Submitted by Socorro Pontes (socorrop@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-03-23T14:59:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 EmanuellyCRP_DISSERT.pdf: 744501 bytes, checksum: c98036be80df6f22f868dcbb58ac0ac7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-23T14:59:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EmanuellyCRP_DISSERT.pdf: 744501 bytes, checksum: c98036be80df6f22f868dcbb58ac0ac7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / White spot syndrome is an acute conatgious disease whose etiologic agent is the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) responsible for serious economic losses in world acquaculture. Since 2012, it has been notified WSSV occurrence in the state of Rio Grande do Norte - RN, one of most important shrimp production region. Despite its importance, there is a lack of information about the origins and biodiversity of circulating virus. The aim of investigation was to detect WSSV in Litopenaeus vannamei from farms in the RN as well as perform genotyping of the isolates. A total of five farms were surveyed, from which 10 samples were collected each one. We selected two ponds of each of the farms, chosen because clinical suspicion of WSSV. Genomic DNA was extracted to detect the virus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Subsequently, was performed by PCR genotyping of the positive DNA samples analysing variable number of tandem repeats - VNTR in three molecular markers (ORFs 75, 94 and 125). The results revealed the presence of virus in only one of the 5 analyzed farms. The loci ORF 75 and ORF 94 were identified in isolates from positive farm and no amplification failure for ORF 125. The number of repeating units (RUs) was calculated, and found to 9 repetitions ORF 75 and 10 RUs to ORF 94, a pattern that had not been described, stressing the need for more strain typing for screening and surveillance of the disease / A síndrome da mancha branca é uma doença notificável cujo agente etiológico é o Vírus da Síndrome da Mancha Branca (White Spot Syndrome Virus - WSSV) responsável por graves perdas econômicas na carcinicultura mundial. Desde 2012, têm sido verificados registros oficiais da presença do vírus no estado do Rio Grande do Norte - RN , região de extensa produção camaroneira. Apesar da importância, pouca informação tem sido produzida quanto às origens e biodiversidade dos virus circulantes. Diante disso, objetivou-se investigar a presença do vírus em criações de Litopenaues vannamei oriundos de fazendas do RN, bem como realizar a genotipagem dos isolados. Um total de cinco fazendas foram submetidas ao estudo, das quais foram coletadas 10 amostras de cada. Foram selecionados dois viveiros de cada uma das fazendas, escolhidos mediante suspeita clínica de WSSV. O DNA genômico foi extraído para investigação da presença ou ausência do vírus através da reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR). Posteriormente, foi realizada por PCR a genotipagem dos isolados utilizando as repetições em tandem de número variável – VNTR (ORFs 75, 94 e 125). Os resultados revelaram a presença do vírus em apenas uma das 5 fazendas analisadas. As regiões (ORF 75 e ORF 94) foram identificadas nos isolados da fazenda positiva e não houve amplificação para o ORF 125. O número de unidades repetidas (RUs) foi calculado, sendo verificado 9 repetições para o ORF 75 e 10 para o ORF 94, um padrão que ainda não havia sido descrito, alertando para a necessidade de mais isolados caracterizados geneticamente para o rastreamento e vigilância epidemiológica da doença / 2017-03-23

Apoptosis plays important roles in host defences against virus infection. It is therefore not surprising that viruses have developed a vast array of modulators that block this process at different stages within the apoptotic pathways. Intrestingly, Orf virus (ORFV), a member of the Parapoxvirus genus, did not reveal any of the known poxviral inhibitors of apoptosis, but was found to express a unique anti-apoptotic protein, ORFV125. The aim of this PhD project was to determine the subcellular localisation of this protein and to further characterise its anti-apoptotic activity. This included exploring its ability to inhibit early, intermediate and late events of apoptosis and identifying the mechanism by which this viral protein functions to prevent cell death. Experiments revealed that ORFV125 was localised to the mitochondria through a C-terminal mitochondrial-targeting motif, and this specific location was necessary for the protein�s anti-apoptotic function. Furthermore, the viral protein inhibited UV-induced apoptotic events at and downstream of the mitochondria such as cytochrome c release, caspase activation and DNA fragmentation. However, it was not able to prevent UV-induced activation of the c-Jun-NH₂ kinase (JNK), an event occurring upstream of the mitochondria, consistent with its localisation to this organelle. The ability to prevent apoptosis was comparable with that of the cellular anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, which belongs to a family of mitochondrial regulators of apoptosis. Although standard BLAST analysis failed to detect homology to anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family, a manual alignment of the primary sequence of ORFV125 with these proteins revealed characteristic residues of Bcl-2 homology (BH) domains within ORFV125. These motifs are conserved within the Bcl-2 proteins and important for their structure and function. In addition, mutating amino acids within the ORFV125 BH domains led to a loss of the anti-apoptotic function of the mutated proteins, indicating the functional importance of these residues for the viral protein. These observations suggest that ORFV125 might be classified as a viral Bcl-2-like protein. To provide evidence for this hypothesis, it was investigated if ORFV125 acts in a Bcl-2-like manner to inhibit apoptosis. The viral protein was able to entirely block the activation of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members Bak and Bax, although it did not directly bind to these proteins. Instead, ORFV125 interacted with a subset of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins, which can trigger the activation of Bax and Bak. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that ORFV125 could inhibit apoptosis induced by BH3-only proteins to which the viral protein could bind. On the other hand, ORFV125 was not able to prevent the activity of pro-apoptotic proteins that it failed to interact with. This shows that ORFV125�s mechanism of action is to inhibit the activity of BH3-only proteins by binding and neutralising their function. Overall, these results provided evidence that ORFV125 is potent anti-apoptotic protein that can prevent UV-induced cell death without the participation of other ORFV proteins. Furthermore, the viral protein shared primary sequence and secondary structure similarities to Bcl-2 family members and acted in a Bcl-2-like manner to inhibit apoptosis.

Analysis of the proteins of capripoxvirus (KS-1) revealed a 32kd protein that is one of the major structural proteins of the virus and is localised in the virus envelope. Monospecific serum prepared against the 32kd envelope protein neutralised the virus indicating that this protein contains neutralising epitopes. Lymphocyte proliferation studies, using the 32kd protein and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from capripoxvirus (KS-i) vaccinated sheep, showed that this protein strongly induced cellmediated immune responses. The 32kd protein is capripoxvirus specific and induced antibodies in early stages of capripoxvirus infections. Immunoblot analysis of antibody responses against this protein has provided a basis for the differential diagnosis of capripoxvirus and orf virus infections. The 32kd protein bound to the surface of cultured lamb testis cells. The binding of the 32kd protein was completely inhibited by prior incubation of cells with purified capripoxvirus (KS-1) but not by bovine serum albumin. Trypsin treatment of capripoxvirus (KS-1) degraded the majority of the 32kd protein with a minimal effect on a few other virus proteins. Trypsin removed an external 10kd fragment from the 32kd protein, leaving a 22kd fragment associated with the virus. In addition, the trypsin treatment reduced the virus infectivity by at least ten fold, suggesting that the cell surface binding domain of the 32kd protein is located within the external 10kd fragment. The monospecific serum to the 32kd protein had no effect of the infectivity titre of the trypsin treated virus further supporting the concept that the external 10kd fragment of the 32kd protein is involved in binding of the virus particle to the cell surface. A degenerate oligonucleotide probe, based on an internal amino acid sequence obtained from V8 protease cleavage products of the 32kd protein, was used to identify the gene encoding the 32kd protein. The gene encoding the 32kd protein was identified within the 2.8kb HindI1l Q1 fragment of the capripoxvirus (KS-1) genome. The nucleotide sequence analysis of the Hindu Q1 fragment revealed five open reading frames (Q11L, Q12R, Q13L, Q14R and Q15L), one of these open reading frames, Q13L, is capable of encoding a 30.6kd protein and contains the complete internal amino acid sequence obtained from the V8 protease cleavage products of the 32kd protein, indicating that the Q13L encodes the 32kd envelope protein of capripoxvirus (KS-1). The deduced amino acid sequence of the Q13L shows a 34.1% identity and 61.3% similarity with that of H3L open reading frame of vaccinia virus.

