Prevalence of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation comparing tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assay.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation candidates, using tuberculin skin test and QuantiFERON-TB Gold-Plus, in a high-burden tuberculosis country. Adult candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation performed both tests before and those submitted to transplantation were followed up for 12 months. The prevalence of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was 17.

Experience with SARS-CoV-2 in an orthopaedic hospital.

Background: Concerns about nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have been described since the COVID-19 pandemic was first reported and cases of hospital-acquired (HA) COVID-19 and COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported even in clinical areas not intended for the specific care of COVID-19 and declared as "non-COVID" areas.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of measures to prevent of hospital acquisition of COVID-19 in patients admitted to a tertiary referral specialist orthopaedic hospital in Brazil in which emergency care was maintained during the pandemic.

Results: The proportion of HA-COVID-19 (0.

A Cysteine Variant at an Allosteric Site Alters MIF Dynamics and Biological Function in Homo- and Heterotrimeric Assemblies.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an inflammatory protein with various non-overlapping functions. It is not only conserved in mammals, but it is found in parasites, fish, and plants. Human MIF is a homotrimer with an enzymatic cavity between two subunits with Pro1 as a catalytic base, activates the receptors CD74, CXCR2, and CXCR4, has functional interactions in the cytosol, and is reported to be a nuclease.

A Brazilian university hospital position regarding transplantation criteria for HIV-positive patients according to the current literature.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was considered a contraindication for solid organ transplantation (SOT) in the past. However, HIV management has improved since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became available in 1996, and the long-term survival of patients living with HIV has led many transplant programs to reevaluate their policies regarding the exclusion of patients with HIV infection.Based on the available data in the medical literature and the cumulative experience of transplantation in HIV-positive patients at our hospital, the aim of the present article is to outline the criteria for transplantation in HIV-positive patients as recommended by the Immunocompromised Host Committee of the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo.

The effects of allantoin, arginine and NaCl on thermal melting and aggregation of ribonuclease, bovine serum albumin and lysozyme.

Allantoin is widely used as a skin care agent and readily forms crystals, which were recently shown to bind endotoxins and high molecular weight aggregates in cell culture harvests. Here, we have investigated the effects of allantoin on thermal stability and aggregation of protein using ribonuclease, bovine serum albumin and lysozyme using temperature-regulated circular dichroism (CD) and differential scanning microcalorimetry (DSC). Ribonuclease showed no change in thermal stability and aggregation by the addition of allantoin.

Biophysical characterization of a model antibody drug conjugate.

Antibody drug conjugates (ADC) are important next-generation biopharmaceuticals and thus require stringent structure characterization as is the case for monoclonal antibodies. We have tested several biophysical techniques, i.e.

Analytical Ultracentrifugation as a Tool to Study Nonspecific Protein-DNA Interactions.

Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) is a powerful tool that can provide thermodynamic information on associating systems. Here, we discuss how to use the two fundamental AUC applications, sedimentation velocity (SV), and sedimentation equilibrium (SE), to study nonspecific protein-nucleic acid interactions, with a special emphasis on how to analyze the experimental data to extract thermodynamic information. We discuss three specific applications of this approach: (i) determination of nonspecific binding stoichiometry of E.

Glucocorticoid Receptor-DNA Dissociation Kinetics Measured in Vitro Reveal Exchange on the Second Time Scale.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a member of the steroid receptor family of ligand-activated transcription factors. Recent live cell imaging studies have revealed that interactions of GR with chromatin are highly dynamic, with average receptor residence times of only seconds. These findings were surprising because early kinetic studies found that GR-DNA interactions in vitro were much slower, having calculated residence times of minutes to hours.

Cytomegalovirus infection in transplant recipients.

Cytomegalovirus infection is a frequent complication after transplantation. This infection occurs due to transmission from the transplanted organ, due to reactivation of latent infection, or after a primary infection in seronegative patients and can be defined as follows: latent infection, active infection, viral syndrome or invasive disease. This condition occurs mainly between 30 and 90 days after transplantation.

Novel DNA packaging recognition in the unusual bacteriophage N15.

Phage lambda's cosB packaging recognition site is tripartite, consisting of 3 TerS binding sites, called R sequences. TerS binding to the critical R3 site positions the TerL endonuclease for nicking cosN to generate cohesive ends. The N15 cos (cos(N15)) is closely related to cos(λ), but whereas the cosB(N15) subsite has R3, it lacks the R2 and R1 sites and the IHF binding site of cosB(λ).

Management of post-transplant Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoproliferative disease in solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell recipients.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) is one of the most serious complications associated with solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. PTLD is most frequently seen with primary EBV infection post-transplant, a common scenario for pediatric solid organ recipients. Risk factors for infection or reactivation of EBV following solid organ transplant are stronger immunosuppressive therapy regimens, and being seronegative for receptor.

The leucine-rich amelogenin protein (LRAP) is primarily monomeric and unstructured in physiological solution.

