A artrite séptica (AS), também chamada de artrite infecciosa, é uma doença inflamatória das articulações iniciada por um agente infeccioso. O agente causal mais comum da SA é Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A patogênese da SA inclui uma resposta inflamatória complexa envolvendo sistema imune inato e adaptativo. As citocinas liberadas a partir de macrófagos, tais como TNF-?, IL-1? e IL-6, foram classicamente apontadas como os principais mediadores da inflamação grave que precede a destruição da cartilagem e osso e a disfunção articular permanente mediante a AS. A evidência radiológica está frequentemente presente, mas não diferencia o afrouxamento mecânico do septo das articulações. Portanto, se houver algum indício de suspeita de infecção, deve ser aspirado para avaliação microbiológica. Recentemente, as tecnologias de imagem como a micro tomografia computadorizada (?CT) foram amplamente utilizadas para modelos pré-clínicos de distúrbios articulares auto-imunes. No entanto, as características radiológicas da AS em camundongos ainda são amplamente desconhecidas. No estudo atual, os camundongos NMRI foram inoculados intravenosamente ou intra-articularmente com a cepas de S. aureus Newman ou LS-1. Os sinais radiológicos e clínicos da artrite séptica foram acompanhados durante 10 dias usando ?CT. Avaliamos as correlações entre alterações radiológicas conjuntas e sinais clínicos, alterações histológicas e níveis séricos de citocinas. Nos dias 5-7 após a infecção intravenosa, a destruição óssea verificada por ?CT tornou-se evidente na maioria das articulações infectadas. Os sinais radiológicos de destruição óssea eram dependentes da dose bacteriana. O local mais comumente afetado pela artrite séptica foi o fêmur distal nos joelhos. A destruição óssea detectada pelo ?CT foi correlacionada positivamente com alterações histológicas na artrite séptica local e hematogênica. Os níveis séricos de IL-6 foram significativamente correlacionados com a gravidade da destruição das articulações. Coletivamente, nossos dados mostram que o ?CT é um método sensível para monitorar a progressão da doença e determinar a gravidade da destruição óssea em um modelo de artrite séptica do mouse; enquanto que a IL-6 é um potencial biomarcador de destruição óssea na artrite séptica. / Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous population of nano- and micro-sized vesicles secreted from almost every cell type. The process of EV secretion seems to be evolutionary conserved across the species kingdoms, ranging from simple prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes including bacteria, viruses, and parasitic protozoa such as leishmania and malarial parasites, fungi, plants and animals. Recent data suggests that Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria secretes EVs that could mediate host-pathogen interactions. EVs have been investigated in various bacterial species which modulate the secretion of immunoregulatory molecules such as cytokines and may have key role in infection. However, their role in S. aureus septic arthritis has not been explored yet. In current study, we postulate novel perspectives for the implementation of S. aureus-derived EVs in vitro as well as in vivo model of septic arthritis. EVs derived from S. aureus were applied to stimulate mice splenocytes in vitro as well as intra-articularly and the cytokine levels were measured. Our results showed that S. aureus derived EVs potentially provoke the production of proinflammatory cytokines. TNF-?, and IL-6 were significantly elevated in splenocytes in vitro after EV-based stimulation. Moreover, NMRI mice were injected with variable doses of EVs intraarticularly and mice were observed for 10 days to examine inflammation and development of septic arthritis. Bone and cartilage destruction was assessed by histochemistry analysis to score the joint erosion. Altogether, our results demonstrate the putative role of S. aureus-derived EVs in provoking inflammation and immunological responses suggesting that these vesicles could induce and disseminate systemic immune response during the development of septic arthritis.

