Liquid Chromatographic and Mass Spectrometric Methods for Quantitative Proteomic Analysis from Single-Cell and Nanogram-Level Samples.

Liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) are two critical components in proteomics. Advances in methods for both LC and MS have significantly enhanced protein identification and quantifications of limited amounts of proteins, particularly at the picogram-to-nanogram level of proteins. In this study, we explored various LC conditions and MS platforms to optimize protein identification and quantification using data-independent acquisition (DIA).

Ants manage polyol production to fight fungal antagonists.

The attinas, ants of the subtribe (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), colonize vast areas in the American continent. This impressive fitness depends on culturing mutualistic fungi in their "fungus gardens" to digest biomass. , a derived leafcutter attina, degrades plant biomass into polyols in their fungus gardens.

dia-PASEF Proteomics of Tumor and Stroma LMD Enriched from Archived HNSCC Samples.

We employed laser microdissection to selectively harvest histology-resolved tumors and stroma from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tissues. Peptide digests from the LMD-enriched HNSCC tissue were analyzed by quantitative mass-spectrometry-based proteomics using a data independent analysis approach. In paired samples, excellent proteome coverage was achieved, having quantified 6668 proteins with a median quantitative coefficient of variation under 10%.

Chemical conspicuousness, ant organs, and specificity in myrmecophilous caterpillars partitioning ant-plant systems.

Resource partitioning among sympatric species is crucial for assembling ecological communities, such as caterpillar-ant assemblages in tropical forests. Myrmecophilous caterpillars use behavioral and chemical strategies to coexist with ants, avoiding attacks. While these strategies are well-understood in single pair of interacting species, such as those involving myrmecophiles and ants, their role in complex multitrophic interactions that include several species of plants, herbivores and ants remains unclear.

dia-PASEF Proteomics of Tumor and Stroma LMD Enriched from Archived HNSCC Samples.

We employed laser microdissection to selectively harvest tumor cells and stroma from the microenvironment of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tissues. The captured HNSCC tissue fractions were analyzed by quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics using a data independent analysis approach. In paired samples, we achieved excellent proteome coverage having quantified 6,668 proteins with a median quantitative coefficient of variation under 10%.

A novel palladium complex with a coumarin-thiosemicarbazone hybrid ligand inhibits Trypanosoma cruzi release from host cells and lowers the parasitemia in vivo.

In this work, two analogous coumarin-thio and semicarbazone hybrid compounds were prepared and evaluated as a potential antichagasic agents. Furthermore, palladium and platinum complexes with the thiosemicarbazone derivative as ligand (L1) were obtained in order to establish the effect of metal complexation on the antiparasitic activity. All compounds were fully characterized both in solution and in solid state including the resolution of the crystal structure of the palladium complex by X-ray diffraction methods.

Comparative site-specific N-glycoproteome analysis reveals aberrant N-glycosylation and gives insights into mannose-6-phosphate pathway in cancer.

N-glycosylation is implicated in cancers and aberrant N-glycosylation is recognized as a hallmark of cancer. Here, we mapped and compared the site-specific N-glycoproteomes of colon cancer HCT116 cells and isogenic non-tumorigenic DNMT1/3b double knockout (DKO1) cells using Fbs1-GYR N-glycopeptide enrichment technology and trapped ion mobility spectrometry. Many significant changes in site-specific N-glycosylation were revealed, providing a molecular basis for further elucidation of the role of N-glycosylation in protein function.

ATLANTIC ANTS: a data set of ants in Atlantic Forests of South America.

Ants, an ecologically successful and numerically dominant group of animals, play key ecological roles as soil engineers, predators, nutrient recyclers, and regulators of plant growth and reproduction in most terrestrial ecosystems. Further, ants are widely used as bioindicators of the ecological impact of land use. We gathered information of ant species in the Atlantic Forest of South America.

(Scorpion): From the Crude Venom to the Construction of Synthetic Peptides and Their Possible Therapeutic Application Against Infection.

