the next webinar promoted by the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo (ACIESP), with the participation of Edvaldo Vilela (President of CNPq) and Hugo Aguilaniu (Director-President Serrapilheira ).

YouTube Live Stream:

https://youtu.be/eNrBtJFTDmg

Also with the panelists: Vanderlan Bolzani (P4resident of ACIESP), Paulo Artaxo (Vice President of ACIESP) and Adriano D. Andricopulo (Executive Director of ACIESP)

Thursday, 05/27, at 4 pm

Live streaming on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/hor7ApMDfBM

The results of the research, carried out with support from FAPESP, were published in the journal ACS Central Science, of the American Chemical Society.

“We had the opportunity to sample anthills in several Brazilian regions, including the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and the transition section from this one to the Cerrado. What caught our attention the most was the wide geographic distribution of attinimycin, present in 73% of the bacteria associated with leaf-cutting ants collected in Brazil. This fact suggests that the substance has a relevant ecological role ”, says Monica Tallarico Pupo, professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto at the University of São Paulo (FCFRP-USP) and coordinator of the research alongside Jon Clardy, from Harvard University (U.S).

As Pupo explains, leaf-cutting ants maintain multilateral symbiotic relationships with various microorganisms that inhabit the anthill and this guarantees them food and protection. The leaves that the insects carry into the nest serve as a substrate for cultivating fungi of the species Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, which they use to eat. And farm ants also feed bacteria of the genera Pseudonocardia and Streptomyces, which in turn produce compounds that act as “agricultural pesticides”, keeping the fungus garden free of pathogenic species.

“Symbiotic bacteria produce compounds capable of killing the parasitic fungus without harming the food source. Our goal was to find out what these compounds are and whether they had the potential to treat diseases that affect humans, ”says Pupo.

The project was conducted between 2014 and 2020, under the BIOTA-FAPESP Program and under an agreement signed with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. During this period, in addition to attinimycin, the group identified an antifungal molecule named kyphomycin and substances belonging to the pyrazines class – also produced by symbiotic bacteria -, which help leaf-cutting ants to locate themselves when they leave the nest in search of leaves (read more at agencia.fapesp.br/29958/ and agencia.fapesp.br/27328/).

Experiments

The first stage of the recently published work involved analysis of metabolomics. Using techniques such as chromatography and mass spectrometry, scientists identified the entire set of metabolites produced by isolated bacteria in anthills of different Brazilian biomes.

“We noticed that the same compound – hitherto unknown – was present in almost all samples, something rare and unexpected. We then decided to investigate this molecule further. Attinimycin has a structure similar to that of already known compounds, but the amino acid sequence that forms this compound has never been described before ”, says Pupo.

The next step was to characterize, in the genome of the bacterium Pseudonocardia spp., The group of genes responsible for the synthesis of attinimycin. Based on the results, the researchers designed primers (small fragments of DNA complementary to the genetic material to be studied) that allowed to evaluate whether this same group of genes was present in symbiotic bacteria from other species of leaf-cutting ants.

A large collection was evaluated, which included samples collected by employees in Panama. However, the attinimycin genes were only found in the symbionts of the Brazilian lineages. “This finding raised the hypothesis that during the evolutionary process of these insects there was a differentiation, since this ability to produce attinimycin is related to the evolution of the Brazilian symbiotic strains”, says Pupo.

After characterizing the molecule in the laboratory, the group coordinated by Pupo returned to one of the places where the initial samples had been collected: Itatiaia National Park (RJ), in Serra da Mantiqueira. The objective was to find out if attinimycin was actually being produced in the natural context in which ants and their symbionts live. In the previous experiment, the bacteria had been grown in the laboratory, and the metabolites were extracted from that culture in vitro.

“This second time, we did the extraction of the metabolites at the collection site, to then analyze by mass spectrometry and see the chemical substances there. We detected attinimycin in about 40% of the samples. This shows that the compound must have an important role in this symbiotic system ”, says the researcher.

In the laboratory, says Pupo, attinimycin inhibited the growth of the Escovopsis fungus, a pathogen of leaf-cutting ants, which suggests its protective role in the natural environment.

