INTRODUÇÃO: Indivíduos com SZ (esquizofrenia) fumam até três vezes mais que a taxa da população em geral. Constatou-se que fumantes com esquizofrenia fumam mais intensamente do que comparados com fumantes não esquizofrênicos. Adicionalmente, existem relatos não sistemáticos de que apesar de alta taxa de tabagismo, os esquizofrênicos apresentam proporcionalmente pouca lesão pulmonar comparado com tabagistas de igual consumo sem esquizofrenia. Esta diferença, se confirmada, poderia sugerir mecanismos diferentes de reação a agentes exógenos nos sistema respiratório, e entre estes mecanismos diferentes poderia estar o sistema de complemento, já evidenciado em estudos do grupo de pesquisa, porém sem controle para tabagismo. Este estudo investigou se a capacidade de difusão pulmonar em SZ é maior que em NSZ, e se o sistema complemento C3 e C4 é diferente entre SZ e NSZ e ao mesmo tempo está associado a difusão pulmonar de forma diferente em SZ e NSZ. OBJETIVOS: comparar a capacidade de difusão pulmonar e complemento C3 e C4 em pacientes fumantes com e sem esquizofrenia e analisar se existe evidência de mecanismos diferentes mediando prejuízo na capacidade de difusão em tabagistas com e sem SZ. MÉTODOS: esse é um estudo caso controle pareado, desenhado para ser multicêntrico, no momento descrevendo resultados de um centro. Recrutados 30 tabagistas sendo 15 SZ e 15 NSZ pareados por sexo, idade e tempo de tabagismo. Foram medidos complemento C3 e C4, espirometria e difusão pulmonar, dependência de nicotina pelo Teste de Fargerstrom e psicopatologia psiquiátrica nos portadores de esquizofrenia pelo Escala Breve de Avaliação Psiquiátrica (BPRS). Os pacientes foram oriundos do centro colaborador do estudo no HCPA. RESULTADOS: C3 foi significantemente maior em SZ quando comparado com controles (p=0,041), e C4 não mostrou diferença. Houve associação negativa entre o C4 e a capacidade de difusão somente no grupo controle (r=-0,692; p=0,009), sem diferença significativa no grupo de esquizofrênicos (r=0,451; p=0,141). Os grupos foram equivalentes em idade, grau de dependência de nicotina, porém foram diferentes em relação a ocupação (p=0,001). O grupo de esquizofrênicos apresenta maior proporção de desempregados e em benefício do que os controles. Desta forma, apesar de C3 mais aumentado em esquizofrênicos, este sistema aparentemente não media perda de difusão pulmonar, enquanto que aparentemente C4 mostra diferença quanto a prejuízo de difusão em esquizofrênicos tabagistas (maior C4 associado a menor capacidade de difusão somente nos tabagistas sem esquizofrenia). CONCLUSÃO: Quanto ao sistema complemento, houve maior ativação do C3 em tabagistas portadores de esquizofrenia comparados com tabagistas sem esquizofrenia, o que corrobora pesquisas anteriores que descrevem ativação do sistema complemento na SZ indicado pelo aumento dos níveis de C3. Curiosamente, somente nos controles tabagistas foi identificada associação entre aumento de C4 e redução da capacidade de difusão pulmonar. Nos pacientes com esquizofrenia não houve relação entre ativação de C4 e prejuÍzo de difusão pulmonar, o que sugere um padrão de ativação do sistema de complemento diferente dos sujeitos normais, preferencialmente pela via C3 e não pela via C4. Este fator não parece estar afetado pela diferença em escolaridade e trabalho, visto que era esperado que o aumento fosse maior nos esquizofrênicos devido a maior gravidade representada por menor índice de trabalho e menor escolaridade. Este estudo, se confirmado em amostras maiores envolvendo os outros centros colaboradores, pode confirmar existência de mecanismos diferentes de reação inflamatória em esquizofrenia. / Background: Subjects with SZ (schizophrenia) smoke up to three times the rate of the general population. It was found that smokers with schizophrenia smoke more intensely than smokers compared with non-psychiatric. Additionally, there are no systematic reports that despite high rates of smoking, people with schizophrenia have proportionately less lung injury compared with smokers without schizophrenia equal consumption. This difference, if confirmed, would suggest different mechanisms of response to exogenous agents in the respiratory system, and between these different mechanisms could be the complement system, as evidenced in studies of the research group, but not control for smoking. This study investigated whether the pulmonary diffusion capacity in SZ is higher than in non-SZ, and the complement C3 and C4 is different between SZ and NSZ and if at the same time is associated with pulmonary diffusion differently in SZ and NSZ. OBJECTIVES: To compare the pulmonary diffusion capacity and complement C3 and C4 in smokers with and without schizophrenia and examine whether there is evidence of different mechanisms mediating impaired diffusion capacity in smokers with and without SZ. METHODS: This is a matched case-control study, designed as a multicenter, when describing the results of a center. Recruited 30 smokers and 15 non-schizophrenics and 