The increasing contamination of cereals by micromycetes and mycotoxins during malting still poses an unresolved food safety problem. This study characterises the potential of the novel, rapidly developing food production technology of Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) to reduce the viability of Fusarium fungi and the production of mycotoxins during malting. Barley, artificially inoculated with four Fusarium species, was treated by PEF with two different intensities and then malted using a standard Pilsner-type technology. Concentrations of fungi were quantified by RT-PCR, expression of fungal growth-related genes was assessed using mRNA sequencing, and mycotoxin levels were analysed by U-HPLC-HRMS/MS. Despite the different trends for micromycetes and mycotoxins after application of variously intense PEF conditions, significant reductions were generally observed. The greatest decrease was for F. sporotrichioides and F. poae, where up to six fold lower levels were achieved for malts produced from the PEF-treated barley when compared to the control. For F. culmorum and F. graminearum, up to a two-fold reduction in the PEF-generated malts was observed. These reductions mostly correlated with a decrease in relevant mycotoxins, specifically type A trichothecenes.
- MeSH
- elektřina MeSH
- Fusarium * metabolismus genetika růst a vývoj MeSH
- ječmen (rod) * mikrobiologie MeSH
- jedlá semena * mikrobiologie MeSH
- kontaminace potravin prevence a kontrola MeSH
- manipulace s potravinami metody MeSH
- mykotoxiny * biosyntéza metabolismus MeSH
- potravinářská mikrobiologie MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Lepek je směs proteinů v zrnech obilovin pšenice, žita, ječmene i ovsa, který může vyvolat celou řadu onemocnění, ať již na podkladě autoimunitním (celiakie), alergickém (alergie na pšenici) či jiném (neceliakální glutenová/pšeničná senzitivita). V diagnostice se uplatňují především tyto postupy: pečlivá anamnéza, stanovení specifických celiakálních autoprotilátek doplněné o histologické vyšetření duodenální sliznice, stanovení alergen specifických IgE protilátek v séru a kožní testy, případně eliminační a expoziční testy s lepkem. Důležité je na tato onemocnění pomýšlet při podezřelých střevních či mimostřevních symptomech nebo u některých autoimunitních či genetických chorob. Bezlepková dieta by neměla být zahájena před provedením potřebných diagnostických testů a určením diagnózy ve spolupráci s gastroenterologem a alergologem.
Gluten is a mixture of proteins in the grains of wheat, rye, barley and oats that can cause a variety of diseases, whether autoimmune (celiac disease), allergic (wheat allergy) or otherwise (non-celiac gluten/wheat sensitivity). The following procedures are mainly used in diagnosis: careful history taking, determination of celiac-specific autoantibodies supplemented by histological examination of the duodenal mucosa, determination of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in serum and skin tests, or gluten elimination and exposure tests. It is important to think about these diseases when intestinal or extraintestinal symptoms are suspected or in some autoimmune or genetic diseases. A gluten-free diet should not be started before the necessary diagnostic tests have been performed and a diagnosis has been made in collaboration with a gastroenterologist and allergist.
Climate change and population growth are putting increasing pressure on global food security. The development of high-yielding varieties for important crops such as wheat is crucial to meet these challenges. The basis for this is extensive exploitation of beneficial genetic variation resting in genebanks around the world. Selecting suitable donor genotypes from the vast number of wheat accessions stored in genebanks is a difficult task and depends critically on the density of information on the performance of individual accessions. Therefore, this study aimed to access phenotypic data from the Czech genebank, storing over 13,000 wheat accessions. We curated and analyzed data on heading date, plant height, and thousand grain weight for more than one-third of all available accessions regenerated across 70 years. The data underwent analysis using a linear mixed model, revealing high quality of curated data with heritability reaching 99%. The raw data, but also derived data such as the best linear unbiased estimations, are now available for the wheat collection of the Czech genebank for research and breeding.
- MeSH
- fenotyp * MeSH
- genetická variace MeSH
- genotyp MeSH
- pšenice * genetika MeSH
- šlechtění rostlin * MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
Flaviviruses such as dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and yellow fever virus (YFV) are spread by mosquitoes and cause human disease and mortality in tropical areas. In contrast, Powassan virus (POWV), which causes severe neurologic illness, is a flavivirus transmitted by ticks in temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. We find serologic neutralizing activity against POWV in individuals living in Mexico and Brazil. Monoclonal antibodies P002 and P003, which were derived from a resident of Mexico (where POWV is not reported), neutralize POWV lineage I by recognizing an epitope on the virus envelope domain III (EDIII) that is shared with a broad range of tick- and mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Our findings raise the possibility that POWV, or a flavivirus closely related to it, infects humans in the tropics.
