Bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase A, EC 3.1.27.5) has been extensively studied from the structural, mechanistic and functional points of view. Within the protein folding context, it constitutes a good model of study although a rather complicated one due to the presence in the native state of four disulphide bonds and the existence of two X-proline peptide bonds in cis conformation. Most of these studies has focused on the alteration of cysteine or proline residues to study, from a kinetic point of view, the formation of the disulphide bonds or the characterization of the species present in the heterogeneous non-reduced unfolded state, respectively. In these work we have used site-directed mutagenesis to change the characteristics of a postulated chain folding initiation site (CFIS) in RNase A / La ribonucleasa A de pàncrees boví (RNasa A, EC 3.1.27.5) ha estat extensament estudiada des de punts de vista estructurals, mecanístics i funcionals. Dins del marc del plegament proteic, la RNasa A ha estat un bon model per als estudis de plegament/desplegament proteic, malgrat que força complicat a causa de la presència en l'estat natiu de quatre enllaços disulfur i l’existència de dos enllaços peptídics X-prolina en conformació cis. La major part d'aquests estudis s'han centrat en l'alteració de residus de cisteïna o de prolina per estudiar, des d'un punt de vista cinètic, la formació dels enllaços disulfur o la caracterització de les espècies presents en l'heterogeni estat desplegat de la proteïna amb els enllaços disulfur intactes, respectivament. En aquest treball hem utilitzat la mutagènesi dirigida per oligonucleòtid per canviar les característiques d'una regió de la RNasa A postulada com a iniciadora del plegament

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study aimed to evaluate the performance profile, digestive enzymes and metabolic effects of silver catfishes (Rhamdia quelen) in response to the partial substitution of protein source for animal protein (PB) of linseed meal in nature (FL) and demucilaged (FLD). Two hundred and forty juvenile catfish (average initial weight of 14.49 ± 1.85 g and length averaging 11.74 ± 0.61 cm) were randomly assigned to 12 cases of propylene with a working volume of 280 liters (20 fish / box) in a water recirculation system for a period of 51 days supply. During the experimental period, the water quality parameters remained within the optimum for this species. The treatments were: control diet; 17% FL (17% replacement of animal PB by PB of FL); 17%FLD (17% replacement of animal PB by PB of FLD) and 35% FLD (35 % substitution of animal PB by PB of FLD), each treatment consisted of three repetitions. The animals were fed three times daily to apparent satiation. Every 28 days samples were collected to monitor the growth. During the experimental period, growth variables (weight, total and standard length, total biomass, daily weight gain, condition factor, specific growth rate, feed conversion) and parameters of carcass (carcass yield, digestivossomático index, hepatosomatic, quotient intestinal and deposition of protein and fat) were evaluated. In addition, we determined: chemical composition (moisture, ash, fat and protein) in whole fish, blood parameters (glucose, total triglycerides, total cholesterol and total protein) in liver tissue ( glycogen, glucose, protein, free amino acids, ammonia and lactate). Activities of enzymes acid protease, amylase, trypsin and quymotripsin were also measured. The fish fed the control diet had lower levels of feed conversion (p <0.05). However, the rest of the growth parameters were not altered by the inclusion of FL and FLD. Diet 35%FLD had lower QI, moisture content, higher content of carcass fat and total fat deposited and activity of the enzyme trypsin. The blood level of triglycerides, albumin and total protein did not differ among treatments, but higher cholesterol levels (178,72 ± 10,71) and plasma glucose (62,71 ± 5,16) were found in 35%FLD treatment. The liver parameters were not affected by treatments. The composition of linseed meal after the process of demucilagen concentrated PB content and decreases to half the content of soluble fiber. Therefore, it is suggested that the FLD and FL can be used to compose part of silver catfish feed as an alternative source and cost. / Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o desempenho produtivo, perfil de enzimas digestivas