Synthesis and toxicity of monothiooxalamides against human red blood cells, brine shrimp (), and fruit fly ( ).

A new family of monothiooxalamides derived from 2-aminobenzimidazole was synthesized, and their structures were confirmed by H and C one-dimensional and 2D NMR experiments (COSY, HSQC, and HMBC). The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by free radical scavenging assays: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS•), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and the Fe(II) chelating ability. Our work group has previously reported the synthesis and antioxidant activity of monothiooxalamides derived from 2-aminopyridine ().

The SUN-like protein TgSLP1 is essential for nuclear division in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

Connections between the nucleus and the cytoskeleton are important for positioning and division of the nucleus. In most eukaryotes, the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex spans the outer and inner nuclear membranes and connects the nucleus to the cytoskeleton. In opisthokonts, it is composed of Klarsicht, ANC-1 and Syne homology (KASH) domain proteins and Sad1 and UNC-84 (SUN) domain proteins.

Where is the EXIT? Phenotypic screens for new egress factors in apicomplexan parasites.

Apicomplexans, such as Plasmodium and Toxoplasma are obligate intracellular parasites that invade, replicate and finally EXIT their host cell. During replication within a parasitophorous vacuole (PV), the parasites establish an extensive F-actin-containing network that connects individual parasites and is required for material exchange, recycling and the final steps of daughter cell assembly. After multiple rounds of replication, the parasites exit the host cell involving multiple signalling cascades, disassembly of the network, secretion of microneme proteins and activation of the acto-myosin motor.

A Simple Standard for Sharing Ontological Mappings (SSSOM).

Despite progress in the development of standards for describing and exchanging scientific information, the lack of easy-to-use standards for mapping between different representations of the same or similar objects in different databases poses a major impediment to data integration and interoperability. Mappings often lack the metadata needed to be correctly interpreted and applied. For example, are two terms equivalent or merely related? Are they narrow or broad matches? Or are they associated in some other way? Such relationships between the mapped terms are often not documented, which leads to incorrect assumptions and makes them hard to use in scenarios that require a high degree of precision (such as diagnostics or risk prediction).

A splitCas9 phenotypic screen in Toxoplasma gondii identifies proteins involved in host cell egress and invasion.

Apicomplexan parasites, such as Toxoplasma gondii, have specific adaptations that enable invasion and exit from the host cell. Owing to the phylogenetic distance between apicomplexan parasites and model organisms, comparative genomics has limited capacity to infer gene functions. Further, although CRISPR/Cas9-based screens have assigned roles to some Toxoplasma genes, the functions of encoded proteins have proven difficult to assign.

Serological and molecular survey of hepatitis E virus in cats and dogs in Spain.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that is currently recognized as one of the major causes of acute human hepatitis worldwide. In Europe, the increasing number of hepatitis E cases is mainly associated with the consumption of animal food products or contact with infected animals. Dogs and cats have been suggested as a zoonotic source of HEV infection.

Properties of the avocado oil extracted using centrifugation and ultrasound-assisted methods.

Unlabelled: The aim of this work was to evaluate the technologies effect of cold extraction by centrifugation (CE) and ultrasound-assisted (US-CE) methods without adding water, on the avocado oil yield, nutritional composition, physicochemical characteristics, oxidative stability (oxidation temperature and time, besides activation energy) and accelerated shelf life regarding hexane extraction (control). The US-CE improved the physicochemical properties such as acidity, peroxides, and iodine indexes regarding CE and Control. US-CE improved the yield, nutritional quality of fatty acids, oxidative stability, shelf life, and ω-6/ω-3 ratio regarding CE.

Coliform bacteria in San Pedro Lake, western Mexico.

Urbanization, livestock activities, and rainfall are factors that contribute to the contamination of inland water. This study aimed to determine the spatial and temporal variability of total coliforms (TCs) and fecal coliforms (FCs) in the surface water of San Pedro Lake as well as the gills and skin of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cultivated in the lake. The study consisted of seasonal sampling during an annual cycle.

An endocytic-secretory cycle participates in Toxoplasma gondii in motility.

Apicomplexan parasites invade host cells in an active process involving their ability to move by gliding motility. While the acto-myosin system of the parasite plays a crucial role in the formation and release of attachment sites during this process, there are still open questions regarding the involvement of other mechanisms in parasite motility. In many eukaryotes, a secretory-endocytic cycle leads to the recycling of receptors (integrins), necessary to form attachment sites, regulation of surface area during motility, and generation of retrograde membrane flow.

Matching disease and phenotype ontologies in the ontology alignment evaluation initiative.

Background: The disease and phenotype track was designed to evaluate the relative performance of ontology matching systems that generate mappings between source ontologies. Disease and phenotype ontologies are important for applications such as data mining, data integration and knowledge management to support translational science in drug discovery and understanding the genetics of disease.

Results: Eleven systems (out of 21 OAEI participating systems) were able to cope with at least one of the tasks in the Disease and Phenotype track.

UAP56 is a conserved crucial component of a divergent mRNA export pathway in Toxoplasma gondii.

Nucleo-cytoplasmic RNA export is an essential post-transcriptional step to control gene expression in eukaryotic cells and is poorly understood in apicomplexan parasites. With the exception of UAP56, a component of TREX (Transcription Export) complex, other components of mRNA export machinery are not well conserved in divergent supergroups. Here, we use Toxoplasma gondii as a model system to functionally characterize TgUAP56 and its potential interaction factors.

