Artigos

URI permanente para esta coleçãohttps://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/11847

Navegar

Resultados da Pesquisa

Agora exibindo 1 - 2 de 2
  • Imagem de Miniatura
    Item
    Trypanosoma cruzi nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (TcNTPDase-1) biochemical characterization, immunolocalization and possible role in host cell adhesion
    (Acta Tropica, 2013-11-19) Mariotini-Moura, Christiane; Bastos, Matheus Silva e; Castro, Felipe Freitas de; Trindade, Mellina Lanna; Vasconcellos, Raphael de Souza; Neves-do-Valle, Myrian Augusta Araújo; Moreira, Bernardo Pereira; Santos, Ramon de Freitas; Oliveira, Claudia Miranda de; Cunha, Luana Celina Seraphim; Souto, Xênia Macedo; Bressan, Gustavo Costa; Silva-Júnior, Abelardo; Baqui, Munira Muhammad Abdel; Bahia, Maria Terezinha; Almeida, Márcia Rogéria de; Meyer-Fernandes, José Roberto; Fietto, Juliana Lopes Rangel
    Previous work has suggested that Trypanosoma cruzi diphosphohydrolase 1 (TcNTPDase-1) may be involved in the infection of mammalian cells and serve as a potential target for rational drug design. In this work, we produced recombinant TcNTPDase-1 and evaluated its nucleotidase activity, cellular localization and role in parasite adhesion to mammalian host cells. TcNTPDase-1 was able to utilize a broad range of triphosphate and diphosphate nucleosides. The enzyme's Km for ATP (0.096 mM) suggested a capability to influence the host's ATP-dependent purinergic signaling. The use of specific polyclonal antibodies allowed us to confirm the presence of TcNTPDase-1 at the surface of parasites by confocal and electron microscopy. In addition, electron microscopy revealed that TcNTPDase-1 was also found in the flagellum, flagellum insertion region, kinetoplast, nucleus and intracellular vesicles. The presence of this enzyme in the flagellum insertion region and vesicles suggests that it may have a role in nutrient acquisition, and the widespread distribution of TcNTPDase-1 within the parasite suggests that it may be involved in other biological process. Adhesion assays using anti-TcNTPDase-1 polyclonal antibodies as a blocker or purified recombinant TcNTPDase-1 as a competitor revealed that the enzyme has a role in parasite–host cell adhesion. These data open new frontiers to future studies on this specific parasite–host interaction and other unknown functions of TcNTPDase-1 related to its ubiquitous localization.
  • Imagem de Miniatura
    Item
    Recombinant Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum Ecto-Nucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolase NTPDase-2 as a new antigen in canine visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis
    (Acta Tropica, 2012-09-26) Souza, Ronny Francisco de; Santos, Yaro Luciolo dos; Vasconcellos, Raphael de Souza; Borges-Pereira, Lucas; Almeida, Márcia Rogéria de; Fietto, Juliana Lopes Rangel; Caldas, Ivo Santana; Bahia, Maria Terezinha
    Canine visceral leishmaniasis is an important public health concern. In the epidemiological context of human visceral leishmaniasis, dogs are considered the main reservoir of Leishmania parasites; therefore, dogs must be epidemiologically monitored constantly in endemic areas. Furthermore, dog to human transmission has been correlated with emerging urbanization and increasing rates of leishmaniasis infection worldwide. Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum (L. chagasi) is the etiologic agent of visceral leish-maniasis in the New World. In this work, a new L. (L.) infantum (L. chagasi) recombinant antigen, named ATP diphosphohydrolase (rLic-NTPDase-2), intended for use in the immunodiagnosis of CVL was produced and validated. The extracellular domain of ATP diphosphohydrolase was cloned and expressed in the pET21b-Escherichia coli expression system. Indirect ELISA assays were used to detect the purified rLic-NTPDase-2 antigen using a standard canine sera library. This library contained CVL-positive samples, leishmaniasis-negative samples and samples from Trypanosoma cruzi-infected dogs. The results show a high sensitivity of 100% (95% CI = 92.60–100.0%) and a high specificity of 100% (95% CI = 86.77–100.0%),with a high degree of confidence (k = 1). These findings demonstrate the potential use of this recombinant protein in immune diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis and open the possibility of its application to other diagnostic approaches, such as immunochromatography fast lateral flow assays and human leishmaniasis diagnosis.