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Comparison of proteolytic system secreted in dermatophytes and 'Aspergillus fumigatus', used as a reference
Get PDFThèse de doctorat : Université de Neuchâtel, 2011 ; 2236Les dermatophytes sont des champignons pathogènes qui se développent dans le stratum corneum de la peau, les ongles et les cheveux et sont la cause du plus grand nombre des mycoses cutanées. En culture dans un milieu ne contenant que de la kératine, ces champignons sécrètent de nombreuses protéases pour digérer cette source de protéine en acides aminés et petits peptides qui sont utilisés comme nutriments. Les protéases sécrétées par les dermatophytes sont similaires à celles sécrétées par les espèces du genre Aspergillus. C’est pourquoi, le champignon Aspergillus fumigatus a été utilisé dans ce travail pour étudier les différentes étapes de dégradation des protéines par des champignons tels que les dermatophytes à pH acide et à pH neutre. Lors de la première étape de ce travail, nous avons montré que deux différents ensembles de protéases étaient sécrétés par Aspergillus fumigatus à pH 4.0 et à pH 7.0. A pH 7.0, cet ensemble comprend une subtilisine et une métalloprotéase qui sont des endoprotéases, des aminopeptidases non spécifiques (Laps pour leucine aminopeptidases) et une dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DppIV) qui est une X-prolyl peptidase. Il était connu que des peptides générés par une activité endoprotéolytique sur des grandes protéines pouvaient être digérés ensuite synergiquement par les Laps et la DppIV. Lors de ce processus les Laps ôtent les acides aminés un par un depuis l’extrémité N-terminale d’un peptide jusqu’à une séquence X-Pro où les laps s’arrêtent. Toutefois, les séquences X-Pro sont enlevées par la DppIV qui génère ainsi un nouveau substrat pour les Laps. A pH 4.0, l’ensemble des protéases sécrétées par Aspergillus fumigatus comprenait une pepsine, une protéase inconnue de la classe des glutamique-protéases (appelée ici AfuGprA), des sédolisines (SED) qui avaient été caractérisées comme étant des tripeptidyl-peptidases non spécifiques, et une nouvelle protéase de la famille S28 (appelée ici AfuS28). Il a été montré dans ce travail que des grands peptides pouvaient être digérés à pH acide par les activités synergiques des Seds et AfuS28. Lors de ce processus les Seds ôtent les acides aminés trois par trois depuis l’extrémité N-terminale d’un peptide jusqu’à une proline en position 3 ou 4. Toutefois, les séquences d’arrêt X-XX-Pro et X-X-XX-Pro sont enlevées par l’activité d’AfuS28 qui génère ainsi un substrat dégradable par les Seds. En conclusion, chacun des eux ensembles des protéases sécrétées par Aspergillus fumigatus comprenait des aminopeptidases non spécifiques butant sur des résidus Pro, et une prolyl peptidase. L’activité de cette dernière enzyme génère un nouveau substrat pour les aminopeptidases non spécifiques. La deuxième étape a consisté en l’étude d’AfuGprA et son importance dans l’activité endoprotéolytique d’Aspergillus fumigatus. Nous avons montré que soit Pep soit AfuGprA était nécessaire pour la croissance du champignon à pH acide dans un milieu contenant des protéines non dégradées comme seul nutriment. Et enfin, la dernière partie de cette thèse s’est focalisée sur l’identification des protéases sécrétées par deux espèces de dermatophytes, Microsporum canis et Arthroderma benhamiae dans un milieu ne contenant que des protéines. Comme chez Aspergillus fumigatus, ces deux dermatophytes sécrètent à pH 4.0 et à pH 7.0 un ensemble particulier de protéases. Nombres de ces protéases ne sont pas connues chez ces dernières, mais sont des orthologues probables de protéases caractérisées chez Aspergillus fumigatus. C’est la première fois que des protéases acides sont identifiées à pH acide chez ces champignons. Ces investigations suggèrent des mécanismes communs de dégradation des protéines chez les Aspergillus et chez les dermatophytes., Dermatophytes are highly specialized pathogenic fungi which grow exclusively in the stratum corneum, nails or hair and are the most common agents of superficial mycoses. In a medium containing keratin as the sole nitrogen source they secrete a set of endo- and exoproteases able to digest keratin into amino acids and short peptides to be assimilated. Proteases secreted by dermatophytes are similar to those of Aspergillus spp. Therefore, Aspergillus fumigatus was used as a model to investigate the different steps of protein degradation in acidic and neutral environments by fungi such as dermatohytes. During growth in a protein medium at neutral pH, Aspergillus fumigatus secretes neutral and alkaline endoproteases, an X-prolyl peptidase (DppIV) and leucine aminopeptidases (Laps) which are non-specific monoaminopeptidases. Laps cannot remove any amino acids from a peptide with a N-terminal X-Pro sequence. However, large peptides generated from protein digestion by endoproteolysis can be further digested into amino acids and X-pro dipeptides by the synergistic action of Laps and DppIV. We have shown that A. fumigatus