Gliding Associated Proteins Play Essential Roles during the Formation of the Inner Membrane Complex of Toxoplasma gondii.

The inner membrane complex (IMC) of apicomplexan parasites is a specialised structure localised beneath the parasite's plasma membrane, and is important for parasite stability and intracellular replication. Furthermore, it serves as an anchor for the myosin A motor complex, termed the glideosome. While the role of this protein complex in parasite motility and host cell invasion has been well described, additional roles during the asexual life cycle are unknown.

Vacuolar protein sorting mechanisms in apicomplexan parasites.

The phylum Apicomplexa comprises more than 5000 species including pathogens of clinical and economical importance. These obligate intracellular parasites possess a highly complex endomembrane system to build amongst others three morphologically distinct secretory organelles: rhoptries, micronemes and dense granules. Proteins released by these organelles are essential for invasion and hijacking of the host cell.

Characterization of the Neospora caninum NcROP40 and NcROP2Fam-1 rhoptry proteins during the tachyzoite lytic cycle.

Virulence factors from the ROP2-family have been extensively studied in Toxoplasma gondii, but in the closely related Neospora caninum only NcROP2Fam-1 has been partially characterized to date. NcROP40 is a member of this family and was found to be more abundantly expressed in virulent isolates. Both NcROP2Fam-1 and NcROP40 were evaluated as vaccine candidates and exerted a synergistic effect in terms of protection against vertical transmission in mouse models, which suggests that they may be relevant for parasite pathogenicity.

Optimization of Alkaline and Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Agave Bagasse by Response Surface Methodology.

Utilization of lignocellulosic materials for the production of value-added chemicals or biofuels generally requires a pretreatment process to overcome the recalcitrance of the plant biomass for further enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation stages. Two of the most employed pretreatment processes are the ones that used dilute acid (DA) and alkaline (AL) catalyst providing specific effects on the physicochemical structure of the biomass, such as high xylan and lignin removal for DA and AL, respectively. Another important effect that need to be studied is the use of a high solids pretreatment (≥15%) since offers many advantaged over lower solids loadings, including increased sugar and ethanol concentrations (in combination with a high solids saccharification), which will be reflected in lower capital costs; however, this data is currently limited.

Conditional U1 Gene Silencing in Toxoplasma gondii.

The functional characterisation of essential genes in apicomplexan parasites, such as Toxoplasma gondii or Plasmodium falciparum, relies on conditional mutagenesis systems. Here we present a novel strategy based on U1 snRNP-mediated gene silencing. U1 snRNP is critical in pre-mRNA splicing by defining the exon-intron boundaries.

Comparison of host cell invasion and proliferation among Neospora caninum isolates obtained from oocysts and from clinical cases of naturally infected dogs.

In a previous study we have shown that the in vitro invasion rate (IR) and tachyzoite yield (TY) are associated with the virulence phenotypes of Neospora caninum isolates of bovine origin. In addition, we recently observed marked differences in virulence when canine isolates were compared in a pregnant BALB/c mouse model. In this study, we investigated whether invasion and proliferation capacities could be used as virulence-related N.

Advantages and disadvantages of conditional systems for characterization of essential genes in Toxoplasma gondii.

The dissection of apicomplexan biology has been highly influenced by the genetic tools available for manipulation of parasite DNA. Here, we describe different techniques available for the generation of conditional mutants. Comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the three most commonly used regulation systems: the tetracycline inducible system, the regulation of protein stability and site-specific recombination are discussed.

Clinical outcome and vertical transmission variability among canine Neospora caninum isolates in a pregnant mouse model of infection.

We compared the clinical outcome and vertical transmission of six canine Neospora caninum isolates using a pregnant BALB/c model. Four of the isolates were obtained from oocysts of naturally infected dogs (Nc-Ger2, Nc-Ger3, Nc-Ger6 and Nc-6Arg) and two were from diseased dogs with neurological signs (Nc-Bahia and Nc-Liv). The dams were inoculated with 2×106 tachyzoites of each isolate at day 7 of pregnancy.

Partial characterization of ultrafiltrated soy protein hydrolysates with antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.

Soy protein isolate (SPI) was hydrolyzed with Flavourzyme® (SHF) or chymotrypsin (SHC). Hydrolysates were sequencially fractionated by ultrafiltration using different membrane pore sizes (50, 10, and 3 kDa). The antioxidant ability of each hydrolysate protein fraction was tested in a liposome oxidizing system and their free radical scavenging activity (FRSA) was evaluated with the DPPH method (diphenylpicrilhydrazine radical).

Mice congenitally infected with low-to-moderate virulence Neospora caninum isolates exhibited clinical reactivation during the mating period without transmission to the next generation.

Endogenous transplacental transmission (EnTT) is the major transmission route of Neospora caninum in cattle. Thus, the development of a standardised experimental model of EnTT is needed for more appropriate testing of parasite biology and control strategies. A recent study reported up to 40-50% EnTT rates in chronically infected dams with either high or low-to-moderate virulence isolates, although low fertility rates were observed in dams inoculated with the high virulence isolate.