15 schizophrenics matched for sex, age and duration of smoking. We measured C3 and C4 complement, spirometry and DLCO, nicotine dependence and the test Fargerstrom psychiatric psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). The patients came from the study's collaborating center at HCPA. RESULTS: C3 was significantly higher in SZ compared to controls (p = 0.041), and C4 showed no difference. There was a negative association between C4 and the ability to broadcast only in the control group (r =- 0.692, p = 0.009), no significant difference in the schizophrenic group (r = 0.451, p = 0.141). The groups were equivalent in age, degree of nicotine dependence, but were different in relation to occupation (p = 0.001). The schizophrenic group has a higher proportion of unemployed and for the benefit of the controls. Thus, although most of C3 increased in schizophrenics, this system apparently did not measure loss of pulmonary diffusion, while C4 shows apparent difference in the loss of diffusion in schizophrenic smokers (greater C4 associated with a lower diffusion capacity in smokers without schizophrenia only) . CONCLUSION: As the complement system, activation of C3 was higher in smokers with schizophrenia compared with smokers without schizophrenia, which corroborates previous studies that describe activation of the complement system in SZ indicated by increased levels of C3. Interestingly, only smokers in controls been identified association between increased C4 and reduction of pulmonary diffusion capacity. In patients with schizophrenia there was no relationship between activation of C4 and prejuízo pulmonary diffusion, which suggests a pattern of activation of the complement system different from normal subjects, preferably through C3 and not via C4. This factor does not seem to be affected by the difference in schooling and work, as it was expected that the increase was greater in schizophrenics because of greater severity represented by lower rates of work and less schooling. This study, if confirmed in larger samples involving other collaborating centers, can confirm the existence of different mechanisms of inflammatory response in schizophrenia.

De façon physiologique, la voie alterne (VA) du complément est activée en permanence. Elle doit donc être finement régulée à tous les niveaux de la cascade afin de ne pas être délétère pour l'hôte. Chez l'homme, deux pathologies rénales sont associées à une activation non contrôlée de la VA du complément: le syndrome hémolytique et urémique atypique et la glomérulopathie à dépôts de C3 (GP-C3). Pathologie du sujet jeune essentiellement, la GP-C3 regroupe deux entités, la maladie des dépôts denses (GN-DD) et la glomérulonéphrite à dépôts de C3 (GN-C3), d'expressions clinique et histologique hétérogènes et toutes les deux de pronostic rénal réservé en l’absence de traitement efficace disponible (médiane de survie rénale de l’ordre de 8 à 10 ans). Les anomalies de la VA du complément mises en évidence dans la GP-C3 sont essentiellement acquises en rapport avec la présence d'auto anticorps (Ac) dirigés contre la C3 convertase alterne, le C3NeF, ou contre le FH, une protéine régulatrice essentielle de la VA. Dans 15 à 20% des cas seulement, les anomalies sont génétiques en rapport avec des mutations du FH, du FI. Les approches in silico de modélisation moléculaire des protéines mutées apportent des éléments de réponse quant à la responsabilité potentielle d'une mutation dans l’activation non contrôlée de la VA, néanmoins, l'étude des conséquences fonctionnelles est indispensable pour relier l'anomalie à la survenue de la pathologie rénale mais aussi pour comprendre les mécanismes précis impliqués dans le déterminisme des lésions rénales, de GN-DD ou de GN-C3. J'ai dans un premier temps étudié les conséquences fonctionnelles de la première mutation de C3 identifiée dans une forme familiale de GN-C3. In silico, cette mutation I734T est située au niveau d'un site impliqué dans la liaison de C3 avec deux protéines régulatrices, le FH et CR1 et à proximité du site d’interaction avec le FB. In vitro, j'ai pu confirmer que la mutation était responsable d'une activation de la VA au niveau tissulaire en rapport avec un défaut induit de régulation par le FH mais surtout CR1, une protéine régulatrice membranaire, identifié pour la première fois comme acteur dans la physiopathologie de la GP-C3. Par ailleurs, en raison de l'expression exclusivement podocytaire de CR1 au niveau glomérulaire, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les régulateurs pouvaient jouer un rôle déterminant dans la localisation préférentielle des dépôts de C3 au niveau glomérulaire dans cette pathologie. Dans une deuxième partie, à la fois clinique et expérimentale, j'ai travaillé sur les formes acquises de GP-C3 en étudiant un sous-groupe particulier de patients de la cohorte française de GP-C3, âgés de plus de 50 ans et présentant une gammapathie monoclonale. La partie clinique de ce travail a permis de démontrer que la fréquence des