Moxonidine into the lateral parabrachial nucleus reduces renal and hormonal responses to cell dehydration

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

HARDNESS and SURFACE ROUGHNESS of RELINE and DENTURE BASE ACRYLIC RESINS AFTER REPEATED DISINFECTION PROCEDURES

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Comparação entre a utilização de saliva e sangue para determinação do lactato mínimo em cicloergômetro e ergômetro de braço em mesa-tenistas

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

Antioxidant potential of oregano extract (Origanum vulgare L.)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Initiating structural studies of Lys49-PLA2 homologues complexed with an anionic detergent, a fatty acid and a natural lipid

Lys49-Phospholipase A(2) (Lys49-PLA(2) - EC 3.1.1.4) homologues damage membranes by a Ca2+-independent mechanism which does not involve catalytic activity. Both MjTX-II from Bothrops moojeni and BthTX-I from Bothrops jararacussu are dimeric in solution and in the crystalline states, and a model for the Ca2+-independent membrane damaging mechanism has been suggested in which flexibility at the dimer interface region pert-nits quaternary structural transitions between open and closed membrane bound dimer conformations which results in the perturbation of membrane phospholipids and disruption of the bilayer structure [1]. With the aim of gaining insights into the structural determinants involved in protein/lipid association, we report here the crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the (i) MjTX-II/SDS complex at a resolution of 2.78Angstrom, (ii) MjTX-II/STE complex at a resolution of 1.8 Angstrom and (W) BthTX-I/DMPC complex at 2.72Angstrom. These complexes were crystallized by the hanging drop vapour-diffusion technique in (i) HEPES buffer (pH 7.5) 1.8M ammonium sulfate with 2% (w/v) polyethyleneglycol 400, in (ii) 0.6-0.8 M sodium citrate as the precipitant (pH 6.0-6.5) and in (iii) sodium citrate buffer (pH 5.8) and PEG 4000 and 20% isopropanol, respectively. Single crystals of these complexes have been obtained and X-ray diffraction data have been collected at room temperature using a R-AXIS IV imaging plate system and graphite monochromated Cu Kalpha X-ray radiation generated by a Rigaku RU300 rotating anode generator for (i) and (W) and using using a Synchrotron Radiation Source (Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron, LNLS, Campinas, Brazil) for (ii).

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of SMase I, a sphingomyelinase from Loxosceles laeta spider venom

SMase I, a 32 kDa sphingomyelinase found in Loxosceles laeta venom, is responsible for the major pathological effects of spider envenomation. This toxin has been cloned and functionally expressed as a fusion protein containing a 6 x His tag at its N-terminus to yield a 33 kDa protein [Fernandes-Pedrosa et al. (2002), Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 298, 638 - 645]. The recombinant protein possesses all the biological properties ascribed to the whole L. laeta venom, including dermonecrotic and complement-dependent haemolytic activities. Dynamic light-scattering experiments conducted at 291 K demonstrate that the sample possesses a monomodal distribution, with a hydrodynamic radius of 3.57 nm. L. laeta SMase I was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique using the sparse-matrix method. Single crystals were obtained using a buffer solution consisting of 0.08 M HEPES and 0.9 M trisodium citrate, which was titrated to pH 7.5 using 0.25 M sodium hydroxide. Complete three-dimensional diffraction data were collected to 1.8 Angstrom at the Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron (LNLS, Campinas, Brazil). The crystals belong to the hexagonal system ( space group P6(1) or P6(5)), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 140.6, c = 113.6 Angstrom. A search for heavy-atom derivatives has been initiated and elucidation of the crystal structure is currently in progress.

Susceptibility of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus mutans biofilms to photodynamic inactivation: an in vitro study

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

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to bottom quarks in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for a Light Pseudoscalar Higgs Boson in the Dimuon Decay Channel in pp Collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for quark compositeness in dijet angular distributions from pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effects of organic and inorganic additives on flotation recovery of washed cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae resuspended in water

Separation of microbial cells by flotation recovery is usually carried out in industrial reactors or wastewater treatment systems, which contain a complex mixture of microbial nutrients and excretion products. In the present study, the separation of yeast cells by flotation recovery was carried out using a simple flotation recovery systems containing washed yeast cells resuspended in water in order to elucidate the effects of additives (defined amounts of organic and inorganic acids, ethanol, surfactants and sodium chloride) on the cellular interactions at interfaces (cell/aqueous phase and cell/air bubble). When sodium chloride, organic acids (notably propionic, succinic and acetic acids) and organic surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and Nonidet P40) were added to the flotation recovery system, significant increases in the cell recovery of yeast hydrophobic cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, strain FLT-01) were observed. The association of ethanol to acetic acid solution (a minor by-product of alcoholic fermentation) in the flotation recovery system, containing washed cells of strain FLT-01 resuspended in water, leading to an increased flotation recovery at pH 5.5. Thus, the association among products of the cellular metabolism (e.g., ethanol and acetic acid) can improve yeast cell recovery by flotation recovery. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Salting kinetics and salt diffusivities in farmed Pantanal caiman muscle