Resumo. Foi realizado um estudo epidemiológico para avaliação dos fatores determinantes para a transmissão da LTA. O estudo foi realizado na área urbana, periurbana e rural da cidade de Itambaracá, incluindo a Vila Rural e as localidades de Porto Almeida e São Joaquim do Pontal, as duas últimas próximas à área impactada pelas hidrelétricas de Canoas I e II, no rio Paranapanema. Capturou-se de fevereiro de 2004 a junho 2006, 3.187 flebotomíneos. As espécies predominantes foram Nyssomyia neivai (34,36%), Pintomyia pessoai (32,57%), Migonemya migonei (11,61%), Nyssomyia whitmani (8,82%) e Pintomyia fischeri (2,73%) todas elas com capacidade de transmissão da doença. Para Ny neivai, houve predominância de machos e para as outras espécies vetoras, as fêmeas prevaleceram, com diferença estatística significante (p<0,001). As espécies mais abundantes, segundo o índice de abundância das espécies padronizado, foram Ny neivai, Pi. pessoai, Ny whitmani, Br. brumpti, Mg migonei e Pi fischeri. As maiores freqüências e diversidade das espécies foram encontradas na localidade de Porto Almeida (PA), seguida por São Joaquim do Pontal (SJP). Ny neivai apresentou médias sazonais mais elevadas e na distribuição mensal, picos em fevereiro, maio e outubro. A maior média horária desta espécie foi registrada das 19:00 às 20:00 h (1,2) mas mostrou-se ativa das 23:00 às 10:00 h da manhã. A prevalência de Acs da classe IgG para LTA em RIFI, na população humana foi de 6,73%, nos caninos de 1,75% e nos equídeos de 16,0 %. Em EIE/ELISA, a prevalência para os caninos foi de 16,49%. Na PCR, todos os cremes leucocitários correspondentes à soros reagentes a Acs da classe IgG (humanos), e Ac totais (eqüinos e caninos) foram negativos para Leishmania sp. No inquérito sócio econômico, verificou-se que a população entrevistada em sua maioria pertence à etnia branca e à faixa etária de 30-50 anos, recebem em torno de dois salários mínimos, possuem ocupações voltadas à agricultura e pecuária, nível de escolaridade fundamental (1º grau), habita casas de alvenaria, possuem animais domésticos com seus abrigos próximos às casas. Realizam atividades de trabalho e lazer em áreas de risco em proximidades às matas, áreas com animais silvestres e domésticos e com presença de matéria orgânica, que são fatores atrativos aos flebotomíneos. A população entrevistada, de uma forma geral, desconhece os aspectos da transmissão da LTA. Observou-se em todas as localidades amostradas a presença de flebotomíneos, com predominância de cinco espécies com capacidade vetorial de agentes da LTA, destacando-se Ny. Neivai , incluindo os peridomicílios. Houve transmissão ativa da doença, ocorrendo dois casos notificados e autóctones, em área de baixa freqüência de espécimes. A soroprevalência na população humana (6,73%) foi considerável, embora seja uma área de baixa ocorrência da doença. Nas localidades onde havia um foco mais recente da doença, em SJP, os cães e eqüinos apresentaram sorologia positiva. A alta prevalência de reagentes na sorologia observada em eqüídeos sugere que estes animais poderiam ser usados como sentinela para a detecção precoce da circulação do agente da LTA nas áreas estudadas. / Abstract. An epidemiological study was carried out in the urban area of Itambaracá and rural areas of the same municipality, including Vila Rural, Porto Almeida and São Joaquim do Pontal, to investigate the phlebotomine fauna and behavioral aspects of its species and also some determining factors of the transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). The last two localities mentioned are situated close to the areas impacted by the Canoas I and II hydroelectric plants on the Paranapanema river. A total of 3,187 phlebotomines were captured between February 2004 and June 2006. Nyssomyia neivai predominated (34.36%), followed by Pintomyia pessoai (32.6%), Migonemyia migonei (11.6%), Nyssomyia whitmani (8.8%) and Pintomyia fischeri (2.7%), all of them implicated in the transmission of the disease. Regarding Ny. neivai, males predominated over females which may indicate the proximity of its breeding places to the capture sites. As for all the other vector species, the females were predominant, with significant statistical differences (p < 0,001). Ny neivai, Pi. pessoai, Ny. whitmani, Br. brumpti, Mg. migonei and Pi. fischeri presented the highest values for the species standardized abundance index. The greatest frequencies and diversity of the species were found at Porto Almeida (PA), a locality situated close to a well preserved forest fragment and secondly at São Joaquim do Pontal (SJP), with degraded forest. Of all the species, Ny. neivai presented the highest monthly averages with the main peak occurring in successive months of April. Its greatest hourly average was registered at 19:00-20:00 hours, but the species presented activity from 23:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. The prevalence of Ac IgG class, serum-reagents