Capacidade higroscópica de farinhas de diferentes frutas.

Publicado também no V Fórum de Pesquisa, Ensino, extensão e Pós-graduação da UEPA, 2008, Belém, PA. V FORPEEXP

Distribution pattern of anurans from three mountain complexes in southeastern Brazil and their conservation implications

Biogeographic tools support spatial distribution pattern hypotheses and help to determine priority areas for conservation. Our aim was to verify biogeographic patterns for anurans in three mountain complexes in southeastern Brazil, as well as to discuss the status of species conservation recorded and the biogeographical units evaluated. We selected 16 areas distributed in the Serra da Mantiqueira complex, south of Serra do Espinhaço and Serra da Canastra. We used the occurrence (geographic coordinates) of each species in the localities to determine areas of endemism applying the Endemicity Analysis method. We also tested whether similarity between areas was explained by geographic distance (Multiple Regression on distance Matrices-MRM). The Serra do Itatiaia, Serra da Canastra, Plateau of Poços de Caldas and Serra do Cipó were the areas that presented the highest number of species restricted to them. Through the Endemicity Analysis, we identified four areas of endemism with higher scores. The MRM revealed that the geographic distance explained 41% of species dissimilarity between areas. Most of the endemic species from these areas have inaccurate conservation statuses (data deficient or unevaluated). These results highlight the need for greater research efforts towards understanding species restricted by distribution, as well as the priority in conserving these endemic areas

EGF functionalized polymer-coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization for photothermal therapy

The application of functionalized nanocarriers on photothermal therapy for cancer ablation has wide interest. The success of this application depends on the therapeutic efficiency and biocompatibility of the system, but also on the stability and biorecognition of the conjugated protein. This study aims at investigating the hypothesis that EGF functionalized polymer -coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization, making these conjugated particles suitable for photothermal therapy. The conjugated gold nanoparticles (100-200 nm) showed a plasmon absorption band located within the near infrared range (650-900 nm), optimal for photothermal therapy applications. The effects of temperature, of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles and of UVB light (295nm) on the fluorescence properties of EGF have been investigated with steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence properties of EGF, including the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts, is modulated by temperature and by the intensity of the excitation light. The presence of polymeric-coated gold nanoparticles reduced or even avoided the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts when EGF is exposed to UVB light, protecting this way the structure and function of EGF. Cytotoxicity studies of conjugated nanoparticles carried out in normal-like human keratinocytes showed small, concentration dependent decreases in cell viability (0-25%). Moreover, conjugated nanoparticles could activate and induce the internalization of overexpressed Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in human lung carcinoma cells. In conclusion, the gold nanoparticles conjugated with Epidermal Growth Factor and coated with biopolymers developed in this work, show a potential application for near infrared photothermal therapy, which may efficiently destroy solid tumours, reducing the damage of the healthy tissue.Support was provided by: Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012 [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos)]. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos]; European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY (https://saphely.eu/project.php) and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS [http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/193268_en.html].The authors would like to thank Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI). The authors acknowledge the funding from the European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS. Finally, the authors would also like to thank the master student Joao Lopes from Universidade Lusofona (Portugal) for the help with in vitro cytotoxic assays. Isabel Correia acknowledges FCT for Investigator FCT contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio