Avaliação da administração do veneno escorpiônico da Tityus serrulatus (Lutz e Mello, 1922) sobre parâmetros comportamentais em camundongos BALB/c

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso, apresentado para obtenção do grau de Bacharel no curso de Ciências Biológicas, da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, UNESC.Acidente escorpiônico ou escorpionismo é o quadro de envenenamento provocado pela picada de escorpião. A espécie de escorpião Tityus serrulatus (T. serrulatus) é considerada a mais agressiva e possui uma ampla distribuição no Brasil. A maioria dos componentes identificados no veneno da T. serrulatus são as neurotoxinas; que, possuem uma ampla ação sobre o sistema nervoso central (SNC). Apesar de serem bem descritos na literatura, os efeitos do veneno deste escorpião sobre o SNC, não se sabe ao certo os efeitos comportamentais induzidos por essas toxinas. Portanto, mais estudos são necessários para avaliar os efeitos dessas neurotoxinas sobre o comportamento, o aprendizado e a memória. O objetivo pretendido com o presente estudo é avaliar os efeitos comportamentais após a administração do veneno escorpiônico da T. serrulatus em camundongos. Foram utilizados 60 camundongos Balb/c machos, adultos. Os animais foram submetidos a administração via intracerebroventricular (ICV) a mão livre do veneno da T. serrulatus, divididos em cinco grupos experimentais: LCRa (controle) e doses de 10 ng/μL, 100 ng/μL, 200 ng/μL e 300 ng/μL. Após 24h da administração do veneno, os animais foram submetidos aos testes comportamentais de campo aberto e de memória de habituação. A partir dos dados obtidos no teste de campo aberto foi observado que o veneno do escorpião não alterou a atividade locomotora, a atividade exploratória, os comportamentos estereotípicos e os comportamentos do tipo ansiosos em nenhuma das doses avaliadas. Entretanto, o veneno na dose de 100 ng/μL induziu dano na memória de habituação dos animais. Portanto, pode ser concluído que os efeitos neurotóxicos do veneno da T. serrulatus, apesar de não alterar movimentos livres e comportamento do tipo ansioso, pode levar a um dano cognitivo. Entretanto, mais estudos são necessários para melhor caracterizar os efeitos do veneno da T. serrulatus sobre o comportamento e o SNC

From Conformation to interaction: techniques to explore the Hsp70/hsp90 network

Proteins participate in almost every cell physiological function, and to do so, they need to reach a state that allows its function by folding and/or exposing surfaces of interactions. Spontaneous folding in the cell is in general hindered by its crowded and viscous environment, which favors misfolding and nonspecific and deleterious self-interactions. To overcome this, cells have a system, in which Hsp70 and Hsp90 play a central role to aid protein folding and avoid misfolding. The topics of this review include the biophysical tools used for monitoring protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions and also some important results related to the study of molecular chaperones and heat shock proteins (Hsp), with a focus on the Hsp70/Hsp90 network. The biophysical tools and their use to probe the conformation and interaction of Hsp70 and Hsp90 are briefly reviewed168735753CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPES

Seed germination and vigor of passion fruit hybrids

Most commercial plantations of passion fruit is propagate plants by seed, but germination is irregular, which hinders the growth of seedlings and uniformity, and is connected with the plant genotype. The objective of this study was to evaluate the germination and early growth of passion fruit hybrid seedlings, obtained from different genetic combinations. The hybrids were obtained from the cross between progenies from the breeding program of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa with hybrids of the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária and of the Viveiros Flora Brasil. The experimental design was completely randomized with six hybrids, five replicates and fifty seeds per experimental unit. Germination was assessed daily until the 28 days, and at the end of the period it was obtained the mean time germination, emergence speed index, seedling height, the length of shoots and roots, and the individual seedling dry matter (root + shoot)was assessed. Among the passion fruit hybrids evaluated, hybrid HB2 (UFVM0212 × BRS Sol do Cerrado) showed the highest germination and seedling biometric values and might be a genotype with potential for breeding programs for seed quality. The specific combining ability of parents can influence the quality of seeds and the vigor of passion fruit seedlings. A factor must be considered is the correct choice of maternal and paternal parents, since they influence the quality of seeds. Most commercial plantations of passion fruit is propagate plants by seed, but germination is irregular, which hinders the growth of seedlings and uniformity, and is connected with the plant genotype. The objective of this study was to evaluate the germination and early growth of passion fruit hybrid seedlings, obtained from different genetic combinations. The hybrids were obtained from the cross between progenies from the breeding program of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa with hybrids of the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária and of the Viveiros Flora Brasil. The experimental design was completely randomized with six hybrids, five replicates and fifty seeds per experimental unit. Germination was assessed daily until the 28 days, and at the end of the period it was obtained the mean time germination, emergence speed index, seedling height, the length of shoots and roots, and the individual seedling dry matter (root + shoot)was assessed. Among the passion fruit hybrids evaluated, hybrid HB2 (UFVM0212 × BRS Sol do Cerrado) showed the highest germination and seedling biometric values and might be a genotype with potential for breeding programs for seed quality. The specific combining ability of parents can influence the quality of seeds and the vigor of passion fruit seedlings. A factor must be considered is the correct choice of maternal and paternal parents, since they influence the quality of seeds

