Therapeutic protein design

Durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX se lograron importantes avances en el campo de la biología, que fueron fundamentales para el desarrollo de lo que hoy se conoce como biotecnología. Uno de los hitos científicos más importantes para el campo de la biología y para la ciencia en general, fue la determinación de la estructura de doble hélice del ADN. Este hecho, que les valió a los investigadores James Watson y Francis Cricki el premio Nobel de medicina en 1962, permitió comprender cómo el ADN determina los caracteres de un individuo y cómo se transmiten de una generación a la siguiente. A partir de este hecho se pudo conocer que todos los organismos, desde los más simples hasta los más complejos, tienen un código genético común. Esto significa que el ADN de un organismo está “escrito” en un código que puede ser interpretado y traducido por las células de otros organismos. El desarrollo de la ingeniería genética en los últimos tiempos ha dinamitado el avance de la industria biotecnológica aplicada a la sanidad humana y animal, que ha supuesto una consecuente mejora de la calidad de vida. La utilización de proteínas recombinantes como productos terapéuticos, como vacunas y como herramientas en ensayos de diagnóstico está siendo cada vez más extendida, ya que son productos que nos están facilitando el acercamiento tanto terapéutico como diagnóstico a numerosas patologías que antes no creíamos curables. En las últimas décadas, gracias a la aplicación de las técnicas de ingeniería genética podemos usar el ADN recombinante (previa manipulación) para producir proteínas recombinantes, es decir, proteínas a partir de una especie o una línea celular distinta a la original. Como resultado de la aplicación de estas tecnologías, surgió hace tres décadas, la biotecnología aplicada a la mejora de la salud.Grado en Medicin

Cellulitis and transient bacteremia by Capnocytophaga canis after a cat scratch in an immunocompetent patient

Capnocytophaga canis is still a rare cause of infection. We present a case of an immunocompetent patient admited in the hospital with functional impotence, pain and erythema in his left leg after suffering two scratches from his cat 48 h ago. After obtaining blood and wound cultures, broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy with intravenous amoxicillin clavulanate was initiated. After 1 day and with a clear improvement of the symptoms the patient was discharged from the hospital with cellulitis and transient bacteremia as diagnosis and completing 1 week of antimicrobial therapy orally. After 80 and 92 h of incubation, both anaerobic flasks were positive. In the Gram-stain Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria could be observed. Despite subculturing in brucella blood agar, tripticase soy agar with 5 % of sheep blood and chocolate agar, in both anaerobic and microaerophilic conditions, the strain could not be recovered. However, these Gram-negative rods could be identified as C. canis by 16S rRNA sequencing, Capsular typing was performed to study the strain, but none of the studied capsule-types tested positive. C. canis is still a rare cause of human infection, but it must be considered in the differential diagnosis of infections related to bites, scratches and licks from dogs or cats

A case of septic arthritis caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus in an HIV patient

Invasive infections caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus , a Gram-negative rod found in the oral cavity of healthy dogs and cats, are rare but they are increasing worldwide. We report a case of septic arthritis in a native knee joint due to this micro-organism. A 57-year-old man, with a well-controlled chronic HIV infection, attended the Emergency Department because of left knee pain and shivering without measured fever. A knee arthrocentesis and a computed tomography scan were performed, revealing septic arthritis with collections in the left leg posterior musculature. He was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Department for antibiotic treatment. Initial synovial fluid was inoculated in blood culture bottles, and the anaerobic one was positive after 63 h. Gram stain revealed fusiform Gram-negative rods, identified as C. canimorsus by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) directly from the bottle. Identification was confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing and serotyping was performed by PCR, with serovar A as the outcome. Due to an unfavourable clinical course, the patient required two surgical cleanings and after appropriate antibiotic treatment he was discharged 2 months later

Genetic Characterization of Extensively Drug-Resistant Shigella sonnei Infections, Spain, 2021-2022

In 2022, the United Kingdom reported an increase in drug resistance in Shigella sonnei isolates. We report 33 cases in Spain genetically related to the UK cases and 4 cases with similar antimicrobial resistance profiles infected with genetically distant strains. Our results suggest circulation of multiple genetic clusters of multidrug-resistant S. sonnei in Spain.Financial support for this work came from the National Institute of Health Carlos III with the project Acción Estratégica de Salud Intramural (AESI; PI21CIII/00029).S