Development of a Novel Peptide Nucleic Acid Probe for the Detection of spp. in Water Samples.

are opportunistic intracellular pathogens that are found throughout the environment. The contamination of water systems represents a serious social problem that can lead to severe diseases, which can manifest as both Pontiac fever and Legionnaires' disease (LD) infections. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using nucleic acid mimic probes (NAM-FISH) is a powerful and versatile technique for bacterial detection.

The role of Nucleic Acid Mimics (NAMs) on FISH-based techniques and applications for microbial detection.

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is a powerful tool that for more than 30 years has allowed to detect and quantify microorganisms as well as to study their spatial distribution in three-dimensional structured environments such as biofilms. Throughout these years, FISH has been improved in order to face some of its earlier limitations and to adapt to new research objectives. One of these improvements is related to the emergence of Nucleic Acid Mimics (NAMs), which are now employed as alternatives to the DNA and RNA probes that have been classically used in FISH.

Naphthoquinone as a New Chemical Scaffold for Leishmanicidal Inhibitors of GSK-3.

More than 1 billion people live in areas endemic for leishmaniasis, which is a relevant threat for public health worldwide. Due to the inadequate treatments, there is an urgent need to develop novel alternative drugs and to validate new targets to fight this disease. One appealing approach is the selective inhibition of protein kinases (PKs), enzymes involved in a wide range of processes along the life cycle of Several PKs, including glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), have been validated as essential for this parasite by genetic or pharmacological methods.

Imidazo[2,1-a]isoindole scaffold as an uncharted structure active on Leishmania donovani.

The human protozoan parasites Leishmania donovani and L. infantum are the causative agents of visceral leishmaniasis, as such, responsible for approximately 30,000 deaths annually. The available chemotherapeutic treatments are reduced to a few drugs whose effectiveness is limited by rising drug resistance/therapeutic failure, and noxious side-effects.

Structure-activity relationships and mechanistic studies of novel mitochondria-targeted, leishmanicidal derivatives of the 4-aminostyrylquinoline scaffold.

A new class of quinoline derivatives, bearing amino chains at C-4 and a styryl group at C-2, were tested on Leishmania donovani promastigotes and axenic and intracellular Leishmania pifanoi amastigotes. The introduction of the C-4 substituent improves the activity, which is due to interference with the mitochondrial activity of the parasite and its concomitant bioenergetic collapse by ATP exhaustion. Some compounds show a promising antileishmanial profile, with low micromolar or submicromolar activity on promastigote and amastigote forms and a good selectivity index.

Widening the antimicrobial spectrum of esters of bicyclic amines: In vitro effect on gram-positive Streptococcus pneumoniae and gram-negative non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae biofilms.

Antibiotic resistance is a global current threat of increasing importance. Moreover, biofilms represent a medical challenge since the inherent antibiotic resistance of their producers demands the use of high doses of antibiotics over prolonged periods. Frequently, these therapeutic measures fail, contributing to bacterial persistence, therefore demanding the development of novel antimicrobials.

Dextransucrase Expression Is Concomitant with that of Replication and Maintenance Functions of the pMN1 Plasmid in MN1.

The exopolysaccharide synthesized by MN1 is a dextran with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties of potential utility in aquaculture. In this work we have investigated the genetic basis of dextran production by this bacterium. Southern blot hybridization experiments demonstrated the plasmidic location of the gene, which encodes the dextransucrase involved in dextran synthesis.

Dextran production by Lactobacillus sakei MN1 coincides with reduced autoagglutination, biofilm formation and epithelial cell adhesion.

In this work we have investigated two dextran-producing lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus sakei MN1 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides RTF10, isolated from fermented meat products. These bacteria synthesise dextran when sucrose, but not glucose, is present in the growth medium. The influence of dextran on bacterial aggregation, adhesion and biofilm formation was investigated in cultures challenged with sucrose or glucose.

Dextrans produced by lactic acid bacteria exhibit antiviral and immunomodulatory activity against salmonid viruses.

Viral infections in the aquaculture of salmonids can lead to high mortality and substantial economic losses. Thus, there is industrial interest in new molecules active against these viruses. Here we describe the production, purification, and the physicochemical and structural characterization of high molecular weight dextrans synthesized by Lactobacillus sakei MN1 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides RTF10.

Comparative analysis of production and purification of homo- and hetero-polysaccharides produced by lactic acid bacteria.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produce homopolysaccharides (HoPS) and heteropolysaccharides (HePS) with potential functional properties. In this work, we have performed a comparative analysis of production and purification trials of these biopolymers from bacterial culture supernatants. LAB strains belonging to four different genera, both natural as well as recombinant, were used as model systems for the production of HoPS and HePS.