Avanços sobre o Zika vírus pós-pandemia: uma revisão de literatura / Advances on the post-pandemic Zika virus: a literature review

Introdução: A infecção emergente pelo Zika vírus (ZIKV) tornou-se uma ameaça à saúde global devido à associação com anormalidades neurológicas graves: a síndrome de Guillain-Barré (SGB) em adultos e a síndrome congênita do Zika vírus (SCZ) em neonatos. O presente trabalho tem como intuito descrever os avanços sobre esta infecção relacionados aos aspectos epidemiológicos, clínicos, diagnóstico, prevenção e tratamento. Revisão da Literatura: Realizou-se uma revisão literária por meio de buscas bibliográficas nas bases de dados online LILACS, MEDLINE, Scopus e Web of Science, utilizando os descritores "Zika Virus", "Guillain-Barre Syndrome", "Zika Virus Infection", "Microcephaly", e "Congenital abnormalities", enfatizando os estudos realizados após o surto 2015- 2016 no Brasil. Discussão: O ZIKV já circulava no Brasil em 2013, um ano antes do que foi sugerido durante o surto. O teste molecular RT-PCR é o primeiro procedimento para a confirmação da doença, seguido pelo ensaio sorológico MACELISA. Embora a SCZ apresente achados neurológicos não patognomônicos nos fetos, exames radiológicos revelaram anormalidades mais comumente encontradas, destacando a microcefalia com padrão singular de "gaveta". Até o momento, não existem tratamentos antivirais e as vacinas não demonstram ser uma alternativa conveniente. Os alvos candidatos para o desenvolvimento destes medicamentos são as proteínas flavivirais NS1 e NS5, e a protease NS2B-NS3. Conclusão: Estes aspectos discutidos apontam a necessidade da criação de medicamentos antivirais e contribuem para o desenvolvimento de protocolos eficientes tanto no combate a novos surtos, como ao diagnóstico voltado a detecção do ZIKV e achados neurológicos da SCZ, possibilitando um tratamento mais eficaz ao paciente.

Introduction: The emerging Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has become a threat to global health due to the association with severe neurological abnormalities, being Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in adults, and the congenital Zika virus syndrome (SCZ) in neonates. The present work aims to describe the advances in this infection, which refer to epidemiological, clinical, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment aspects. Literature Review: A literary review was carried out through bibliographic searches in the online databases LILACS, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science, using the descriptors "Zika Virus", "Guillain-Barre Syndrome", "Zika Virus Infection", "Microcephaly", and "Congenital abnormalities", emphasizing the studies carried out after the outbreak in Brazil (2015-2016). Discussion: The ZIKV was already circulating in Brazil in 2013, one year before what was suggested during the outbreak. The first procedure for confirming the disease is through the RT-PCR molecular test, followed by the MAC-ELISA serological test. Although SCZ presents non-pathognomonic neurological findings, radiological exams revealed abnormalities most found in fetuses with the syndrome, highlighting microcephaly due to the unique "drawer" pattern. There is no antiviral treatment, and vaccines have not proved to be a convenient alternative. Candidate targets for the development of these drugs are the flaviviral proteins NS1 and NS5, and the protease NS2B-NS3. Conclusion: These aspects discussed point to the need for the creation of antiviral drugs and contribute to the development of efficient protocols both to combat new outbreaks, as well as to the diagnosis aimed at the detection of ZIKV and neurological findings of SCZ, enabling a more effective treatment for the patient.

Study of comparative proteome between normal and inverted karyotypes of human mesenchymal stem cells

Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells have been expanded in vitro for cellular therapy in numerous clinical settings without standardized culture conditions or quality-control schemes. The in vitro expansion is necessary to obtain sufficient cells for clinical applications. However, the expansion may induce genetic and functional abnormalities which may affect the safety and functionality of MSC, especially the chromosomal stability. This study aimed to investigate the protein profile of umbilical cord-derived MSC with normal and inverted karyotypes after expansion in the laboratory. Mass spectrometry analysis was performed and the Bradford method, Scaffold software, String and Cytoscape databases were employed to measure and characterize the protein content of umbilical cord-derived MSC. Networks of protein interactions, hub and bottleneck proteins were identified by proteomics and systems biology approaches. We found that proteins related to cellular stress were super expressed in inverted karyotype cells. Moreover, a high expression of Serpine 1, RHOA, and CTSB was found in these cells, which are proteins related to cancer. The albumin and ubiquitin proteins have been associated with a positive prognosis in cancer and cellular stress, and were up- and down-regulated in normal karyotype cells, respectively. The results suggests that the paracentric inversion inv(3)(p25p13) induced some type of cellular stress and genetic instability in human mesenchymal stem cells. These analyses showed the importance of carrying out studies related to the genetic instability of human mesenchymal stem cells using the protein expression profile as a parameter.