Apoptosis plays important roles in host defences against virus infection. It is therefore not surprising that viruses have developed a vast array of modulators that block this process at different stages within the apoptotic pathways. Intrestingly, Orf virus (ORFV), a member of the Parapoxvirus genus, did not reveal any of the known poxviral inhibitors of apoptosis, but was found to express a unique anti-apoptotic protein, ORFV125. The aim of this PhD project was to determine the subcellular localisation of this protein and to further characterise its anti-apoptotic activity. This included exploring its ability to inhibit early, intermediate and late events of apoptosis and identifying the mechanism by which this viral protein functions to prevent cell death. Experiments revealed that ORFV125 was localised to the mitochondria through a C-terminal mitochondrial-targeting motif, and this specific location was necessary for the protein�s anti-apoptotic function. Furthermore, the viral protein inhibited UV-induced apoptotic events at and downstream of the mitochondria such as cytochrome c release, caspase activation and DNA fragmentation. However, it was not able to prevent UV-induced activation of the c-Jun-NH₂ kinase (JNK), an event occurring upstream of the mitochondria, consistent with its localisation to this organelle. The ability to prevent apoptosis was comparable with that of the cellular anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, which belongs to a family of mitochondrial regulators of apoptosis. Although standard BLAST analysis failed to detect homology to anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family, a manual alignment of the primary sequence of ORFV125 with these proteins revealed characteristic residues of Bcl-2 homology (BH) domains within ORFV125. These motifs are conserved within the Bcl-2 proteins and important for their structure and function. In addition, mutating amino acids within the ORFV125 BH domains led to a loss of the anti-apoptotic function of the mutated proteins, indicating the functional importance of these residues for the viral protein. These observations suggest that ORFV125 might be classified as a viral Bcl-2-like protein. To provide evidence for this hypothesis, it was investigated if ORFV125 acts in a Bcl-2-like manner to inhibit apoptosis. The viral protein was able to entirely block the activation of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members Bak and Bax, although it did not directly bind to these proteins. Instead, ORFV125 interacted with a subset of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins, which can trigger the activation of Bax and Bak. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that ORFV125 could inhibit apoptosis induced by BH3-only proteins to which the viral protein could bind. On the other hand, ORFV125 was not able to prevent the activity of pro-apoptotic proteins that it failed to interact with. This shows that ORFV125�s mechanism of action is to inhibit the activity of BH3-only proteins by binding and neutralising their function. Overall, these results provided evidence that ORFV125 is potent anti-apoptotic protein that can prevent UV-induced cell death without the participation of other ORFV proteins. Furthermore, the viral protein shared primary sequence and secondary structure similarities to Bcl-2 family members and acted in a Bcl-2-like manner to inhibit apoptosis.

The anaphase promoting complex (APC/C) is an ubiquitin ligase that is an essential regulator of multiple steps in the cell cycle. The complex consists of at least 12 subunits with a catalytic core formed by a scaffold protein, APC2, and a RING-H2 protein, APC11. The Parapoxvirus, Orf virus (OV), encodes a RING-H2 protein, B5L, with clear sequence similarities to APC11. The disruption of APC/C function leads to pre-mature entry into S phase and a delayed M phase exit and, potentially, apoptosis. This investigation explored the functional significance of the similarity between B5L and APC11 and specifically sought to determine if B5L manipulates cell cycle regulation by targeting APC/C function. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments from lysates of cells expressing a range of constructs revealed an interaction between B5L and APC2 in the same manner as seen with APC11. Furthermore, B5L was found to associate with endogenous APC/C. However, although APC11 promoted the formation of polyubiquitin chains in substrate-independent in vitro assays, B5L was inactive in this assay. Bioinformatics comparisons of APC11 and other known RING ubiquitin ligases with B5L and its poxviral homologues revealed some subtle differences. In particular a domain of APC11 (amino acids 61-74), that is essential for its ubiquitin ligase activity is not conserved in B5L or its homologues. When this APC11 domain was incorporated in place of the corresponding region of B5L (amino acids 59-67), the mutated B5L acquired ubiquitin ligase activity. On the other hand, APC11 protein in which the domain was replaced with that of B5L lost ubiquitin ligase activity. Stable cell lines expressing B5L showed an increased number of cells in G2/M phase (30�4%) compared with cell lines expressing APC11 (11�2%, n=3, p<0.05, ANOVA, Tukey�s), consistent with impaired APC/C function. APC/C substrates such as cyclin A, cyclin B and the thymidine kinase were stablized in B5L-expressing cells compared with control cells. Furthermore, transient hyper-expression of B5L induced apoptosis in 25�2% (n=3, p<0.05) of the cell population compared with only 6�1% apoptotic cells when APC11 was hyper-expressed. Analysis of the DNA content of OV-infected cells revealed enhanced DNA synthesis compared with cells infected with a B5L knockout OV. These observations indicate that B5L is a non-functional mimic of APC11. It associates with APC/C, but lacks ubiquitin ligase activity, and hence disrupts APC/C function. These abilities may enable OV to induce a cellular environment that enhances viral replication.

