1,916 research outputs found
Desenvolvimento e aplicação de um sistema celular repórter para herpes simplex virus e padronização de uma PCR quantitativa para poliomavírus BK
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia e Biociências, Florianópolis, 2014.Pacientes imunodeprimidos podem apresentar infecções virais com evolução rápida, sintomatologias atípicas graves e muitas vezes fatais, sendo fundamental um diagnóstico precoce para estabelecimento do tratamento efetivo, redução da toxicidade e da resistência aos antivirais. HSV-1, HSV-2 e poliomavírus BK são vírus de importância clínica para imunodeprimidos e podem levar a rejeição de órgãos em transplantados. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um sistema celular repórter, utilizando a proteína fluorescente GFP, para HSV-1 e 2 e implantar uma qPCR utilizando amostras clínicas de pacientes transplantados renais para detecção de poliomavírus BK. O sistema celular repórter foi construído através da transfecção de células Vero com o vetor pZsGreen1-1 ligado ao promotor ICP10 (F3R3 e F4R3) da RR1 do HSV-2. A regulação da expressão da GFP via ICP10 é dependente da infecção viral e acontece por meio da proteína viral transativadora VP16 e de fatores celulares Oct-1 e HCF-1. A efetividade do sistema foi avaliada por infecção viral e pela aplicação de antivirais (Aciclovir, ácido gálico, convalotoxina e extrato de Uncaria sp.) e candidatos antivirais inativos (Extrato de Passiflora edulis e derivados de cardenolídeos). O sistema repórter F4R3 ZsGreen1-1 expressou GFP em função da infecção por HSV-1 e 2, a qual foi detectada por microscopia de fluorescência e/ou citometria de fluxo. Em análise por citometria de fluxo, a fluorescência do sistema repórter correlacionou-se diretamente com os títulos virais (MOI de 4,0 x10-3 a 3,3 x10-4, ou seja, 1 partícula viral a cada 250 a 3000 células), o sistema manteve a capacidade de expressão da GFP na presença de agentes sem propriedade antiviral e não expressou fluorescência quando tratado com antivirais. O sistema F4R3 ZsGreen1-1 mostrou-se um sistema funcional com possíveis aplicações para diagnóstico clínico, para elaboração de testes de resistência aos antivirais e para a pesquisa de novos medicamentos. A qPCR para poliomavírus BK foi implantada utilizando amostras de DNA cedidas pelo HEMOSC com iniciadores dirigidos para o antígeno T viral. O limite de detecção foi de 18 cópias genômicas/ reação com quantificações variando entre 9,8 x 105 a 6,7 x 107 cópias genômicas/ mL. A qPCR foi efetiva para análises de amostras clínicas e apresentou limite de detecção suficiente para avaliação de risco de nefropatia em transplantados renais.Abstract : Immunosuppressed patients can present viral infections with fast evolution, severe atypical symptomatologies and often fatal, being essential the early diagnosis for the establishment of effective treatments, reduction of toxicity and development of resistance to antiviral. HSV-1, HSV-2 and polyomavirus BK are virus of clinical importance for immunosuppresed and can lead to the rejection of transplanted organs. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a reporter cellular system, using the fluorescent protein GFP, for HSV-1 and 2, and deploy a qPCR using clinical samples from patients submitted to renal transplant, for the detection of polyomavirus BK. The reporter cellular system was constructed through the transfection of Vero cells with the vector pZsGreen1-1 connected to the promoter ICP10 (F3R3 and F4R3) of the RR1 of the HSV-2. The regulation of the expression of GFP via ICP10 is dependent of the viral infection and happens through the viral transactivating protein VP16, and the cellular factors Oct-1 and HCF-1. The effectivity of the system was evaluated by viral infection and through the application of antiviral (Acyclovir, gallic acid, convalotoxina and extract of Uncaria sp.) and inactive antiviral candidate (Extract of Passiflora edulis and derivatives cardenolide). The reporter system F4R3 ZsGreen1-1 expressed GFP as a function of the infection for HSV-1 and 2, which was detected by fluorescence microscopy and/or flow cytometry. In flow cytometry, the fluorescence of the reporter system was directly correlated with virus titers (MOI 4,0 x10-3 to 3,3 x10-4, that is, 1 viral particle to each 250 to 3000 cells), the system maintained the ability to GFP expression in the presence of agents without antiviral property and no expressed fluorescence when treated with antivirals. The system F4R3 ZsGreen1-1 revealed a functional system with possible applications for clinical diagnosis, elaboration of tests of resistance to the antiviral and for new drugs research. The qPCR to polyomavirus BK was deployed using DNA samples provided by HEMOSC with primers directed to the viral antigen T. The limit of detection was 18 genome copies /reaction with quantification ranging between 9.8 x 105 to 6.7 x 107 genome copies /mL. The qPCR was effective for the analyses of clinical samples and presented enough sensitivity for risk evaluation of nephropathy in renal transplant
The effect of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit on cell surface expression of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants.