Schistosoma mansoni Tegument Protein Sm29 Is Able to Induce a Th1-Type of Immune Response and Protection against Parasite Infection

Schistosomiasis is the most important human helminth infection in terms of morbidity and mortality. Although the efforts to develop a vaccine against this disease have experienced failures, a new generation of surface antigens revealed by proteomic studies changed this scenario. Our group has characterized the protein Sm29 described previously as one of the most exposed and expressed antigens in the outer tegument of Schistosoma mansoni. Studies in patients living in endemic areas for schistosomiasis revealed high levels of IgG1 and IgG3 anti-Sm29 in resistant individuals. In this study, confocal microscope analysis showed Sm29 present in the surface of lung-stage schistosoluma and adult worms. Recombinant Sm29, when used as vaccine candidate, induced high levels of protection in mice. This protection was associated with a typical Th1 immune response and reduction of worm burden, liver granulomas and in intestinal eggs. Further, microarray analysis of worms recovered from vaccinated mice showed significant down-regulation of several genes encoding previously characterized vaccine candidates and/or molecules exposed on the surface, suggesting an immune evasion strategy of schistosomes under immune attack. These results demonstrated that Sm29 as one of the important antigens with potential to compose a vaccine against schistosomiasis

O uso de objetos e filmagem no tratamento psicanalítico em grupo de crianças autistas

Este artigo visa apresentar os resultados de uma pesquisa sobre o uso de objetos no tratamento psicanalítico do autismo, que envolveu a realização de um atendimento em grupo de crianças com diagnóstico de Transtorno do Espectro Autista em uma instituição pública de saúde mental. O registro audiovisual dos atendimentos mostrou-se um componente indispensável desta abordagem, em especial nas reuniões com os pais e nas supervisões, convidando a uma reflexão acerca de seu estatuto. A questão da constituição subjetiva e o problema do diagnóstico na infância permearam as discussões aqui propostas

Yellow Fever Outbreak in Brazil: A crucial time for epidemiologic surveillance

Brazil lived a crucial time for public health and epidemiologic surveillance on the fight against yellow fever (YF) during 2016/2017, mainly in southeastern states where the greatest population concentration occurs, the most economically developed region of the country. In this letter, we show some epidemiologic data from that outbreak and we discussion that crucial time for epidemiologic surveillanc

Molecular Characterization of the Schistosoma mansoni Zinc Finger Protein SmZF1 as a Transcription Factor

Schistosomes are parasites that exhibit a complex life cycle during which they progress through many morphological and physiological transformations. These transformations are likely accompanied by alterations in gene expression, making genetic regulation important for parasite development. Here we describe a Schistosoma mansoni protein (SmZF1) that may act as a parasite transcription factor. These factors are key proteins for gene regulation. We have previously demonstrated that SmZF1 is able to bind DNA and that its mRNA is present at different stages during the parasite life cycle. In this study we aimed to define if this protein can function as a transcription factor in S. mansoni. SmZF1 was detected in the nucleus of adult male worms, cercariae and schistosomula cells. It was not, however, observed in female cells, suggesting it to be gender specific. We used mammalian cells expressing recombinant SmZF1 to analyze if SmZF1 protein is able to activate/repress gene transcription and demonstrated that it increased the expression of a reporter gene by two-fold. The results obtained confirm SmZF1 as a S. mansoni transcription factor