Extracellular Vesicle-Associated Transitory Cell Wall Components and Their Impact on the Interaction of Fungi with Host Cells

Submitted by Fabricia Pimenta ([email protected]) on 2018-06-29T18:34:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Marcio_Rodrigues_etal_CDTS_2016.pdf: 690221 bytes, checksum: a96164d483123b78f71bffabda9ffa1b (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Fabricia Pimenta ([email protected]) on 2019-01-11T18:29:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Marcio_Rodrigues_etal_CDTS_2016.pdf: 690221 bytes, checksum: a96164d483123b78f71bffabda9ffa1b (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-11T18:29:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Marcio_Rodrigues_etal_CDTS_2016.pdf: 690221 bytes, checksum: a96164d483123b78f71bffabda9ffa1b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-08Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes. Laboratório de Glicobiologia de Eucariotos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes. Laboratório de Glicobiologia de Eucariotos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Stony Brook University. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Stony Brook, NY, USA / Veterans Administration Medical Center. Northport, NY, USA.Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine. Bronx, NY, USA.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes. Laboratório de Glicobiologia de Eucariotos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes. Laboratório de Glicobiologia de Eucariotos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes. Laboratório de Glicobiologia de Eucariotos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Classic cell wall components of fungi comprise the polysaccharides glucans and chitin, in association with glycoproteins and pigments. During the last decade, however, system biology approaches clearly demonstrated that the composition of fungal cell walls include atypical molecules historically associated with intracellular or membrane locations. Elucidation of mechanisms by which many fungal molecules are exported to the extracellular space suggested that these atypical components are transitorily located to the cell wall. The presence of extracellular vesicles (EVs) at the fungal cell wall and in culture supernatants of distinct pathogenic species suggested a highly functional mechanism of molecular export in these organisms. Thus, the passage of EVs through fungal cell walls suggests remarkable molecular diversity and, consequently, a potentially variable influence on the host antifungal response. On the basis of information derived from the proteomic characterization of fungal EVs from the yeasts Cryptoccocus neoformans and Candida albicans and the dimorphic fungi Histoplasma capsulatum and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, our manuscript is focused on the clear view that the fungal cell wall is much more complex than previously thought

Cymbopogon winterianus essential oil attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in a murine model

The essential oil of Cymbopogon winterianus (EOCW) is a natural product with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic properties. We studied the effect of EOCW in the progression of histological changes of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in a rodent model. The oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and characterized using gas chromatographymass spectrometry. Intratracheal instillation of bleomycin was performed in 30 rats to induce PF, while Sham animals were subjected to instillation of saline solution. The treatment was performed using daily oral administration of distilled water, EOCW at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, and deflazacort (DFC). After 28 days, hemogram and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were assayed. Histological grading of PF, immunohistochemical expression of -smooth muscle actin (-SMA), and transforming growth factor- (TGF-) were also analyzed. The EOCW major compounds were found to be citronellal, geraniol, and citronellol. EOCW significantly reduced inflammation in BALF, reduced MDA levels, and increased SOD activity. EOCW attenuated histological grading of PF and reduced immunohistochemical expression of -SMA and TGF- in a dose-dependent way, likely due to the reduction of oxidative stress, inflammation, and TGF--induced myofibroblast differentiation.This research was financed by the Coordenação Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Sergipe (FAPITEC), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). EBS wishes to acknowledge the sponsorship of the project UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund) from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, Ministry of Science and Education (FCT/MEC) through national funds, and was co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LEVANTAMENTO RETROSPECTIVO DOS ATENDIMENTOS DO AMBULATÓRIO DE FISIOTERAPIA DERMATO-FUNCIONAL DA UNIVERSIDADE POTIGUAR