e efeitos metabólicos de jundiás (Rhamdia quelen) em resposta à substituição parcial da fonte proteica de origem animal pela proteína bruta (PB) dos farelos de linhaça in natura (FL) e demucilada (FLD). Duzentos e quarenta juvenis de jundiá (peso médio inicial de 14,49±1,85g e comprimento médio inicial de 11,74±0,61 cm) foram distribuídos ao acaso em 12 caixas de propileno com volume útil de 280 litros (20 peixes/caixa) em um sistema de recirculação de água por um período de sete semanas de alimentação. Durante o período experimental os parâmetros de qualidade da água mantiveram-se dentro do ideal para esta espécie. Os tratamentos avaliados foram: dieta controle; 17%FL (17% substituição da PB de origem animal pela PB do FL); 17% FLD: (17% substituição da PB de origem animal pela PB do FLD) e 35%FLD: (35% de substituição da PB de origem animal pela PB do FLD), cada tratamento consistiu de três repetições. Os animais foram alimentados três vezes ao dia, até a saciedade aparente. A cada 28 dias, foram realizadas biometrias para acompanhamento do crescimento. Durante o período experimental, foram avaliados: variáveis de crescimento (peso, comprimento total e padrão, biomassa total, ganho em peso diário, fator de condição, taxa de crescimento específico, conversão alimentar aparente) e parâmetros de carcaça (rendimento de carcaça, índices digestivossomático, hepatossomático, quociente intestinal e deposições de proteína e gordura corporal). Além disso, foram determinados: composição centesimal (umidade, cinzas, gordura e proteína) no peixe inteiro; parâmetros sangüíneos (glicose, triglicerídeos totais, colesterol total e proteínas totais) e no tecido hepático, foram determinados glicogênio, glicose, proteínas, aminoácidos livres, amônia e lactato. Também foram aferidas as atividades das enzimas protease ácida, amilase, tripsina e quimiotripsina. Os peixes alimentados com a dieta controle apresentaram menores valores de conversão alimentar (p<0,05), no entanto, o restante dos parâmetros de crescimento não foram alterados pela inclusão dos FL e FLD. A dieta 35%FLD apresentou menor QI, teor de umidade, maior teor de gordura da carcaça e gordura total depositada e atividade da enzima tripsina. Os parâmetros sanguíneos de triglicerídeos, albumina e proteínas totais não diferiram estatisticamente entre si, todavia maiores níveis de colesterol (178,72±10,71) e glicose plasmática (62,71±5,16) foram encontrados no tratamento 35%FLD. Os parâmetros hepáticos não foram afetados pelos tratamentos. A composição do farelo de linhaça após o processo de demucilagem concentrou o teor de PB e diminuiu à metade o conteúdo de fibra solúvel. Sendo assim, sugere-se que o FL e o FLD podem ser usados parcialmente para compor a ração de jundiás como fonte alternativa econômica.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:30:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 1012402 bytes, checksum: e93e297eb37b3a24f8504893d77af531 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-07-28 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Protease inhibitors can reduce the digestive efficiency, to delay the development and to diminish the insect proteolytic activity resulting in increase of mortality through deficiency of free amino acids for maintenance of vital functions. The subject of this work were to evaluate if A. gemmatalis larvae feeding in artificial diets containing increasing concentrations of synthetic trypsin inhibitor bisbenzamidine affects negatively the insect performance, reduce the alimentary consumption, the digestibility, the assimilation efficiency of the food ingested and digested, the insect proteolytic activity and protein digestibility. To test these hypotheses were realized bioassays with individualized caterpillars and supplied daily with diets containing 0; 0,00095; 0,0019; 0,0038; 0,0076; 0,0152; 0,0304; 0,0608; 0,0912; 0,125 e 0,25% (w/w) of berenil during the entire larval phase. The digestion indices, the duration of larval phase and life cycle, the accumulated survival and the average of time survival, the pupae and adults weight, the body and wings of the adults moths were determined. Additionally, were evaluated the protein digestibility and the enzymatic activity of midgut extracts of A. gemmatalis exposed to berenil in diet, in the same concentrations above. All parameters assessed of life history were negatively affected with the increase of inhibitors in