A mediator for malaria stickiness in A versus O blood

© 2015 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.Malaria is thought to have shaped the worldwide distribution of human ABO blood but the underlying molecular details of this process have only recently started to be revealed. A new study provides insights on how malaria parasites interact with ABO blood group sugars, mediating rosetting events that cause severe disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of ethanol and acetic acid on the transport of malic acid and glucose in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe: implications in wine deacidification

Published by Elsevier on behalf of the Federation of European Microbiological SocietiesEthanol and acetic acid, at concentrations which may occur during wine-making, inhibited the transport of ι-malic acid in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The inhibition was non-competitive, the decrease of the maximum initial velocity following exponential kinetics. Glucose transport was not significantly affected either by ethanol (up to 13%, w/v) or by acetic acid (up to 1.5%, w/v). The uptake of labelled acetic acid followed simple diffusion kinetics, indicating that a carrier was not involved in its transport. Therefore, the undissociated acid appears to be the only form that enters the cells and is probably responsible for the toxic effects. Accordingly, deacidification by Ss. pombe during wine fermentation should take place before, rather than after, the main alcoholic fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.NATO Science for Stability POPORTOFOOD; Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (JNICT)

Monitorização da terapêutica hemostática em pacientes com razão normalizada internacional aumentada

Realizou-se um estudo observacional descritivo transversal a uma população de hipocoagulados do serviço de Hemoterapia do Hospital Pedro Hispano, entre Março e Setembro de 2009, com valor de INR ≥ 4. O estudo tem como objectivo classificar os valores de INR após Terapia Hemostática em intervalos terapêuticos segundo o ACCP. Nos valores de INR após terapia, 53,9% encontram-se dentro do intervalo terapêutico, 31,5% abaixo e 14,6% acima deste intervalo. Estes indicam uma óptima escolha da terapia hemostática sendo concordantes com outros estudos que apontam que 4 a 40% se situam abaixo do intervalo INR terapêutico e 1 a 17% acima.We perform a cross-sectional observational study in a hipocoagulated population in Hemotherapy Service, Hospital Pedro Hispano, between March and September 2009, with INR values ≥ 4. The study aims to classify the INR values after hemostatic therapy in therapeutic ranges according to the ACCP. The INR values after therapy, 53.9% were within the therapeutic range, 31.5% down and 14.6% above this range. These indicate an optimal choice of hemostatic therapy being consistent with other studies showing that 4-40% are below the therapeutic INR range and 1-17% higher

Infection by and protective immune responses against Plasmodium berghei ANKA are not affected in macrophage scavenger receptors A deficient mice

BACKGROUND: Scavenger receptors (SRs) recognize endogenous molecules modified by pathological processes as well as components of diverse microorganisms. Mice deficient for both SR-AI and II are more susceptible to infections by a variety of bacterial and viral pathogens. RESULTS: Here we show that SR-A deficient mice and wild type mice are equally susceptible to malaria infection both during liver and blood stages. Moreover, like wild type mice, SR-A deficient mice are able to mount a protective immune response against radiation attenuated sporozoites. CONCLUSION: Our results do not reveal a function of SR-A I and II receptors in the Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection, both in the development of CM and parasitemia control. Moreover, these receptors appear not to be required for the establishment of a protective immune response against the malaria liver stages

Bone marrow chimeric mice reveal a dual role for CD36 in Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection

BACKGROUND: Adhesion of Plasmodium-infected red blood cells (iRBC) to different host cells, ranging from endothelial to red blood cells, is associated to malaria pathology. In vitro studies have shown the relevance of CD36 for adhesion phenotypes of Plasmodium falciparum iRBC such as sequestration, platelet mediated clumping and non-opsonic uptake of iRBC. Different adhesion phenotypes involve different host cells and are associated with different pathological outcomes of disease. Studies with different human populations with CD36 polymorphisms failed to attribute a clear role to CD36 expression in human malaria. Up to the present, no in vivo model has been available to study the relevance of different CD36 adhesion phenotypes to the pathological course of Plasmodium infection. METHODS: Using CD36-deficient mice and their control littermates, CD36 bone marrow chimeric mice, expressing CD36 exclusively in haematopoietic cells or in non-haematopoietic cells, were generated. Irradiated CD36(-/- )and wild type mice were also reconstituted with syngeneic cells to control for the effects of irradiation. The reconstituted mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA and analysed for the development of blood parasitaemia and neurological symptoms. RESULTS: All mice reconstituted with syngeneic bone marrow cells as well as chimeric mice expressing CD36 exclusively in non-haematopoietic cells died from experimental cerebral malaria between day 6 and 12 after infection. A significant proportion of chimeric mice expressing CD36 only in haematopoietic cells did not die from cerebral malaria. CONCLUSION: The analysis of bone marrow chimeric mice reveals a dual role of CD36 in P. berghei ANKA infection. Expression of CD36 in haematopoietic cells, most likely macrophages and dendritic cells, has a beneficial effect that is masked in normal mice by adverse effects of CD36 expression in non-haematopoietic cells, most likely endothelial cells

Must deacidification with an induced flocculant yeast strain of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The use of flocculant cells of the yeast strain SchizosaFcharomyces pombe for the deacidification of grape musts in continuous culture was developed. An external loop reactor was used to induce flocculation. The flocs obtained were stable in the pH range 3.0-6.0 and in the presence of several sugars. Some inhibition was observed for high (above 6.0) and low (below 3.0) pH values. Once induced, flocculation could no longer be completely inhibited. Vinho Verde, a typical Portuguese wine, has a relatively low ethanol content and a high acid concentration. The external loop reactor loaded with the flocculant cells was used to deacidify a synthetic medium with sugar and malic acid concentrations similar to the ones found in Vinho Verde grape must. A desirable malic acid decrease with moderate glucose consumption was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.7 h-1. Improved results were obtained when the synthetic medium was replaced by Vinho Verde grape must

The nutrient games - Plasmodium metabolism during hepatic development

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Malaria is a febrile illness caused by species of the protozoan parasite Plasmodium and is characterized by recursive infections of erythrocytes, leading to clinical symptoms and pathology. In mammals, Plasmodium parasites undergo a compulsory intrahepatic development stage before infecting erythrocytes. Liver-stage parasites have a metabolic configuration to facilitate the replication of several thousand daughter parasites. Their metabolism is of interest to identify cellular pathways essential for liver infection, to kill the parasite before onset of the disease. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on nutrient acquisition and biosynthesis by liver-stage parasites mostly generated in murine malaria models, gaps in knowledge, and challenges to create a holistic view of the development and deficiencies in this field.This work was also financed by la Caixa Foundation (HR17/52150010) to M.M.M.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estudo da comunidade de protozoários exposta a tóxicos em estações de tratamentos de águas residuais

A importância e o papel dos protozoários nos processos de tratamento aeróbio de águas residuais são bem conhecidos, e constituem um valioso instrumento da avaliação do funcionamento das ETAR, por permitir relacionar a densidade, diversidade ou a ocorrência de determinadas espécies com a composição do esgoto ou com os factores físico-químicos prevalecentes no tanque de arejamento. No presente trabalho, duas estações de tratamento de águas residuais experimentais foram alimentadas com esgoto real e as lamas foram expostas a diversas concentrações de cobre, zinco e cicloheximida. Nestas condições, foi estudada a evolução da comunidade de protozoários, em termos de diversidade, de densidade e da sua estrutura, utilizando o Índice Biótico de Lamas, e relacionada esta evolução com a eficiência de remoção da CQO.Programa Praxi