In experimental membranous nephropathy, complement C5b-9-induced glomerular epithelial cell (GEC) injury leads to breakdown of glomerular peimselectivity and proteinuria. This study addresses mechanisms that limit complement-mediated injury, focusing on Ras. Complement-mediated injury was attenuated in cultured GEC expressing a constitutively active form of Ras (V12Ras), compared with Neo (control) GEC. V12Ras GEC showed constitutive activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathways, but inhibition of these pathways did not reverse the protective effect of Ras. V12Ras GEC showed smaller and rounder morphology, decreased F- to G-actin ratio, decreased activity of the Rho GTPase, Rac, and decreased Src activity. In V12Ras GEC, disruption or stabilization of the F-actin cytoskeleton reversed the protective effect of V12Ras on complement-mediated injury. Thus, the protective effect of V12Ras may be dependent on remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. Furthermore, the reduction of Src activity due to Ras activation may alter the equilibrium in activities of Rho GTPases, a family of proteins known regulate the actin cytoskeleton. Activation of Ras signaling is a novel pathway to consider in developing strategies for cytoprotection in complement-mediated injury.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Carlos Alberto Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnociência, 2014. / Os peptideos potenciadores de bradicinina (BPPs) presentes na fracao de baixo peso molecular (FBP) do veneno da serpente Bothropoides jararaca (Bj) foram os primeiros inibidores da enzima conversora de angiotensina descritos. Recentes estudos demonstram que estes peptideos promovem a ativacao da enzima argininosuccinato sintetase, aumentando a disponibilidade de L-arginina e consequentemente a sintese de oxido nitrico, poliaminas e agmatina, essenciais para o crescimento, diferenciacao celular e neuroprotecao. Considerando os possiveis efeitos farmacologicos da FBP, o presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a atividade citoprotetora da FBP do veneno da serpente Bj em cultura primaria de celulas do hipocampo. Os resultados sugerem que a FBP nao e citotoxica nas condicoes experimentais avaliadas. Evidencias demonstram que as celulas tratadas com FBP 0,1 ¿Êg/mL e posteriormente com peroxido de hidrogenio H2O2 50¿ÊM apresentam maior viabilidade e menor expressao de caspase 3 clivada que as celulas tratadas apenas com H2O2 50¿ÊM, tambem e possivel observar que as celulas previamente tratadas com FBP apresentam morfologia normal, caracterizada pela presenca de neuritos, ja as celulas tratadas apenas com H2O2 50¿ÊM apresentam morfologia compativel com processos de morte celular. Em sintese os resultados sugerem que a FBP apresenta atividade citoprotetora contra o estresse oxidativo promovido por H2O2 50¿ÊM. O presente estudo abre novas perspectivas da aplicacao dos BPPs presentes na FBP da Bj para o desenvolvimento de novas pesquisas na area de neurociencia, com foco no desenvolvimento de farmacos aplicados ao tratamento de doencas neurodegenerativas. / The bradykinin potentiating peptides (BPPs) in the low molecular weight fraction (LMWF) from the venom of the Bothropoides jararaca (Bj) were the first angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors described. Recent studies have demonstrated that these peptides promote the activation of the enzyme argininosuccinate synthetase, increasing the availability of L-arginine and therefore the synthesis of agmatine, nitric oxide, polyamines essential for the growth, cell differentiation and neuroprotection. Considering the possible pharmacological effects of the LMWF, the present study aims to evaluate the cytoprotective activity of LMWF from Bj in primary cultured hippocampal cells. The results suggest that the LMWF is not cytotoxic in all experimental conditions. Evidence has shown that cells treated with LMWF 0.1 ìg/mL and then with hydrogen peroxide H2O2 (50ìM) show higher viability and lower expression of cleaved caspase 3 cells than the treated just with H2O2 (50ìM). Is also observed that cells pretreated with LMWF have normal morphology characterized by the presence of neurites, cells treated with H2O2 (50ìM) showed morphology compatible with cell death processes. In summary the results suggest that LMWF has cytoprotective activity against oxidative stress caused by H2O2 (50ìM). This study opens new perspectives of application of BPPs present in the LMWF from Bj for the development of new research in neuroscience, focusing on the development of drugs applied to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