for Leishmania obtained with RIFI from the human, canine and equine populations was 6.73% (20/297), 1.75% (5/285) and 16% (8/50), respectively. A prevalence of 16.4% was observed by the EIE/ELISA test only for the canine population. The buffy-coat of all the reagent human and animal blood samples was tested by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to investigate the presence of Leishmania, with negative results. In the socioeconomic survey, it was found that the majority of the people interviewed belonged to the white ethnic and 30-50 year-old groups, earning two minimum salaries, exercising occupations associated with agriculture and livestock breeding, of fundamental school level, inhabiting brick houses and keeping pets and domestic animals in and around them. They exercise their work and leisure activities in risk areas close to forest fragments, thus in areas containing both wild and domestic animals with the presence of organic matter, which attract the sandflies. The population interviewed was, in general, ignorant of the facts involved in ACL transmission. Sandflies were observed at all the sites sampled, with the predominance of five vectors of the ACL agents, with Ny. neivai, the main vector in all three areas, also being captured in the peridomiciles. Active transmission of the disease, with two cases registered, was observed at sites with very low frequency of this sandfly. The serum prevalence in the human population (6.73%) was considerable, despite this being an area of few registered ACL cases. In the localities in which there was a more recent focus of the disease, in SJP, the dogs and equines presented positive serology. The high prevalence of equine serum reagents suggests that these animals could be used as sentinels for the early detection of the presence of the ACL agent in the area studied.

Submitted by Cássio da Cruz Nogueira (cassionogueirakk@gmail.com) on 2017-09-11T18:35:59Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_SoroconversoesVirusHepatite.pdf: 4085875 bytes, checksum: 4b44b45a4f9ce1c7775082aeab35d4c9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Irvana Coutinho (irvana@ufpa.br) on 2017-09-20T12:10:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_SoroconversoesVirusHepatite.pdf: 4085875 bytes, checksum: 4b44b45a4f9ce1c7775082aeab35d4c9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-20T12:10:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_SoroconversoesVirusHepatite.pdf: 4085875 bytes, checksum: 4b44b45a4f9ce1c7775082aeab35d4c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / O Vírus da hepatite C na atualidade é um dos principais causadores de cirrose hepática e de hepatocarcinoma, também constitui-se como um dos principais motivos de inaptidão para doação de sangue entre a população. A hepatite C apresenta-se como uma das principais doenças infectocontagiosa no cenário mundial. O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar um estudo comparativo e uma análise entre as metodologias de triagem para o HCV em doadores de sangue da Fundação Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do Pará (HEMOPA) antes e após a implantação do teste NAT. A metodologia utilizada teve uma abordagem quantitativa, prospectivo e com objetivos gerais de natureza descritiva, e utilizou procedimento técnico documental, com registros escritos pré-existentes na Fundação HEMOPA. Ocorreram 125 soroconversões para HCV diagnosticadas pelo teste ELISA e 176 diagnosticadas pelo NAT associado à Quimiluminescência, totalizando 301 soroconversões no período de abril de 2013 a setembro de 2014. Observou-se no estudo uma maior ocorrência da taxa de soroconversões quando utilizava-se a técnica de biologia molecular associado a um teste imunológico em detrimento a metodologia ELISA. No estudo, a maioria dos sujeitos era do sexo masculino, com idade inferior a 35 anos, solteiros e possuíam ensino médio completo; observou-se também que dentre os fatores de risco estudados o item “Cirurgia” mostrou-se estatisticamente significante. Conclui-se que há um relevante indício de que a utilização dos testes moleculares e imunológicos combinados incrementa a segurança no processo de seleção de doadores de sangue. / The Hepatitis C virus is currently one of the main causes of hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma; it also constitutes one of the main reasons of unsuitability for blood donation among the population. Hepatitis C presents itself as one of the main infectious diseases in the worldwide scenario. The aim of this work was to conduct a comparative study and a analysis of the methods of screening for HCV in blood donors of the Foundation Center of Hematology and Hemotherapy of Pará (HEMOPA) before and after the implementation of NAT test. The methodology used had a quantitative, prospective, with general objectives of descriptive nature approach, and used a technical procedure with pre-existent written registrations