The anaphase promoting complex (APC/C) is an ubiquitin ligase that is an essential regulator of multiple steps in the cell cycle. The complex consists of at least 12 subunits with a catalytic core formed by a scaffold protein, APC2, and a RING-H2 protein, APC11. The Parapoxvirus, Orf virus (OV), encodes a RING-H2 protein, B5L, with clear sequence similarities to APC11. The disruption of APC/C function leads to pre-mature entry into S phase and a delayed M phase exit and, potentially, apoptosis. This investigation explored the functional significance of the similarity between B5L and APC11 and specifically sought to determine if B5L manipulates cell cycle regulation by targeting APC/C function. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments from lysates of cells expressing a range of constructs revealed an interaction between B5L and APC2 in the same manner as seen with APC11. Furthermore, B5L was found to associate with endogenous APC/C. However, although APC11 promoted the formation of polyubiquitin chains in substrate-independent in vitro assays, B5L was inactive in this assay. Bioinformatics comparisons of APC11 and other known RING ubiquitin ligases with B5L and its poxviral homologues revealed some subtle differences. In particular a domain of APC11 (amino acids 61-74), that is essential for its ubiquitin ligase activity is not conserved in B5L or its homologues. When this APC11 domain was incorporated in place of the corresponding region of B5L (amino acids 59-67), the mutated B5L acquired ubiquitin ligase activity. On the other hand, APC11 protein in which the domain was replaced with that of B5L lost ubiquitin ligase activity. Stable cell lines expressing B5L showed an increased number of cells in G2/M phase (30�4%) compared with cell lines expressing APC11 (11�2%, n=3, p<0.05, ANOVA, Tukey�s), consistent with impaired APC/C function. APC/C substrates such as cyclin A, cyclin B and the thymidine kinase were stablized in B5L-expressing cells compared with control cells. Furthermore, transient hyper-expression of B5L induced apoptosis in 25�2% (n=3, p<0.05) of the cell population compared with only 6�1% apoptotic cells when APC11 was hyper-expressed. Analysis of the DNA content of OV-infected cells revealed enhanced DNA synthesis compared with cells infected with a B5L knockout OV. These observations indicate that B5L is a non-functional mimic of APC11. It associates with APC/C, but lacks ubiquitin ligase activity, and hence disrupts APC/C function. These abilities may enable OV to induce a cellular environment that enhances viral replication.

