ABSTRACT
A integridade e a conduta responsável na pesquisa são essenciais para manter a excelência científica bem como a confiança pública na ciência. As instituições de ensino e pesquisa têm o dever de promover e monitorar a conduta responsável na pesquisa. Nas últimas décadas, muitas universidades e instituições de ensino e pesquisa, sociedades científicas e autoridades nacionais desenvolveram leis, regulamentos, guias e procedimentos específicos para direcionar ações no combate às más condutas. Além dos danos particulares causados aos autores, principalmente nos aspectos emocional e profissional, as más condutas científicas atingem diretamente a reputação, o prestígio e o nome das instituições envolvidas. O Instituto Adolfo Lutz considera essa temática de extrema relevância, e todo o trabalho de pesquisa referente ao estudo sobre integridade na pesquisa científica assim como as propostas de atuação institucional na promoção de uma cultura de integridade científica são relatados neste artigo. (AU)
Integrity and responsible conduct in research are essential to maintaining scientific excellence as well as public trust in science. Educational and research institutions have a duty to promote and monitor responsible conduct in research. In recent decades, many universities, educational and research institutions, scientific societies and national authorities have developed specific laws, regulations, guidelines and and procedures to direct actions to combat misconduct. In addition to particular damage caused to authors, mainly at an emotional and professional level, scientific misconduct directly affects reputation, prestige and name of the institutions involved. Adolfo Lutz Institute considers this topic extremely relevant and all the research work related to the study of integrity in scientific research as well as the proposals for institutional action in promoting a culture of scientific integrity are reported in this article. (AU)
Subject(s)
Plagiarism , Scientific Misconduct , Scientific Integrity Review , Academies and InstitutesABSTRACT
Malaria is still a major health problem in developing countries. It is caused by the protist parasite Plasmodium, in which proteases are activated during the cell cycle. Ca(2+) is a ubiquitous signalling ion that appears to regulate protease activity through changes in its intracellular concentration. Proteases are crucial to Plasmodium development, but the role of Ca(2+) in their activity is not fully understood. Here we investigated the role of Ca(2+) in protease modulation among rodent Plasmodium spp. Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) peptides, we verified protease activity elicited by Ca(2+) from the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) after stimulation with thapsigargin (a sarco/endoplasmatic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) inhibitor) and from acidic compartments by stimulation with nigericin (a K(+)/H(+) exchanger) or monensin (a Na(+)/H(+) exchanger). Intracellular (BAPTA/AM) and extracellular (EGTA) Ca(2+) chelators were used to investigate the role played by Ca(2+) in protease activation. In Plasmodium berghei both EGTA and BAPTA blocked protease activation, whilst in Plasmodium yoelii these compounds caused protease activation. The effects of protease inhibitors on thapsigargin-induced proteolysis also differed between the species. Pepstatin A and phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride (PMSF) increased thapsigargin-induced proteolysis in P. berghei but decreased it in P. yoelii. Conversely, E64 reduced proteolysis in P. berghei but stimulated it in P. yoelii. The data point out key differences in proteolytic responses to Ca(2+) between species of Plasmodium.