diet. Were verified an increase in the larval phase and life cycle duration, reduction in the pupae weight and body and wings length. There was reduction in the incorporated biomass and the relative growth rate. Otherwise, there were increases in ingestion, approximated digestion, and relative diet consumption rate and in the ingestion and excretion balance. The diet individual consumption increased until the 0.0076% of berenil, diminished with the increase of inhibitor concentration. The protein digestibility was directly proportional to berenil concentration while the proteolytic, amidolytic and esterolytic activities diminished with the increasing of inhibitor concentration. Therefore, albeit the berenil mixed in increasing concentrations in diet affects negatively in all life history parameters of insect, the caterpillars improve the diet intake. However, even so the total digestibility and the protein digestibility increase in higher inhibitor concentrations, the insect show lower enzymatic activity and, consequently, reduction in the efficiency in assimilation of ingested and digested food, indicating that the insect did not show adaptative mechanisms to prevent the inhibition of tripsina-like enzymes existents in your digestive tract. Thus, the berenil is a promising strategy to new studies with the subject of to synthesis mimicry peptides to apply in the field to control A. gemmatalis caterpillars in the soybean crops. / Inibidores de proteases podem reduzir a eficiência digestiva, retardar o desenvolvimento e diminuir a atividade proteolítica do inseto, resultando em aumento da mortalidade pela deficiência de aminoácidos livres para a manutenção das funções vitais. Este trabalho teve por objetivos avaliar se concentrações crescentes do inibidor sintético de serino- proteases, berenil, presente na dieta de A. gemmatalis afeta negativamente a performance do inseto, reduz o consumo alimentar, a digestibilidade e a eficiência na assimilação do alimento ingerido e digerido, reduz a atividade proteolítica e tríptica do inseto e reduz sua digestibilidade protéica. Para testar essa hipótese foram realizados bioensaios com lagartas individualizadas e alimentadas diariamente em dietas contendo 0; 0,00095; 0,0019; 0,0038; 0,0076; 0,0152; 0,0304; 0,0608; 0,0912; 0,125 e 0,25% (p/p) de berenil durante toda a fase larval. Foram determinados os índices digestórios, a duração do ciclo de vida e da fase larval, a sobrevivência acumulada e o tempo médio de vida, o peso das pupas e dos adultos, o tamanho corporal e das asas das mariposas adultas. Adicionalmente, foram avaliadas a digestibilidade protéica e a atividade enzimática de extratos do intestino médio de A. gemmatalis submetidas ao berenil na dieta, nas concentrações determinadas acima. Todos os parâmetros avaliados da história de vida do inseto foram afetados negativamente com o aumento da concentração do inibidor na dieta. Foi verificado aumento na duração da fase larval e do ciclo de vida, diminuição no peso das pupas, adultos, tamanho dos adultos e comprimento das asas. Houve redução na biomassa incorporada e na taxa relativa de crescimento. Por outro lado, houve aumento na ingestão, digestibilidade aproximada, na taxa de consumo relativa da dieta e no balanço entre ingestão e excreção das fezes. O consumo individual total da dieta aumentou até a concentração de 0,0076% do inibidor na dieta, decrescendo com o aumento da concentração de inibidor. A digestibilidade protéica foi diretamente proporcional à concentração de berenil enquanto as atividades proteolítica, amidásica e esterásica diminuíram com o aumento da concentração do inibidor. Desse modo, embora a presença de berenil em concentrações crescentes na dieta interfira negativamente em todos os parâmetros da história de vida do inseto, as lagartas respondem aumentando a ingestão da dieta. Contudo, mesmo que a digestibilidade total e a digestibilidade protéica aumentem em concentrações maiores de inibidor, o inseto apresenta menor atividade enzimática e, conseqüentemente, baixa eficiência na assimilação do alimento ingerido e digerido, indicando que o inseto não demonstra mecanismos adaptativos para impedir a inibição das enzimas tripsina-like presentes em seu sistema digestivo. Nesse sentido, o berenil surge como estratégia promissora para novos estudos visando a síntese de peptídeos miméticos para aplicação no campo como forma de controle de A. gemmatalis nos cultivos de soja.