in HEMOPA Foundation. There were 125 seroconversions to HCV diagnosed by ELISA, and 176 diagnosed by NAT, associated with chemiluminescence, totalizing 301 seroconversions from April 2013 to September 2014. It was observed in the study that there was a higher rate of seroconversions when the technique of molecular biology was used, which is associated with an immunological test, instead of the ELISA methodology. In the study most people were male, under 35 years old, unmarried, and had complete high school level. It was observed that among the risk factors studied, the “Surgery” one was statistically significant. We concluded that there is an important clue that the combined use of molecular and immunological tests improves security in the process of blood donors selection.

A artrite séptica (AS), também chamada de artrite infecciosa, é uma doença inflamatória das articulações iniciada por um agente infeccioso. O agente causal mais comum da SA é Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A patogênese da SA inclui uma resposta inflamatória complexa envolvendo sistema imune inato e adaptativo. As citocinas liberadas a partir de macrófagos, tais como TNF-?, IL-1? e IL-6, foram classicamente apontadas como os principais mediadores da inflamação grave que precede a destruição da cartilagem e osso e a disfunção articular permanente mediante a AS. A evidência radiológica está frequentemente presente, mas não diferencia o afrouxamento mecânico do septo das articulações. Portanto, se houver algum indício de suspeita de infecção, deve ser aspirado para avaliação microbiológica. Recentemente, as tecnologias de imagem como a micro tomografia computadorizada (?CT) foram amplamente utilizadas para modelos pré-clínicos de distúrbios articulares auto-imunes. No entanto, as características radiológicas da AS em camundongos ainda são amplamente desconhecidas. No estudo atual, os camundongos NMRI foram inoculados intravenosamente ou intra-articularmente com a cepas de S. aureus Newman ou LS-1. Os sinais radiológicos e clínicos da artrite séptica foram acompanhados durante 10 dias usando ?CT. Avaliamos as correlações entre alterações radiológicas conjuntas e sinais clínicos, alterações histológicas e níveis séricos de citocinas. Nos dias 5-7 após a infecção intravenosa, a destruição óssea verificada por ?CT tornou-se evidente na maioria das articulações infectadas. Os sinais radiológicos de destruição óssea eram dependentes da dose bacteriana. O local mais comumente afetado pela artrite séptica foi o fêmur distal nos joelhos. A destruição óssea detectada pelo ?CT foi correlacionada positivamente com alterações histológicas na artrite séptica local e hematogênica. Os níveis séricos de IL-6 foram significativamente correlacionados com a gravidade da destruição das articulações. Coletivamente, nossos dados mostram que o ?CT é um método sensível para monitorar a progressão da doença e determinar a gravidade da destruição óssea em um modelo de artrite séptica do mouse; enquanto que a IL-6 é um potencial biomarcador de destruição óssea na artrite séptica. / Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are heterogeneous population of nano- and micro-sized vesicles secreted from almost every cell type. The process of EV secretion seems to be evolutionary conserved across the species kingdoms, ranging from simple prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes including bacteria, viruses, and parasitic protozoa such as leishmania and malarial parasites, fungi, plants and animals. Recent data suggests that Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria secretes EVs that could mediate host-pathogen interactions. EVs have been investigated in various bacterial species which modulate the secretion of immunoregulatory molecules such as cytokines and may have key role in infection. However, their role in S. aureus septic arthritis has not been explored yet. In current study, we postulate novel perspectives for the implementation of S. aureus-derived EVs in vitro as well as in vivo model of septic arthritis. EVs derived from S. aureus were applied to stimulate mice splenocytes in vitro as well as intra-articularly and the cytokine levels were measured. Our results showed that S. aureus derived EVs potentially provoke the production of proinflammatory cytokines. TNF-?, and IL-6 were significantly elevated in splenocytes in vitro after EV-based stimulation. Moreover, NMRI mice were injected with variable doses of EVs intraarticularly and mice were observed for 10 days to examine inflammation and development of septic arthritis. Bone and cartilage destruction was assessed by histochemistry analysis to score the joint erosion. Altogether, our results demonstrate the putative role of S. aureus-derived EVs in provoking inflammation and immunological responses suggesting that these vesicles could induce and disseminate systemic immune response during the development of septic arthritis.

