Campanha de prevenção em estomatologia na clínica odontológica do Centro Universitário de Volta Redonda (UniFOA)

A Campanha de Prevenção em Estomatologia visa proporcionar aos alunos do 5º e 6º períodos do Curso de Odontologia, a oportunidade de executar exames clínicos visando detectar precocemente lesões de maior incidência em tecido mole, bem como lesões precursoras ou malignas suspeitas de câncer, beneficiando a população através de educação preventiva, orientação para tratamento adequado e iniciação científica. Os objetivos incluem (a) alertar e motivar a população para a prevenção das lesões de boca e seus fatores de risco, que originam as lesões malignas, (b) verificar a incidência das alterações da cavidade bucal e (c) diagnosticar precocemente lesões passíveis de malignidade, prevenção e promoção da saúde. A metodologia empregada inclui o exame clínico do paciente, educação preventiva (através do ensino de técnica de escovação, uso do fio dental, utilização do limpador de língua) e distribuição de folders, cartazes e manuais. A pesquisa de campo, previamente aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética institucional, está sendo efetuada através de registro de dados dos pacientes em formulário, após assinatura do Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido. Nossa perspectiva é aumentar o conhecimento dos pacientes sobre lesões da cavidade oral, visando a Promoção da Saúde

Transcriptome Analysis of the Oriental Fruit Fly (Bactrocera dorsalis)

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), is one of the most economically important pests in the world, causing serious damage to fruit production. However, lack of genetic information on this organism is an obstacle to understanding the mechanisms behind its development and its ability to resist insecticides. Analysis of the B. dorsalis transcriptome and its expression profile data is essential to extending the genetic information resources on this species, providing a shortcut that will support studies on B. dorsalis.We performed de novo assembly of a transcriptome using short read sequencing technology (Illumina). The results generated 484,628 contigs, 70,640 scaffolds, and 49,804 unigenes. Of those unigenes, 27,455 (55.13%) matched known proteins in the NCBI database, as determined by BLAST search. Clusters of orthologous groups (COG), gene orthology (GO), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations were performed to better understand the functions of these unigenes. Genes related to insecticide resistance were analyzed in additional detail. Digital gene expression (DGE) libraries showed differences in gene expression profiles at different developmental stages (eggs, third-instar larvae, pupae, and adults). To confirm the DGE results, the expression profiles of six randomly selected genes were analyzed.This transcriptome greatly improves our genetic understanding of B. dorsalis and makes a huge number of gene sequences available for further study, including both genes of known importance and genes of unknown function. The DGE data provide comprehensive insight into gene expression profiles at different developmental stages. This facilitates the study of the role of each gene in the developmental process and in insecticide resistance

The PE-PPE Domain in Mycobacterium Reveals a Serine α/β Hydrolase Fold and Function: An In-Silico Analysis

The PE and PPE proteins first reported in the genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv are now identified in all mycobacterial species. The PE-PPE domain (Pfam ID: PF08237) is a 225 amino acid residue conserved region located towards the C-terminus of some PE and PPE proteins and hypothetical proteins. Our in-silico sequence analysis revealed that this domain is present in all Mycobacteria, some Rhodococcus and Nocardia farcinica genomes. This domain comprises a pentapeptide sequence motif GxSxG/S at the N-terminus and conserved amino acid residues Ser, Asp and His that constitute a catalytic triad characteristic of lipase, esterase and cutinase activity. The fold prediction and comparative modeling of the 3-D structure of the PE-PPE domain revealed a “serine α/β hydrolase” structure with a central β-sheet flanked by α-helices on either side. The structure comprises a lid insertion with a closed structure conformation and has a solvent inaccessible active site. The oxyanion hole that stabilizes the negative charge on the tetrahedral intermediate has been identified. Our findings add to the growing list of serine hydrolases in mycobacterium, which are essential for the maintenance of their impermeable cell wall and virulence. These results provide the directions for the design of experiments to establish the function of PE and PPE proteins

Carboxylic ester hydrolases from hyperthermophiles

Carboxylic ester hydrolyzing enzymes constitute a large group of enzymes that are able to catalyze the hydrolysis, synthesis or transesterification of an ester bond. They can be found in all three domains of life, including the group of hyperthermophilic bacteria and archaea. Esterases from the latter group often exhibit a high intrinsic stability, which makes them of interest them for various biotechnological applications. In this review, we aim to give an overview of all characterized carboxylic ester hydrolases from hyperthermophilic microorganisms and provide details on their substrate specificity, kinetics, optimal catalytic conditions, and stability. Approaches for the discovery of new carboxylic ester hydrolases are described. Special attention is given to the currently characterized hyperthermophilic enzymes with respect to their biochemical properties, 3D structure, and classification

aCHEdb: the database system for ESTHER, the alpha/beta fold family of proteins and the Cholinesterase gene server.

Acetylcholinesterase belongs to a family of proteins, the alpha/beta hydrolase fold family, whose constituents evolutionarily diverged from a common ancestor and share a similar structure of a central beta sheet surrounded by alpha helices. These proteins fulfil a wide range of physiological functions (hydrolases, adhesion molecules, hormone precursors) [Krejci,E., Duval,N., Chatonnet,A., Vincens,P. and Massoulié,J. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA , 88, 6647-6651]. ESTHER (for esterases, alpha/beta hydrolase enzymes and relatives) is a database aimed at collecting in one information system, sequence data together with biological annotations and experimental biochemical results related to the structure-function analysis of the enzymes of the family. The major upgrade of the database comes from the use of a new database management system: aCHEdb which uses the ACeDB program designed by Richard Durbin and Jean Thierry-Mieg. It can be found at http://www.ensam.inra.fr/cholinesteras