L’ostéoporose touche principalement les femmes après la ménopause, c’est une maladie caractérisée par une détérioration de la minéralisation et de la micro-architecture de l’os. L’objectif du travail de thèse présenté ici est d’identifier une fraction protéique laitière ayant un effet stimulant sur la formation osseuse. Une telle fraction, ajoutée dans un produit ou un complément alimentaire, pourrait contribuer à réduire la perte osseuse. La première étape du projet consiste à produire les fractions laitières. Des protéines laitières (caséine ou protéines sériques) ont été digérées par des enzymes puis filtrées pour les fractionner selon leur poids moléculaire. Les fractions obtenues ont ensuite été testées sur des cultures primaires de cellules osseuses. Certaines fractions protéiques laitières ont augmenté la prolifération et la différenciation des ostéoblastes. Parmi ces fractions actives, la fraction correspondant au rétentat d’une filtration sur un filtre à 10kDa d’un hydrolysat de caséine par de la chymotrypsine a été sélectionnée pour être testée sur animaux. Cette fraction a été nommée fraction CR10. Pour étudier l’activité du CR10 in vivo sur le métabolisme osseux, un modèle de souris sous restriction protéique est mis au point. Nos études démontrent que, lorsque le régime est basé sur des protéines de soja, le passage d’un régime contenant 20% de protéines à un régime contenant 6% de protéines induit une réduction de la formation osseuse. Le traitement des souris sous restriction protéique avec du CR10 n’a eu aucun effet, ce qui signifie que le CR10 n’arrive pas à exercer son activité anabolique in vivo. En revanche, si de la caséine est donnée à la place du soja ou si de la PTH est injectée aux souris, la formation osseuse est augmentée. Ces résultats suggèrent que la fraction CR10 n’est pas un bon candidat comme fraction anabolique. En revanche, l’effet positif de la caséine par rapport au soja pourrait être exploité lors de futures études visant à mettre au point une fraction caséique ostéoanabolique. / Osteoporosis is a disease mainly affecting women after menopause, characterized by a reduced bone mineralization and a deterioration of bone micro-architecture. The aim of this thesis is to identify a milk protein fraction able to stimulate bone formation. When added to a food product, this fraction could reduce bone loss. The first task of this project was to produce the milk protein fractions. Milk proteins (casein or whey proteins) were digested by enzymes and fractionated by filtration according to their molecular weight. The fractions obtained were then tested on primary cultures of bone cells. Some of the milk protein fractions tested were able to increase proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. Among these active fractions, the one obtained by digestion of casein by chymotrypsin followed by filtration through a 10 kDa filter have been selected to be tested on animals. This fraction is named CR10. To study the activity of CR10 in vivo, a protein-restricted mouse model has been developed. Our studies showed that a reduction of protein in the diet from 20% to 6% impaired bone formation when the diet was based on soy protein. When these protein-restricted mice ingested the CR10 fraction, no improvement of the BMD was reported, which means that the CR10 cannot exert its anabolic activity in vivo. However, if casein is given instead of soy or if PTH is injected to the mice, bone formation is increased. These results suggest that the CR10 is not a good candidate as an anabolic fraction. However, the positive effect of casein compared to soy could be exploited in future studies aimed at finding an osteoanabolic casein fraction.

Serina endopeptidases de insetos, principalmente tripsinas e quimotripsinas, estão envolvidas na digestão inicial de proteínas. Genes codificadores para estas enzimas estão organizados em famílias multigênicas tendo expressão diferencial de acordo com a dieta do inseto, estando envolvidos no desenvolvimento de resistência a diferentes metabólitos secundários vegetais. Para uma melhor compreensão desta interação, fez-se necessário o isolamento destas enzimas para insetos de diferentes ordens, bem como a caracterização de suas especificidades por duas abordagens: (a) caracterização cinética dos subsítios componentes do sítio de ligação de tripsinas e quimotripsinas, utilizando diferentes substratos, modificadores químicos e inibidores e (b) estudos estruturais por modelagem molecular, clonagem, expressão e cristalização destas enzimas de insetos. Além disso, estudos evolutivos por análise de distância possibilitaram uma caracterização inicial da interação insetoplanta. Estas determinações permitiram verificar que tripsinas de insetos apresentam diferenças de especificidade tanto dentre as diferentes ordens de insetos quanto em relação às tripsinas de vertebrados, sendo que as tripsinas da ordem Lepidóptera apresentam troca de especificidade primária hidrolisando preferencialmente substratos P1 Lys. Foram também observadas diferenças de hidrofobicidade para os subsítios caracterizados sendo que estes apresentam hidrofobicidades crescentes segundo o grau de complexidade dos insetos na sua escala evolutiva. A troca de especificidade e o aumento da hidrofobicidade podem permitir a hidrólise dos inibidores vegetais protéicos. A análise das sequências de tripsinas de insetos por Neighbor Joining (NJ) compõe uma árvore de distâncias topologicamente semelhante à árvore de relações filogenéticas determinadas por morfologia. A sobreposição de estruturas pré -determinadas de tripsina complexada a diferentes inibidores permite a identificação de posições de interação enzima-inibidor que justificam a classificação em grupos distintos de enzimas sensíveis ou resistentes a presença de inibidores na dieta de insetos. Da mesma forma: a caracterização da especificidade das