O papel de alguns micro-organismos na carcinogênese / The role of some microorganisms in carcinogenesis

A associação de alguns microrganismos envolvidos diretamente com o processo de carcinogênese vem aumentando a cada dia. A inflamação crônica causada por esses micróbios, além de fatores relacionados ao hospedeiro e ao ambiente, são fatores importantes para a iniciação do câncer. Muitos patógenos têm sido classificados como cancerígenos para os seres humanos, tais como: Helicobacter pylori, Vírus da hepatite B, vírus da hepatite C e o papilomavírus humano. O estudo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o papel destes micro-organismos na carcinogênese, assim como estudar os mecanismos utilizados por esses patógenos no processo de geração do câncer. Foi possível observar que alguns fatores de virulências presentes nesses microrganismos são de fundamental importância no desenvolvimento da doença, tais como a cag A e Vac A da Helicobacter pylori

Promovendo a consciência ambiental em uma escola pública de João Pessoa / Promoting environmental awareness in a public school in João Pessoa

Educação Ambiental é matéria de importante discussão devido ao fato de se compreender a necessidade de uma melhoria do contexto do mundo em que se vive e principalmente no meio escolar.  Despreocupação e desinteresse com as questões ambientais são recorrentes entre as pessoas por inúmeros aspectos, porém torna-se essencial discutir a responsabilidade com temas ambientais e as devidas posturas sustentáveis. Neste sentido, este trabalho tem como objetivo principal compreender a percepção dos estudantes a respeito da educação ambiental, assim como a promoção da sensibilização coletiva sobre ideais de sustentabilidade

Diagnóstico pré-natal de doenças genéticas / Pré natal diagnostic of genetic disease

O diagnóstico pré-natal de doenças genéticas envolve exames invasivos, testes de rastreamento e métodos de triagem, para acompanhamento da viabilidade fetal durante o período gestacional. Neste artigo de revisão foram enfatizadas as principais indicações, contra-indicações, complicações, diferenças entre cada um dos procedimentos. Idade materna, período gestacional, presença de anomalia genética na família são os principais pré-requisitos para a escolha do método mais adequado a ser utilizado, sendo de caráter obrigatório o prévio conhecimento dos pais a respeito do risco-benefício do mesmo. O aconselhamento genético para este tipo de exame diagnóstico é de fundamental importância uma vez que o resultado pode mudar completamente as perspectivas de uma família. Esse tema é rodeado de questionamentos éticos visto que a vida de um concepto encontra-se em questão.

Brominated Compounds from Marine Sponges of the Genus Aplysina and a Compilation of Their 13C NMR Spectral Data

Aplysina is the best representative genus of the family Aplysinidae. Halogenated substances are its main class of metabolites. These substances contribute greatly to the chemotaxonomy and characterization of the sponges belonging to this genus. Due to their pharmacological activities, these alkaloids are of special interest. The chemistry of halogenated substances and of the alkaloids has long been extensively studied in terrestrial organisms, while the number of marine organisms studied has just started to increase in the last decades. This review describes 101 halogenated substances from 14 species of Aplysina from different parts of the world. These substances can be divided into the following classes: bromotyramines (A), cavernicolins (B), hydroverongiaquinols (C), bromotyrosineketals (D), bromotyrosine lactone derivatives (E), oxazolidones (F), spiroisoxazolines (G), verongiabenzenoids (H), verongiaquinols (I), and dibromocyclohexadienes (J). A compilation of their 13C NMR data is also part of the review. For this purpose 138 references were consulted

Antifungal Activity of N-(4-Halobenzyl)amides against Candida spp. and Molecular Modeling Studies

Fungal infections remain a high-incidence worldwide health problem that is aggravated by limited therapeutic options and the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Cinnamic and benzoic acid amides have previously shown bioactivity against different species belonging to the Candida genus. Here, 20 cinnamic and benzoic acid amides were synthesized and tested for inhibition of C. krusei ATCC 14243 and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019. Five compounds inhibited the Candida strains tested, with compound 16 (MIC = 7.8 µg/mL) producing stronger antifungal activity than fluconazole (MIC = 16 µg/mL) against C. krusei ATCC 14243. It was also tested against eight Candida strains, including five clinical strains resistant to fluconazole, and showed an inhibitory effect against all strains tested (MIC = 85.3–341.3 µg/mL). The MIC value against C. krusei ATCC 6258 was 85.3 mcg/mL, while against C. krusei ATCC 14243, it was 10.9 times smaller. This strain had greater sensitivity to the antifungal action of compound 16. The inhibition of C. krusei ATCC 14243 and C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019 was also achieved by compounds 2, 9, 12, 14 and 15. Computational experiments combining target fishing, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the potential mechanism of action of compound 16 against C. krusei. From these, a multi-target mechanism of action is proposed for this compound that involves proteins related to critical cellular processes such as the redox balance, kinases-mediated signaling, protein folding and cell wall synthesis. The modeling results might guide future experiments focusing on the wet-lab investigation of the mechanism of action of this series of compounds, as well as on the optimization of their inhibitory potency

Phaeophytins from Thyrsacanthus ramosissimus Moric. with inhibitory activity on human dna topoisomerase II-α

Our study reports the extraction and isolation of a new phaeophytin derivative 15¹-hydroxy-(15¹-S)-porphyrinolactone, designated anamariaine (1) herein, isolated from the chloroform fraction of aerial parts of Thyrsacanthus ramosissimus Moric. along with the known 15¹-ethoxy-(15¹-S)-porphyrinolactone (2). These compounds were identified by usual spectroscopic methods. Both compounds were subjected to in vitro (inhibitory activity) tests by means of supercoiled DNA relaxation techniques and were shown to display inhibitory activity against human DNA topoisomerase II-α at 50 µM. Interconversion of these two pigments under the mild conditions of the isolation techniques should be highly unlikely but cannot be entirely ruled out