Zika virus infection among symptomatic patients from two healthcare centers in Sao Paulo State, Brazil: prevalence, clinical characteristics, viral detection in body fluids and serodynamics.

Zika virus (ZIKV) clinical presentation and frequency/duration of shedding need further clarification. Symptomatic ZIKV-infected individuals identified in two hospitals in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, were investigated regarding clinical characteristics, shedding in body fluids, and serodynamics. Ninety-four of 235 symptomatic patients (Site A: 58%; Site B: 16%) had Real-Time PCR-confirmed ZIKV infection; fever, headache and gastrointestinal symptoms were less frequent, and rash was more frequent compared to ZIKV-negative patients. Real-Time PCR in serum had worse performance compared to plasma, while urine had the highest sensitivity. Shedding in genital fluids and saliva was rare. IgM positivity was the highest 28 days (24%); IgG positivity increased >14 days (96%) remaining positive in 94% of patients >28 days. ZIKV prevalence varied importantly in two neighboring cities during the same transmission season. Urine Real-Time PCR can improve diagnostic sensitivity; serum testing is less useful. Accurate serological tests are needed to improve diagnosis and surveillance

Zika virus infection among symptomatic patients from two healthcare centers in Sao Paulo State, Brazil: prevalence, clinical characteristics, viral detection in body fluids and serodynamics

Zika virus (ZIKV) clinical presentation and frequency/duration of shedding need further clarification. Symptomatic ZIKV-infected individuals identified in two hospitals in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, were investigated regarding clinical characteristics, shedding in body fluids, and serodynamics. Ninety-four of 235 symptomatic patients (Site A: 58%; Site B: 16%) had Real-Time PCR-confirmed ZIKV infection; fever, headache and gastrointestinal symptoms were less frequent, and rash was more frequent compared to ZIKV-negative patients. Real-Time PCR in serum had worse performance compared to plasma, while urine had the highest sensitivity. Shedding in genital fluids and saliva was rare. IgM positivity was the highest <14 days after the symptoms onset (86%), decreasing >28 days (24%); IgG positivity increased >14 days (96%) remaining positive in 94% of patients >28 days. ZIKV prevalence varied importantly in two neighboring cities during the same transmission season. Urine Real-Time PCR can improve diagnostic sensitivity; serum testing is less useful. Accurate serological tests are needed to improve diagnosis and surveillance

Evaluation of effects of quercetin and hecogenin on the pharmacological and enzymatic activities iduced by sPLA2