quimotripsinas de insetos permitiu a separação de grupos distintos de quimotripsinas. Estes grupos são sustentados pela substituição do resíduo 59 em insetos polífagos que alimentam-se de plantas que contêm cetonas naturais reativas. Estas caracterizações demonstram a importância de um estudo detalhado da especificidade de serina endopeptidases possibilitando o desenho de moléculas apropriadas para inibição destas e desenvolvimento de estratégias de controle de insetos. / Insect serine endopeptidases, mairily trypsin and chymotrypsin are involved in initial protein digestion. Genes that encode these proteins are members of complex multigene families and are differentially expressed according to insects diet , thus being involved with resistance to plant metabolites. Purification of trypsins from different insect orders and chymotrypsins, as well as, characterization of their specificity are essential to a better understanding of this interaction. Characterization relied on two approaches: (a) kinetic characterization of the binding subsities of trypsins and chymotrypsins using different substrates, chemical modification and inhibition assays and (b) study of protein structure by molecular modelling and cloning, expression and crystallization of these enzymes. Besides that, evolutionary studies performed through distance analysis, permitted the investigation of plantinsect interaction. These characterizations showed that insect trypsins, in terms of specificity, are quite different from vertebrate trypsins and among insect orders. Lepidopterans trypsins have a distinct primary specificity, since they hydrolyses preferentially P1 Lys substrates, and present a crescent subsite hydrophobicity, which is directly correlated with the evolutionary scale. Both, the specificity exchange and the crescent hydrophobicity can allow the hydrolysis of vegetal proteic inhibitors. The analysis of trypsin sequences in Neighbor-Joining (NJ) algorithm yield a distance tree that is coherent with morphological phylogenetic relationships. The superposition of predicted structures of trypsins-inhibitors complexes permits to observe amino acid residues of interaction between enzyme-inhibitor, which support the distinction of different groups between sensitive and insensitive trypsins to the presence of inhibitors on insect diet. Similarly, characterization of insect chymotrypsins according to their specificity allowed us to classify these enzymes into different groups. These groups are supported by residue 59 replacements in polyphagous insects, which feed on plants bearing natural reactive ketones. These studies show the irnportance of a detailed study of serine endopeptidases, which may help in the development of better insect control strategies.

Tripsinas são enzimas comuns à maioria dos insetos e de fundamental importância para a digestão inicial de proteínas. Desta forma, tornam-se alvos importantes para orientar a construção de plantas transgênicas resistentes a insetos. As tripsinas são serina endopeptidases que clivam cadeias protéicas na porção carboxílica de resíduos de aminoácidos básicos como lisina e arginina, sendo que a hidrólise da ligação peptídica formada por um resíduo de arginina é de duas a dez vezes mais eficiente que a hidrólise da ligação peptídica formada por lisina. A purificação das tripsinas de insetos de diferentes ordens e o estudo da especificidade de seus subsítios utilizando substratos de fluorescência apagada servem de base para a seleção de um método mais eficiente de inibição da sua atividade, assim como para desvendar as tendências evolutivas da especificidade destas enzimas. O trabalho dessa dissertação levou ao desenvolvimento de processos de purificação das tripsinas de Periplaneta americana, Tenebrio molitor, Musca domestica e Diatraea saccharalis. O estudo da especificidade dos subsítios S1, S2, S3 e S1\' das tripsinas demonstraram que, diferentemente das tripsinas dos outros insetos e das tripsinas de mamíferos, a tripsina de Diatraea saccharalis hidrolisa com maior eficiência substratos que apresentem lisina em P1, demonstrando uma diferença na especificidade primária desta enzima. Além disso, é possível verificar ao longo da evolução dos grupos de insetos estudados uma tendência a tornar os subsítios cada vez mais hidrofóbicos. / Trypsins are serine endopeptidases that hydrolyze peptide bonds at the carboxyl side of positively charged residues: arginine and lysine. Mammalian trypsin preferentially cleaves the peptide bond formed by arginine. Site directed mutagenesis has shown that trypsin specificity is related to residues present at the primary specificity site and to structural determinants like two surface loops. Differences in trypsins specificity may be the cause of some insects be resistant to serine endopeptidases plant inhibitors and to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. Trypsins are usual enzymes in insects and are very important to protein digestion. There are few studies dealing with insect trypsin specificity. They generally consist in analyses of fragments formed by the action of the enzyme on peptide chains like insulin &#946; chain. As these studies were semi-quantitative, insect trypsin specificity requires a better characterization. This dissertation describes the purification of trypsins from Periplaneta americana, Tenebrio molitor, Musca domestica and Diatraea saccharalis and the characterization of the specificity of the subsites S1, S2, S3 e S1\' by the use of quenched fluorescence peptide substrates. The results showed that trypsins from the mentioned insects have different specificities, including the primary specificity. Thus, Diatraea saccharalis trypsin cleaves at Lys more efficiently than at Arg, whereas the eontrary is true for the other insects. The data also showed that trypsin subsites tend to beeome more hydrophobic as the insects are more evolved.