No full text<p>Co-transfection of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit has little apparent impact on cell surface expression of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> ZERO or STREX variants. (A) Representative Western blot showing levels of membrane (MF), and cytosolic (CF) fractions of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> protein in CHO-K1 cultured cells, transfected with either α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants ZERO or STREX. (B) In the CHO-K1 cell culture system, α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> STREX variant shows dominant cell surface expression when co-transfected with β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub>. Results are shown for n = 5 separate experiments and are presented as mean ± SEM (*P<0.05, unpaired t-test). (C) Membrane to cytosolic ratio for the expression of ZERO or STREX proteins when co-transfected with β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> in cultured CHO-K1 cells. Results are shown for n = 5 separate experiments and are presented as mean ± SEM (* P = 0.05, unpaired t-test).</p
Characterizing determinants of BK Polyomavirus-specific immune response
No full textBK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is one of now 13 human polyomavirus (HPyV) species detected in humans. BKPyV is only known to infect humans and seroprevalence rates of more than 90% have been reported in adult populations around the world. Following primary infection, BKPyV persists in the renourinary tract without causing any disease as evidenced by urinary shedding in 5% - 10% of healthy immunocompetent blood donors.
In immunocompromised persons, however, BKPyV can cause significant diseases whereby uncontrolled high-level replication may lead to organ invasive pathologies in kidneys, bladder, lungs, vasculature, and the central nervous system. The most consistently found diseases are BKPyV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis (BKPyVHC) in 5%-20% allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells transplant patients, and BKPyV-associated nephropathy (BKPyVAN) in 1%-15% of kidney transplant patients. BKPyVHC is highly symptomatic with pain, anemic bleeding, and increased mortality. BKPyVAN is asymptomatic except for progressive renal failure and premature return to dialysis. Both entities are characterized by high-level viral replication i.e. with urine BKPyV loads of 8-10 log10 Geq/mL, plasma BKPyV loads often above 4 log10 Geq/mL, and an allogeneic constellation between the virus-infected host cell and the available T-cell effectors. Despite these similarities, the clinical manifestations are strikingly different suggesting relevant, but experimentally undefined differences in pathogenesis. Thus, BKPyVHC typically occurs within 4 weeks after allogeneic HSCT and is confined to the bladder, and typically without kidney involvement. By contrast, BKPyVAN is diagnosed around 3-6 months after kidney transplantation and confined to the kidney allograft without causing cystitis. Although high-level BKPyV replication should be formally amenable to antiviral drug treatment, no effective and BKPyV-specific antiviral therapy is currently available. Therefore, a better understanding of the immune alteration in both diseases has been deemed essential to identify patients at risk and to develop prophylactic, preemptive and therapeutic strategies.
The currently recommended strategy for BKPyVAN is to screen kidney transplant patients for BKPyV replication and to promptly reduce immunosuppressive therapy in those with significant replication to facilitate mounting of BKPyV-specific T cell responses and thereby preventing progression to disease. This manoeuver has been linked to expanding BKPyV-specific T cell responses in the peripheral blood of kidney transplant patients. However, this approach may place patients at risk for acute rejection episodes that predispose equally well to premature kidney transplant failure. Although the clinical feasibility of reducing immunosuppression and curtailing BKPyV replication has been shown to be effective in prospective cohort studies for many, but not all of kidney transplant patients, this approach has not been possible in allogeneic HSCT patients because of concurrent or imminent graft-versus host disease. Thus, there are significant gaps in the current understanding of the BKPyV– host interaction in the normal host and in the allogeneic setting, which need to be investigated for a more effective and safer management of these significant viral complications.
In this thesis, the interaction of BKPyV and the immune response has been approached from two different angles. In the first project, potential mechanisms of BKPyV immune evasion were studied. Here, we focused on a small accessory protein called agnoprotein encoded as a leader protein in the late viral early region (LVGR). Although HPyV genomes overall show a very similar genome organization, agnoproteins are only found in the genomes of BKPyV and JCPyV that have a kidney tropisms, but not in any of the other 11 presumably non-renotropic HPyVs. We hypothesized that agnoprotein could play a role in immune evasion by downregulating HLA expression. The effects of agnoprotein were studied on HLA class I and II expression in vitro by flow cytometry following transfection of primary human renal tubular epithelial cells, which are the viral target of BKPyV-associated nephropathy. In addition, transfected human UTA-6 cells were studied as well as UTA-6 cells bearing a tetracycline-regulated agnoprotein. As control, the effects were compared with the ICP47 protein of Herpes simplex virus-1, which has been previously reported to effectively down-regulate HLA class I. Although both viral proteins share some similarities at the protein level, our results showed that BKPyV agnoprotein did not down-regulate HLA class I or class II molecules. Also, there was not inhibitory effect on the increase of HLA-class I or class-II surface expression following exposure to interferon-. By contrast, ICP47 reduced HLA class I surface expression, but not class II. We also evaluated effects of agnoprotein on virus epitope-specific T-cell killing by 51Chromium release assay, however no interference could be observed. We concluded that agnoprotein did not contribute to these types of HLA-dependent immune evasion processes. However, further investigations are needed to understand if agnoprotein could contribute to viral immune escape by other mechanisms.