Large numbers of samples often need to be prepared and analysed in surveys of organic pollutants in the environment, but while the methods commonly used in such surveys can provide abundant detail they are generally costly, time-consuming and require large amounts of resources, so there is a need for simpler techniques. The work underlying this thesis assessed the potential utility of more convenient sample preparation and bioanalytical techniques for rapidly screening various environmental matrices that could be useful complements to higher resolution methods. Initially, the utility of a simplified extraction technique followed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in authentic (i.e. unspiked) contaminated soils was explored. The results showed that there are relationships between the structure and cross-reactivity among compounds that often co-occur with target PAHs. However, their potential contribution to deviations between estimates of total PAH contents of soils obtained using ELISA and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based reference methods were limited. Instead, the cross-reactivity of target PAHs and the failure to extract all of the PAHs prior to the ELISA determinations were the main reasons for these deviations. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were detected in food and feed matrices, as well as in authentic contaminated soils using different bioanalytical techniques – ELISA and two cell-based bioassays: CAFLUX and CALUX (chemically activated fluorescent/luciferase gene expression) assays. In addition, enhanced sample preparation techniques based on accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) were developed. ASE with integrated carbon fractionation (ASE-C) in combination with CAFLUX produced estimates of PCDD and PCDF contents in fish oil and fish meal that agreed well with results obtained using reference methods. Furthermore, results from ELISA and GC-high resolution MS analyses of extracts of PCDD- and PCDF-contaminated soil samples obtained using an adjusted ASE-C technique were strongly correlated. Finally, the thesis reports the first experiments in which the results of CAFLUX, CALUX, and ELISA determinations of PCDDs and PCDFs in extracts of authentic contaminated soil samples were evaluated and compared to those obtained using a reference method. All of the bioanalytical techniques were found to be sufficiently sensitive, selective, and accurate for use in screening in compliance with soil quality assessment criteria. Overall, the improved sample preparation and bioanalytical techniques examined proved to be useful potential complements to conventional methods, enhancing the analytical framework for PAHs, PCDDs, and PCDFs. However, further validation has to be undertaken before they are applied on a large-scale.