Toxoplasmosis, caused by , is a major public concern owing to its neurotropic nature and high morbidity and mortality rates in immunocompromised patients and newborns. Current treatment for this disease is inefficient and produces side effects. Inflammatory mediators produced during infection (e.

Prognostic accuracy of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis of plasma in COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 infection poses a global health crisis. In parallel with the ongoing world effort to identify therapeutic solutions, there is a critical need for improvement in the prognosis of COVID-19. Here, we report plasma proteome fingerprinting that predict high (hospitalized) and low-risk (outpatients) cases of COVID-19 identified by a platform that combines machine learning with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry analysis.

Juvenile hormone affects age polyethism, ovarian status and cuticular hydrocarbon profile in workers of the wasp Polybia occidentalis.

Division of labor is one of the most striking features in the evolution of eusociality. Juvenile hormone (JH) mediates reproductive status and aggression among nestmates in primitively eusocial Hymenoptera (species without morphologically distinct castes). In highly social species it has apparently lost its gonadotropic role and primarily regulates the division of labor in the worker caste.

Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom as a potential drug source for Chagas' disease: Trypanocidal and immunomodulatory activity.

Current chemical therapies for Chagas Disease (CD) lack ability to clear Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc) parasites and cause severe side effects, making search for new strategies extremely necessary. We evaluated the action of Tityus serrulatus venom (TsV) components during Tc infection. TsV treatment increased nitric oxide and pro-inflammatory cytokine production by Tc-infected macrophages (MØ), decreased intracellular parasite replication and trypomastigotes release, also triggering ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and p38 activation.

Anti-urolithiatic and anti-inflammatory activities through a different mechanism of actions of Cissus gongylodes corroborated its ethnopharmacological historic.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Species Cissus gongylodes has been used in the traditional medicine in South America and India for the treatment of urolithiasis, biliary and inflammatory problems without any scientific evidence.

Aim Of The Study: This work was developed to investigate for the first time the anti-inflammatory and anti-urolithiatic activities of leaf decoction of C. gongylodes.

SOCS2 modulates adipose tissue inflammation and expansion in mice.

Introduction: Obesity is usually triggered by a nutrient overload that favors adipocyte hypertrophy and increases the number of pro-inflammatory cells and mediators into adipose tissue. These mediators may be regulated by suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS), such as SOCS2, which is involved in the regulation of the inflammatory response of many diseases, but its role in obesity is not yet known. We aimed to investigate the role of SOCS2 in metabolic and inflammatory dysfunction induced by a high-refined carbohydrate-containing diet (HC).

Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum (White Mold): Cytotoxic, Mutagenic, and Antimalarial Effects In Vivo and In Vitro.

This work aimed includes performing the sclerotia chemical profile and evaluates their biological effects on mutagenesis, oxidative stress, cancer, and malaria. A chemical profile was determined by ultraperformance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) analysis dereplicating norditerpenoid dilactone, sclerolide, and other compounds. The GI values to cancer cells (19.

Toxicity of Cyanopeptides from Two Strains on Larval Development of .

Absorption and accumulation of bioavailable cyanobacterial metabolites (including cyanotoxins) are likely in fish after senescence and the rupturing of cells during bloom episodes. We determined the toxicity of cyanopeptides identified from two strains of ( MIRS-04 and NPDC-01) in a freshwater tropical fish, (yellowtail tetra, lambari). Aqueous extracts of both strains were prepared in order to simulate realistic fish exposure to these substances in a freshwater environment.

Agricultural matrices affect ground ant assemblage composition inside forest fragments.

The establishment of agricultural matrices generally involves deforestation, which leads to fragmentation of the remaining forest. This fragmentation can affect forest dynamics both positively and negatively. Since most animal species are affected, certain groups can be used to measure the impact of such fragmentation.

A Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor purified, cloned, sequenced and characterized from the seeds of Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneid.

