Desenvolvimento de um ensaio para genotipagem do virus da hepatite C numa população de infectados em ambiente prisional

Tese de mestrado. Biologia (Biologia Humana e Ambiente). Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2011O vírus da hepatite C (VHC) é caracterizado por uma elevada variabilidade genética traduzida na sua classificação em 6 diferentes genótipos, e em mais de 80 subtipos com distintos padrões de distribuição epidemiológica no mundo. Os vários genótipos estão associados a uma diferente evolução da infecção e progressão da doença, sendo por isso a classificação do VHC a principal ferramenta do clínico para a determinação da dosagem e duração do tratamento dos doentes. O presente estudo pretendeu desenvolver um método alternativo de genotipagem e subtipagem do VHC, no contexto de um laboratório de referência, que permitisse por um lado, reduzir os custos, e por outro lado, obter uma melhoria na classificação do vírus. No presente trabalho foram analisadas amostras de referência e amostras clínicas de 72 reclusos infectados por VHC, com resultados previamente conhecidos dos níveis de RNA e de genotipagem obtidos pelo método comercial LiPA. As amostras foram sujeitas a extracção de RNA e síntese de cDNA, amplificação por heminested PCR e sequenciação, e ainda, a análise filogenética de sequências nucleotídicas das regiões C/E1 e NS5B do VHC. Os resultados foram comparados com os previamente conhecidos obtidos pelo método LiPA. Independentemente das regiões genómicas, a subtipagem do VHC pelo método desenvolvido foi conseguida em 95,8% (69/72) dos casos, uma proporção bastante superior comparativamente à obtida no método LiPA (47,2%, 34/72), mostrando assim um melhor desempenho em identificar ou discriminar o subtipo VHC. Informação molecular conjunta para as duas regiões genómicas foi obtida em 88,9% (64/72) dos casos com identificação de um recombinante intergenótipo 1b/2k e um recombinante intragenótipo 2q/2k para a região C/E1 e 2k/2a para a região NS5B. Adicionalmente, 2 casos apresentaram uma classificação de VHC discordante, 1b/4a e 3a/4a, respectivamente para as regiões C/E1 e NS5B analisadas. Contudo, nestes casos não foi possível descartar a hipótese de possíveis infecções mistas. O elevado desempenho do método desenvolvido na detecção e classificação do VHC pode possibilitar de um modo mais preciso uma correlação clínica com os subtipos virais do VHC, e deste modo viabilizar um melhor entendimento do papel da variabilidade genómica na história natural e progressão da infecção do VHC.The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is characterized by a high genetic variability which is reflected in their classification into 6 different genotypes, and in more than 80 subtypes with distinct epidemiological patterns of distribution in the world. The several HCV genotypes are associated with a different evolution of infection and disease progression, and therefore the HCV classification is the clinician main tool to determine the patients’ treatment dosage and duration. This study aimed to develop an alternative method of HCV genotyping and subtyping, in the context of a reference laboratory, to enable lower costs, and the other hand, to obtain an improvement in virus classification. In this work we analyzed reference samples and clinic specimens from 72 HCV-infected inmates, with previously known results of HCV viral load and genotyping obtained using the commercial method, LiPA. The samples were subjected to RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, amplification by heminested PCR and sequencing, and also, to phylogenetic analysis of C/E1 and NS5B nucleotide sequences. The results were compared with those previously obtained by LiPA. Regardless of the genomic regions, the HCV subtyping with the developed method was achieved for 95.8% (69/72) of cases, a much higher success rate when compared with 47.2% (69/72) in LiPA. It showed a better performance in identifying or discriminating the HCV subtype when using the method developed. The joint molecular information for the two genomic regions was obtained in 88.9% (64/72) of cases with identification of an intergenotypic recombinant form 1b/2k, and an intragenotypic recombinant 2q/2k for C/E1 region and 2k/2a for NS5B region. Additionally, 2 cases showed a discordant HCV classification, 1b/4a and 3a/4a, respectively for the analyzed regions, C/E1 and NS5B. However, in these cases it was not possible to discard the hypothesis of possible mixed infections. The high performance of the developed method in HCV detection and classification may allow a more precise clinic correlation with the HCV subtypes, and thus to enable a better understanding of the genomic variability’s role in natural history and progression of HCV infection

Fixing, storage time and DNA extraction applied to dT-RFLP for ecological and molecular studies of marine nematodes assemblages

The application of molecular methods offers an alternative faster than traditional methods based on morphology It is nearly impossible to process all the samples in short period using traditional methods, and the deterioration of marine sediments rapidly occurs The dT-RFLP (directed Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) allows a rapid assessment of biodiversity changes of nematodes assemblages The use of a not suitable fixing, storage time and DNA extraction could be a limitation in molecular analysis like dT-RFLP and real time PCR.Objetives: the best fixative •the level of DNA degradation over the time •the best DNA extraction method for marine nematodes and suitable for dT-RFLP analysi

Development of molecular approaches to assess the diversity and abundance of marine nematodes assemblages for assessment of Good Environmental Status of the estuarine and marine ecosystems

In Europe, the concerns with the status of marine ecosystems have increased, and the Marine Directive has as main goal the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) of EU marine waters by 2020. Molecular tools are seen as promising and emerging approaches to improve ecosystem monitoring, and have led ecology into a new era, representing perhaps the most source of innovation in marine monitoring techniques. Benthic nematodes are considered ideal organisms to be used as biological indicator of natural and anthropogenic disturbances in aquatic ecosystems underpinning monitoring programmes on the ecological quality of marine ecosystems, very useful to assess the GES of the marine environment. dT-RFLP (directed Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) allows to assess the diversity of nematode communities, but also allows studying the functioning of the ecosystem, and combined with relative real-time PCR (qPCR), provides a high-throughput semi-quantitative characterization of nematode communities. These characteristics make the two molecular tools good descriptors for the good environmental status assessment. The main aim of this study is to develop and optimize the dT-RFLP and qPCR in Mira estuary (SW coast, Portugal). A molecular phylogenetic analysis of marine and estuarine nematodes is being performed combining morphological and molecular analysis to evaluate the diversity of free-living marine nematodes in Mira estuary. After morphological identification, barcoding of 18S rDNA and COI genes are being determined for each nematode species morphologically identified. So far we generated 40 new sequences belonging to 32 different genus and 17 families, and the study has shown a good degree of concordance between traditional morphology-based identification and DNA sequences. These results will improve the assessment of marine nematode diversity and contribute to a more robust nematode taxonomy. The DNA sequences are being used to develop the dT-RFLP with the ability to easily process large sample numbers (hundreds and thousands), rather than typical of classical taxonomic or low throughput molecular analyses. A preliminary study showed that the digest enzymes used in dT-RFLP for terrestrial assemblages separated poorly the marine nematodes at taxonomic level for functional group analysis. A new digest combination was designed using the software tool DRAT (Directed Terminal Restriction Analysis Tool) to distinguished marine nematode taxa. Several solutions were provided by DRAT and tested empirically to select the solution that cuts most efficiently. A combination of three enzymes and a single digest showed to be the best solution to separate the different clusters. Parallel to this, another tool is being developed to estimate the population size (qPCR). An improvement in qPCR estimation of gene copy number using an artificial reference is being performed for marine nematodes communities to quantify the abundance. Once developed, it is proposed to validate both methodologies by determining the spatial and temporal variability of benthic nematodes assemblages across different environments. The application of these high-throughput molecular approaches for benthic nematodes will improve sample throughput and their implementation more efficient and faster as indicator of ecological status of marine ecosystems