In silico description of the adsorption of cell signaling pathway proteins ovalbumin, glutathione, LC3, TLR4, ASC PYCARD, PI3K and NF-Kß on 7.0 nm gold nanoparticles: obtaining their Lennard-Jones-like potentials through docking and molecular mechanics.

The impact of vaccination on the world's population is difficult to calculate. For developing different types of vaccines, adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to increase the magnitude and durability of the immune response and the effectiveness of the vaccine. This work explores the potential use of spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as adjuvants. Thus, we employed docking techniques and molecular mechanics to describe how a AuNP 7.0 nm in diameter interacts with cell signaling pathway proteins. Initially, we used X-ray crystallization data of the proteins ovalbumin, glutathione, LC3, TLR4, ASC PYCARD, PI3K, and NF-Kß to study the adsorption with an AuNP through molecular docking. Therefore, interaction energies were obtained for the AuNP complexes and individual proteins, as well as the AuNP and OVA complex (AuNP@OVA) with each cellular protein, respectively. Results showed that AuNPs had the highest affinity for OVA individually, followed by glutathione, ASC PYCARD domain, LC3, PI3K, NF-Kß, and TLR4. Furthermore, when evaluating the AuNP@OVA complex, glutathione showed a greater affinity with more potent interaction energy when compared to the other studied systems.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development / Consumo de tabaco parental e desenvolvimento infantil

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age.METHOD: One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood.RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND) and the child's language development quotient; r = -0.41, p = 0.005, r2 =0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107) = 5.51, p = 0.021, ?p2 = 0.05.CONCLUSION: Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development.

OBJETIVO: Analisar a relação entre o consumo de tabaco parental e a prevalência de distúrbios no desenvolvimento psicomotor em crianças entre os seis e os 22 meses.MÉTODO: Participaram do estudo 109 mães e pais e seus bebês. As circunstâncias sociodemográficas e clínicas foram avaliadas com recurso a questionários. O consumo de tabaco foi avaliado com o Teste de Fagerström para a Dependência Tabagística (Heatherton, Kozlowski, Frecker & Fagerström, 1991). O desenvolvimento infantil foi avaliado com a Escala do Desenvolvimento Psicomotor da Primeira Infância (Brunet & Lézine, 1951).RESULTADOS: Há uma correlação negativa significativa entre o fumo matinal (FTND) do pai e o quociente de desenvolvimento de linguagem da criança, r = -0,41, p = 0,005, r2 = 0,15. As crianças de mães sem dependência tabagística têm em média um quociente de desenvolvimento de linguagem superior às crianças de mães com dependência tabagística, F (1,107) = 5,51, p = 0,021, ?p2 = 0,05.CONCLUSÃO: O consumo de tabaco parental parece ter um efeito prejudicial para o desenvolvimento da criança.

Parental tobacco consumption and child development.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between parental tobacco consumption and the prevalence of psychomotor development disorders in children between 6 and 22 months of age. METHOD: One hundred and nine mothers, fathers, and their babies participated in the study. The sociodemographic and clinical conditions were assessed using questionnaires. Tobacco consumption was assessed using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Child development was evaluated using the Scale of Psychomotor Development in Early Childhood. RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between the father's morning smoking (FTND) and the child's language development quotient; r=-0.41, p=0.005, r(2)=0.15. The children of mothers without nicotine dependence had a higher mean language development quotient than children of mothers with nicotine dependence; F(1, 107)=5.51, p=0.021, ηp(2)=0.05. CONCLUSION: Parental smoking appears to have a detrimental effect on child development.

Indirect effects of oral tolerance improve wound healing in skin.

Tissue injury in adult mammalian skin frequently results in scarring while fetal mammalian skin heals with complete regeneration. Inflammatory reactions are among the factors thought to impair regeneration. Previous studies have shown that the injection of an immunologically tolerated protein blocks immune responses to unrelated antigens and is also able to inhibit inflammation in mice. This phenomenon, which we refer to as the indirect effects of oral tolerance, does not require the simultaneous injection of the tolerated antigen and the second antigen, and also occurs when the two antigens are given by separate routes of immunization. Herein, we investigated whether the i.p. injection of an orally tolerated antigen (ovalbumin, OVA) would inhibit inflammatory reactions at an incisional lesion and influence healing of adult mouse skin. In OVA-tolerant mice, the injection of OVA minutes before wounding altered inflammation: it reduced the numbers of mast cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes but increased the number of macrophages around the lesion area. Tolerant mice also showed fewer myofibroblasts and reduced scar area. Furthermore, tolerant mice displayed a pattern of extracellular matrix deposition similar to that observed in intact skin, plus characteristics of regeneration, such as an increased deposition of fibronectin and tenascin-C. These observations suggest that the indirect effects of oral tolerance can alter the process of wound healing in skin and reduce scar formation.