Generation and characterization of new HER2 monoclonal antibodies.

Antibodies are among the most commonly used research and diagnostic tools. Antibody type and clonality are important in any assay as they can influence epitope detection. HER2 oncoprotein is overexpressed or undergoes gene amplification in approximately 30% of invasive breast carcinomas and 20% of gastric adenocarcinomas.

Diagnosis of canine leptospirosis using an immunomagnetic separation-PCR method.

Diagnosis of leptospirosis by PCR is hampered due to the presence of substances on biological fluids. Here, we report an immunomagnetic separation step prior to PCR which improved the detection of Leptospira spp. in blood and urine samples from dogs.

Highly virulent Leptospira borgpetersenii strain characterized in the hamster model.

Abstract. A recent study by our group reported the isolation and partial serological and molecular characterization of four Leptospira borgpetersenii serogroup Ballum strains. Here, we reproduced experimental leptospirosis in golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) and carried out standardization of lethal dose 50% (LD50) of one of these strains (4E).

An immunomagnetic separation-PCR method for detection of pathogenic Leptospira in biological fluids.

Abstract Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide and is caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Clinical manifestations of leptospirosis are similar to other febrile illnesses and this fact frequently retards the beginning of antibiotic therapy. Thus, early and accurate diagnosis is a prerequisite for proper treatment of leptospirosis.

Detection of Salmonella sp in chicken cuts using immunomagnetic separation.

The immunomagnetic separation (IMS) is a technique that has been used to increase sensitivity and specificity and to decrease the time required for detection of Salmonella in foods through different methodologies. In this work we report on the development of a method for detection of Salmonella in chicken cuts using in house antibody-sensitized microspheres associated to conventional plating in selective agar (IMS-plating). First, protein A-coated microspheres were sensitized with polyclonal antibodies against lipopolysacharide and flagella from salmonellae and used to standardize a procedure for capturing Salmonella Enteritidis from pure cultures and detection in selective agar.

Evaluation of different ways of presenting LipL32 to the immune system with the aim of developing a recombinant vaccine against leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis, caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira, is a direct zoonosis with wide geographical distribution. The implications in terms of public health and the economical losses caused by leptospirosis justify the use of a vaccine against Leptospira in human or animal populations at risk. In this study, we used the external membrane protein LipL32 as a model antigen, as it is highly immunogenic.

[Evidence of dog as a reservoir for human leptospirosis: a serovar isolation, molecular characterization and its use in a serological survey].

Canine leptospirosis has been known as Stuttgart disease since 1898, and dogs are considered to be the second principal source of infection in man. The isolation of a pathogenic serovar from dog urine that was diagnosed clinically and laboratorial as having leptospirosis and its utilization to test serological samples of human and canine cases of leptospirosis, has demonstrated its importance to the ecosystem of the southern region of Brazil. The results of the serological microscopic agglutination test indicated that 100% of human serum samples from 12 patients from the serum bank of 2001 at the Center for Control of Zoonoses, that had titers between 25 and 3,200 with the canicola serovar, and 72% of 105 canine serum samples from the same serum bank, also reacted with the new isolate.