O mosquito Aedes aegypti é vetor de doenças como a febre amarela, dengue, chinkungunya e zika. O sistema digestório é responsável pela digestão e absorção de nutrientes, é também uma interface com o ambiente externo sendo a porta de entrada de organismos infecciosos. A presença de duas lipases digestivas foi confirmada por qPCR, uma na fase larval (L-Aa7051) e outra na fase adulta (L-Aa7055). Estas enzimas foram agrupadas na família das lipases neutras e apresentam alterações em resíduos envolvidos na especificidade, domínio tampa e alça &#946;9. A L-Aa7055 recombinante foi expressa heterologamente em Escherichia coli na porção insolúvel, com atividade após a renaturação. Observamos que a expressão da lipase L-Aa7055 sofre uma redução de 30% na infecção Plasmodium gallinaceum, não sendo afetada pelo vírus dengue sorotipo 2 (DENV2). A digestão de lipídeos é importante na fase larval, com altos níveis de transcrito. Um estudo mais aprofundado ainda será necessário para compreender completamente o papel das lipases no processo infeccioso. / The Aedes aegypti borne diseases yellow fever, dengue fever, chinkungunya and zica are important public healthy problems. The digestion and absorption of nutrients are performed in the digestive system, which is also an external environment interface that allows the infection by pathogenic microorganisms. The presence of two digestive lipases were identified by qPCR, L-Aa7051 in the larval phase and L-Aa7055 in the adult female. The lipase sequences were grouped in the neutral family, and exhibit alterations in residues involved in specificity, lid domain and &#946;9 loop. The recombinant L-Aa7055 was expressed in the insoluble fraction, and show activity after a renaturation process. We notice that the expression levels of L-Aa7055 are reduced by 30% in the Plasmodium gallinaceum infection and were not affected by serotype 2 dengue virus (DENV2). The lipid digestion is important in the larval phase, with higher transcript levels. New studies will be necessary to the complete understanding of lipase contribution in the infectious process.

O mosquito Aedes aegypti é vetor de doenças como a febre amarela, dengue, chinkungunya e zika. O sistema digestório é responsável pela digestão e absorção de nutrientes, é também uma interface com o ambiente externo sendo a porta de entrada de organismos infecciosos. A presença de duas lipases digestivas foi confirmada por qPCR, uma na fase larval (L-Aa7051) e outra na fase adulta (L-Aa7055). Estas enzimas foram agrupadas na família das lipases neutras e apresentam alterações em resíduos envolvidos na especificidade, domínio tampa e alça &#946;9. A L-Aa7055 recombinante foi expressa heterologamente em Escherichia coli na porção insolúvel, com atividade após a renaturação. Observamos que a expressão da lipase L-Aa7055 sofre uma redução de 30% na infecção Plasmodium gallinaceum, não sendo afetada pelo vírus dengue sorotipo 2 (DENV2). A digestão de lipídeos é importante na fase larval, com altos níveis de transcrito. Um estudo mais aprofundado ainda será necessário para compreender completamente o papel das lipases no processo infeccioso. / The Aedes aegypti borne diseases yellow fever, dengue fever, chinkungunya and zica are important public healthy problems. The digestion and absorption of nutrients are performed in the digestive system, which is also an external environment interface that allows the infection by pathogenic microorganisms. The presence of two digestive lipases were identified by qPCR, L-Aa7051 in the larval phase and L-Aa7055 in the adult female. The lipase sequences were grouped in the neutral family, and exhibit alterations in residues involved in specificity, lid domain and &#946;9 loop. The recombinant L-Aa7055 was expressed in the insoluble fraction, and show activity after a renaturation process. We notice that the expression levels of L-Aa7055 are reduced by 30% in the Plasmodium gallinaceum infection and were not affected by serotype 2 dengue virus (DENV2). The lipid digestion is important in the larval phase, with higher transcript levels. New studies will be necessary to the complete understanding of lipase contribution in the infectious process.