In the second project, we aimed at better characterizing BKPyV-specific CD8 T cell immunity targeting epitopes encoded in the early viral gene region (EVGR). Selected coding sequences of the BKPyV EVGR were submitted to two web-based computer algorithms (SYFPEITHI, IEDB) in order to predict immunodominant 9mer epitopes presented by 14 frequent HLA-class I molecules. For an experimental confirmation, 97 different 9mer epitopes were chemically synthesized and tested in 42 healthy individuals. A total of 39 epitopes could be confirmed by interferon- ELISpot assay in at least 30% of healthy individuals. Interestingly, most of the 9mer epitopes appeared to cluster in short amino acid stretches, and some 9mer could be presented by more than one HLA class I allele as expected for immunodominant domains. HLA-specific presentation was demonstrated by 9mer- MHC-I streptamers for 21/39 (54%) epitopes. The 9mer dependent T-cell killing by 51Chromium release assay and the CD107a surface detection indicated that the 9mer epitopes could be recognized by cytotoxic T-cells. Moving to a clinically relevant situation, 13 9mer epitopes could be validated in 19 kidney transplant patients protected from, or recovering from, BKPyV viremia. The results suggest that, pending further corroboration in larger patient populations, novel 9mer epitopes can be identified, which are associated with CD8 T cell control of BKPyV replication. Thus the identified immunodominant 9mer T-cell epitopes could be further developed for clinical assays to better predict the risk and the recovery of BKPyV diseases, help guiding immunosuppression reduction, and to develop specific adoptive T-cell therapy or vaccine responses to prevent or treat BKPyV-associated disease
Cell surface expression of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit in the presence and absence of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants.
No full text<p>Co-transfection of ZERO or STREX variants with β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit enhances cell surface trafficking of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit. The top image in panel (A) represents a Western blot for membrane (MF) and cytosolic (CF) fractions of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> protein in CHO-K1 cultured cells, co-transfected with either α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants ZERO or STREX. The bottom Figure in panel (A) shows the membrane vs cytosolic expression of transfected β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> channel protein when co-transfected with either α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants of ZERO or STREX. Results are shown for n = 5 separate experiments. The top image in panel (B) shows a representative Western blot of membrane (MF) and cytosolic (CF) fractions of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> protein in CHO-K1 cultured cells, in the absence of either α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants ZERO or STREX. The bottom Figure in panel (B) shows membrane vs cytosolic expression of β1-BK<sub>Ca</sub> subunit in cultured CHO-K1 cells in the absence of the α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants ZERO or STREX. Results are shown for n = 6 separate experiments and are presented as mean ± SEM (*P<0.05, unpaired t-test).</p
Membrane and cytosolic expression of ZERO and STREX variants in CHO-K1 cells.
No full text<p>In a CHO-K1 cell culture system, the α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> ZERO variant shows significantly lower cell surface expression than the STREX variant. Corresponding changes in the cytosolic fraction are observed. (A) Representative Western blot showing surface and cytosolic levels of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> protein in CHO-K1 cell culture system, transfected with either α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> splice variants ZERO or STREX. (B) Summary of membrane vs cytosolic expression of transfected ZERO or STREX variants of α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> channel protein (expressed as % of total α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> protein). (C) Membrane to cytosolic expression ratio of ZERO and STREX α-BK<sub>Ca</sub> proteins in transfected cultured CHO-K1 cells. Results are shown for n = 6 separate experiments and are presented as mean ± SEM (*P<0.05, unpaired t-test).</p
Housing Policy and Housing Finance in the Czech Republic during Transition: An Example of the Schism between the Still-Living Past and the Need of Reform
No full textThis book contains the description and evaluation of a profound housing system reform constituting part of the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy in the Czech Republic. It addresses two goals: to evaluate housing subsidies (reforms) by application of improved methods of welfare economics and, secondly, to list the main factors explaining the particular outcomes of selected reforms. The author applied methods of welfare economics for an evaluation of housing subsidies in a scale unique in housing studies. The analysis of underlying factors influencing formation of housing reforms brought new findings about the essence of transition in post-socialist countries
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