Examinando por Autor "Rodas, P.I."

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    Differential antifungal activity of human and cryptococcal melanins with structural discrepancies
    (Frontiers Media, 2017-07) Correa, N.; Covarrubias, C.; Rodas, P.I.; Hermosilla, G.; Olate, V.R.; Valdés, C.; Meyer, W.; Magne, F.; Tapia, C.V.
    Melanin is a pigment found in all biological kingdoms, and plays a key role in protection against ultraviolet radiation, oxidizing agents, and ionizing radiation damage. Melanin exerts an antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, and parasites. We demonstrated an antifungal activity of synthetic and human melanin against Candida sp. The members of the Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii species complexes are capsulated yeasts, which cause cryptococcosis. For both species melanin is an important virulence factor. To evaluate if cryptococcal and human melanins have antifungal activity against Cryptococcus species they both were assayed for their antifungal properties and physico-chemical characters. Melanin extracts from human hair and different strains of C. neoformans (n = 4) and C. gattii (n = 4) were investigated. The following minimum inhibitory concentrations were found for different melanins against C. neoformans and C. gattii were (average/range): 13.7/(7.8-15.6) and 19.5/(15.6-31.2) μg/mL, respectively, for human melanin; 273.4/(125- > 500) and 367.2/(125.5- > 500) μg/mL for C. neoformans melanin and 125/(62.5-250) and 156.2/(62-250) μg/mL for C. gattii melanin. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy we observed that human melanin showed a compact conformation and cryptococcal melanins exposed an amorphous conformation. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed some differences in the signals related to C-C bonds of the aromatic ring of the melanin monomers. High Performance Liquid Chromatography established differences in the chromatograms of fungal melanins extracts in comparison with human and synthetic melanin, particularly in the retention time of the main compound of fungal melanin extracts and also in the presence of minor unknown compounds. On the other hand, MALDI-TOF-MS analysis showed slight differences in the spectra, specifically the presence of a minor intensity ion in synthetic and human melanin, as well as in some fungal melanin extracts. We conclude that human melanin is more active than the two fungal melanins against Cryptococcus. Although some physico-chemical differences were found, they do not explain the differences in the antifungal activity against Cryptococcus of human and cryptococcal melanins. More detailed studies on the structure should be considered to associate structure and antifungal activity.
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    Neisseria gonorrhoeae challenge increases matrix metalloproteinase-8 expression in fallopian tube explants
    (Frontiers Media, 2017-09) Juica, N.E.; Rodas, P.I.; Solar, P.; Borda, P.; Vargas, R.; Muñoz, C.; Paredes, R.; Christodoulides, M.; Velasquez, L.A.
    Background: Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo) is the etiological agent of gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted infection that initially infects the female lower genital tract. In untreated women, the bacteria can ascend to the upper genital reproductive tract and infect the fallopian tube (FTs), which is associated with salpingitis and can lead to impaired FT function and infertility. The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in cell migration and differentiation in the female genital tract, and some pathogens modify the ECM to establish successful infections. The ECM is regulated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), their endogenous inhibitors; MMP deregulation causes pathological conditions in a variety of tissues. Results: The aim of this work was to analyze the expression and localization of MMP-3, MMP-8, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 in FT explants during Ngo infection using real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, zymography and ELISA. No significant variations in MMP-3, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 transcript levels were observed. In contrast, a significant increase (p < 0.05) was observed for MMP-8 expression and was accompanied by stromal immunoreactivity in infected explants. ELISA results supported these findings and showed that MMP-8 release increased upon gonococcal infection. Conclusions: Our results indicate that gonococcal infection induces increased MMP-8 expression, which might contribute to FT damage during infection. © 2017 Juica, Rodas, Solar, Borda, Vargas, Muñoz, Paredes, Christodoulides and Velasquez.
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    Ítem
    Salmonella Typhimurium exhibits fluoroquinolone resistance mediated by the accumulation of the antioxidant molecule H2S in a CysK-dependent manner
    (Oxford University Press, 2016) Frávega, J.; Álvarez, R.; Díaz, F.; Inostroza, O.; Tejías, C.; Rodas, P.I.; Paredes-Sabja, D.; Fuentes, J.A.; Calderón, I.L.; Gil, F.
    Objectives To evaluate the contribution of cysK and cysM to the fluoroquinolone (ofloxacin) antibiotic resistance in Salmonella Typhimurium, and their impact on H2S and cysteine production through targeted mutagenesis. Methods Salmonella Typhimurium 14028s and its cysK and cysM mutants were tested for their susceptibility to ofloxacin, as determined by a broth microdilution test (to determine the MIC) and survival curves. H2S levels were measured by the Pb(AC)2 method and cysteine levels were determined using 5,5-dithio-bis-2-nitrobenzoic acid. DNA damage induced by antibiotic treatment was determined by PFGE. Finally, expression of cysK and cysM genes under antibiotic treatment was determined by real-time reverse transcription PCR. Results As determined by MIC, the ΔcysK strain was more resistant to ofloxacin, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-producing fluoroquinolone, than the WT and ΔcysM strains, which correlates with survival curves. Moreover, the ΔcysK strain exhibited higher H2S levels and lower cysteine levels than the WT strain. Finally, the ΔcysK strain exhibited lower DNA damage upon challenge with ofloxacin than the WT and ΔcysM strains. These results are in accordance with lower expression of cysK under ofloxacin treatment in the WT strain. Conclusions This work demonstrated that cysteine metabolism in Salmonella Typhimurium modulated H2S levels, conferring resistance to second-generation fluoroquinolones.