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Purpose Colorectal cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancer types worldwide. In the last years, changes in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number have been described to correlate with the prognostic outcome for colorectal cancer patients by impacting different tumorigenic properties. One key regulator of mtDNA is the mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) that acts as a limiting factor of mtDNA copy number. Here, we investigated the effect of TFAM deficiency on mtDNA and tumorigenic properties in the human colorectal cancer cell line SW480. Methods TFAM expression was stably downregulated in the colorectal cancer cell line SW480 using the CRISPR-Cas9 approach. To dissect the molecular alterations induced by deletion of TFAM , RNA sequencing and gene set enrichment analysis was performed on TFAM -wild-type and TFAM -deficient SW480 cells. Functional consequences of TFAM downregulation were assessed in cellular assays. Results We showed that TFAM deficiency leads to decreased mtDNA copy number and reduced expression of mtDNA-encoded genes. TFAM -deficient cells also revealed higher activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase and decreased cell growth parameters. Moreover, RNA sequencing showed that the expression of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A ( CDKN1A/p21 ) is significantly increased in TFAM -deficient cells. Conclusion Our results suggest that TFAM-induced changes of the mitochondrial genome lead to upregulated CDKN1A/p21 expression in colorectal cancer cells identifying p21 as a new possible linker between mitochondria and nucleus.

Background The German Military Medical Service contributed to the medical screening of unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) coming to Germany in 2014 and 2015. In this study, a broad range of diagnostic procedures was applied to identify microorganisms with clinical or public health significance. Previously, those tests had only been used to screen soldiers returning from tropical deployments. This instance is the first time the approach has been studied in a humanitarian context. Methods The offered screenings included blood cell counts, hepatitis B serology and microscopy of the stool to look for protozoa and worm eggs as well as PCR from stool samples targeting pathogenic bacteria, protozoa and helminths. If individuals refused certain assessments, their decision to do so was accepted. A total of 219 apparently healthy male UMRs coming from Afghanistan, Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Ghana, Guinea, Iran, Algeria, Iraq, Benin, Gambia, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, and Palestine were assessed. All UMRs who were examined at the study department were included in the assessment. Results We detected decreasing frequencies of pathogens that included diarrhoea-associated bacteria [C ampylobacter (C.) jejuni , enteropathogenic Escherichia (E.) coli (EPEC), enterotoxic E. coli (ETEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC)/ Shigella spp.), Giardia (G.) duodenalis , helminths (comprising Schistosoma spp., Hymenolepis (H.) nana , Strongyloides (S.) stercoralis ] as well as hepatitis B virus. Pathogenic microorganisms dominated the samples by far. While G. duodenalis was detected in 11.4% of the assessed UMRs, the incidence of newly identified cases in the German population was 4.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Conclusions We conclude that the applied in-house PCR screening systems, which have proven to be useful for screening military returnees from tropical deployments, can also be used for health assessment of immigrants from the respective sites. Apparently healthy UMRs may be enterically colonized with a broad variety of pathogenic and apathogenic microorganisms. Increased colonization rates, as shown for G. duodenalis, can pose a hygiene problem in centralized homes for asylum seekers.

Race and Displacement captures a timely set of discussions about the roles of race in displacement, forced migrations, nation and nationhood, and the way continuous movements of people challenge fixed racial definitions.   The multifaceted approach of the essays in Race and Displacement allows for nuanced discussions of race and displacement in expansive ways, exploring those issues in transnational and global terms. The contributors not only raise questions about race and displacement as signifying tropes and lived experiences; they also offer compelling approaches to conversations about race, displacement, and migration both inside and outside the academy. Taken together, these essays become a case study in dialogues across disciplines, providing insight from scholars in diaspora studies, postcolonial studies, literary theory, race theory, gender studies, and migration studies.   The contributors to this volume use a variety of analytical and disciplinary methodologies to track multiple articulations of how race is encountered and defined. The book is divided by editors Maha Marouan and Merinda Simmons into four sections: “Race and Nation” considers the relationships between race and corporality in transnational histories of migration using literary and oral narratives. Essays in “Race and Place” explore the ways spatial mobility in the twentieth century influences and transforms notions of racial and cultural identity.  Essays in “Race and Nationality” address race and its configuration in national policy, such as racial labeling, federal regulations, and immigration law. In the last section, “Race and the Imagination” contributors explore the role imaginative projections play in shaping understandings of race.   Together, these essays tackle the question of how we might productively engage race and place in new sociopolitical contexts.  Tracing the roles of "race" from the corporeal and material to the imaginative, the essays chart new ways that concepts of origin, region, migration, displacement, and diasporic memory create understandings of race in literature, social performance, and national policy.   Contributors: Regina N. Barnett, Walter Bosse, Ashon T. Crawley, Matthew Dischinger, Melanie Fritsh, Jonathan Glover, Delia Hagen, Deborah Katz, Kathrin Kottemann, Abigail G.H. Manzella, Yumi Pak, Cassander L. Smith,  Lauren Vedal