Local synthesis of Reticulon-1C lessens the outgrowth of injured axons and Spastin activity
(2025) Alejandro Luarte; Javiera Gallardo; Daniela Corvalán; Ankush Chakraborty; Cláudio Gouveia-Roque; Francisca Bertin; C. Contreras; Julio A. Ramírez; A Weber; Waldo Acevedo
Diseño y construcción de un electrodializador a escala de laboratorio para la separación del ácido láctico
(2003) C. Contreras; Antonio Luis Cárdenas Rodulfo
Electrodialysis is a technique used to separate ions from liquid solutions. In the process, membranes with positive fixed charges let anions pass and membranes with fixed negative charges let the cations pass when an electric field is applied. In this way some liquid streams can be diluted in ions as other liquid streams are concentrated in ions and a separation is achieved. In the Laboratorio de Mezclado, Separacion y Sintesis Industrial (LMSSI) a small pilot module of the K’elf type has been used to separate salts and lactic acid from lactoserum and model solutions presenting a low efficiency of separation. Because of this, a new electrodialysis pilot was designed and constructed which enhances the efficiency if compared with the K’elf model. This is achieved mainly because there is an increase in fluid velocity, which reduces the polarization layer and enhances the mass transfer, as results show: the removal of lactic acid is 26.3% in the K’elf model vs 74% in the equipment built in the LMSSI. The new equipment obtains results closer to the industrial scale equipment, fact that permits a better prediction of the industrial behavior of the fluids treated.
Reticulon-1 synthesis controls outgrowth and microtubule dynamics in injured cortical axons
(2026) Alejandro Luarte; Javiera Andrea Ojeda Gallardo; Daniela Corvalán; Ankush Chakraborty; Cláudio Gouveia Roque; Francisca Bertin; C. Contreras; Juan Pablo Ramírez; André Alberto Weber; Waldo Acevedo
The regenerative potential of developing cortical axons depends on intrinsic mechanisms, such as axon-autonomous protein synthesis, that are still not fully understood. An emerging factor in this regenerative response is the bidirectional interplay between microtubule dynamics and the axonal ER. We hypothesize that locally synthesized ER proteins regulate microtubule dynamics and the regeneration of cortical axons. RNA data mining identified the ER-shaping protein Reticulon-1 as a relevant candidate across eight axonal transcriptomes. Using microfluidics, we show that axonal treatment with a small RNA against Reticulon-1 mRNA (Reticulon-1 knockdown) increases outgrowth of injured cortical axons while reducing their tubulin levels. We show by live-cell imaging that axonal Reticulon-1 knockdown increases microtubule growth rate in noninjured axons and restores this parameter after injury. Axonal inhibition of the microtubule-severing protein Spastin prevents the effects of Reticulon-1 knockdown over tubulin levels and outgrowth. We provide evidence that the Reticulon-1C isoform is synthesized within axons and attenuates Spastin-mediated microtubule severing. These findings support a model in which axonal protein synthesis regulates microtubule dynamics and axon outgrowth after injury.