A new BBI-type protease inhibitor with remarkable structural characteristics was purified, cloned, and sequenced from seeds of Maclura pomifera , a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the Moraceae family. In this work, we report a Bowman-Birk inhibitor (BBI) isolated, purified, cloned, and characterized from Maclura pomifera seeds (MpBBI), the first of this type from a species belonging to Moraceae family. MpBBI was purified to homogeneity by RP-HPLC, total RNA was extracted from seeds of M.

Bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor immobilized onto sepharose as a new strategy to purify a thermostable alkaline peptidase from cobia (Rachycentron canadum) processing waste.

A thermostable alkaline peptidase was purified from the processing waste of cobia (Rachycentron canadum) using bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) immobilized onto Sepharose. The purified enzyme had an apparent molecular mass of 24kDa by both sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and mass spectrometry. Its optimal temperature and pH were 50°C and 8.

Identification of Candida haemulonii Complex Species: Use of ClinProTools(TM) to Overcome Limitations of the Bruker Biotyper(TM), VITEK MS(TM) IVD, and VITEK MS(TM) RUO Databases.

Candida haemulonii is now considered a complex of two species and one variety: C. haemulonii sensu stricto, Candida duobushaemulonii and the variety C. haemulonii var.

The natural flavone fukugetin as a mixed-type inhibitor for human tissue kallikreins.

The human tissue kallikreins (KLK1-KLK15) comprise a family of 15 serine peptidases detected in almost every tissue of the human body and that actively participate in many physiological and pathological events. Some kallikreins are involved in diseases for which no effective therapy is available, as for example, epithelial disorders, bacterial infections and in certain cancers metastatic processes. In recent years our group have made efforts to find inhibitors for all kallikreins, based on natural products and synthetic molecules, and all the inhibitors developed by our group presented a competitive mechanism of inhibition.

Effect of mushroom Agaricus blazei on immune response and development of experimental cerebral malaria.

Background: Cerebral malaria (CM) is debilitating and sometimes fatal. Disease severity has been associated with poor treatment access, therapeutic complexity and drug resistance and, thus, alternative therapies are increasingly necessary. In this study, the effect of the administration of Agaricus blazei, a mushroom of Brazilian origin in a model of CM caused by Plasmodium berghei, strain ANKA, was investigated in mice.

Pharmacological Activities and Hydrolysis by Peptidases of [Phospho-Ser(6)]-Bradykinin (pS(6)-BK).

Phosphorylated kininogen and some of its fragments containing serine phosphorylated bradykinin ([pS(6)]-Bk) were identified in human serum and plasma by a phosphoproteomic approach. We report the kininogenase ability of human tissue and plasma kallikreins and tryptase to generate [pS(6)]-Bk or Lys-[pS(6)]-Bk having as substrate the synthetic human kininogen fluorescent fragment Abz-MISLMKRPPGF[pS(386)]PFRSSRI-NH2. The pharmacological assays of [pS(6)]-Bk showed it as a full B2 bradykinin receptor agonist in smooth muscle, it produces a portal liver hypertensive response in rat and mouse paw edema that lasts longer than Bk.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and docking studies of PAR2-AP-derived pseudopeptides as inhibitors of kallikrein 5 and 6.

A series of protease activated receptor 2 activating peptide (PAR2-AP) derivatives (1-15) were designed and synthesized. The obtained compounds were tested on a panel of human kallikreins (hKLK1, hKLK2, hKLK5, hKLK6, and hKLK7) and were found completely inactive toward hKLK1, hKLK2, and hKLK7. Aiming to investigate the mode of interaction between the most interesting compounds and the selected hKLKs, docking studies were performed.

Detection of carbapenemase activity directly from blood culture vials using MALDI-TOF MS: a quick answer for the right decision.

Objectives: Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was successfully applied for the detection of carbapenemase activity directly from Gram-negative colonies. Based on this principle, we evaluated the performance of MALDI-TOF MS for rapid detection of carbapenemase activity directly from positive blood culture vials.

Methods: A total of 100 blood culture vials were randomly selected.