Uma das razões que fazem de Saccharomyces cerevisiae um organismo modelo é o grau de conservação dos mecanismos celulares que existe entre esta levedura e eucariotos superiores. Porém, mesmo após 21 anos do seqüenciamento do seu genoma, ainda existem mais de 600 ORFs com função desconhecida. Neste trabalho, selecionamos quatro delas para o estudo detalhado. MRPL34 (YDR115w) está presente na subunidade maior do ribossomo mitocondrial de levedura e apresenta similaridade com o gene L34 de E. coli e MRP-L34 de humanos. O mutante &#916;mrpl34 apresenta DNA mitocondrial (mtDNA) instável e para estudá-lo foram gerados alelos sensíveis à temperatura (ts). Com os ensaios de síntese protéica mitocondrial in vivo foi possível identificar clara diminuição da síntese de proteínas do mutante condicional. Mrpl34p foi identificada no extrato ribossomal, conforme esperado. A desestruturação da subunidade maior do ribossomo mitocondrial, utilizando os mutantes ts, nos forneceu indícios sobre intermediários existentes no seu processo de montagem. Verificamos que a porção N-terminal da proteína é responsável pelo endereçamento à mitocôndria. YPR116w também apresenta alta instabilidade do DNA mitocondrial, desta forma, mutantes termossensíveis foram utilizados nos experimentos. Uma das estratégias utilizadas visou a busca de parceiros genéticos. Verificamos que ylr091wp aumenta a estabilidade do mtDNA de ts- ypr116w, sugerindo atividade supressora. Também averiguamos que o alelo ts-ypr16w apresenta menor quantidade de tRNA mitocondrial, através de ensaios de Northen blot. Duas das ORFs escolhidas (YDL119c e YOR022c) tiveram sua caracterização inicial publicada em 2016, refletindo a importância deste tipo de pesquisa. Vimos que a proteína codificada por YDL119c está localizada na membrana interna da mitocôndria e que o mutante &#916;yor022c apresenta quantidades reduzidas de cardiolipina, quando crescido à 37ºC. / One of the reasons that turn Saccharomyces cerevisiae a model organism is the degree of conservation of cellular mechanisms that exist between this yeast and higher eukaryotes. However, even after 21 years of sequencing their genome, there are still more than 600 ORFs with unknown function. In this work, we selected four of them for the detailed study. MRPL34 (YDR115w) is present in the major subunit of the yeast mitochondrial ribosome and bears similarity to the L34 gene of E. coli and MRP-L34 from humans. The &#916; mrpl34 mutant shows unstable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and to study it, temperature sensitive alleles (ts) were generated. With the mitochondrial protein synthesis assays in vivo, it was possible to identify a clear decrease in the protein synthesis of the conditional mutant. Mrpl34p was identified in the ribosomal extract as expected. The disassembly of the major subunit of the mitochondrial ribosome, using the ts mutants, provided us some clues about intermediates in its assembly process. We have verified that the N-terminal portion of the protein is responsible for addressing the mitochondria. YPR116w also shows high mitochondrial DNA instability, in this way, thermosensitive mutants were used in the experiments. One of the strategies used was the search for genetic partners. We verified that ylr091wp increases the stability of ts-ypr116w mtDNA, suggesting suppressor activity. We also found that the ts-ypr16w allele has a smaller amount of mitochondrial tRNA, through Northen blot assays. Two of the chosen ORFs (YDL119c and YOR022c) had their initial characterization published in 2016, reflecting the importance of this type of research. We have seen that the protein encoded by YDL119c is located on the inner membrane of the mitochondria and that the &#916;yor022c mutant presents reduced amounts of cardiolipin when grown at 37 ºC.