The experiments were conducted by FAPESP doctoral fellow Taise Fukuda and postdoctoral fellow Weilan Melo.

Therapeutic effect

The antifungal action of attinimycin was tested by North American collaborators in mice infected with Candida albicans, which in humans can cause damage to several tissues, mainly in the oral and vaginal mucosa, urinary and gastrointestinal tract. The treatment effect was compared to that of antifungal drugs already used in the clinic (azole class), among them fluconazole. According to the researchers, the activity of attiminicina was equivalent to that of the drugs already available. The advantage is that, because it is a new molecule, microorganisms have not yet developed resistance mechanisms.

“Attinimycin has significant antifungal activity, but it still lacks an adequate chemical structure to become a drug. The idea is that it serves as a model for the design of new drug candidates and for us to better understand the mechanism of action of these drugs ”, explains Pupo.

The article Specialized Metabolites Reveal Evolutionary History and Geographic Dispersion of a Multilateral Symbiosis can be read at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.0c00978?source=cen%20no

CIBFar is a FAPESP Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (CEPID) based at the São Carlos Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo (IFSC-USP).

The fellow will perform the activities at a distance, with occasional face-to-face meetings with the responsible teacher, however, it will be necessary to manage the team using software such as Redmine or similar.

The grantee’s activities include: coordinating the design, planning and execution of responsive web games; manage a team of about ten scholarship students from USP, assigning responsibilities and guiding tasks; coordinate students’ synchronous and asynchronous communication using tools such as Slack or similar; capture and manage project information using Gdrive file management and other Google tools; and manage code versioning using GitHub.

The candidate must have knowledge of game design, modeling by Blender, development on the Unity engine or frameworks such as React and the like.

Those interested in applying should contact the responsible professor Leila Maria Beltramini, by e-mail  leila@ifsc.usp.br.

More information about the vacancy at: www.fapesp.br/oportunidades/4241

The selected TT-4 fellow will receive a FAPESP Scholarship for technical training in the amount of R $ 3,104.80 without a job, for two years, with a dedication of 40 hours per week to activities supporting the research project. A period of weekly dedication in the home office is accepted.

More information about FAPESP’s Technical Training scholarships: www.fapesp.br/bolsas/tt

Link to original article:  https://agencia.fapesp.br/centro-de-pesquisa-e-inovacao-em-biodiversidade-e-farmacos-oferece-vaga-de-treinamento-tecnico/35804/

CIBFar is a FAPESP Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (CEPID) at the São Carlos Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo (IFSC-USP).

Post-doctoral students will develop their activities according to the following methodologies: amplification, cloning, recombinant expression and purification of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and circulating arboviruses in Brazil and relevant as potential targets for antiviral drugs; development and standardization of activity or binding assays for the expressed recombinant enzymes, used in the selection of specific ligands and inhibitors; crystallization and, in positive cases, collection of diffraction data and resolution of the respective structures for subsequent development of specific ligands using fragment screening and cocrystallization methodologies; and biochemical / biophysical screening of compounds and planning of antiviral molecules.

Candidates must have a good academic record and full training in the methodologies applied in the research.

Interested parties should send a Lattes curriculum and a brief description of their interest in the line of research to Professor Glaucius Oliva (oliva@ifsc.usp.br), CIBFar coordinator.

More information about the vacancies at:

www.fapesp.br/oportunidades/4215 and www.fapesp.br/oportunidades/4216

Postdoctoral opportunities are open to Brazilians and foreigners. Those selected will receive a postdoctoral fellowship from FAPESP in the amount of R $ 7,373.10 per month and a Technical Reserve equivalent to 10% of the annual scholarship amount to meet unforeseen expenses and directly related to the research activity.

If the PD scholarship holders live at home outside the city in which the research institution is located and need to move, they may be entitled to an installation allowance. More information about the FAPESP Postdoctoral Scholarship is available at www.fapesp.br/bolsas/pd

Link to original article:  https://agencia.fapesp.br/centro-de-inovacao-em-biodiversidade-e-farmacos-abre-duas-vagas-de-pos-doutorado/35731/

Date: September 11, 2020 – 5:00 pm

Link:  http://Meet.google.com/nke-rube-fuc

The particle accelerator Sirius, the largest scientific infrastructure in Brazil, began to be used this week to investigate details of non-structural proteins of the Sars-Cov-2 virus, which causes covid-19. Conducted by researchers from the São Carlos Institute of Physics at USP (University of São Paulo), this is the first external research carried out at the center located in Campinas (SP).

