Publications by authors named "Milene C Vallejo"

Extracellular vesicles play major roles in cell-to-cell communication and are excellent biomarker candidates. However, studying plasma extracellular vesicles is challenging due to contaminants. Here, we performed a proteomics meta-analysis of public data to refine the plasma EV composition by separating EV proteins and contaminants into different clusters.

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The rise of deep molecular characterization with omics data as a standard in biological sciences has highlighted a need for expanded instruction in bioinformatics curricula. Many large biology data sets are publicly available and offer an incredible opportunity for educators to help students explore biological phenomena with computational tools, including data manipulation, visualization, and statistical assessment. However, logistical barriers to data access and integration often complicate their use in undergraduate education.

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Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and P. lutzii cause human paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). They are dimorphic ascomycetes that grow as filaments at mild temperatures up to 28oC and as multibudding pathogenic yeast cells at 37oC.

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In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway coordinates the adaptation to osmotic stress and was recently reported to respond to acute changes in glucose levels. Similarly as in osmotic stress, glucose starvation leads to a transient accumulation of Hog1 in the nucleus. However, the kinetics and the mechanism of Hog1 activation are different for these stress conditions.

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Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes life-threatening meningitis. In this fungus, the cell wall is exceptionally not the outermost structure due to the presence of a surrounding polysaccharide capsule, which has been highly studied. Considering that there is little information about C.

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Background: The fungal cell wall is a complex and dynamic outer structure. In pathogenic fungi its components interact with the host, determining the infection fate. The present work aimed to characterize cell wall lipids from P.

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Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and Paracoccidioides lutzii are thermodimorphic species that cause paracoccidioidomycosis. The cell wall is the outermost fungal organelle to form an interface with the host. A number of host effector compounds, including immunologically active molecules, circulate in the plasma.

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Background: Fungal extracellular vesicles are able to cross the cell wall and transport molecules that help in nutrient acquisition, cell defense, and modulation of the host defense machinery.

Methodology/principal Findings: Here we present a detailed lipidomic analysis of extracellular vesicles released by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis at the yeast pathogenic phase. We compared data of two representative isolates, Pb3 and Pb18, which have distinct virulence profiles and phylogenetic background.

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Microorganisms release effector molecules that modulate the host machinery enabling survival, replication, and dissemination of a pathogen. Here we characterized the extracellular proteome of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis at its pathogenic yeast phase. Cell-free culture supernatants from the Pb18 isolate, cultivated in defined medium, were separated into vesicle and vesicle-free fractions, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

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The cell wall of pathogenic fungi plays import roles in the interaction with the host, so that its composition and structure may determine the course of infection. Here we present an overview of the current and past knowledge on the cell wall constituents of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and P. lutzii.

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Paracoccidioides is a fungal pathogen and the cause of paracoccidioidomycosis, a health-threatening human systemic mycosis endemic to Latin America. Infection by Paracoccidioides, a dimorphic fungus in the order Onygenales, is coupled with a thermally regulated transition from a soil-dwelling filamentous form to a yeast-like pathogenic form. To better understand the genetic basis of growth and pathogenicity in Paracoccidioides, we sequenced the genomes of two strains of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb03 and Pb18) and one strain of Paracoccidioides lutzii (Pb01).

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Exosome-like vesicles containing virulence factors, enzymes, and antigens have recently been characterized in fungal pathogens, such as Cryptococcus neoformans and Histoplasma capsulatum. Here, we describe extracellular vesicles carrying highly immunogenic α-linked galactopyranosyl (α-Gal) epitopes in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. P.

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