Chimeric lipoproteins for leptospirosis vaccine: immunogenicity and protective potential.

Leptospirosis, a neglected zoonotic disease, is caused by pathogenic spirochetes belonging to the genus Leptospira and has one of the highest morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Vaccination stands out as one of the most effective preventive measures for susceptible populations. Within the outer membrane of Leptospira spp.

Antibiofilm effect of biogenic silver nanoparticle alone and combined with polymyxin B against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacteria associated with nosocomial infections and outbreaks, difficult to control due to its antibiotic resistance, ability to survive in adverse conditions, and biofilm formation adhering to biotic and abiotic surfaces. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antibiofilm activity of biogenic silver nanoparticle (Bio-AgNP) and polymyxin B alone and combined in biofilms formed by isolates of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CR-Ab).

Synthetic antimicrobial peptides: activity against vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and modulation of chloramphenicol antibacterial activity.

Aims: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is a leading cause of nosocomial infection and presents a wide spectrum of antibiotic resistance, being vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) one of the most relevant. Synthetic antimicrobial peptides (SAMPs) are currently a promising option to overcome antimicrobial resistance.

The synergic and addictive activity of biogenic silver nanoparticle associated with meropenem against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Aims: Antibiotic management of infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii often fails due to antibiotic resistance (especially to carbapenems) and biofilm-forming strains. Thus, the objective here was to evaluate in vitro the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of biogenic silver nanoparticle (Bio-AgNP) combined with meropenem, against multidrug-resistant isolates of A. baumannii.

Biogenic silver nanoparticles: in vitro activity against Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and multidrug-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS).

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are one problem in health since the therapeutic alternative are reduced. For this, the application of nanotechnology through functionalized nanoparticles, like a biogenic silver nanoparticle (Bio-AgNP), obtained by biological synthesis, emerges as a possible alternative against the MDR bacteria. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of Bio-AgNP obtained for biological synthesis by Fusarium oxysporum strain 551 against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and MDR coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) isolates.

Challenges and Strategies for Developing Recombinant Vaccines against Leptospirosis: Role of Expression Platforms and Adjuvants in Achieving Protective Efficacy.

The first leptospiral recombinant vaccine was developed in the late 1990s. Since then, progress in the fields of reverse vaccinology (RV) and structural vaccinology (SV) has significantly improved the identification of novel surface-exposed and conserved vaccine targets. However, developing recombinant vaccines for leptospirosis faces various challenges, including selecting the ideal expression platform or delivery system, assessing immunogenicity, selecting adjuvants, establishing vaccine formulation, demonstrating protective efficacy against lethal disease in homologous challenge, achieving full renal clearance using experimental models, and reproducibility of protective efficacy against heterologous challenge.

Surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease in southern Brazil: considerations of an immunization programme.

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a major cause of meningitis and septicaemia worldwide. Changes in serogroup predominance contribute to the unpredictable nature of the disease, with significant health impact. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological profile of IMD in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, three states in southern Brazil.

Reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay as a rapid molecular diagnostic tool for COVID-19 in healthcare workers.

In December 2019, the Chinese Center for Disease Control (CDC of China) reported an outbreak of pneumonia in the city of Wuhan (Hubei province, China) that haunted the world, resulting in a global pandemic. This outbreak was caused by a betacoronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several of these cases have been observed in healthcare professionals working in hospitals and providing care on the pandemic's frontline.

Auxotrophic BCG: Updates and Perspectives.

BCG has been used for a century as the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis. Owing to its strong adjuvant properties, BCG has also been employed as an oncological immunotherapeutic as well as a live vaccine vector against other pathogens. However, BCG vaccination has limited efficacy in protecting against adult forms of tuberculosis (TB), raises concerns about its safety in immunocompromised populations, compromises the diagnosis of TB through the tuberculin test and lacks predictability for successful antigen expression and immune responses to heterologous antigens.

Development of Human Recombinant Leptospirosis Vaccines.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonotic disease with significant impact on health all over the world. Currently, bacterins are the only vaccines available for prevention of this disease, despite several drawbacks. In an effort to develop a more effective vaccine against leptospirosis, reverse and structural vaccinology have been applied to design recombinant constructions composed of leptospiral surface-exposed antigens.

Protective efficacy of whole-cell inactivated Leptospira vaccines made using virulent or avirulent strains in a hamster model.

Whole-cell inactivated vaccines remain the only licensed vaccines used to control human and animal leptospirosis worldwide. Although they are protective against lethal infections, the efficacy of these vaccines has been divergent. The manufacturing process often involves the use of standard bacterial strains subjected to serial in vitro passages, with a risk of loss of virulence, and may affect the immunogenicity and consequently decrease protection.

Surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease in the south of Brazil: considerations of immunization programme.

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a major cause of meningitis and septicaemia worldwide. The switches in serogroup predominance contribute to the unpredictable nature of the disease with significant health impacts. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological profile of IMD in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, three states in the south of Brazil.

Physico-chemical and antimicrobial properties and the shelf life of experimental endodontic sealers containing metal methacrylates.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the physico-chemical and antimicrobial properties of a dual polymerization experimental endodontic sealer (E) and experimental sealers containing dibutyltin methacrylate (Sn) (ETs) or calcium methacrylate (Ca) (ECs). The pH and ion release levels of the sealers were measured. The dimensional stability was evaluated in accordance with ISO 6876.

