No abstract

The dimorphic fungi Paracoccidioides spp. are the etiological agents of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), a mycosis of high incidence in Brazil. The toxicity of drug treatment and the emergence of resistant organisms have led to research for new candidates for drugs. In this study, we demonstrate that the natural product argentilactone was not cytotoxic or genotoxic to MRC5 cells at the IC50 concentration to the fungus. We also verified the proteomic profile of Paracoccidioides lutzii after incubation with argentilactone using a label free quantitative proteome nanoUPLC-MSE. The results of this study indicated that the fungus has a global metabolic adaptation in the presence of argentilactone. Enzymes of important pathways, such as glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the glyoxylate cycle, were repressed, which drove the metabolism to the methylcytrate cycle and beta-oxidation. Proteins involved in cell rescue, defense and stress response were induced. In this study, alternative metabolic pathways adopted by the fungi were elucidated, helping to elucidate the course of action of the compound studied.

Aim: The shape-based virtual screening was used for the identification of new compounds anti-paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). Materials & methods: The study was performed according to the following steps: collection and curation of a dataset of quinolinyl N-oxide chalcones with anti-PCM activity, development and validation of shape-based models, application of the best model for virtual screening, and experimental validation. Results & Conclusion: Among 31 computational hits, eight compounds showed potent antifungal activity and low cytotoxicity for mammalian cells. The checkerboard assay showed that most promising hit (compound 3) displayed additive effects with the antifungal cotrimoxazole and amphotericin B. Therefore, the shape-based virtual screening allowed us to discover promising compounds in prospective hit-to-lead optimization studies for tackling PCM.

The coronavirus pandemic has been causing damage to many nations, as public and private health systems deteriorate by the increasing demand. Some infected patients have culturable severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) even though not presenting any symptoms, and therefore, are probably able to transmit it. Correctly diagnosing and isolating infected patients is an important step towards preventing new infections. Current diagnostic methods rely mainly on reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Methods such as reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) have risen as viable alternatives, as they are cheaper and require less infrastructure, they have the potential to be applied in low-resource scenarios and even at point-of-care. Here we report a colorimetric RT‑LAMP assay capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 in ribonucleic acid (RNA) from saliva. In some cases, the test was able to detect viral RNA before symptom onset and even in a self-reported asymptomatic carrier. It had a limit of detection of 300 copies per reaction and showed a sensitivity of 80%, a specificity of 100%, a general accuracy of 99.59%, and a Cohen’s kappa of 0.887. The possibility of detecting positive cases even before the clinical manifestation shows great potential and can contribute to controlling the pandemic.

Aims: Considering the need to identify new compounds with antifungal action, the activity of five 3-phenacylideneoxindoles compounds was evaluated. Materials & methods: The compounds were synthesized, and their antifungal activity was elucidated through minimum inhibitory concentration tests and interaction assay with other antifungals. Potential targets of compounds were predicted in silico. Results: 3-phenacylideneoxindoles compounds inhibited fungal growth with minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration ranging from 3.05 to 12.26 μM. The compounds demonstrated high selectivity index and presented a synergistic effect with itraconazole. In silico prediction revealed the pentafunctional AROM polypeptide, enolase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and kinases as proteins targets of the compound 4a. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that 3-phenacylideneoxindoles is a potential new class of antifungal compounds for paracoccidioidomycosis treatment.