Functional phage display of leech-derived tryptase inhibitor (LDTI): construction of a library and selection of thrombin inhibitors

The recombinant phage antibody system pCANTAB 5E has been used to display functionally active leech-derived tryptase inhibitor (LDTI) on the tip of the filamentous M13 phage, A limited combinatorial library of 5.2 x 10(4) mutants was created with a synthetic LDTI gene, using a degenerated oligonucleotide and the pCANTAB 5E phagemid. the mutations were restricted to the P1-P4' positions of the reactive site. Fusion phages and appropriate host strains containing the phagemids were selected after binding to thrombin and DNA sequencing. the variants LDTI-2T (K8R, I9V, S10, K11W, P12A), LDTI-5T (K8R, I9V, S10, K11S, P12L) and LDTI-10T (K8R, I9L, S10, K11D, P12I) were produced with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system. the new inhibitors, LDTI-2T and -5T, prolong the blood clotting time, inhibit thrombin (Ki 302 nM and 28 nM) and trypsin (K-i 6.4 nM and 2.1 nM) but not factor Xa, plasma kallikrein or neutrophil elastase, the variant LDTI-10T binds to thrombin but does not inhibit it, the relevant reactive site sequences of the thrombin inhibiting variants showed a strong preference for arginine in position P1 (K8R) and for valine in P1' (I9V), the data indicate further that LDTI-5T might be a model candidate for generation of active-site directed thrombin inhibitors and that LDTI in general may be useful to generate specific inhibitors suitable for a better understanding of enzyme-inhibitor interactions. (C) 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.UNIFESP, Dept Bioquim, EPM, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilUniv Munich, Klinikum Innenstadt, Chirurg Klin & Poliklin, Klin Chem & Klin Biochem Abt, D-8000 Munich, GermanyUNIFESP, Dept Med, Disciplina Hematol, EPM, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilUNIFESP, Dept Bioquim, EPM, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilUNIFESP, Dept Med, Disciplina Hematol, EPM, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Estudo sobre a Responsabilidade Social Corporativa e as Reclamações Pertinentes às Ouvidorias dos bancos, considerando o porte e o tipo de controle no Brasil

In Brazil, the ombudsman's offices in banks has the function to deal with customers and users ultimately. This article seeks to demonstrate the evolution of the issues related to the ombudsman's offices complaints of banks, considering the size and type of control in Brazil. An exploratory research was carried out with a non-probabilistic sample of 26 public, domestic private and foreign banks. The data was collected from 1.377 complaints related to the ombudsman's offices of these banks, ended from the 1st semester of 2008 to the 1st semester of 2011 and released by the Central Bank of Brazil. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and Multiple Correspondence Analysis. It was ascertained that the complaint issue 'Ombudsman' predominated in the complaints occurrences until the 1st semester of 2009 while other complaint issues prevailed from the 2nd semester of 2009. The issues 'Term Breach' and 'Others and Dial Direct Free' were conditioned mostly to middle-size banks and domestic private ones, and 'Customer Service' was associated mostly to very large banks that are public. Results can contribute to enhance the banks' ombudsman's offices regulatory duties, and also can contribute to understand the implementation of socially responsible actions of banks to meet both customers and users as banks' stakeholders in Brazil.  No Brasil, as ouvidorias em bancos possuem a atribuição de atender clientes e usuários em última instância. Este artigo busca demonstrar a evolução dos assuntos das reclamações pertinentes às ouvidorias dos bancos, considerando o porte e o tipo de controle no Brasil. Realizou-se pesquisa exploratória numa amostra não probabilística de 26 bancos, entre públicos, privados nacionais e estrangeiros. Coletaram-se dados de 1.377 reclamações pertinentes às ouvidorias desses bancos, encerradas no 1º semestre de 2008 até o 1º semestre de 2011 e divulgadas pelo Banco Central do Brasil. No tratamento dos dados empregou-se estatística descritiva, estatística inferencial e Análise de Correspondência Múltipla. Constatou-se que o assunto ‘Ouvidoria’ predominou nas ocorrências de reclamações até o 1º semestre de 2009, enquanto outros assuntos prevaleceram a partir do 2º semestre de 2009. Os assuntos ‘Descumprimento de Prazo’ e ‘Outros e Discagem Direta Gratuita’ foram mais condicionados aos bancos médios e privados nacionais. O assunto ‘Atendimento’ foi mais associado aos bancos muito grandes e públicos. Os resultados podem contribuir para aperfeiçoar as atribuições regulamentares das ouvidorias dos bancos e, também, podem contribuir para entender a implementação das ações socialmente responsáveis de bancos, para atender seus stakeholders, clientes e usuários no Brasil

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Proteinase inhibitors in Brazilian leguminosae

Serine proteinase inhitors, in the seeds of several Leguminosae from the Pantanal region (West Brazil), were studied using bovine trypsin, a digestive enzyme, Factor XIIa and human plasma Kallikrein, two blood clotting factors. The inhibitors were purified from Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Mr=23,000), Torresea cearensis (Mr = 13,000), Bauhinia pentandra (Mr = 20,000) and Bauhinia bauhinioides (Mr = 20,000). E. contortisiliquum inhibitor inactivates all three enzymes, whereas the T. cearensis inhibitor inactivates trypsin and Factor XSSa, but does nor affect plasma kallikrein; both Bauhinia inhibitors, on the other hand, inactivate trypsin and plasma kallikrein but only the Bpentandra inhibitor affects Factor XIIa. Ki values were calculated between 10 [raised to the power of] -7 and 10 [raised to the power of] -8 M.Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de BioquímicaUFMS Instituto de Química Departamento de QuímicaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de BioquímicaSciEL