Uma das razões que fazem de Saccharomyces cerevisiae um organismo modelo é o grau de conservação dos mecanismos celulares que existe entre esta levedura e eucariotos superiores. Porém, mesmo após 21 anos do seqüenciamento do seu genoma, ainda existem mais de 600 ORFs com função desconhecida. Neste trabalho, selecionamos quatro delas para o estudo detalhado. MRPL34 (YDR115w) está presente na subunidade maior do ribossomo mitocondrial de levedura e apresenta similaridade com o gene L34 de E. coli e MRP-L34 de humanos. O mutante &#916;mrpl34 apresenta DNA mitocondrial (mtDNA) instável e para estudá-lo foram gerados alelos sensíveis à temperatura (ts). Com os ensaios de síntese protéica mitocondrial in vivo foi possível identificar clara diminuição da síntese de proteínas do mutante condicional. Mrpl34p foi identificada no extrato ribossomal, conforme esperado. A desestruturação da subunidade maior do ribossomo mitocondrial, utilizando os mutantes ts, nos forneceu indícios sobre intermediários existentes no seu processo de montagem. Verificamos que a porção N-terminal da proteína é responsável pelo endereçamento à mitocôndria. YPR116w também apresenta alta instabilidade do DNA mitocondrial, desta forma, mutantes termossensíveis foram utilizados nos experimentos. Uma das estratégias utilizadas visou a busca de parceiros genéticos. Verificamos que ylr091wp aumenta a estabilidade do mtDNA de ts- ypr116w, sugerindo atividade supressora. Também averiguamos que o alelo ts-ypr16w apresenta menor quantidade de tRNA mitocondrial, através de ensaios de Northen blot. Duas das ORFs escolhidas (YDL119c e YOR022c) tiveram sua caracterização inicial publicada em 2016, refletindo a importância deste tipo de pesquisa. Vimos que a proteína codificada por YDL119c está localizada na membrana interna da mitocôndria e que o mutante &#916;yor022c apresenta quantidades reduzidas de cardiolipina, quando crescido à 37ºC. / One of the reasons that turn Saccharomyces cerevisiae a model organism is the degree of conservation of cellular mechanisms that exist between this yeast and higher eukaryotes. However, even after 21 years of sequencing their genome, there are still more than 600 ORFs with unknown function. In this work, we selected four of them for the detailed study. MRPL34 (YDR115w) is present in the major subunit of the yeast mitochondrial ribosome and bears similarity to the L34 gene of E. coli and MRP-L34 from humans. The &#916; mrpl34 mutant shows unstable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and to study it, temperature sensitive alleles (ts) were generated. With the mitochondrial protein synthesis assays in vivo, it was possible to identify a clear decrease in the protein synthesis of the conditional mutant. Mrpl34p was identified in the ribosomal extract as expected. The disassembly of the major subunit of the mitochondrial ribosome, using the ts mutants, provided us some clues about intermediates in its assembly process. We have verified that the N-terminal portion of the protein is responsible for addressing the mitochondria. YPR116w also shows high mitochondrial DNA instability, in this way, thermosensitive mutants were used in the experiments. One of the strategies used was the search for genetic partners. We verified that ylr091wp increases the stability of ts-ypr116w mtDNA, suggesting suppressor activity. We also found that the ts-ypr16w allele has a smaller amount of mitochondrial tRNA, through Northen blot assays. Two of the chosen ORFs (YDL119c and YOR022c) had their initial characterization published in 2016, reflecting the importance of this type of research. We have seen that the protein encoded by YDL119c is located on the inner membrane of the mitochondria and that the &#916;yor022c mutant presents reduced amounts of cardiolipin when grown at 37 ºC.

No description available.

Given the change in federal legislation allowing the consideration of a Response-To-Intervention (RTI) approach to making eligibility decisions for specific learning disabilities (IDEIA, 2004), it is crucial to establish sufficient evidence for using curriculum-based measurements (CBM) or CBM-like measures (e.g., Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills; DIBELS) for monitoring students' responses to interventions as part of the identification process for Specific Learning Disabilities. One critical component in an effective RTI model is the availability of parallel measures suited for frequent progress monitoring to index student performance over time. The current study investigated the equivalence of the twenty first grade DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) progress monitoring probes' using a one-way ANOVA for repeated-measures. Participants were 68 first grade students (36 females and 32 males) from two Midwestern elementary schools. No selection criteria other than parental consent were used. The DORF probes were given in a pseudo-counterbalanced order across four days at the end of the school year to avoid instruction and practice effects. The standard error of measurement (SEM) of the twenty first grade DORF progress monitoring probes was calculated using alternate form reliability coefficients. Results suggested that the equivalence assumption of the first grade DORF was not held. Most of the probes were significantly different in their difficulty level from each other and did not yield consistent mean levels of performance. The findings also suggested a significant magnitude of score fluctuation at the individual student level. The average SEM value was about 9 (ranging from 8 to 10), similar to previous research findings using test-retest reliability for calculation. Limitations, educational implications for CBM ORF users and researchers, and directions for future research are presented.