Orientador: Marcos Hikari ToyamaDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: Nas últimas décadas, o uso de compostos naturais como flavonóides e sapogeninas tem sido largamente difundidos na indústria farmacêutica devido suas atividades antiinflamatórias, prevenção de câncer e de doenças cardiovasculares. Neste trabalho, foi avaliado o efeito da quercetina (flavonóide) e hecogenina (sapogenina), sobre as atividades catalítica e farmacológicas de uma isoforma de fosfolipase A2 secretória (sPLA2) de Crotalus durissus terrificus em duas situações: pré-incubado e co-incubado. Na préincubação, a sPLA2 pura foi incubada com os compostos e os resultados indicam modificações estruturais na estrutura secundária como evidenciada pelas análise de dicroísmo circular. Os dois compostos foram capazes de diminuir a atividade enzimática, porém, somente a quercetina foi capaz de diminuir a mionecrose. Nenhum dos compostos apresentou efeito sobre a formação de edema. Na co-incubação, três concentrações diferentes dos compostos foram misturados com sPLA2 e imediatamente testados. A coincubação mostrou uma menor ação sobre atividade catalítica quando comparado com a préincubação, sugerindo a importância da incubação dos compostos com a proteína. Entretanto, a co-incubação mostrou melhor efeito sobre as atividades farmacológicas (edema e miotoxidade). Os resultados obtidos sugerem a existência de dois sítios farmacológicos distintos, um relacionado com sítio enzimático e outro distinto dessa atividade. Além disso, estudos de docking realizados entre a sPLA2 e a quercetina mostraram a existência de ligações de hidrogênio, interações polares e hidrofóbicas, sugerindo que outros flavonóides com estruturas similares podem se ligar à sPLA2. Além de avaliar o efeito da quercetina sobre a sPLA2 de Crotalus durissus terrificus foi avaliado o efeito sobre uma sPLA2 cataliticamente inativa (Lys49-sPLA2) de Bothrops pirajai. O resultado de dicroísmo circular não apresentou modificações em nível de estrutura secundária, entretanto, estudo de estabilidade mostrou que a quercetina leva a uma maior estabilidade térmica da estrutura proteica frente a altas temperaturas, tornando o processo de desnaturação reversível. Apesar da ausência de atividade catalítica, Lys49-sPLA2 apresentou formação de edema, miotoxidade e uma baixa agregação plaquetária. Entretanto, nenhuma das atividades farmacológicas foi inibida significativamente pela quercetina. Os resultados apresentados mostram que o uso de compostos fenólicos são uma boa iniciativa para estudar e melhor entender as ações de sPLA2 purificadas do veneno de serpente.Abstract: In the last decades, the use of natural compounds, such as flavonoids and sapogenins has been applied to various pharmaceutical industries due their anti-inflammatory, câncer preventive and cardiovascular protective activities. In this study was evaluated the effect of quercetin (flavonoid) and hecogenin (sapogenin) on the catalytic and pharmacological activity of a secretoy phospholipase A2 from Crotalus durissus terrificus in two different situations: pre-incubated and co-incubated. In the pre-incubation situation, native sPLA2 was incubated with the compounds and the results have shown structural modifications in secondary structure as evidenced through circular dicroism. Both compounds were able to decrease catalytic activity, however, just quercetin was able to decrease myonecrosis. None of the compounds have shown effects on the oedema formation. In the co-incubation, three different concentrations of both compounds were mixed with sPLA2 and immediately tested. Co-incubation has shown lesser effect on catalytic activity than pre-incubation, suggesting an important role of incubation process. Nevertheless, co-incubation presented better effects in pharmacological activities (oedema and myotoxic). These results suggest the existence of two pharmacological sites in the protein, one that is correlated with the enzymatic site and another that is distinct from it. In addition, molecular docking studies between sPLA2 and quercetin showed the existence of hydrogen-bonded, polar interactions and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting that other flavonoids with similar structures could bind to sPLA2. Besides to evaluate the effect of quercetin on a Crotalus durissus terrificus sPLA2, was also evaluated the effect of this compound on a sPLA2 inactive catalytically (Lys49-sPLA2) from Bothrops pirajai. Dicroism circular results did not show modifications in secondary structure, however, thermal stability study have shown that quercetin is able to increase the stability of sPLA2 in high temperatures, in addition to become the denaturation a reversive process. Despite of the lack of catalytic activity, Lys49-sPLA2 has shown oedema formation, myotoxic and a low platelet aggregation. Although none of pharmacological activities was significantly abolish by quercetin. The results have shown that the use of phenolics compounds are a good point to study and better understand the actions of sPLA2 purified from venom snake.MestradoBioquimicaMestre Biologia Funcional e Molecula

Síntese, caracterização e estudos de interação de um análogo da antitoxina CcdA empregando fluorescência no estado estacionário Synthesis, characterization and interaction studies of an analog of CcdA antitoxin by steady state fluorescence

<abstract language="eng">Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems contribute to plasmid stability by a mechanism called post-segregational killing. The ccd was the first TA system to be discovered with CcdB being the toxin and CcdA the antitoxin. CcdA, an 8.3 kDa protein, interacts with CcdB (11.7 kDa), preventing the cytotoxic activity of CcdB on the DNA gyrase. As an approach to understanding this interaction, CcdA41, a polypeptide derived from CcdA, was synthesized by solid-phase methodology and its interaction with CcdB was analyzed by steady state fluorescence. CcdA41 formed a stable complex with CcdBET2, a peptide based on CcdB, the more recently described bacterial topoisomerase inhibitor

Quercetin As An Inhibitor Of Snake Venom Secretory Phospholipase A2.