- MeSH
- epitopy imunologie MeSH
- Flavivirus imunologie MeSH
- klíšťata virologie imunologie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- monoklonální protilátky imunologie MeSH
- neutralizující protilátky * imunologie MeSH
- protilátky virové imunologie MeSH
- viry klíšťové encefalitidy imunologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Brazílie MeSH
- Mexiko MeSH
The life cycle of enveloped viruses is closely linked to host-cell lipids. However, changes in lipid metabolism during infections with the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) have not been described. TBEV is a medically important orthoflavivirus, which is endemic to many parts of Europe and Asia. In the present study, we performed targeted lipidomics with HPLC-MS/MS to evaluate changes in phospholipid and sphingolipid concentrations in TBEV-infected human neuronal SK-N-SH cells. TBEV infections significantly increased phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylserine levels within 48 h post-infection (hpi). Sphingolipids were slightly increased in dihydroceramides within 24 hpi. Later, at 48 hpi, the contents of sphinganine, dihydroceramides, ceramides, glucosylceramides, and ganglioside GD3 were elevated. On the other hand, sphingosine-1-phosphate content was slightly reduced in TBEV-infected cells. Changes in sphingolipid concentrations were accompanied by suppressed expression of a majority of the genes linked to sphingolipid and glycosphingolipid metabolism. Furthermore, we found that a pharmacological inhibitor of sphingolipid synthesis, fenretinide (4-HPR), inhibited TBEV infections in SK-N-SH cells. Taken together, our results suggested that both structural and signaling functions of lipids could be affected during TBEV infections. These changes might be connected to virus propagation and/or host-cell defense.
- MeSH
- buněčné linie MeSH
- fosfolipidy * metabolismus MeSH
- interakce hostitele a patogenu MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lipidomika MeSH
- metabolismus lipidů MeSH
- neurony * virologie metabolismus MeSH
- sfingolipidy * metabolismus MeSH
- tandemová hmotnostní spektrometrie MeSH
- viry klíšťové encefalitidy * fyziologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a major cause of neurological infections in many regions of central, eastern and northern Europe and northern Asia. In approximately 15% of cases, TBEV infections lead to the development of severe encephalitis or meningitis. The main route of TBEV transmission is tick bites; however, ingestion of dairy products from infected animals (goats, cattle and sheep) is also a frequent cause of the disease. Therefore, vaccination of livestock in virus endemic regions could also contribute to the decrease in TBEV infection among humans. Although few vaccines against TBEV based on inactivated viruses are available for humans, due to high costs, vaccination is not mandatory in most of the affected countries. Moreover, there is still no vaccine for veterinary use. Here, we present a characterization and immunogenicity study of a new potential TBEV vaccine based on virus-like particles (VLPs) produced in Leishmania tarentolae cells. VLPs, which mimic native viral particles but do not contain genetic material, show good immunogenic potential. For the first time, we showed that the protozoan L. tarentolae expression system can be successfully used for the production of TBEV virus-like particles with highly efficient production. We confirmed that TBEV recombinant structural proteins (prM/M and E) from VLPs are highly recognized by neutralizing antibodies in in vitro analyses. Therefore, VLPs in combination with AddaVax adjuvant were used in immunization studies in a mouse model. VLPs proved to be highly immunogenic and induced the production of high levels of neutralizing antibodies. In a challenge experiment, immunization with VLPs provided full protection from lethal TBE in mice. Thus, we suggest that Leishmania-derived VLPs may be a good candidate for a safe alternative human vaccine with high efficiency of production. Moreover, this potential vaccine candidate may constitute a low-cost candidate for veterinary use.
- MeSH
- klíšťová encefalitida * prevence a kontrola MeSH
- Leishmania * MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- neutralizující protilátky MeSH
- ovce MeSH
- protilátky virové MeSH
- skot MeSH
- virové vakcíny * MeSH
- viry klíšťové encefalitidy * genetika MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- skot MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a flavivirus that causes human neuroinfections and represents a growing health problem. The human monoclonal antibody T025 targets envelope protein domain III (EDIII) of TBEV and related tick-borne flaviviruses, potently neutralizing TBEV in vitro and in preclinical models, representing a promising candidate for clinical development. We demonstrate that TBEV escape in the presence of T025 or T028 (another EDIII-targeting human monoclonal antibody) results in virus variants of reduced pathogenicity, characterized by distinct sets of amino acid changes in EDII and EDIII that are jointly needed to confer resistance. EDIII substitution K311N impairs formation of a salt bridge critical for T025-epitope interaction. EDII substitution E230K is not on the T025 epitope but likely induces quaternary rearrangements of the virus surface because of repulsion of positively charged residues on the adjacent EDI. A combination of T025 and T028 prevents virus escape and improves neutralization.
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe neuroinfection of humans. Dogs are also commonly infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). These infections are usually asymptomatic, but sometimes show clinical signs similar to those seen in humans and can be fatal. To date, there is no TBEV vaccine available for use in dogs. To address this need, a TBEV vaccine candidate for dogs based on inactivated whole virus antigen was developed. The safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the vaccine candidate were tested in mice as the preclinical model and in dogs as the target organism. The vaccine was well tolerated in both species and elicited the production of specific anti-TBEV antibodies with virus neutralising activity. Vaccination of mice provided complete protection against the development of fatal TBE. Immunisation of dogs prevented the development of viremia after challenge infection. Therefore, the developed vaccine candidate is promising to protect dogs from severe TBEV infections.
- MeSH
- imunizace MeSH
- klíšťová encefalitida * prevence a kontrola veterinární MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- protilátky virové MeSH
- psi MeSH
- vakcinace MeSH
- virové vakcíny * MeSH
- viry klíšťové encefalitidy * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- myši MeSH
- psi MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