gammapathies monoclonales est très nettement augmentée dans la GP-C3 chez les patients âgés de plus de 50 ans comparée à la population générale, que le pronostic rénal est particulièrement sombre avec une médiane de survie rénale de l’ordre de 2 ans et demi mais que le traitement efficace du clone B sous-jacent permet d'améliorer significativement la survie rénale. Les données de l’étude clinique suggèrent indirectement qu’il existe un lien entre l'immunoglobuline (Ig) monoclonale et l'activation de la VA responsable de l'apparition des lésions rénales. Dans la partie expérimentale, j'ai étudié les mécanismes d'activation de la VA dans ce contexte de gammapathie afin de confronter les données de l’étude clinique. L'étude des biomarqueurs d'activation de la C3/C5 convertase et le démembrement des mécanismes d'activation ont permis de conclure que la GP-C3 associée aux gammapathies monoclonales est caractérisée par une activation tissulaire de la VA impliquant la C3 convertase mais aussi et surtout la C5 convertase. (...) / Complement alternative pathway is physiologically activated. It need to be tightly regulated to avaoid uncontrolled deleterious overactivation on host cell surface. In human, two renal diseaes are associated with uncontrolled AP activation, hemolytic uremic syndrom atypical (aHUS) and C3 glomerulopathy (C3G). C3G occures mainly in children and young adults and regoups two distinct histopathological entities, dense deposit disease (DDD) and C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN). Renal outcomes in C3G is poor since up to 50% of patients reach end stage renal disease 8 to 10 years after diagnosis. Complement abnormalities in C3G are mainly acquired induced by the presence of C3 Nephritic Factor (C3NeF): an autoantibdy targeting the AP C3 convertase. Less frequently C3G patients have anti-FH autoantibodies (Ref) or genetic abnormalities (variants in the FH, FI or CFHR5 genes. In silico analysis of mutated proteins give information about the role of mutation on AP overactivation. However, characterization of functional consequences of these mutations is required to proved the direct link between the abnormality and the occurrence of C3G. I first studied the functional consequences of the first C3 mutation, C3I734T, identified in a familial C3GN. In silico analysis revealed that the mutated residue, T734, is located on the C3 and C3b protein surface and that the substitution I734T may not be associated with major structural changes. The mutated amino acid is located on interaction site between C3b and complement regulatory proteins, FH and CR1. In vitro, the major defect of C3I734T was a decrease in binding to CR1, resulting in lower CR1 dependent cleavage of C3b by FI. These results provide evidence for a CR1 functional deficiency being responsible for deficient complement regulation. Binding of C3I734T to Factor H (FH) was normal, but C3I734T was less efficiently cleaved by Factor I, leading to enhanced C3 fragments binding on glomerular cells. In the second part of my work, I studied acquired C3G in patients with concomitant monoclonal gammopathy. In the clinical part of this study, we demonstrated The high prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy in C3G patients aged over 50, reaching 65% in the French C3G national cohort, strongly suggests a pathogenic link between the two conditions. Next, we demonstrated that renal outcomes is significantly worser in patients with monoclonal gammopathy compared to patients without monoclonal gammopathy but that efficient chemotherapy resulted in higher renal response rate and longer renal survival than conservative or immunosuppressive therapy. Results of the clinical part of the study strongly suggest a link betwwen the monoclonal gammopathy and the occurrence of C3G. In the experimental part of this work, I studied the mechanisms of complement AP activation in these population. Biomarkers of C3 and C5 convertase activation were present 40% and 81% of patients respectively. Anti-complement protein antibodies were found in 23/41 (56%) patients, including in most of patients, anti-FH and anti-CR1 antibodies. I found new antigenic target, C5 and properdin in few cases. The anti-FH and anti-CR1 antibodies were associated with clear functional consequences. Nevertheless, the anti-complement proteins reactivity was not carried out by the MIg in 75% of the cases. I discovered that the MIg induced a direct AP C3 convertase overactivation in 23/34 (67%) patients responsaible for a C5 convertase overactivation in presence of patients’ Ig, in a properdin dependant manner. Our results suggest that MIg and polyclonal autoantibodies could act in synergy: AP overactivation induced by the MIg could be amplified by the inefficient complement regulation, caused by the polyclonal anti-complement autoantibodies. All my results allow to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in C3G and open up reflection on therapeutic approaches for C3G associated with monoclonal gammopathy.