See full report on Link:

https://www.uol.com.br/tilt/noticias/redacao/2020/09/04/sirius-investiga-misterio-de-proteina-do-coronavirus-em-1-pesquisa-externa.htm

The new coronavirus pandemic extolled the importance of science, but it tends to aggravate the scarcity of research resources in Brazil in the coming years. How to deal with it? What are the main challenges and opportunities for Brazilian science in this new economic, political and social context?

This will be the theme of the next USP Talks, which we invite you to participate, on September 1st, from 7 pm to 8 pm. Participants will be professors Glaucius Oliva and Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz. The event will be broadcast live on YouTube USP Channel, with opportunity for questions, at this link:

https://youtu.be/dQdTLrjtBqA

Glaucius Oliva is a professor at the São Carlos Institute of Physics, at USP; former president of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).

Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz is a professor at Unicamp’s Gleb Wataghin Physics Institute; former president and scientific director of the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp).

USP Talks is an initiative of USP’s Pro-Rectory of Research, with support from Jornal da USP.

Source:  Luiz Carlos Dias

Principal investigator of LOLA / DNDi and MMV and coordinator of the MINDI consortium

Boletim Eletrônico da Sociedade Brasileira de Química

It is with great satisfaction that we celebrate the launch of th: e Molecules Initiative for Neglected Diseases (MINDI) consortium – https://mindi.iqm.unicamp.br/ – with the aim of discovering new drug candidates for the treatment of malaria, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. This project is the result of a PITE agreement signed between the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), the University of São Paulo (USP), Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and the Foundation Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP). These fantastic organizations, MMV and DNDi, have a fabulous track record in developing new treatments and medications for various tropical parasitic diseases and have been saving millions of lives. Collaborations with MMV and DNDi officially started in March 2013. The project with DNDi was called LOLA (Lead Optimization Latin America) and the one with MMV was called Brazil Heterocycles.

This project is the first partnership involving MMV and DNDi and the Latin American academy that is dedicated to the optimization of leading compounds, a complex and crucial step in the drug discovery process. The goal is to develop drugs that can be administered orally, are highly effective, have low toxicity and are inexpensive and accessible. With MMV, as an extra challenge, we are working to develop a UNIQUE DOSE treatment for malaria – and what a great challenge this is!

This project also aims to bring to Brazil new experiences in the area of drug discovery, highlighting the importance of collaborative work in this challenging area of research. In this work, MMV and DNDi, together with several partners and world-renowned scientists from academia and global pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and universities in Brazil and abroad, join forces around a single objective: SAVE LIFE of the most neglected people on this planet.

This collaborative work has already had a positive impact on the development of new capabilities in Brazil, helping to broaden our horizon and establish new technologies for this complex and challenging drug development pipeline. Still, it was only the beginning of this journey. Now it’s time to take it a step further. In the next 5 years, with this consolidated consortium, we will have the right tools to try to achieve our goals and make a difference.

This is a concrete example of science with a return to society: the best science for those who need it most, the best science for the most neglected, the best science for solving human challenges. Science to do good, to develop and improve people’s lives. And I believe that nothing can be more innovative than helping to save lives.

The project launched today not only consolidates the success of our ongoing collaborations, but also shows that these renowned international organizations recognize the high quality of science carried out in Brazil. Everything we do is to save lives!

Link to article:   http://boletim.sbq.org.br/noticias/2020/n3519.php

Subscription:   https://www.sympla.com.br/abc–covid-19-e-a-inovacao-de-farmacos-no-brasil–webinarios-da-abc-ed-19__931772

Date: Tuesday, 11/8/2020 

Time: 16h (GMT-3)

Facebook Event: FanPage

Local:  http://www.abc.org.br/transmissao