Evaluation of PADG_11161 e PADG_08285 gene expression from Paracoccicioides spp

• Grant number: 22/14912-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Luciane Alarcão Dias-Melicio
• Grantee: Juliana Quintaneiro Bizzotto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic fungal disease considered endemic in Latin America. This mycosis has as etiological agents the fungi Paracoccidioides spp., specifically Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (S1), Paracoccidioides americana (PS2), Paracoccidioides restrepiensis (PS3), Paracoccidioides venezuelensis (PS4) and Paracoccidioides lutzii. These agents are dimorphic, therefore, have a restricted geographic habitat, and despite its heterogeneous distribution, PCM is predominant in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Colombia. Mycosis is installed through the inhalation of infective conidia, causing a chronic inflammatory response in the lungs, morphologically manifested by the formation of granulomas. Neutrophils are one of the most important cells for the innate immunity of the human organism, which quickly reach the site of infection, and have the ability to release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are capable of trapping and destroy yeast fungal. However, the intracellular survival of Paracoccidioides species is guaranteed through virulence factors. One possible ability would be the production of extracellular DNAse, or a DNAse-like protein, which could act as an escape mechanism for these structures. This ability to produce enzymes that degrade genetic material would represent a way of escaping the NETs. Thus, it would make it possible to maintain the fungus in the tissue. In the genome of the Pb 18 strain of P. brasiliensis (ABKI00000000.2) two coding regions of two hypothetical proteins were identified that would present a similar activity to DNAse, which would be the genes PADG_11161 - Gene ID: 22587058 and PADG_08285 - Gene ID: 22586608. Thus, the objective of the current study will be to identify the expression of these two genes (PADG_11161 and PADG_08285) in the species P. brasiliensis (S1), P. americana (PS2), P. restrepiensis (PS3), and P. venezuelensis (PS4).