Lokale Pyramidenzellen sind die Hauptneurone des Hippocampus und können durch ihre Position und die Morphologie ihrer Dendriten als CA1 und CA3 Pyramidenzellen identifiziert werden. Die Dendriten der exzitatorischen Pyramidenzellen sind mit postsynaptischen Vorwölbungen, den so genannten Spines, bedeckt, welche in einem spezifischen Verteilungsmuster angeordnet sind. Neurotoxine wie das C3 Toxin von Clostridium botulinum sind funktionelle Substanzen, die die neuronale Morphologie verändern und die neuronale Funktion beeinflussen können. In dieser Studie wurden die morphologischen Veränderungen von intrazellulär mit Biocytin gefüllten CA1 Pyramidenzellen qualitativ und quantitativ analysiert. Die hippocampalen Schnittkulturen, in denen sich bekanntermaßen Pyramidenzellen ähnlich entwickeln wie in vivo, wurden dazu herangezogen, die Effekte der C3bot Toxin-Applikation auf die Verzweigung der Dendriten sowie Anzahl und Dichte der dendritischen Spines zu untersuchen. Drei Gruppen von Zellen wurden verglichen: Erstens Neurone, die in serumhaltigem Medium inkubiert worden waren, zweitens Nervenzellen, die in einem Medium ohne Serum inkubiert worden waren und drittens Zellen, die unter Serumentzug dem C3bot Toxin ausgesetzt worden waren. Die Inkubation dauerte 14 Tage, während die Dauer der Toxinexposition zwischen vier und sechs Stunden betrug. Mit Hilfe eines Computers wurden zweidimensionale Nachbildungen der biocytin-markierten CA1 Pyramidenzellen erstellt, und die Gesamtlänge der Dendriten, die Anzahl der dendritischen Verzweigungspunkte und die Gesamtzahl und Dichte der dendritischen Spines gemessen und statistisch ausgewertet. Signifikante Unterschiede wurden zwischen der mit C3 Toxin behandelten Gruppe und der serumhaltig inkubierten Kontrollgruppe beobachtet. Diese signifikanten morphologischen Veränderungen traten selektiv an den Apikaldendriten der toxinbehandelten CA1 Pyramidenzellen auf. Aus der Behandlung resultierte eine Reduktion der Anzahl apikaler Verzweigungspunkte, der Anzahl der apikalen Spines, der Gesamtzahl (basal und apikal addiert) der Spines sowie der Gesamtspinedichte. Im Gegensatz dazu ergaben sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen der toxinbehandelten Gruppe und der ohne Serum inkubierten Kontrollgruppe, obwohl der Serumentzug im Vergleich zur serumhaltig inkubierten Kontrollgruppe die Entwicklung der Zellen beeinflusste. Auf Grundlage der beobachteten Veränderungen können wir schließen, dass die Behandlung mit C3 bot einen starken Einfluss selektiv auf die Morphologie der Apikaldendriten ausübt. Der Mechanismus, der dieser selektiven Empfindlichkeit der Apikaldendriten gegenüber dem C3 bot Toxin zugrunde liegt, wird Gegenstand weiterer Untersuchungen sein.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:56:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao.pdf: 397972 bytes, checksum: 421297a6aa9990008619c690588f8576 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-28 / The environmental in which plants are subjected, and the resources necessary for its survival offers a series of restrictions on development imposed by variations in biotic and abiotic factors, mainly temperature. However, responses to environmental changes in agricultural production are variable between different crop species, especially with regard to differences between plants of C3 and C4 metabolism. The aim of this study was to compare the physiological responses of two tropical crop species with C3 and C4 photosynthetic metabolism grown in different temperature regimes, and verify their capacity for acclimatization. The species studied were: Glycine max (L.)Merr, cv. Codetec 202 (Fabaceae) of the cycle C3 and Brachiaria brizantha, cv. Marandú (Poaceae) of the C4 cycle. The plants were treated in a chamber type phytotron (Eletrolab, model EL 011) at temperature (day/night) of 20/15, 30/20 and 40/20°C. Measurements of the photosynthetic variables were extracted from curves A/Ci, curves A/PPFD, chlorophyll fluorescence, and growth variables. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA, p<0.05) and means compared by Tukey test (p<0.05) and calculating the index of phenotypic plasticity (IPP). The results showed that under low temperature biomass losses were higher than under high temperature in both species, the same occurred in relation to membrane damage. On the other hand, the photosynthectic capacity of C3 species was more stable at different temperatures, whereas C4 species showed a significant increase at 40°C and a significant reduction at 20°C. In conclusion, the set of results indicated that low temperature caused greater damage to both species, particularly in the C4 species. Moreover, both species showed a greater capacity for acclimation to high temperature. In general, the C4 species showed a phenotypic plasticity comparable to the C3 species. / O ambiente em que as plantas estão imersas, além dos recursos necessários para sua sobrevivência, oferece uma série de restrições ao seu desenvolvimento imposta por variações de fatores bióticos e abióticos, principalmente a temperatura. Todavia, as respostas às alterações do ambiente de produção agrícola são variáveis entre as diferentes espécies cultivadas, especialmente no que se refere às diferenças entre plantas de metabolismo C3 e C4. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar as respostas fisiológicas de duas espécies cultivadas tropicais de metabolismo fotossintético C3 e C4 crescidas em diferentes regimes de temperatura e, verificar suas respectivas capacidades de aclimatação. As espécies avaliadas foram: Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Codetec 202 (Fabaceae) do ciclo C3 e Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandú (Poaceae) do ciclo C4. As plantas foram submetidas em câmara climatizada tipo Fitotron (Eletrolab, modelo EL 011) sob temperatura (diurna/noturna) de 20/15, 30/20 e 40/20ºC. As medidas das variáveis da rede fotossintética foram extraídas de Curvas A/Ci, Curvas A/DFFF, Fluorescência da clorofila a, além de variáveis de crescimento. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância (ANOVA, p < 0,05) e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey (p < 0,05), além dos cálculos de índice de plasticidade fenotípica (IPF). Os resultados mostraram que sob temperatura baixa as perdas de biomassa foram maiores que sob temperatura alta em ambas as espécies, o mesmo ocorreu em relação aos danos nas membranas. Por outro lado, a capacidade fotossintética da espécie C3 foi mais estável nas diferentes temperaturas testadas, enquanto que a espécie C4 apresentou um aumento significativo a 40ºC e uma redução significativa a 20ºC. Concluindo, o conjunto de resultados indicou que a temperatura baixa causou maiores danos a ambas as espécies, particularmente na espécie C4. Por outro lado, ambas as espécies mostraram maior capacidade de aclimatação a temperatura elevada. De forma geral, a espécie C4 apresentou uma plasticidade fenotípica comparável a espécie C3.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T17:51:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao.pdf: 397972 bytes, checksum: 421297a6aa9990008619c690588f8576 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-28 / The environmental in which plants are subjected, and the resources necessary for its survival offers a series of restrictions on development imposed by variations in biotic and abiotic factors, mainly temperature. However, responses to environmental changes in agricultural production are variable between different crop species, especially with regard to differences between plants of C3 and C4 metabolism. The aim of this study was to compare the physiological responses of two tropical crop species with C3 and C4 photosynthetic metabolism grown in different temperature regimes, and verify their capacity for acclimatization. The species studied were: Glycine max (L.)Merr, cv. Codetec 202 (Fabaceae) of the cycle C3 and Brachiaria brizantha, cv. Marandú (Poaceae) of the C4 cycle. The plants were treated in a chamber type phytotron (Eletrolab, model EL 011) at temperature (day/night) of 20/15, 30/20 and 40/20°C. Measurements of the photosynthetic variables were extracted from curves A/Ci, curves A/PPFD, chlorophyll fluorescence, and growth variables. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA, p<0.05) and means compared by Tukey test (p<0.05) and calculating the index of phenotypic plasticity (IPP). The results showed that under low temperature biomass losses were higher than under high temperature in both species, the same occurred in relation to membrane damage. On the other hand, the photosynthectic capacity of C3 species was more stable at different temperatures, whereas C4 species showed a significant increase at 40°C and a significant reduction at 20°C. In conclusion, the set of results indicated that low temperature caused greater damage to both species, particularly in the C4 species. Moreover, both species showed a greater capacity for acclimation to high temperature. In general, the C4 species showed a phenotypic plasticity comparable to the C3 species. / O ambiente em que as plantas estão imersas, além dos recursos necessários para sua sobrevivência, oferece uma série de restrições ao seu desenvolvimento imposta por variações de fatores bióticos e abióticos, principalmente a temperatura. Todavia, as respostas às alterações do ambiente de produção agrícola são variáveis entre as diferentes espécies cultivadas, especialmente no que se refere às diferenças entre plantas de metabolismo C3 e C4. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar as respostas fisiológicas de duas espécies cultivadas tropicais de metabolismo fotossintético C3 e C4 crescidas em diferentes regimes de temperatura e, verificar suas respectivas capacidades de aclimatação. As espécies avaliadas foram: Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Codetec 202 (Fabaceae) do ciclo C3 e Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandú (Poaceae) do ciclo C4. As plantas foram submetidas em câmara climatizada tipo Fitotron (Eletrolab, modelo EL 011) sob temperatura (diurna/noturna) de 20/15, 30/20 e 40/20ºC. As medidas das variáveis da rede fotossintética foram extraídas de Curvas A/Ci, Curvas A/DFFF, Fluorescência da clorofila a, além de variáveis de crescimento. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância (ANOVA, p < 0,05) e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey (p < 0,05), além dos cálculos de índice de plasticidade fenotípica (IPF). Os resultados mostraram que sob temperatura baixa as perdas de biomassa foram maiores que sob temperatura alta em ambas as espécies, o mesmo ocorreu em relação aos danos nas membranas. Por outro lado, a capacidade fotossintética da espécie C3 foi mais estável nas diferentes temperaturas testadas, enquanto que a espécie C4 apresentou um aumento significativo a 40ºC e uma redução significativa a 20ºC. Concluindo, o conjunto de resultados indicou que a temperatura baixa causou maiores danos a ambas as espécies, particularmente na espécie C4. Por outro lado, ambas as espécies mostraram maior capacidade de aclimatação a temperatura elevada. De forma geral, a espécie C4 apresentou uma plasticidade fenotípica comparável a espécie C3.

This work deals with design and construction of a robotics checkers player based on computer vision, a move solving algorithm Minimax and a industrial manipulator EPSON C3. Work also deals with design of robot communication protocol and C# communication library execution.

Yeast plasma membrane transporters play crucial roles in many cellular processes, including detoxification and build-up and maintenance of the plasma membrane potential (ΔΨ). The former development of the diS-C3(3) fluorescence assay by the Biophysics Group of the Institute of Physics, Charles University, enabled us to conveniently study both, including their changes, using a simple fluorescent probe diS-C3(3). Many studies carried out on both animal and yeast cells have revealed that ethanol and other alcohols inhibit the functions of various membrane channels, receptors and solute transport proteins, and a direct interaction of alcohols with these membrane proteins has been proposed. Using the diS- C3(3) assay for multidrug-resistance pump inhibitors in a set of isogenic yeast pdr5 and snq2 deletion mutants we found that n-alcohols (from ethanol to hexanol) exhibit an inhibitory effect on both pumps, increasing with the length of the alcohol carbon chain. The inhibition is not connected with loss of plasma membrane structural or functional integrity and is fully reversible. This supports a notion that the inhibitory action does not necessarily involve only changes in the lipid matrix of the membrane but may entail a direct interaction of the alcohols with the pump proteins. Tok1p is a highly specific...

