No description available.

Infections by human schistosomes, in particular Schistosoma mansoni, account for significant morbidity and mortality every year in tropical and sub-tropical areas. The eggs of the parasite induce pathological changes in the infected host; in chronic and heavy infections, these changes may lead to death. A well-designed anti-schistosomal vaccine, alone or in concert with existing control measures such as chemotherapy, may prove to be a safe, inexpensive and effective means of reducing the occurrence of severe disease and death in S. mansoni infection. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the syncytial layer containing the apical plasma membrane (APM) of S. mansoni in both the survival of the parasite in the mammalian host and as a potential source of immunogens which may be utilized as vaccine candidates. In this paper we present evidence for the protective capacity of several schistosomal antigen preparations, including a calcium binding protein of the APM, S. mansoni calpain (GenBnnk accession no. M74233). We have constructed and characterized expression of a recombinant baculovirus expressing the large subunit of S. mansoni calpain, Sm-p80. This recombinant Sm-p80 is recognized by IgA, IgM, IgG1, and IgG3 isotype antibodies found in S. mansoni-infected human sera and partially-purified recombinant Sm-p80 provided a 29-39% reduction in worm burden in immunized mice challenged with S. mansoni. Our data indicate that Sm-p80 may be a useful vaccine antigen for the reduction of the morbidity associated with S. mansoni infections of mammalian hosts.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T15:02:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreaFA_TESE.pdf: 1420174 bytes, checksum: c5656fd03fcd0a38acd22f419f0567c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-12 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / Societal concerns about environmental sustainability has lead to the development of ecologically-friendly alternatives to chemical insecticides for crop protection. One such alternative is biological pest control. In particular, baculoviruses are well suited as insect biopesticides due to their narrow host specificity and relative ease of propagation. In Brazil, the baculovirus Anticarsia gemmatalis nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV) is the main biological control agent employed for the soybean pest, Anticarsia gemmatalis. This baculovirus biopesticide is currently produced using caterpillars, but increasing market demand for the product has encouraged the development of an in vitro manufacturing process, which can be scaled up to much higher virus productivities. In this study, three wild-type AgMNPV isolates (AgMNPV-2D, AgMNPV-MP2 and AgMNPV-MP5) and a recombinant form (vAgEGT-LacZ) were characterised in terms of occlusion body (OB) production and infection kinetics, to enable future optimisation of the in vitro production process. These viruses were propagated using a Spodoptera frugiperda (IPLB-SF21) insect cell line grown in shaker-flask batch cultures. Among the virus isolates tested, AgMNPV-MP5 was found to be the best producer, yielding (5.3?0.85)x108 OB/mL after 8 days post infection. The characterisation of vAgEGT-LacZ propagation in suspension cell cultures has not been previously reported in the literature; hence it became the main focus for this thesis. In particular, it was carried out a study on the effect of the multiplicity of infection (MOI) on OB production. Five successive batches were performed getting a final production (8.9?1.42)x1014 occlusion bodies, considering that production is related for a bioreactor with final volume of 10m3. A low MOI associated with a fed-batch process for vAgEGT-LacZ production was found to support a 3-fold higher OB yield when compared to the default batch process (1.8x107 and 5.3x107 OB/mL, respectively). This yield is competitive with regards to the production process. / A preocupa??o da sociedade com o meio ambiente tem levado a buscar alternativas de substitui??o dos inseticidas qu?micos por outros produtos menos agressivos ao homem e ao ambiente. Assim, a utiliza??o de controle biol?gico contra pragas ? altamente desej?vel, pois reduz os riscos ambientais e p?blicos da utiliza??o de produtos qu?micos convencionais. Em particular, os v?rus do tipo baculov?rus s?o uma grande alternativa devido ? especificidade oferecida aos seus hospedeiros e a sua forma de propaga??o. No Brasil, o baculov?rus Anticarsia gemmatalis multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV) ? o principal agente de controle biol?gico da praga da soja Anticarsia gemmatalis. A crescente demanda deste bioinseticida tem estimulado o interesse no desenvolvimento de processos com base na produ??o in vitro de baculov?rus. Deste modo, poder? aumentar a oferta de v?rus, suprindo a necessidade do mercado deste bioinseticida para o controle de A. gemmatalis. Neste trabalho, estrat?gias de produ??o in vitro do baculov?rus selvagem AgMNPV e do seu recombinante vAgEGT?-LacZ, como influ?ncia do isolado, da cin?tica e do modo de opera??o, foram analisadas como alternativa para futura amplia??o de escala na produ??o deste bioinseticida viral. A produ??o em batelada de tr?s isolados selvagens do baculov?rus AgMNPV (AgMNPV-2D, AgMNPV-MP2 e AgMNPV-MP5) utilizando o cultivo em shaker, foi realizada com a finalidade de selecionar o melhor produtor de corpos de oclus?o a partir das infec??es em c?lulas de inseto Spodoptera frugiperda, linhagem IPLB-SF21 para avalia??o comparativa com recombinante vAgEGT?-LacZ. A sele??o identificou o isolado AgMNPVMP5 como melhor produtor de corpos de oclus?o de (5,30?0,85) x108 OB/mL em 8 dias de infec??o. A produ??o in vitro do vAgEGT?-LacZ foi foco principal deste trabalho, pois n?o h?, na literatura, a produ??o deste recombinante em sistemas de cultivo em suspens?o. Foi realizado estudo da multiplicidade de infec??o para identificar a quantidade de in?culo viral para o cultivo. A partir da?, foram realizadas cinco bateladas sucessivas obtendo-se (8,9?1,42)x1014 corpos de oclus?o para um volume final de 10m? de suspens?o de c?lulas infectadas. O aumento da produ??o de corpos de oclus?o obtidos a partir do vAgEGT?-LacZ foi analisado utilizando a estrat?gia de cultivo em batelada alimentada utilizando baixa multiplicidade de infec??o. Esta estrat?gia permitiu aumento de tr?s vezes na produ??o de corpos de oclus?o quando comparada ? produ??o em cultivos em batelada (5,3x107 e 1,8x107 OB/mL, respectivamente). E ainda, o baculov?rus recombinante vAgEGT?-LacZ mostrou-se competitivo em rela??o ao baculov?rus selvagem AgMNPV-MP5