INTRODUÇÃO E HIPÓTESE: A epinefrina é um potente vasoconstritor com efeitos inotrópico e arritmogênico, é utilizada em protocolos de reanimação cardiopulmonar e como fármaco de primeira escolha em alguns casos de choque. Contudo, o seu uso pode ser seguido por lesões do miocárdio e disfunção cardíaca. Modelos experimentais têm mostrado efeitos cardioprotetores do fentanil por meio de mecanismos antiarrítmicos e anti-isquêmicos. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito cardioprotetor do fentanil em suínos expostos a altas doses de epinefrina. MÉTODOS: Após aprovação do comitê de ética institucional, 26 porcos Large White e Landrace foram alocados aleatoriamente em três grupos: grupo fentanil (n = 10), no qual os porcos receberam 20 ug/kg de fentanil 5 minutos antes de 5 doses de 20 ug/kg de epinefrina, as quais foram intercaladas por intervalos de 5 minutos entre cada dose; grupo salina (n = 10), no qual os porcos receberam solução salina volume-equivalente ao fentanil 5 minutos antes das 5 doses de epinefrina e grupo Sham (n = 6), que não recebeu fentanil ou epinefrina. Foram coletadas variáveis hemodinâmicas, ecocardiográficas, gasométricas e marcadores cardíacos durante as 6 horas de experimento. Ao final do estudo, o coração e os pulmões dos porcos foram removidos para análise por microscopia óptica, microscopia eletrônica e imuno-histoquímica (caspase-3). Os dados foram analisados usando equações de estimação generalizadas (GEE) e a significância estatística foi estabelecida em p < 0,05. RESULTADOS: Os níveis de troponina-I entre os grupos foram inicialmente equivalentes. Ao final do experimento, foi observado menor nível de troponina-I no grupo fentanil, em comparação com o grupo salina (1,91 ± 1,47 versus 5,44 ± 5,35 ng.ml-1, p = 0,019). Adicionalmente, a microscopia eletrônica e a imunohistoquímica demonstraram menor lesão miocárdica no grupo fentanil. Não houve diferença significativa entre o grupo fentanil e o salina para as variáveis hemodinâmicas, ecocardiográficas e gasométricas. CONCLUSÃO: O fentanil promove cardioproteção aos efeitos de altas doses de epinefrina sem prejudicar o efeito hemodinâmico da mesma / INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Epinephrine is a powerful vasopressor with inotropic and arrhythmogenic effects that is used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation protocols and as first choice drug in some cases of shock. However, its use could be followed by myocardial injury and dysfunction. Experimental models have shown cardioprotective effects of fentanyl through antiarrhythmic and anti-ischaemic mechanisms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cardioprotective effect of fentanyl on myocardial function in swine exposed to high doses of epinephrine. METHODS: After institutional ethics committee approval, twenty-six Large White and Landrace pigs were allocated randomly into three groups: Fentanyl group (n=10), which received 20ug/kg of fentanyl five minutes before five doses of 20ug/kg of epinephrine interspersed with 5 minute intervals between each dose; Saline group (n=10), which received saline in a volume-equivalent manner of fentanyl five minutes before 20ug/kg of epinephrine doses; and Sham group (n=6), which did not receive fentanyl nor epinephrine. We assessed hemodynamics, transesophageal echocardiography, cardiac markers, and gasometry for 6 h. At the end of the experiment, the heart and lungs were removed for analysis by optical and electron microscopy and immunohistochemical (Caspase-3) assay. Data was analyzed using generalized estimating equations (GEE) and statistical significance was assumed at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Troponin levels among the groups were initially equivalent. Fentanyl group showed lower levels of troponin at the end of the sixth hour compared to the saline group (1.91 ± 1.47 vs. 5.44 ± 5.35 ng.mL-1, p=0.019). There were no significantly difference between fentanyl and saline group for hemodynamic, echocardiographic and gasometrical data. Transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry also showed less myocardial injury in the fentanyl group. CONCLUSION: We concluded that fentanyl promotes effective cardioprotection to high-dose epinephrine without blunting the hemodynamic effect of epinephrine