Les dépôts amyloïdes sont des dépôts fibrillaires extracellulaires associés à la maladie d'Alzheimer, dont le constituant principal est le peptide amyloïde (Aβ). La fibrillogenèse d'Aβ s'accompagne d'une transconformation du peptide, depuis une structure secondaire principalement en hélice au voisinage des membranes ou non structurée en milieu aqueux vers une structure en feuillet β. Cette transconformation est couplée à une oligomérisation. Les plaques amyloïdes renferment une quantité importante de cations métalliques, en particulier Zn2+, et le peptide amyloïde y est caractérisé par une grande hétérogénéité de sa partie N-terminale qui présente des troncations et des isomérisations/racémisations. Ces modifications et l'interaction d'Aβ avec les cations ont été proposées comme des facteurs contribuant à la déposition amyloïde.<br />Afin de caractériser ces différents mécanismes moléculaires, nous avons examiné la région N-terminale 1-16 du peptide amyloïde, Aβ(1-16), qui apparaît impliquée dans l'interaction du peptide avec les cations métalliques et renferme plusieurs sites susceptibles de subir des modifications liées au vieillissement protéique. Du fait de son accessibilité au sein des fibrilles amyloïdes, ce domaine d'Aβ constitue une cible thérapeutique potentielle, notamment pour un traitement immunologique.<br />Au cours de ce travail, nous avons mis en évidence la plasticité conformationnelle d'Aβ(1-16) par dichroïsme circulaire (DC) et RMN et nous avons caractérisé la structure qu'adopte ce peptide en milieu aqueux et en milieu mimant un environnement membranaire. Nous avons également identifié les formes produites par vieillissement in vitro. Le complexe Aβ(1-16)/Zn2+ a été examiné par DC, RMN et ESI-MS, ce qui a conduit à établir un modèle d'attachement du cation Zn(II) au peptide Aβ(1-16). Ce modèle implique une coordination tétraédrique de Zn(II), les résidus H6, E11, H13 et H14 étant identifiés comme ligands. Nous avons de plus montré que l'interaction Aβ(1-16)/Zn2+ modifie le profil de vieillissement protéique et exerce un effet agoniste sur la reconnaissance de la région 1-16 d'Aβ par des anticorps spécifiques. La conformation de deux peptides isomères issus du vieillissement d'Aβ(1-16), Aβ(1-16)-L-IsoAsp7 et Aβ(1-16)-D-Asp7 a été examinée par RMN. Un changement conformationnel local est observé dans la région H6-S8 par rapport à Aβ(1-16), mais pas de remaniement conformationnel global. L'étude de l'interaction Aβ(1-16)-L-IsoAsp7/Zn2+ par RMN a suggéré la participation du résidu IsoAsp7 à la coordination du cation Zn(II).<br />Enfin, une étude complémentaire entreprise sur Aβ(1-40) a mis en évidence l'absence de fibrillogenèse du peptide en présence d'ions Zn2+ ou d'anticorps ciblant la région N-terminale d'Aβ, au profit de la formation de différents types d'agrégats. Ces résultats suggèrent que les différentes interactions établies entre la région N-terminale 1-16 d'Aβ et Zn2+ ou des anticorps anti-Aβ inhiberaient la fibrillogenèse du peptide amyloïde pleine longueur.

Novel biocompatible nanoprobes for optical imaging of Epidermal Growth Factor receptor (EGFR) were created. 5 and 18 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and 5 and 45 nm diameter silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were conjugated to EGF protein via ?-lipoic acid. AgNPs were not previously attached to EGF. TOF-MS confirms EGF-linker formation. ELISA verifies the linked-EGF activity alone and with EGF-NPs. Core-shell silver-gold nanoparticles (AgAuNPs) gave similar results. TEM staining with uranyl acetate exhibits a bright ring, smaller than EGF, around nanoparticles. Dark field microscopy shows localized, intense cytoplasmic scattering, possibly lipid droplets, in cancer cells incubated with or without nanoprobes. Following injection, mice organs were harvested for EGF-NP immune response determination. Sterilization likely inactivated EGF before ICP-MS. Intense surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS, 632.8 nm) follows MgSO4 induced EGF-AgNPs aggregation. Pelleted EGF-AgNP tagged cancer cells lack SERS indicative intensity contrast. AgAuNPs could provide increased stability, brighter SERS, and reduced silver biocompatibility concerns.