A fisioterapia dermato-funcional é uma área do conhecimento em plena expansão, caracterizada por fornecer serviço nos três níveis de atenção à saúde, tratando diferentes patologiasde âmbito estético e reparador. A Universidade Potiguar (UNP) é uma instituição pioneira no estado do Rio Grande do Norte no serviço de fisioterapia dermato-funcional e oportuniza àpopulação carente o acesso a tratamentos de alto custo, com a utilização de recursos avançados neste segmento. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar as características da população atendida na Clínica Escola de Fisioterapia Dermato-Funcional da UnP. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, no qual, foram analisados os prontuários de 863 pacientes que freqüentaram o serviço de fisioterapia dermato-funcional, de 2000 a 2009. Observou-se uma variação no públicode pacientes que frequentou o serviço, constatando-se que, no ano de 2001, o percentual de homens que procurou o serviço foi de, no máximo, 4,4%, aumentado para 30,27% em 2009.Foram atendidos quase 100 pacientes anualmente, tratando diferentes patologias, em destaque a adiposidade. Os pacientes realizaram, na maioria dos casos, de 01 a 05 sessões, com importante índice de abandono. Esse abandono pode estar relacionado a frequentes interrupções dosatendimentos devido ao período de férias ou mudanças na estrutura curricular semestralmente e isso pode ser considerado uma das limitações dessa assistência.Retrospective survey of the attendances outpatient physical therapy dermato-functional University PotiguarPhysical therapy is a dermato-functional knowledge area in full expansion, characterized by providing three levels of service in health care, treating different pathologies within aestheticand restorative. The University Potiguar – UNP is a pioneer institution in the state of Rio Grande 42 do Norte in the physiotherapy service dermato-functional and takes advantage of the poor access to high-cost treatments with the use of advanced features in this segment. The aim of this studywas to determine the characteristics of the population served in Clinical Dermatology, School of Physiotherapy Functional UNP. It is a descriptive, retrospective study, which analyzed the medicalrecords of 863 patients who attended physiotherapy service dermato-functional, from 2000 to 2009. There was a change in public patients attending the physiotherapy service dermato-functional, noting that in 2001 the percentage of men attending the service was up to 4.4% increased to 30.27% in 2009. We served almost 100 patients annually, treating different diseases, highlighted adiposity. Patients were, in most cases, 01 to 05 sessions, with significant dropout rate. This dropmay be related to frequent interruptions of attendance due to vacation or changes in curriculum structure every six months and may be considered one of the limitations of this assistance.Key words: Public Health. Aesthetics. Dermatology. Physical Therapy

High Genetic Diversity among Community-Associated Staphylococcus aureus in Europe: Results from a Multicenter Study

Background: Several studies have addressed the epidemiology of community-associated Staphylococcus aureus (CA-SA) in Europe; nonetheless, a comprehensive perspective remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to describe the population structure of CA-SA and to shed light on the origin of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in this continent. Methods and Findings: A total of 568 colonization and infection isolates, comprising both MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), were recovered in 16 European countries, from community and community-onset infections. The genetic background of isolates was characterized by molecular typing techniques (spa typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing) and the presence of PVL and ACME was tested by PCR. MRSA were further characterized by SCCmec typing. We found that 59 % of all isolates were associated with community-associated clones. Most MRSA were related with USA300 (ST8-IVa and variants) (40%), followed by the European clone (ST80-IVc and derivatives) (28%) and the Taiwan clone (ST59-IVa and related clonal types) (15%). A total of 83 % of MRSA carried Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and 14 % carried the arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME). Surprisingly, we found a high genetic diversity among MRSA clonal types (ST-SCCmec), Simpson’s index of diversity = 0.852 (0.788–0.916). Specifically, about half of the isolates carried novel associations between genetic background and SCCmec. Analysis by BURP showed that some CA-MSSA and CA-MRS

Convalescent plasma for COVID-19 in hospitalised patients : an open-label, randomised clinical trial

Background: The effects of convalescent plasma (CP) therapy in hospitalised patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain uncertain. This study investigates the effect of CP on clinical improvement in these patients. Methods: This is an investigator-initiated, randomised, parallel arm, open-label, superiority clinical trial. Patients were randomly (1:1) assigned to two infusions of CP plus standard of care (SOC) or SOC alone. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with clinical improvement 28 days after enrolment. Results: A total of 160 (80 in each arm) patients (66.3% critically ill, 33.7% severely ill) completed the trial. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) age was 60.5 (48–68) years; 58.1% were male and the median (IQR) time from symptom onset to randomisation was 10 (8–12) days. Neutralising antibody titres >1:80 were present in 133 (83.1%) patients at baseline. The proportion of patients with clinical improvement on day 28 was 61.3% in the CP+SOC group and 65.0% in the SOC group (difference −3.7%, 95% CI −18.8–11.3%). The results were similar in the severe and critically ill subgroups. There was no significant difference between CP+SOC and SOC groups in pre-specified secondary outcomes, including 28-day mortality, days alive and free of respiratory support and duration of invasive ventilatory support. Inflammatory and other laboratory marker values on days 3, 7 and 14 were similar between groups. Conclusions: CP+SOC did not result in a higher proportion of clinical improvement on day 28 in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 compared to SOC alone

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals