Nucleation at USP INCT 2016 "Emerging Fungal Infections" - Sporotrichosis nucleus

• Grant number: 17/13722-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - Brazil
• Duration: September 20, 2017 - September 19, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Sandro Rogerio de Almeida
• Grantee: Sandro Rogerio de Almeida
• Visiting researcher: Leila Maria Lopes Bezerra
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes (IBRAG), Brazil
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/04729-3 - Bases of cellular immune response in chromoblastomycosis and sporotrichosis: implications for vaccine therapy, AP.TEM

Abstract

The present proposal of USP Visiting Researcher, for Dr. Leila Lopes Bezerra, coordinator of INCT Infecções Emergún Emergentes, approved in 2016, which involves two USP faculty / researchers who support this proposal, aims to develop, at least in part, the Projects of the nuclei Sporotrichosis and Paracoccidioidomycosis of this INCT. It should be noted that fungal infections, the focus of this proposal, are emerging and / or endemic diseases in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Among the neglected systemic or subcutaneous mycoses in Brazil we can highlight Paracoccidioidomycosis, Sporotrichosis and Chromoblastomycosis. In these fungal infections the clinical manifestations range from subcutaneous lesions to systemic infections. Some of these mycoses are diseases with significant mortality (eg, paracoccidioidomycosis), while others with high morbidity are incapacitating (eg, chromoblastomycosis). It should be noted that cases of amputation related to sporotrichosis are already being reported (UERJ / UFF).        As neglected diseases, the fungal infections listed above are highly relevant from the epidemiological point of view in Brazil, when compared to other infectious diseases. They are underestimated because there is no compulsory notification and / or socio-economic and epidemiological profile associated with them. They are predominant mycoses in the tropical and subtropical regions, affecting mainly individuals of low socioeconomic status, who live in rural regions and / or regions with poor basic sanitation conditions. In addition, this group of fungal diseases lacks well-established protocols for diagnosis and treatment, as well as the absence of vaccination and / or alternative treatment methods (eg peptides that act as adjuvants in drug treatment). Absence of an appropriate clinical-epidemiological control policy. In addition to this clinical-epidemiological picture, the limited spectrum of antifungal drugs available, the increasing antifungal resistance of pathogenic fungi and the increase (in Brazil) of cases related to new emerging species (eg Sporothrtix brasiliensis and Paraccodidioides lutzi) are relevant factors that justify The study of these infections and their respective etiological agents. The proposal aims to advance the development of a vaccination protocol, from an identified antigen, sequenced and characterized by the group of Dr. Leila Lopes Bezerra, and in the study of mutants of Sporothrix spp in in vivo and in vitro models developed by this teacher / Researcher. (AU)