secretes a distinct set of proteases at acidic pH which includes an aspartic endoprotease of the pepsin family (Pep1), a novel glutamic protease, AfuGprA, homologous to Aspergillus niger aspergillopepsin II, tripeptidyl-peptidases of the sedolisin family (SedB and SedD) and a novel prolylpeptidase, AfuS28. The importance of AfuGprA in protein digestion was evaluated by deletion of its encoding gene in A. fumigatus wild type D141 and in a pepΔ mutant. We have shown that either A. fumigatus Pep or AfuGprA is necessary for fungal growth in protein medium at acidic pHIn conclusion, Pep and AfuGprA constitute a pair of endoproteases active at acidic pH in analogy to A. fumigatus alkaline protease (Alp) and metalloprotease I (Mep), where at least one of these enzymes is necessary for fungal growth in protein medium at neutral pH. We have shown that Seds and AfuS28 synergistically digest large peptides generated by exoprotease activity into amino acids, di- and tripeptides. Seds degrade peptides from their N-terminus into tripeptides, however Pro in P1 and P’1 position acts as a stop sequence. In a complementary manner, X-X-Pro and X-X-X-Pro sequences can be removed by AfuS28 thus allowing Seds further sequential proteolysis. In conclusion, both alkaline and acidic sets of proteases contain exoprotease activity capable of cleaving after proline residues not bypassed by other exoproteases. In a third part of this thesis we have tested the ability of two dermatophyte species, Microsporum cani and Arthroderma benhamiae, to grow in a protein medium that promotes secretion of proteases. We have shown that at neutral and acidic pH, dermatophytes secreted different proteases. Our investigation revealed new dermatophyte secreted proteases homologous to those secreted by A. fumigatus and suggests common basic mechanisms for extracellular protein digestion in dermatophytes and in Aspergillus spp. at acidic and neutral pH
Aspergillus Protein Degradation Pathways with Different Secreted Protease Sets at Neutral and Acidic pH
No full textAspergillus fumigatus grows well at neutral and acidic pH in a medium containing protein as the sole nitrogen source by secreting two different sets of proteases. Neutral pH favors the secretion of neutral and alkaline endoproteases, leucine aminopeptidases (Laps) which are nonspecific monoaminopeptidases, and an X-prolyl dipeptidase (DppIV). Acidic pH environment promotes the secretion of an aspartic endoprotease of pepsin family (Pool) and tripeptidyl-peptidases of the sedolisin family (SedB and SedD). A novel prolyl peptidase, AfuS28, was found to be secreted in both alkaline and acidic conditions. In previous studies, Laps were shown to degrade peptides from their N-terminus until an X-Pro sequence acts as a stop signal. X-Pro sequences can be then removed by DppIV, which allows Laps access to the following residues. We have shown that at acidic pH Seds degrade large peptides from their N-terminus into tripeptides until Pro in P1 or P'1 position acts as a stop for these exopeptidases. However, X-X-Pro and X-X-X-Pro sequences can be removed by AfuS28 thus allowing Seds further sequential proteolysis. In conclusion, both alkaline and acidic sets of proteases contain exoprotease activity capable of cleaving after proline residues that cannot be removed during sequential digestion by nonspecific exopeptidases.Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research [320030-1179641
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Secreted glutamic protease rescues aspartic protease Pep deficiency in Aspergillus fumigatus during growth in acidic protein medium
No full textIn an acidic protein medium Aspergillus fumigatus secretes an aspartic endoprotease (Pep) as well as tripeptidyl-peptidases, a prolyl-peptidase and carboxypeptidases. In addition, LC-MS/MS revealed a novel glutamic protease, AfuGprA, homologous to Aspergillus niger aspergillopepsin II. The importance of AfuGprA in protein digestion was evaluated by deletion of its encoding gene in A. fumigatus wild-type D141 and in a pepΔ mutant. Either A. fumigatus Pep or AfuGprA was shown to be necessary for fungal growth in protein medium at low pH. Exoproteolytic activity is therefore not sufficient for complete protein hydrolysis and fungal growth in a medium containing proteins as the sole nitrogen source. Pep and AfuGprA constitute a pair of endoproteases active at low pH, in analogy to A. fumigatus alkaline protease (Alp) and metalloprotease I (Mep), where at least one of these enzymes is necessary for fungal growth in protein medium at neutral pH. Heterologous expression of AfuGprA in Pichia pastoris showed that the enzyme is synthesized as a preproprotein and that the propeptide is removed through an autoproteolytic reaction at low pH to generate the mature protease. In contrast to A. niger aspergillopepsin II, AfuGprA is a single-chain protein and is structurally more similar to G1 proteases characterized in other non-Aspergillus fungi.</jats:p
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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