DNA nanovaccines prepared using LemA antigen protect Golden Syrian hamsters against Leptospira lethal infection.

Background: Nanoparticles (NPs) are viable candidates as carriers of exogenous materials into cells via transfection and can be used in the DNA vaccination strategy against leptospirosis.

Objectives: We evaluated the efficiency of halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) and amine-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NH2-MWCNTs) in facilitating recombinant LemA antigen (rLemA) expression and protecting Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) against Leptospira interrogans lethal infection.

Methods: An indirect immunofluorescent technique was used to investigate the potency of HNTs and NH2-MWCNTs in enhancing the transfection and expression efficiency of the DNA vaccine in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

Tetra-cationic platinum(II) porphyrins like a candidate photosensitizers to bind, selective and drug delivery for metastatic melanoma.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an expanding treatment modality due to its minimally invasive localized activity and few adverse effects. This therapy requires photosensitive compounds, which have high sensitivity to light exposure. Thus, in this work, the in vitro antitumor activity of meso-tetra(3- and 4-pyridyl)porphyrins (3-TPyP and 4-TPyP) in metastatic melanoma cell (WM1366 line) and non-tumoral Ovarian lineage Chinese Hamister (CHO) was evaluated using photodynamic process.

7-Chloroquinoline-1,2,3-triazoyl carboxamides induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human bladder carcinoma cells.

In the present study, the antitumoral properties of a series of 7-chloroquinoline-1,2,3-triazoyl-carboxamides (QTCA) were investigated by analyzing their cytotoxic activities against human bladder cells (5637; grade II carcinoma). In addition, their effects on cell viability, cell cycle arrest mechanisms, apoptosis induction, in silico molecular docking, and detection of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins were evaluated. The cytotoxicity assay identified major dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic effects in 5637 cells after they were exposed to treatment with QTCA, only minimal effects were observed on normal cells.

A standardized BioBrick toolbox for the assembly of sequences in mycobacteria.

For more than 25 years, recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG has been genetically engineered for use as a vehicle for antigen expression and immunomodulation, typically through introducing or deleting a gene from BCG genome. However, BCG transformation efficacy is still unpredictable, and cloning and expression of sequences from mycobacteria is difficult to predict due to the lack of standardization. To overcome such limitations, we have employed the BioBrick format to construct a toolbox of several mycobacterial parts, including coding sequences, reporter genes, selective markers, promoters, and other regulatory sequences.

Mycobacterium bovis BCG in metastatic melanoma therapy.

Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, with a high mortality rate and with 96,480 new cases expected in 2019 in the USS. BRAF, the most common driver mutation, is found in around 50% of melanomas, contributing to tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastatic progression. Dacarbazine (DTIC), an alkylate agent, was the first chemotherapeutic agent approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used as a standard treatment.

The Melding of Drug Screening Platforms for Melanoma.

The global incidence of cancer is rising rapidly and continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the world. Melanoma deserves special attention since it represents one of the fastest growing types of cancer, with advanced metastatic forms presenting high mortality rates due to the development of drug resistance. The aim of this review is to evaluate how the screening of drugs and compounds for melanoma has been performed over the last seven decades.

The use of ErpY-like recombinant protein from Leptospira interrogans in the development of an immunodiagnostic test for swine leptospirosis.

Swine leptospirosis poses a major problem in the agricultural sector. The gold standard for serodiagnosis of leptospirosis is Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). However, the limitations of this technique make the search for alternative diagnostic methods inevitable.

Recombinant BCG strains expressing chimeric proteins derived from Leptospira protect hamsters against leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis that is responsible for one million human cases per year. Fusing multiple immunogenic antigens represents a promising approach to delivering an effective vaccine against leptospirosis. Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a potential vaccine vector due to its adjuvant properties and safety.

Revitalizing the AZT Through of the Selenium: An Approach in Human Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Line.

Triple-negative breast cancer represents about 15% of all cases of breast cancer, and still represents a therapeutic challenge. 3'-Azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor with antitumor activity. Chalcogenides compounds, such as selenium, are very important intermediates applied in organic synthesis.

LemA and Erp Y-like recombinant proteins from Leptospira interrogans protect hamsters from challenge using AddaVax™ as adjuvant.

Background: Recombinant subunit vaccines have been extensively evaluated as promising alternatives against leptospirosis. Here, we evaluated two proteins in formulations containing the adjuvant AddaVax™ as vaccine candidates for prevention and control of leptospirosis.

Methods: Recombinant proteins rErp Y-like and rLemA were characterized by ELISA to assess their ability to bind extracellular matrix (ECM) components and fibrinogen.

DNA vaccines against leptospirosis: A literature review.

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira species. The vaccines that are currently available for leptospirosis are composed of whole-cell preparations and suffer from limitations such as low efficacy, multiple side-effects, poor immunological memory and lack of cross-protection against different serovars of Leptospira spp. In light of the global prevalence of this disease, the development of a more effective vaccine against leptospirosis is of paramount importance.