A criação de jacaré do Pantanal (Caiman crocodilus yacare) em cativeiro tem sido estimulada, e entre as técnicas de processamento de sua carne, a salga é um processo de conservação relativamente simples e de baixo custo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a cinética de difusão de cloreto de sódio em carne de jacaré do Pantanal criado em cativeiro, durante a salga úmida. Foram utilizados volumes limitados de salmoura e os experimentos foram realizados com relações salmoura/músculo de 3, 4 e 5, com concentrações de salmoura de 15%, 20% e 25% em peso e temperaturas de 10, 15 e 20ºC. A solução analítica da segunda lei de Fick, considerando difusão unidimensional em uma placa infinita em contato com uma solução bem agitada de volume limitado, foi utilizada para calcular os coeficientes de difusão efetivos de sal e estimar o conteúdo de cloreto de sódio nos filés. Obteve-se boa concordância entre o modelo analítico considerado e os dados experimentais. As difusividades do sal nos filés ocorreram na faixa de 0,47x10-10 a 9,62x10-10 m²/s.

Alternative methodologies for the determination of aldehydes by capillary electrophoresis

This paper describes 2 alternative methodologies for the determination of selected aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, acrolein, and benzaldehyde) by capillary electrophoresis (CE), the first approach is based on the formation of aldehyde-bisulfite adducts and employs free solution CE with reversed electroosmotic flow and indirect detection, using 10 mmol/L 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (pH 4.5) containing 0.2 mmol/L cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as the electrolyte. This novel methodology showed a fairly good sensitivity to concentration, with detection limits with respect to a single aldehyde on the order of 10-40 mu g/L, a reasonable analysis time (separation was achieved in <8 min), and no need for sample manipulation. A second approach was proposed in which 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine derivatives of the aldehydes were detected in a micellar electrolyte medium (20 mmol/L berate buffer containing 50 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate and 15 mmol/L beta-cyclodextrin). This latter methodology included a laborious sample preconcentration step and showed much poorer sensitivity (0.5-2 mg/L detection limit, with respect to a single aldehyde), despite the use of sodium chloride to promote sample stacking. Both methodologies proved adequate to evaluate aldehyde levels in vehicular emissions. Samples from the tailpipe exhaust of a passenger car vehicle without a catalytic converter and operated with an ethanol-based fuel were collected and analyzed; the results showed high levels of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde (0.41-6.1 ppm, v/v). The concentrations estimated by the 2 methodologies, which were not in good agreement, suggest the possibility of striking differences in sample collection efficiency, which was not the concern of this work.

Lateral parabrachial nucleus and serotonergic mechanisms in the control of salt appetite in rats

This study investigated the effects of bilateral injections of serotonergic receptor agonist and antagonist into the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) on the ingestion of water and 0.3 M NaCl induced by intracerebroventricular angiotensin II (ANG II) or by combined subcutaneous injections of the diuretic furosemide (Furo) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril (Cap). Rats had stainless steel cannulas implanted bilaterally into the LPBN and into the left lateral ventricle. Bilateral LPBN pretreatment with the serotonergic 5-HT1/5-HT2 receptor antagonist methysergide (4 mu g/200 nl each site) increased 0.3 M NaCl and water intakes induced by intracerebroventricular ANG II (50 ng/mu l) and 0.3 M NaCl intake induced by subcutaneous Furo + Cap. Pretreatment with bilateral LPBN injections of a serotonergic 5-HT2A/2C receptor agonist DOI (5 mu g/200 nl) significantly reduced 0.3 M NaCl intake induced by subcutaneous Furo + Cap. Pretreatment with methysergide or DOI into the LPBN produced no significant changes in the water intake induced by subcutaneous Furo + Cap. These results suggest that serotonergic mechanisms associated with the LPBN may have inhibitory roles in water and sodium ingestion in rats.

The acid-base impact of free water removal from, and addition to, plasma

Water, compared with plasma at a pH of 7.4, is a weak acid. The addition of free water to a patient should have an acidifying effect (dilutional acidosis) and the removal of it, an alkalinizing effect (concentrational alkalosis). The specific effects of free water loss or gain in a relatively complex fluid such as plasma has, to the authors' knowledge, not been reported. This information would be useful in the interpretation of the effect of changes in free water in patients. Plasma samples from goats were either evaporated in a tonometer to 80% of baseline volume or hydrated by the addition of distilled water to 120% of baseline volume. The pH and partial pressure of carbon dioxide, sodium, potassium, ionized calcium, chloride, lactate, phosphorous, albumin, and total protein concentrations were measured. Actual base excess (ABE), standard bicarbonate, anion gap, strong ion difference, strong ion gap, unmeasured anions, and the effects of sodium, chloride, phosphate, and albumin changes on ABE were calculated. Most parameters changed 20% in proportion to the magnitude of dehydration or hydration. Bicarbonate concentration, however, increased only 11% in the evaporation trial and decreased only -2% in the dehydration trial. The evaporation trial was associated with a mild, but significant, metabolic alkalotic effect (ABE increased 3.2 mM/L), whereas the hydration trial was associated with a slight, insignificant metabolic acidotic effect (ABE decreased only 0.6 mM/L). The calculated free water ABE effect (change in sodium concentration) was offset by opposite changes in calculated chloride, lactate, phosphate, and albumin ABE effects.