Análise da hidrofobicidade na evolução de proteínas

Pós-graduação em Biofísica Molecular - IBILCE

Biochemical and nutritional evaluation of patients with visceral leishmaniasis before and after treatment with leishmanicidal drugs

Introduction Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by the intracellular protozoan Leishmania donovani complex. VL may be asymptomatic or progressive and is characterized by fever, anemia, weight loss and the enlargement of the spleen and liver. The nutritional status of the patients with VL is a major determinant of the progression, severity and mortality of the disease, as it affects the clinical progression of the disease. Changes in lipoproteins and plasma proteins may have major impacts in the host during infection. Thus, our goal was evaluate the serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides, glucose, albumin, globulin and total protein levels, as well as the body composition, of VL patients before and after treatment. Methods Nutritional evaluation was performed using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to assess body composition. Biochemical data on the serum total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, glucose, albumin, globulin and total protein were collected from the medical charts of the patients. Results BIA indicated that both pre-treatment and post-treatment patients exhibited decreased phase angles compared to the controls, which is indicative of disease. Prior to treatment, the patients exhibited lower levels of total body water compared to the controls. Regarding the biochemical evaluation, patients with active VL exhibited lower levels of total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and albumin and higher triglyceride levels compared to patients after treatment and the controls. Treatment increased the levels of albumin and lipoproteins and decreased the triglyceride levels. Conclusions Our results suggest that patients with active VL present biochemical and nutritional changes that are reversed by treatment.

Cardiac hypertrophy and structural and metabolic remodeling related to seasonal dormancy in the first annual cycle in tegu lizards

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comparative proteomic analysis reveals that T3SS, Tfp, and xanthan gum are key factors in initial stages of Citrus sinensis infection by Xanthomonas citri subsp citri

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Treadmill Training Increases SIRT-1 and PGC-1 alpha Protein Levels and AMPK Phosphorylation in Quadriceps of Middle-Aged Rats in an Intensity-Dependent Manner

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evaluation of the chemical composition and colour in long-life tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) dehydrated by combined drying methods

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Papel da hidrofobicidade na evolução de proteínas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Hypertension modifies OPG, RANK, and RANKL expression during the dental socket bone healing process in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of helicobacter pylori eradication on TLR2 and TLR4 expression in patients with Gastric Lesions

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Binding analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1 proteins in the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Trypanosoma cruzi and Its soluble antigens induce NET release by stimulating toll-like receptors

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparing de novo and reference-based transcriptome assembly strategies by applying them to the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus

High Throughput Sequencing capabilities have made the process of assembling a transcriptome easier, whether or not there is a reference genome. But the quality of a transcriptome assembly must be good enough to capture the most comprehensive catalog of transcripts and their variations, and to carry out further experiments on transcriptomics. There is currently no consensus on which of the many sequencing technologies and assembly tools are the most effective. Many non-model organisms lack a reference genome to guide the transcriptome assembly. One question, therefore, is whether or not a reference-based genome assembly gives better results than de novo assembly. The blood-sucking insect Rhodnius prolixus-a vector for Chagas disease-has a reference genome. It is therefore a good model on which to compare reference-based and de novo transcriptome assemblies. In this study, we compared de novo and reference-based genome assembly strategies using three datasets (454, Illumina, 454 combined with Illumina) and various assembly software. We developed criteria to compare the resulting assemblies: the size distribution and number of transcripts, the proportion of potentially chimeric transcripts, how complete the assembly was (completeness evaluated both through CEGMA software and R. prolixus proteome fraction retrieved). Moreover, we looked for the presence of two chemosensory gene families (Odorant-Binding Proteins and Chemosensory Proteins) to validate the assembly quality. The reference-based assemblies after genome annotation were clearly better than those generated using de novo strategies alone. Reference-based strategies revealed new transcripts, including new isoforms unpredicted by automatic genome annotation. However, a combination of both de novo and reference-based strategies gave the best result, and allowed us to assemble fragmented transcripts.