As polyphenolic compounds isolated from plants extracts, flavonoids have been applied to various pharmaceutical uses in recent decades due to their anti-inflammatory, cancer preventive, and cardiovascular protective activities. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the flavonoid quercetin on Crotalus durissus terrificus secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2), an important protein involved in the release of arachidonic acid from phospholipid membranes. The protein was chemically modified by treatment with quercetin, which resulted in modifications in the secondary structure as evidenced through circular dichroism. In addition, quercetin was able to inhibit the enzymatic activity and some pharmacological activities of sPLA2, including its antibacterial activity, its ability to induce platelet aggregation, and its myotoxicity by approximately 40%, but was not able to reduce the inflammatory and neurotoxic activities of sPLA2. These results suggest the existence of two pharmacological sites in the protein, one that is correlated with the enzymatic site and another that is distinct from it. We also performed molecular docking to better understand the possible interactions between quercetin and sPLA2. Our docking data showed the existence of hydrogen-bonded, polar interactions and hydrophobic interactions, suggesting that other flavonoids with similar structures could bind to sPLA2. Further research is warranted to investigate the potential use of flavonoids as sPLA2 inhibitors.1899-1

Umbelliferone induces changes in the structure and pharmacological activities of Bn IV, a phospholipase A(2) isoform isolated from Bothrops neuwiedi

In this paper was demonstrated that umbelliferone induces changes in structure and pharmacological activities of Bn IV, a lysine 49 secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA2) from Both tops neuwiedi. Incubation of Bn IV with umbelliferone virtually abolished platelet aggregation, edema, and myotoxicity induced by native Bn IV. The amino acid sequence of Bn IV showed high sequence similarities with other Lys49 sPLA2s from B. jararacussu (BthTx-I), B. pirajai (PrTx-I), and B. neuwiedi pauloensis (Bn SP6 and Bn SP7). This sPLA2 also has a highly conserved C-terminal amino acid sequence, which has been shown as important for the pharmacological activities of Lys49 sPLA2. Sequencing of Bn IV previously treated with umbelliferone revealed modification of S(1) and S(20). Fluorescent spectral analysis and circular dichroism (CD) studies showed that umbelliferone modified the secondary structure of this protein. Moreover, the pharmacological activity of Bn IV is driven by synergism of the C-terminal region with the a-helix motifs, which are involved in substrate binding of the Asp49 and Lys49 residues of 5PLA2 and have a direct effect on the Ca2+-independent membrane damage of some secretory snake venom PLA2. For Bn IV, these interactions are potentially important for triggering the pharmacological activity of this 5PLA2. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

A Transcript Finishing Initiative for Closing Gaps in the Human Transcriptome

We report the results of a transcript finishing initiative, undertaken for the purpose of identifying and characterizing novel human transcripts, in which RT-PCR was used to bridge gaps between paired EST clusters, mapped against the genomic sequence. Each pair of EST clusters selected for experimental validation was designated a transcript finishing unit (TFU). A total of 489 TFUs were selected for validation, and an overall efficiency of 43.1% was achieved. We generated a total of 59,975 bp of transcribed sequences organized into 432 exons, contributing to the definition of the structure of 211 human transcripts. The structure of several transcripts reported here was confirmed during the course of this project, through the generation of their corresponding full-length cDNA sequences. Nevertheless, for 21% of the validated TFUs, a full-length cDNA sequence is not yet available in public databases, and the structure of 69.2% of these TFUs was not correctly predicted by computer programs. The TF strategy provides a significant contribution to the definition of the complete catalog of human genes and transcripts, because it appears to be particularly useful for identification of low abundance transcripts expressed in a restricted set of tissues as well as for the delineation of gene boundaries and alternatively spliced isoforms

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data