Amelogenin proteins are critical to the formation of enamel in teeth and may have roles in controlling growth and regulating microstructures of the intricately woven hydroxyapatite (HAP). Leucine-rich amelogenin protein (LRAP) is a 59-residue splice variant of amelogenin and contains the N- and C-terminal charged regions of the full-length protein thought to control crystal growth. Although the quaternary structure of full-length amelogenin in solution has been well studied and can consist of self-assemblies of monomers called nanospheres, there is limited information on the quaternary structure of LRAP.

Characterization of the non-specific DNA binding properties of the Adenoviral IVa2 protein.

Human Adenovirus (Ad) is a non-enveloped, icosahedral virus with a linear, double-stranded DNA genome. The Ad IVa2 protein is involved in multiple viral processes including viral late gene transcription and virus assembly. Previous studies have shown that IVa2 loads additional viral proteins onto conserved DNA elements within the Ad genome to regulate these viral processes.

IV Brazilian guidelines for autoantibodies on HEp-2 cells.

Objective: The Fourth Brazilian Consensus for Autoantibodies Screening in HEp-2 Cells (ANA) was held in Vitória, Espírito Santo, and aimed to discuss strategies and recommendations about the technique, standardization, interpretation and quality control of the indirect immunofluorescence reaction on HEp-2 cells.

Methods: Twenty three ANA experts from university centers and private laboratories in different areas from Brazil discussed and agreed upon recommendations for the fourth edition of the Brazilian Consensus for Autoantibodies Screening in HEp-2 Cells.

Results And Conclusion: The 4th ANA Consensus included three novel patterns into the existing algorithm (cytoplasmic Rods and Rings, nuclear Quasi-homogeneous, and CENP-F).

Thyroid hormone responsive protein Spot14 enhances catalysis of fatty acid synthase in lactating mammary epithelium.

Thyroid hormone responsive protein Spot 14 has been consistently associated with de novo fatty acid synthesis activity in multiple tissues, including the lactating mammary gland, which synthesizes large quantities of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) exclusively via FASN. However, the molecular function of Spot14 remains undefined during lactation. Spot14-null mice produce milk deficient in total triglyceride and de novo MCFA that does not sustain optimal neonatal growth.

Steroid receptor-DNA interactions: toward a quantitative connection between energetics and transcriptional regulation.

Steroid receptors comprise an evolutionarily conserved family of transcription factors. Although the qualitative aspects by which individual receptors regulate transcription are well understood, a quantitative perspective is less clear. This is primarily because receptor function is considerably more complex than that of classical regulatory factors such as phage or bacterial repressors.

Analysis of a glucocorticoid-estrogen receptor chimera reveals that dimerization energetics are under ionic control.

Steroid receptors assemble at DNA response elements as dimers, resulting in coactivator recruitment and transcriptional activation. Our work has focused on dissecting the energetics associated with these events and quantitatively correlating the results with function. A recent finding is that different receptors dimerize with large differences in energetics.

Glucocorticoid receptor-DNA interactions: binding energetics are the primary determinant of sequence-specific transcriptional activity.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a member of the steroid receptor family of ligand-activated transcription factors. A long-standing question has focused on how GR and other receptors precisely control gene expression. One difficulty in addressing this is that GR function is influenced by multiple factors including ligand and coactivator levels, chromatin state, and allosteric coupling.

Cooperative heteroassembly of the adenoviral L4-22K and IVa2 proteins onto the viral packaging sequence DNA.

Human adenovirus (Ad) is an icosahedral, double-stranded DNA virus. Viral DNA packaging refers to the process whereby the viral genome becomes encapsulated by the viral particle. In Ad, activation of the DNA packaging reaction requires at least three viral components: the IVa2 and L4-22K proteins and a section of DNA within the viral genome, called the packaging sequence.

Self-assembly of Escherichia coli MutL and its complexes with DNA.

The Escherichia coli MutL protein regulates the activity of several enzymes, including MutS, MutH, and UvrD, during methyl-directed mismatch repair of DNA. We have investigated the self-association properties of MutL and its binding to DNA using analytical sedimentation velocity and equilibrium. Self-association of MutL is quite sensitive to solution conditions.

Thermodynamic linkage of large-scale ligand aggregation with receptor binding.

There are many examples in the literature that deal explicitly with the coupling of ligand oligomerization with receptor binding. For example, many transcription factors dimerize and this plays a fundamental role in sequence specific DNA recognition. However, many biological macromolecules undergo reversible, large scale aggregation processes, some of which are indefinite.

Self-association of the adenoviral L4-22K protein.

Human adenovirus (Ad) is an icosahedral, double-stranded DNA virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract, urinary tract, and gastrointestinal tract. Assembly of virus particles requires condensation and encapsidation of the linear viral genome. This process requires sequence specific binding of two viral proteins, called IVa2 and L4-22K, to a conserved sequence located at the left end of the viral genome, called the packaging sequence (PS).

5'-Single-stranded/duplex DNA junctions are loading sites for E. coli UvrD translocase.

Escherichia coli UvrD is a 3'-5' superfamily 1A helicase/translocase involved in a variety of DNA metabolic processes. UvrD can function either as a helicase or only as an single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) translocase. The switch between these activities is controlled in vitro by the UvrD oligomeric state; a monomer has ssDNA translocase activity, whereas at least a dimer is needed for helicase activity.