<p>In this study, structural specificity of flavonoids was investigated toselectively inhibit starch digestive enzymes to stimulate the ileal-brake by triggering glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) through distal small intestine starch digestion which can regulate food intake and appetite. The double bond between C2 and C3 on flavonoid’s chemical structure plays a critical role to inhibit human pancreatic α-amylase, leading to π-staking interaction. Meanwhile, the hydroxyl group at C3 on the backbone benzopyran ring is intimately related to inhibition of the mucosal α-glucosidases. This selective inhibition is likely the result of fundamental differences in the protein structures of α-amylase and α-glucosidases, as they belong to different glycosyl hydrolase Families 13 and 31 (GH13 and GH31). α-Amylase has the catalytic active siteslocated in wide and shallow grooves on the protein structure, while α-glucosidases possess the narrow and deep catalytic pocket. In an acute study done on mice, luteolin, which had thehigher degree of selectivity toward α-amylase, showed a slow and sustained postprandial glycemic response with a reduced blood glucose peak and extended high glucose profile, compared to 3’,4’-dihydroxylflavonol as the selective α-glucosidases specific inhibitor. Quercetin was inhibitory of both α-amylase and α-glucosidases.Glycemic profiles in mice confirmed in vitro analysis of the inhibitory selectivity of the flavonoids tested. Additionally, the extended glycemic response with luteolin was accompaniedthe higher secretion of GLP-1 at extended postprandial times by delivering more starch portion into the distal small intestine where the ileal-brake and gut-brain axis activation takes place. Overall, selective inhibition of α-amylase by flavonoids potentially could be considered as a key approach to control glucose release from starch with slow and extended, but still complete, digestion for improved glycemic response and minimized adverse side effects that result from severely restricting or even shutting down starch digestion by pharmaceutical grade inhibitors.<br></p>

Bibliography: pages 147-169. / Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens H17c is a gram-negative obligate anaerobic bacterium found in the rumen of most ruminants. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the enzymes produced by B. fibrisolvens H17c involved in the degradation of cellulose, xylan, and protein. A library of chromosomal DNA fragments from B. fibrisolvens H17c was established in the plasmid pEcoR251, an Escherichia coli positive selection vector. The library was screened for genes expressing cellulase, xylanase, and protease activity. Two genes expressing endo-β-1,4-glucanase and cellodextrinase activity were cloned in E. coli as host. The gene expressing endo-β-1,4-glucanase activity (end1) was cloned on a recombinant plasmid pES400. The end1 gene was located on a 6.8 kb DNA fragment and expressed from its own promoter in the E. coli host. It was shown that 64% of the endoglucanase activity was located in the periplasm of the E. coli host. TnphoA mutagenesis indicated the presence of a functional E. coli-like signal peptide. The nucleotide sequence of end1 was determined and the amino acid sequence (547 amino acids) deduced. The catalytic domain of End1 showed very good similarity to the catalytic domain of the Clostridium thermoceiium EGE endoglucanase. End1 also has a non-catalytic domain similar to the binding domains of the CenA and Cex cellulases from Ceilulomonas fimi The gene expressing cellodextrinase activity (ced1) was cloned on a recombinant plasmid pES500. This gene was located on a 3.55 kb fragment and was also expressed from its own promoter in the E. coli host. The Ced1 enzyme was also exported to the periplasm of the E. coli host, but did not contain a functional E. coli-like signal peptide. The nucleotide sequence was determined and the deduced amino acid sequence (547 residues) showed high similarity to the catalytic domain of the C. thermocellum EGD endoglucanase. The proteins of End1 and Ced1 showed no similarity. The End1 and Ced1 enzymes were characterized using a range of different substrates. The End1 enzyme showed optimal activity at pH 5.6 and 45°C. Optimal activity for the Ced1 enzyme was obtained at pH 6.6 and 50°C. The proteolytic activity of B. fibrisolvens H17c was characterized using gelatin-SD5-PAGE. Ten bands of protease activity with apparent molecular weights ranging between 42 000 and 101 000 were detected at different stages during the growth cycle. The effect of protease inhibitors indicated that all ten protease bands were serine proteases. Optimal activity was observed between pH 6.0 to 7.5 and at a temperature of 50°C. The proteolytic activity of B. fibrisolvens H17c varied depending on the type of carbohydrate substrate in the medium, and was positively correlated with the growth rate.