A cisplatina (cis-diaminodicloroplatina II) é um efetivo agente anticâncer, porém seu uso clínico é altamente limitado, predominantemente devido à sua nefrotoxicidade. Muitos estudos têm demonstrado que a cisplatina causa disfunção mitocondrial em células epiteliais renais devido à ação de espécies reativas de oxigênio tais como ânions superóxido e radicais hidroxila. A proteção seletiva das mitocôndrias renais contra espécies reativas de oxigênio geradas pela cisplatina é fundamental na quimioterapia de pacientes com câncer. Vários estudos têm sugerido que o carvedilol é capaz de proteger contra a toxicidade mitocondrial cardíaca induzida pelo quimioterápico doxorubicina. Assim, no presente estudo investigou-se o potencial protetor deste fármaco contra a toxicidade mitocondrial renal induzida pela cisplatina, bem como os mecanismos moleculares envolvidos nesta proteção. Foram estudados 4 grupos (n=6, cada) de ratos Wistar machos tratados da seguinte forma: (i) Grupo controle: uma injeção intraperitoneal (i.p.) de DMSO (0,2mL/200g, i.p.) imediatamente antes da injeção de solução salina isotônica (2 ml/200g, i.p.) e posteriormente uma injeção diária de DMSO (0,2mL/200g, i.p.) em dois dias consecutivos; (ii) Grupo cisplatina (CISP): uma injeção de cisplatina (10 mg/kg, i.p.); (iii) Grupo carvedilol (CV): uma injeção de carvedilol (1 mg/kg, i.p.), seguida de uma injeção diária de carvedilol em dois dias consecutivos (1 mg/Kg, i.p) e (iv) Grupo carvedilol + cisplatina (CV+CISP): uma injeção de carvedilol (1mg/kg, i.p.), imediatamente antes da injeção de cisplatina (10 mg/Kg, i.p.) seguida de uma injeção diária de carvedilol nos dois dias seguintes (1 mg/Kg, i.p.). Os animais foram sacrificados 72 horas após o início do tratamento. O grupo CV+CISP apresentou uma significativa redução na lesão renal, marcada pela diminuição da concentração de uréia e creatinina plasmáticas, quando comparado ao grupo CISP. A avaliação da função mitocondrial comprovou o efeito protetor do carvedilol contra a toxicidade mitocondrial renal da cisplatina através da significativa melhora nos valores da (i) RCR, (ii) do consumo de oxigênio no estado 3 e (iii) da razão ADP/O. Além disso, no grupo CV+CISP o potencial de membrana mitocondrial e a captação de cálcio mitocondrial foram preservados. Adicionalmente, a redução da oxidação do NADPH, da cardiolipina, da glutationa e das proteínas sulfidrilas, bem como a redução na formação de MDA no grupo CV+CISP sugerem efeito protetor do carvedilol contra o estresse oxidativo mitocondrial. O grupo CV+CISP também apresentou menor ativação da caspase-3, o que sugere menor indução de apoptose. Os grupos CISP e CV+CISP apresentaram concentrações semelhantes de platina na suspensão mitocondrial renal, indicando que o mecanismo de proteção do carvedilol provavelmente não envolve a formação de complexos e a subseqüente inativação da cisplatina. Os resultados do presente estudo são promissores, pois o carvedilol é um fármaco de uso seguro e já estabelecido na clínica e a comprovação do seu efeito protetor contribuirá para o desenvolvimento de novas estratégias de prevenção dos danos nefrotóxicos da cisplatina. / Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloridoplatinum II) is an affective anticancer agent; however its clinical use is highly limited, predominantly due to its nephrotoxicity. Many studies have shown that cisplatin cause mitochondrial dysfunction in renal epithelial cells due to the generation of reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide anions and hydroxyl radicals. The selective protection of the renal mitochondria against the reactive oxygen species generated by cisplatin is of critical importance in the chemotherapy of cancer patients. Some studies have suggested that carvedilol can protect against the cardiac mitochondrial toxicity induced by the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. Therefore, in the present study we investigated the protective effect of carvedilol against renal mitochondrial toxicity, as well as the molecular mechanisms involved in this protection. We studied 4 groups (n=6, each) of male Wistar rats treated as follows: (i) Control group: one injection of DMSO (0,2 mL/200g body weight, i.p.), intraperitoneal injection (i.p.), immediately before the injection of isotonic saline solution (2mL/200g body weight) followed by one injection of DMSO (0,2 mL/200g body weight, i.p.) in the two following days; (ii) Cisplatin group (CISP): one injection of cisplatin (10 mg/kg body weight, i.p.); (iii) Carvedilol group (CV): one injection of carvedilol (CV) (1mg/kg body weight, i.p.) in three consecutive days and (iv) Carvedilol + Cisplatin group (CV+CISP): one injection of carvedilol (1mg/kg, body weight, i.p.) immediately before the injection of cisplatin (10mg/kg, body weight, i.p.), followed by one injection of carvedilol (1mg/kg, body weight, i.p.) in the two following days. Animals were killed 72h after the beginning of the treatment. CV+CISP group presented a significantly reduced renal injury, marked by the decrease of urea and creatinine plasmatic levels, as compared to the CISP group. The evaluation of the mitochondrial function showed the protective effect of carvedilol against the renal mitochondria toxicity induced by cisplatin, as demonstrated by the improvement in the values of (i) RCR; (ii) the oxygen consumption on state 3 respiration and ADP/O ratio. Besides that, in the CV+CISP group the mitochondrial membrane potential and the mitochondrial calcium uptake were preserved. Additionally, the lower oxidation of NADPH, cardiolipin, glutathione and sulfhydryl proteins, as well as the lower values of MDA in the CV+CISP group, suggests a protective effect of carvedilol against the mitochondrial oxidative stress. CV+CISP group also presented lower values of caspase 3, which suggests lower induction of apoptosis. The groups CISP and CV+CISP presented a similar platinum concentration in the mitochondrial suspension, which indicates that the protective mechanism of carvedilol probably does not involve complex formation with cisplatin and its ensuing inactivation. The present results are promising, since carvedilol is a safe drug, which is currently used in the clinical practice and the evidence of its protective effect will contribute to the development of new strategies to prevent the nephrotoxic damage of cisplatin.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the WHO, cancer accounted for 7.4 million deaths world wide in 2004. The metallo-compound cisplatin has been used for years as an effective antitumor agent for treating solid tumours such as breast, bladder, lung, oesophageal, and head and neck carcinomas. However, the use of cisplatin as an antitumor agent has been limited because of its association with problems such as lack of selectivity for cancer cells over normal cells, development of resistance to cisplatin treatment, and side effects such as nephrotoxicity. Recent studies on anticancer drugs have focussed on alternative anticancer agents such as gold compounds in both Au(I) and (III) oxidation states, which have shown to be potential anticancer drug agents because of their ability to induce apoptosis in several human cancer cells. Some gold complexes have shown to be able to selectively kill cancer cells over normal cells.

No description available.

The aim of this thesis was to study the changes that occur in cell line H9c2 after exposure to an oxygen level reduced to 2 % for 24 hours. We monitored changes in compartmentation of chosen members of β-adrenergic signaling system. We found an increase in expression of β1AR and β2AR. Only β2AR showed change in compartmentation after hypoxia, as they relocate from membrane rafts to non-rafts fractions of membrane. AC also showed an increase of expression and was located in membrane rafts. The next aim of this work was to monitore apoptotic markers to determine whether there are activated pro-apoptotic or anti-apoptotic signals under chosen conditions of hypoxia. There was an increase in expression of both pro-apoptotic protein Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. We compare ratios of Bcl-2 to Bax and we found that there is a bigger increase in protein Bax expression. Another apoptotic marker, caspase 3, was tested and we also found that there was an increase in expression of caspase 3 in cells after hypoxia. Furthermore, we studied possible activation of kinase signaling pathways that may contribute to protective effects of hypoxia. Expression of Akt and ERK kinases was increased after hypoxia, but we did not confirm activation by phosphorylation of these kinases. Levels of phosphorylated Akt...

