Caracterização de marcadores de virulência em Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. / Characterization of markers of virulence in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

24/06/2009

RESUMO

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a human systemic granulomatous disease, prevalent in South America, caused by a thermodimorphic fungus, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. This fungus presents complex antigenic structure and some of these components have been related with its pathogenicity, of which little is known. The virulence recovery of isolates by passage in vivo was performed in our laboratory. Attenuated and virulent Pb18 isolates were analyzed from various angles to confirm this change. The results of the survival curve, the number of CFUs and histology, showed clear differences in pathogenicity pattern of these isolates. Other features were also evaluated as morphology, growth curve and cell ultrastructure. Analysis of differential gene expression profile showed positive regulation genes related to metabolisms of proteins, lipids and amino acids. Some molecules, previously described as putative virulence factors, were positive regulated, among which calmodulin, kex-like protein and Hsp70. However, the number of defined virulence factors for dimorphic fungal pathogens, up to now, is relatively small. Several techniques have unsuccessfully been employed to characterize these elusive antigenic structures. Using phage display methodology, three peptide-displaying phages that bound preferentially to virulent isolates of P. brasiliensis were selected. By binding assay, p04 phage distinguished predefined degrees of virulence of isolates. Using confocal microscopy, the homologue synthetic peptide (pep04), labeled with 6-FAM, was internalized by only virulent isolate yeast cells. Sequential optical section imaging indicated that the labeling was within the intracellular milieu and frequently close or overlapping DAPI staining. These results showed that both, phage p04 and pep04, can be considered as biomarkers of virulence in PCM since both bound to virulent P. brasiliensis. To evaluate the consequences of interactions between the biomarkers and fungal cells, in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed. The latter demonstrated that p04 phage was sufficient to prevent the implantation of the fungus in the lungs and its migration to spleen and liver. In addition, this phage reduced colony-forming units in the lungs of mice infected with P. brasiliensis as compared to controls. In vitro experiments showed that pep04 exhibited fungicidal activity only against virulent P. brasiliensis, leaving unaltered the growth of the attenuated isolate. Therefore, these biomarkers may be useful tools for prognosis in PCM and may be possibly used in the routine clinical practice as therapeutic drug adjuvants.

ASSUNTO(S)

1. paracoccidiodes brasiliensis 2. virulência 3. peptídeos 4. phage display 5. biomarcador microbiologia 1. paracoccidiodes brasiliensis 2. phage display

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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