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are a versatile subclass of T lymphocytes which recognize glycolipid antigens. iNKT cells are capable of rapidly producing a broad array of cytokines in response to stimulation; thus, they play an important role in the early regulation of a variety of immune responses. It was hypothesized that iNKT cells express functional Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and that stimulation of TLRs by their ligands modulates iNKT cells responses. In the first objective, it was revealed that upon stimulation with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody and interferon (IFN)-α, expression of TLRs was enhanced in iNKT cells. Furthermore, stimulation of iNKT cells with TLR ligands led to a significant increase in the expression of several cytokines. In the second objective, the mechanisms behind the modulatory effects of the TLR9 ligand (CpG-ODN) on iNKT cells were determined. Altogether, these findings suggest a direct role for TLRs in iNKT cell activation. / Ontario Graduate Scholarship

Thesis (MSc (Genetics))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / South Africa is one of the top ten wine producing countries in the world. The South African wine industry contributes approximately R16.3 billion to South Africa’s annual gross domestic product with 42.8% of wine being exported. To compete with the top wine producing countries and to ensure a viable export market, South Africa needs to ensure that healthy, virus free propagation material is produced and sold. One of the viruses that need to be tested for is Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV). Grapevine fanleaf virus causes degeneration and malformation of berries, leaves and canes and is responsible for significant economic losses by reducing crop yields by as much as 80%, reducing the longevity of the vines and affecting fruit quality. It is widespread in the Breede River Valley of the Western Cape where the nematode vector, Xiphinema index, is prevalent. The Breede River Valley contributes approximately 30% of the total production of the local wine industry, and severe losses in this region could threaten the viticulture. The Plant Improvement Act states that all propagation material sold must be tested for GFLV by a reputable scientific technique. The technique commonly used in South Africa is the Double Antibody Sandwich - Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (DAS-ELISA) and the kits are imported from Europe at a significant cost to the South African viticulture industry. The objective of this study was to produce a reliable and sensitive diagnostic assay specific for the South African strains of GFLV. This project aimed to develop and optimize a DAS-ELISA, by using recombinant DNA technology to produce antibodies against bacterially expressed viral coat protein. Total RNA was extracted from GFLV infected grapevine material and the viral coat protein (CP) amplified. The CP was cloned into the pGex-6P-2 expression vector, fusing a Glutathione STransferase (GST) partner to the viral coat protein enhancing solubility and protein purification. Insufficient amounts of the soluble protein were expressed and purified, preventing the production of antibodies and thus the development of the DAS-ELISA. An alternative diagnostic rapid-direct-one-tube-RT-PCR assay was developed. This rapid-directone- tube-RT-PCR assay was compared to commercially available DAS-ELISA and ImmunoStrip tests (Agdia) to assess the reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the rapid-direct-one-tube-RTPCR assay. Twelve GFLV isolates from South Africa were sequenced to investigate the variability between the isolates as well as the variability between the South African isolates and GFLV sequences available in Genbank. Sequence identities between clones from different GFLV isolates from South Africa were between 86-99% and 94-99% at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the coat protein gene sequences showed that the South African isolates form two distinct clades or sub-populations. No significant correlation was found between geographical origin and symptoms, nor between geographical origin and sequence variability or between grapevine cultivar and symptom expression. Of the 23 samples tested with all three tests, 21 tested positive with rapid-direct-one-tube-RT-PCR, 19 with the ImmunoStrips and 17 with an imported DAS-ELISA kit (Agdia). Rapid-direct-one-tube-RT-PCR was found to be the most reliable technique for GFLV detection. Although the establishment of a DAS-ELISA directed to the South African strain(s) of GFLV was not successful, an alternative PCR based diagnostic system was developed, and proved to be sensitive and reliable. RT-PCR based diagnostic assays are generally accepted to be more sensitive than DAS-ELISA, but the latter is still used as the diagnostic assay of choice for routine testing due to ease of use. This rapid-direct-one-tube-RT-PCR assay is a rapid, sensitive and reliable diagnostic test, reducing the prevalence of false negatives, contributing to a virus free viticulture industry. The rapid-direct-one-tube-RT-PCR assay is as easy to use as DAS-ELISA, faster and can be performed by semi skilled workers, thus providing all the advantages associated with DAS-ELISA.

Inhibitors of proteases in tick saliva play an important role during tick feeding. Tick saliva contains a wide range of bioactive components which are able to modulate host imunity. Therefore, ticks are able to feed for a long time and transfer tick-borne diseases pathogens. The risk of transfer can be significantly reduced by deactivation of theese protease inhibitors. In this study I made monoclonal antibodies for detection and quantification of two serine protease inhibitors in tick saliva and other tick-body parts.