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Genes and proteins rarely act in isolation, but they rather operate as components of complex networks of interacting molecules. Therefore, for understanding their evolution, it may be helpful to take into account the interaction networks in which they participate. It has been shown that selective constraints acting on genes depend on the position that they occupy in the network. Less understood is how the impact of local adaptation at the intraspecific level is affected by the network structure. Here, we analyzed the patterns of molecular evolution of 67 genes involved in the insulin/target of rapamycin (TOR) signal transduction pathway. This well-characterized pathway plays a key role in fundamental processes such as energetic metabolism, growth, reproduction, and aging and is involved in metabolic disorders such as obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes. For that purpose, we combined genotype data from worldwide human populations with current knowledge of the structure and function of the pathway. We identified the footprint of recent positive selection in nine of the studied genomic regions. Most of the adaptation signals were observed among Middle East and North African, European, and Central South Asian populations. We found that positive selection preferentially targets the most central elements in the pathway, in contrast to previous observations in the whole human interactome. This observation indicates that the impact of positive selection on genes involved in the insulin/TOR pathway is affected by the pathway structure.
(2012) Luisi, Pierre, 1985-; Alvarez-Ponce, David; Dall'Olio, Giovanni Marco, 1983-; Sikora, Martin, 1976-; Bertranpetit, Jaume, 1952-; Laayouni, Hafid, 1968-Spatial transcriptomics (ST) overcomes the spatial limitations of single-cell RNA sequencing but faces resolution trade-offs. Integrating ST with single-cell (SC) data leverages their complementary strengths, yet current mapping methods like Tangram lack spatial context and exhibit instability. This project analyzes Tangram’s limitations such as mapping inconsistency, bias toward abundant SC reference cell types, and lack of spatial neighborhoods and develops a post-processing framework to enhance biological plausibility. I introduce an Expectation-Maximization (EM) framework that refines Tangram’s probabilistic cell-to-voxel mappings by integrating gene expression similarity and spatial neighborhood information. Evaluated against voxelized MERFISH ground truth, the method improves precision (mean: 0.56) but shows conservative recall (mean: 0.46), highlighting a trade-off between spatial coherence and cell recovery. Our work demonstrates that spatial context refines integration and provides a foundation for more complex neighbor-aware mapping tools.
(2025-06-18) Arcas Pons, AntonioL¿article ofereix una anàlisi comparativa de diverses representacions contemporànies de l¿imaginari rural ibèric que impliquen la reivindicació d¿una autoconsciència perifèrica. El centre de l¿estudi són els llibres El paisaxe nuestru (2017), escrit en asturià per Vanessa Gutiérrez, Tierra de mujeres. Una mirada íntima y familiar al mundo rural (2019), escrit en castellà per María Sánchez, i Tríptic de la terra (2020), escrit en català per Mercè Ibarz. Partint de models genèrics diferents (la crònica documental, la topografia mèdica i l¿autobiografia) aquestes tres obres, per la seva posició no-central dins el polisistema cultural i geogràfic ibèric, ens obliguen a repensar la geografia cultural en què s¿inscriu la ruralitat, tot situant-la en un marc de tensions globals que impliquen una revaloració de les cultures i les comunitats locals. En l¿anàlisi hem tingut en compte tant el context econòmic i social en què s¿inscriuen aquestes narratives com el substrat històric i ideològic en què es fonamenten, molt condicionat per la crisi econòmica de 2008 i l¿auge del moviment feminista a partir de 2018. Com veurem, els llibres d¿Ibarz, Gutiérrez i Sánchez reivindiquen uns imaginaris perifèrics respecte a la centralitat urbana, fonamentats en la memòria familiar i col·lectiva.
(2025) Dasca M. (2025) Rey, Anton; Roig, Elisa; Vergés Aguila, Arnau
(2010) Mota, Fabiola; Noferini, Andrea