Diversos neurônios apresentam uma atividade constitutiva de NF-?B, o qual desempenha múltiplas funções fisiológicas, além da modulação de respostas patológicas. A melatonina, hormônio produzido ritmicamente pela glândula pineal na fase de escuro, é também um fator autócrino e parácrino envolvido em múltiplos processos biológicos, sendo que a citoproteção é uma ação de destaque dessa molécula. A melatonina inibe a translocação nuclear do NF-?B e a expressão do seu produto iNOS em modelos de danos celular. No presente trabalho avaliamos se o efeito citoprotetor da melatonina depende do estado de ativação do NF-?B em cultura de células granulares de cerebelo, tendo em vista que essas células apresentam uma atividade basal deste fator de transcrição fundamental para a sobrevivência das células. Além disso, questionamos se essas células em cultura produziriam melatonina e se esta teria algum papel citoprotetor. Testamos a viabilidade da cultura de células granulares de cerebelo de rato (Wistar 7-8 dias de idade) após 24 horas de incubação com melatonina na presença ou ausência de LPS. Em condição basal a melatonina diminuiu a sobrevivência das células e inibiu a morte celular induzida pelo LPS. Este efeito foi compatível com os resultados da ativação do NF-?B e da expressão da iNOS. Na presença do LPS a melatonina bloqueia a indução da translocação nuclear do NF-?B, a expressão da iNOS e a produção de NO. Quando apenas a melatonina foi incubada, observamos uma inibição transiente (15 min.) do NF-?B, seguida por um aumento do conteúdo nuclear do fator de transcrição (60 min.). A expressão da iNOS seguiu o mesmo perfil, ou seja, sofreu uma inibição transiente (30 min.) seguida de um aumento acima do nível basal após 120 minutos de incubação. Portanto, demonstramos que a melatonina afeta de forma diferente a viabilidade de células granulares de cerebelo dependo do contexto em que as células se encontram. Além disso, obtivemos evidências de que essas células expressam a enzima a AA-NAT, e produzem melatonina, que exerce função protetora para a cultura. Desta forma, nossos dados proporcionam uma base mecanicista para a compreensão da influência do contexto celular na resposta à melatonina / Several neurons constitutively express NF-?B, which plays some physiological roles, besides the well-known control of pathological responses. Melatonin, the hormone produced by the pineal gland rhythmically in the dark phase is also an autocrine and paracrine factor of immune competent cells, involved in multiple biological processes and the cytoprotective action is a highlight of this molecule. Melatonin inhibits the nuclear translocation of NF-?B and the expression of iNOS in models of cell damage. The present study evaluated whether the cytoprotective effect of melatonin depends on the state of activation of NF-?B in cultured cerebellar granule cells, given that these cells have a basal activity of this transcription factor essential for cell survival. Moreover, we questioned whether these cells in culture produce melatonin and whether it would have a cytoprotective role. We tested the viability of the rat (7-8 days old Wistar) cerebellar granule cell culture after 24 h incubation with melatonin in the presence or absence of LPS. In basal condition melatonin decreased cell survival while inhibited cell death induced by LPS. These effects were consistent with the results from the activation of NF-?B and the expression of iNOS. In the presence of LPS melatonin blocked the activation of the NF-?B , the expression of iNOS and the production of NO. When only melatonin was incubated, we observed a transient reduction (15 min) of NF-?B nuclear content, followed by an increase of its nuclear content (60 min). The iNOS expression followed the same profile, i.e. undergone a transient inhibition (30 min), followed by an increase above baseline after 120 min of incubation. Therefore, we have demonstrated that melatonin affects differently the viability of cerebellar granule cells depending on the context. Furthermore, we founded evidences that the granule cells in culture express the key enzyme in the synthesis of melatonin, AA-NAT and produce melatonin, which carries protective function for the culture. Our data provide a mechanistic basis for understanding the influence of cell context on the final output response to melatonin

The main objective of this study was to investigate promoter sequences of putative HSR genes for the presence of unique regulatory elements and modules that might be involved in the regulation of HSR. In order to achieve this objective, an in silico promoter analysis strategy was devised, which focused on the identification of promoter sequences and regulatory elements, and modelling of promoter modules by using Genomatix software tools such as MatInspector and ModelInspector. Results showed that two modules (EGRF_SP1F_01 and SP1F_CEBP_01) were conserved in the promoter sequences of three well-known Hsp-genes (Hsp90, Hsp105β and αβ-crystallin). Screening the 60 target gene promoters for the presence of the two modules revealed that 12 genes (20 %) contained both modules. These included Moesin, Proline-4 hydroxylase, Poly(A) binding protein and Formin-binding protein. None of these genes had been previously associated with heat shock response.

The main objective of this study was to investigate promoter sequences of putative HSR genes for the presence of unique regulatory elements and modules that might be involved in the regulation of HSR. In order to achieve this objective, an in silico promoter analysis strategy was devised, which focused on the identification of promoter sequences and regulatory elements, and modelling of promoter modules by using Genomatix software tools such as MatInspector and ModelInspector. Results showed that two modules (EGRF_SP1F_01 and SP1F_CEBP_01) were conserved in the promoter sequences of three well-known Hsp-genes (Hsp90, Hsp105β and αβ-crystallin). Screening the 60 target gene promoters for the presence of the two modules revealed that 12 genes (20 %) contained both modules. These included Moesin, Proline-4 hydroxylase, Poly(A) binding protein and Formin-binding protein. None of these genes had been previously associated with heat shock response.