ABSTRACT
This year, a respiratory virus caused an emergency pandemic alert in health services around the world, showing the need for biotechnological approaches to fight these diseases. The influenza virus is one of the main viral agents that generate pandemic outbreaks. Currently, the majority of co-circulating influenza A virus (IAV) strains are adamantine- and oseltamivir-resistant strains, and the challenge is to find new antivirals for more efficient treatments. The antiviral entry blocker (EB) peptide is a promising candidate for blocking the virus entry into cells. The aim of this research was to express the EB peptide in the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and test its antiviral activity against IAV in vitro. The EB peptide nucleotide sequence was introduced into the nuclear genome of microalgae using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. The EB peptide amount produced in transformed microalgae was 4.99 ± 0.067% of the total soluble protein. In hemagglutination inhibition assays using influenza A/H1N1 pdm and influenza A H1N1/Virginia/ATCC/2009 strains, we reported that the EB peptide extract from the microalgae showed 100-fold higher efficiency than the EB synthetic peptide. In addition, both the EB peptide extract and synthetic peptide inhibited viral replication in MDCK cells (IC50 = 20.7 nM and IC50 = 754.4 nM, respectively); however, the EB peptide extract showed a 32-fold higher antiviral effectiveness than the synthetic peptide against influenza A/H1N1 pdm. Extracts from untransformed and transformed microalgae and synthetic peptide did not show cytotoxic effect on MDCK cell monolayers. Thus, C. reinhardtii may be a fast, safe, and effective expression platform for production of peptides with significant antiviral activity and can be used as a prophylactic treatment to reduce viral propagation.
ABSTRACT
Objetivo. Estimar la prevalencia de parásitos potencialmente zoonóticos en heces caninas de Puerto Escondido. Material y métodos. La ciudad se dividió en diez zonas de estudio y éstas se categorizaron en hábitats natural, urbano y suburbano. Se colectaron muestras fecales caninas del piso. Se recuperaron los parásitos por medio de técnicas coproparasitológicas de flotación y frotis directo para su observación microscópica y posterior identificación. Se estimó la prevalencia parasitaria en las heces caninas. Resultados. Todas las zonas presentaron fecalismo canino. La prevalencia parasitaria fue de 73.33%. Los parásitos con mayor prevalencia fueron Toxocara canis (47.78%), Ancylostoma caninum (17.88%) y Dipylidium caninum (13.89%). Conclusión. El fecalismo canino proviene de perros errantes y con dueño. Del total de parásitos encontrados, 66.66% son zoonóticos. Los factores que favorecen la problemática son el hábitat suburbano, el manejo indeseable de la basura y la tenencia irresponsable de los cánidos.
Objective. To estimate the zoonotic parasites prevalence in feral dog feces in Puerto Escondido. Material and methods. The fecalism frecuency was estimated in ten zones. To identify the parasites parasitological flotation and direct smear methods were used. The parasitic prevalence was estimated in the canine feces. Results. All the zones presented canine fecalism. The parasitic prevalence in the feces was 73.33%. The parasites with the highest prevalence were Toxocara canis (47.78%), Ancylostoma caninum (17.88%), and Dipylidium caninum (13.89%). Conclusion. Canine fecalism comes from strayed and owned dogs. 66.66% of the parasites found in the dog feces are zoonotics. The factors associated to this problem are the suburban habitat, waste mishandling and nil tenure of stray dogs.
Subject(s)
Penicillin Amidase/chemistry , Bacterial Proteins/chemistry , Escherichia coli/enzymology , Hot Temperature , Kinetics , Phenylacetates/chemistry , Protein DenaturationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the zoonotic parasites prevalence in feral dog feces in Puerto Escondido. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The fecalism frecuency was estimated in ten zones. To identify the parasites parasitological flotation and direct smear methods were used. The parasitic prevalence was estimated in the canine feces. RESULTS: All the zones presented canine fecalism. The parasitic prevalence in the feces was 73.33%. The parasites with the highest prevalence were Toxocara canis (47.78%), Ancylostoma caninum (17.88%), and Dipylidium caninum (13.89%). CONCLUSION: Canine fecalism comes from strayed and owned dogs. 66.66% of the parasites found in the dog feces are zoonotics. The factors associated to this problem are the suburban habitat, waste mishandling and nil tenure of stray dogs.