Genes differentially expressed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis after exposure to ruthenium phosphinic compound and isoniazid

Background- The evaluation of the effects of new compounds and nonconventional anti-tuberculous drugs have grown and become increas-ingly more popular in recent years. Studies have shown anti-tuberculous activity for Ruthenium complexes, including organometallic com-pounds containing phosphine ligands such as picolinic acid generating great expectations and hopes. Methods- The Representational Difference Analysis (RDA) was applied in order to gain insight about differences in expression of Mycobacte-rium tuberculosis H37Rv exposed to [Ru(dppb)(pic)(bypy)] PF6 (SCAR1) and isoniazid (INH). Total RNA was extracted from the bacillus not exposed and exposed to SCAR1 and INH separately at concentration of MIC for 12 hours at 35°C. RDA was carried out and differentially expressed products were sequenced. Results- RDA-sequencing identified, for both compounds, orthologs that encode hypothetical and predict proteins. One related cell wall syn-thesis gene, identified by RDA, and genes related to INH target as inhA, katG and ahpC had their expression confirmed and quantified by real-time PCR. The gene encoding the cell wall associated hydrolase was induced 4.627 and 1.189, inhA 0.983 and 1.027, katG 1.111 and 1.345 and ahpC 1.063 and 1.039 fold after exposure to SCAR1 and INH respectively, compared to not exposed growth. Conclusion- The RDA brings, for the first time, directions to study related genes with metabolic pathways of SCAR1. RDA and Real-Time PCR highlight the idea that one of the SCAR1 interaction, in M tuberculosis may be in the cell wall biosynthesis considering the differential expression of a cell wall hydrolase and warrants further investigation.

Role of ATM and PTEN in prostatic carcinogenic dog prostate: validation of aCGH results

The canis lupus familiares is the only species besides human that spontaneously develop prostatic carcinoma (PCa). In addition, the metastatic sites are similar to those frequently reported in men. For these reasons, the dog is the best natural model to study the molecular mechanisms in PCa development providing a natural animal model for treatment by molecular targets. Previously, we investigated copy number alterations by arrayCGH (Canine Genome CGH Microarray 4x44K-G2519F, Agilent Technologies) in canine prostatic lesions: 3 benign prostatic hyperplasias (BPH), 4 proliferative inflammatory atrophies (PIA), and 14 PCa. Five histologically normal prostatic tissues were used as reference. Genomic alterations were evaluated using Genomic Workbench Standard Edition 5.0.14. This previous study revealed significant copy number losses of Atm and Pten exclusively in PCa. In the present study, ATM and PTEN immunoexpression were investigated using a tissue microarray (TMA) containing 149 canine prostatic paraffin-embedded lesions (BPH, PIA and PCa) collected from 67 animals. Immunohistochemical reactions were performed using the polyclonal rabbit antibody anti-PTEN (Santa Cruz Biotech, 1:50) and anti-ATM (Abcam, 1:50). The sections were developed with diaminobenzidine (DAB) and peroxidase. The immunohistochemical staining was assessed in each core by the distribution of positive cells for each antibody per lesion (score 1: <25% cells positive, 2: 26% to 50%, 3: being 51% and 75% and 4:> 75%) and intensity (1: weak, 2: moderate, 3: intense). Chi-square or Fisher exact test was used to determine the association between the categorical variables using GraphPad Prism 5 (GraphPad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA). Distribution of positive cells did not differ among lesions. PCa and PIA showed more samples with weak intensity for ATM when compared to normal prostatic tissue and BPH (PCa: p=0,032 and PIA: p=0,025). Benign prostatic hyperplasia and normal samples presented intense PTEN immunostaining than PCa (p=0,021) and PIA (p=0,0013). These results suggest that ATM and PTEN proteins expression in canine prostatic carcinoma are downregulated possibly by copy number losses. These findings are similar from those described in prostate carcinomas from human corroborating for the use of dogs as a natural model to study prostatic disease in men.