Molecular evidence for the occurrence of a new sibling species within the Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii complex in south-east Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Anopheles cruzii </it>(Diptera: Culicidae) has long been known as a vector of human and simian malaria parasites in southern and south-eastern Brazil. Previous studies have provided evidence that <it>An. cruzii </it>is a species complex, but the status of the different populations and the number of sibling species remains unclear. A recent analysis of the genetic differentiation of the <it>timeless </it>gene among <it>An. cruzii </it>populations from south and south-east Brazil has suggested that the population from Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro State (south-east Brazil), is in a process of incipient speciation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A ~180 bp fragment of <it>cpr</it>, a gene encoding the NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, an enzyme involved in metabolic insecticide resistance and odorant clearance in insects, was used in this study as a molecular marker to analyse the divergence between five <it>An. cruzii </it>populations from south and south-east Brazil.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of the genetic differentiation in the <it>cpr </it>gene revealed very high <it>F_ST</it>values and fixed differences between Itatiaia and the other four populations studied (Florianópolis, Cananéia, Juquitiba and Santa Teresa). In addition, the data also provided preliminary evidence that seems to indicate the occurrence of two sympatric sibling species in Itatiaia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Population genetics analysis of <it>An. cruzii </it>samples from different localities using a fragment of the <it>cpr </it>gene suggests that the Itatiaia sample represents at least one new sibling species in this complex.</p

Biochemical assessment of oxidative stress by the use of açai (Euterpe oleracea Martius) gel in physically active individuals.

Abstract The relation between oxidative stress and inflammation induced by diseases and exercise has increased the interest in the benefits of antioxidant supplements in the improvement of health and physical and mental performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of açai gel in reducing oxidative stress in individuals engaged in physical activities as well as their acceptance. Sensory evaluation was performed to determine its acceptability and the biochemical parameters related to immune profile and biomarkers of muscle, liver and oxidative stress, with and without the use of gel were evaluated. The appearance, sweetness and overall impression of the açai gel were considered good. It was observed a significant increase in CK enzyme, without the gel as well as the oxidative stress biomarkers, it was observed that the MDA (with and without gel) a significant increase (p < 0.05). Through biochemical evaluation, it is concluded that the gel provided protection for some of parameters studied, since it modulated the immunological parameter reducing the lymphocyte activity and muscular stress. However, more studies must be carried out with a larger number of individuals to confirm the gel functionality

Caracterização de abóboras quanto aos teores carotenóides totais, alfa e beta-caroteno.

Esse trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar variedades locais de abóboras de diferentes origens para os teores de carotenóides totais, alfa e beta caroteno.bitstream/item/57215/1/BPD-78.pd

Advances in bioprocessing, analytics and formulation of influenza HA-VLP vaccine candidates produced by insect cells

The emergence of new influenza strains demands the continued development of novel, flexible, and scalable platforms for vaccine production. In this study, we describe advancements in the manufacturing process of influenza hemagglutinin (HA)-displaying virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines produced by insect cells, from upstream and downstream processing to analytics and formulation. Aiming to improve influenza HA-VLPs production, evolutionary engineering and process intensification have been applied. Adaptation of stable Sf-9 cells producing HA-VLPs to hypothermic growth resulted in up to 12-fold higher expression. Likewise, adaptation of parental High Five cells to neutral pH induced a 3-fold higher specific HA-VLPs production rate following infection with baculovirus. In both case studies, the adaptation process had no impact on VLPs activity and morphology. Noteworthy, stable adapted Sf-9 cells could be cultured in perfusion (up to 100x106 cell/mL) and continuous (~20x106 cell/mL) operation modes with cell-specific productivity similar to batch mode. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract

Assessing the molecular divergence between Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii populations from Brazil using the timeless gene: further evidence of a species complex

Submitted by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-01-15T13:43:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 luisaDp_rona_etal_IOC_2009.pdf: 651215 bytes, checksum: 4fc0bfe6cd7738120844230e1013d041 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-01-15T13:52:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 luisaDp_rona_etal_IOC_2009.pdf: 651215 bytes, checksum: 4fc0bfe6cd7738120844230e1013d041 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-15T13:52:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 luisaDp_rona_etal_IOC_2009.pdf: 651215 bytes, checksum: 4fc0bfe6cd7738120844230e1013d041 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia. Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil / Queen Mary University of London. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. London, UK.Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia. Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Insetos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Brasil.Background: Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii was the most important vector of human malaria in southern Brazil between 1930–1960. Nowadays it is still considered an important Plasmodium spp. vector in southern and south-eastern Brazil, incriminated for oligosymptomatic malaria. Previous studies based on the analysis of X chromosome banding patterns and inversion frequencies in An. cruzii populations from these areas have suggested the occurrence of three sibling species. In contrast, two genetically distinct groups among An. cruzii populations from south/south-east and north-east Brazil have been revealed by isoenzyme analysis. Therefore, An. cruzii remains unclear

The role of c-Met and VEGFR2 in glioblastoma resistance to bevacizumab

Dismal prognosis of glioblastoma (GBM) prompts for the identification of response predictors and therapeutic resistance mechanisms of current therapies. The authors investigated the impact of c-Met, HGF, VEGFR2 expression and microvessel density (MVD) in GBM patients submitted to second-line chemotherapy with bevacizumab. Immunohistochemical expression of c-Met, HGF, VEGFR2, and MVD was assessed in tumor specimens of GBM patients treated with bevacizumab, after progression under temozolomide. Survival analysis was evaluated according to the expression of the aforementioned biomarkers. c-Met overexpression was associated with a time-to-progression (TTP) after bevacizumab of 3 months (95% CI, 1.5–4.5) compared with a TTP of 7 months (95% CI, 4.6–9.4) in patients with low or no expression of c-Met (p = 0.05). VEGFR2 expression was associated with a TTP after bevacizumab of 3 months (95% CI, 1.8–4.2) compared with a TTP of 7 months (95% CI, 5.7–8.3) in patients with no tumoral expression of VEGFR2 (p = 0.009). Concomitant c-Met/VEGFR2 overexpression was associated with worse overall survival (13 months) compared with concomitant c-Met/VEGFR2 negative expression (19 months; p = 0.025). Our data support the hypothesis that c-Met and VEGFR2 overexpression have a role in the development of glioblastoma early resistance and might predict poorer responses to anti-angiogenic therapies.This work was financed by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). Additional funding by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), COMPETE2020 and Portuguese national funds via FCT, under project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016390: CANCEL STEM and the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031438 (PDTC/MED_ONC/31438/2017)