One of the main reasons for the treatment failure of infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms is the overexpressing of efflux membrane proteins, which actively remove drugs from cells, leading to a phenomenon called multidrug resistance MDR. In this work, we focused on the functional characterization of the MDR pump Pdr5p in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have verified that diS-C3(3) fluorescence method can be used to determine the binding sites where the substrates bind in the binding pocket of the pump ScPdr5p. We focused on the study of the ScPdr5p binding pocket using triazole derivatives: ravuconazole, voriconazole and fluconazole. Using disc diffusion assay, we showed that all three studied triazoles are substrates of the pump ScPdr5p. We have found that these structural analogs have a significantly different effect on the inhibition of the potentiometric fluorescent probe diS-C3(3) transport by the pump ScPdr5p, and also that ravuconazole and voriconazole compete with each other for transport by the pump ScPdr5p. We have used a fluorescent approach to study the binding of azoles to the binding pocket of pump ScPdr5p using benchmark substrates, that bind selectively to only one binding site in the binding pocket of the pump ScPdr5p, and we have supported the hypothesis that ravuconazole...

Lokale Pyramidenzellen sind die Hauptneurone des Hippocampus und können durch ihre Position und die Morphologie ihrer Dendriten als CA1 und CA3 Pyramidenzellen identifiziert werden. Die Dendriten der exzitatorischen Pyramidenzellen sind mit postsynaptischen Vorwölbungen, den so genannten Spines, bedeckt, welche in einem spezifischen Verteilungsmuster angeordnet sind. Neurotoxine wie das C3 Toxin von Clostridium botulinum sind funktionelle Substanzen, die die neuronale Morphologie verändern und die neuronale Funktion beeinflussen können. In dieser Studie wurden die morphologischen Veränderungen von intrazellulär mit Biocytin gefüllten CA1 Pyramidenzellen qualitativ und quantitativ analysiert. Die hippocampalen Schnittkulturen, in denen sich bekanntermaßen Pyramidenzellen ähnlich entwickeln wie in vivo, wurden dazu herangezogen, die Effekte der C3bot Toxin-Applikation auf die Verzweigung der Dendriten sowie Anzahl und Dichte der dendritischen Spines zu untersuchen. Drei Gruppen von Zellen wurden verglichen: Erstens Neurone, die in serumhaltigem Medium inkubiert worden waren, zweitens Nervenzellen, die in einem Medium ohne Serum inkubiert worden waren und drittens Zellen, die unter Serumentzug dem C3bot Toxin ausgesetzt worden waren. Die Inkubation dauerte 14 Tage, während die Dauer der Toxinexposition zwischen vier und sechs Stunden betrug. Mit Hilfe eines Computers wurden zweidimensionale Nachbildungen der biocytin-markierten CA1 Pyramidenzellen erstellt, und die Gesamtlänge der Dendriten, die Anzahl der dendritischen Verzweigungspunkte und die Gesamtzahl und Dichte der dendritischen Spines gemessen und statistisch ausgewertet. Signifikante Unterschiede wurden zwischen der mit C3 Toxin behandelten Gruppe und der serumhaltig inkubierten Kontrollgruppe beobachtet. Diese signifikanten morphologischen Veränderungen traten selektiv an den Apikaldendriten der toxinbehandelten CA1 Pyramidenzellen auf. Aus der Behandlung resultierte eine Reduktion der Anzahl apikaler Verzweigungspunkte, der Anzahl der apikalen Spines, der Gesamtzahl (basal und apikal addiert) der Spines sowie der Gesamtspinedichte. Im Gegensatz dazu ergaben sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen der toxinbehandelten Gruppe und der ohne Serum inkubierten Kontrollgruppe, obwohl der Serumentzug im Vergleich zur serumhaltig inkubierten Kontrollgruppe die Entwicklung der Zellen beeinflusste. Auf Grundlage der beobachteten Veränderungen können wir schließen, dass die Behandlung mit C3 bot einen starken Einfluss selektiv auf die Morphologie der Apikaldendriten ausübt. Der Mechanismus, der dieser selektiven Empfindlichkeit der Apikaldendriten gegenüber dem C3 bot Toxin zugrunde liegt, wird Gegenstand weiterer Untersuchungen sein.

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