LUANA DE MENDONCA OLIVEIRA
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
LIM/56 - Laboratório de Investigação em Dermatologia e Imunodeficiências, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
19 resultados
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Agora exibindo 1 - 10 de 19
- Enhanced immunogenicity and protective efficacy in mice following a Zika DNA vaccine designed by modulation of membrane-anchoring regions and its association to adjuvants(2024) TEIXEIRA, Franciane Mouradian Emidio; OLIVEIRA, Luana de Mendonca; BRANCO, Anna Claudia Calvielli Castelo; ALBERCA, Ricardo Wesley; SOUSA, Emanuella Sarmento Alho de; LEITE, Bruno Henrique de Sousa; ADAN, Wenny Camilla dos Santos; DUARTE, Alberto Jose da Silva; LINS, Roberto Dias; SATO, Maria Notomi; VIANA, Isabelle Freire TabosaZika virus (ZIKV) is a re-emerging pathogen with high morbidity associated to congenital infection. Despite the scientific advances since the last outbreak in the Americas, there are no approved specific treatment or vaccines. As the development of an effective prophylactic approach remains unaddressed, DNA vaccines surge as a powerful and attractive candidate due to the efficacy of sequence optimization in achieving strong immune response. In this study, we developed four DNA vaccine constructs encoding the ZIKV prM/M (pre-membrane/membrane) and E (envelope) proteins in conjunction with molecular adjuvants. The DNA vaccine candidate (called ZK_Delta STP), where the entire membrane-anchoring regions were completely removed, was far more immunogenic compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, inclusion of the tPA-SP leader sequence led to high expression and secretion of the target vaccine antigens, therefore contributing to adequate B cell stimulation. The ZK_Delta STP vaccine induced high cellular and humoral response in C57BL/6 adult mice, which included high neutralizing antibody titers and the generation of germinal center B cells. Administration of ZK-Delta STP incorporating aluminum hydroxide (Alum) adjuvant led to sustained neutralizing response. In consistency with the high and long-term protective response, ZK_Delta STP+Alum protected adult mice upon viral challenge. Collectively, the ZK_Delta STP+Alum vaccine formulation advances the understanding of the requirements for a successful and protective vaccine against flaviviruses and is worthy of further translational studies.
- Tolerogenic microenvironment in neonatal period induced by maternal immunization with ovalbumin(2014) MUNIZ, Bruno Pacola; VICTOR, Jefferson Russo; OLIVEIRA, Luana de Mendonca; LIRA, Aline Aparecida de Lima; PERINI, Adenir; OLIVO, Clarice Rosa; ARANTES-COSTA, Fernanda Magalhaes; MARTINS, Milton Arruda; DUARTE, Alberto Jose da Silva; SATO, Maria NotomiMaternal immunization with allergens, such as ovalbumin (OVA), can inhibit the development of an allergic response in offspring. The regulatory mechanisms seem to be mediated by maternal antibodies (MatAbs) and factors generated by the maternal fetal interface. The aim of this study was to verify the pathways of inhibitory Ab transference after maternal immunization with OVA and the effect of the offspring's dendritic cells (DCs) on the generation of regulatory T (Treg) cells. We verified that preconceptional OVA immunization induces high levels of proinflammatory and regulatory cytokines in the amniotic fluid, allowing the transference of high levels of anti-OVA IgG1 Abs to the offspring. Using an adoptive nursing protocol, we verified that maternal immunization leads to MatAb transference by the placental route and by breastfeeding contribute to the inhibition of anaphylactic IgE and IgG1 Ab responses in immunized offspring. We observed that maternal immunization decreased eosinophil numbers in recovered bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and in the lung tissue, whereas with a lack of control of airway responsiveness to methacholine. Maternal immunization induced in young offspring a decreased percentage of CD11c+ DCs expressing MHC class II and CD40 molecules. Moreover, DCs from both groups of offspring when pulsed with OVA, were able to induce Treg cells in vitro. Similarly, OVA immunization at the neonatal stage increased the frequency of Treg cells, regardless of the mother's immunization status. These findings emphasize that maternal immunization leads to a complex interaction of regulatory factors, with MatAbs, DCs and Treg cells affecting the tolerance of offspring during an allergic response.
- Profile of differentially expressed Toll-like receptor signaling genes in the natural killer cells of patients with Sezary syndrome(2017) MANFRERE, Kelly C. G.; TORREALBA, Marina P.; MIYASHIRO, Denis R.; PEREIRA, Natalli Z.; YOSHIKAWA, Fabio S. Y.; OLIVEIRA, Luana de M.; CURY-MARTINS, Jade; DUARTE, Alberto J. S.; SANCHES, Jose A.; SATO, Maria N.Sezary syndrome (SS), an aggressive and leukemic form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, usually results in shortened survival. Improving innate immunity in SS by targeting natural killer (NK) cells with Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists could be an interesting modulatory strategy. We evaluated the NK cell populations in SS patients assessing activating and inhibitory receptors expression and profiled the differential expression of TLR signaling pathway genes in unstimulated NK cells and after TLR7/8 stimulation. We observed preserved CD56(bright) NK cells and a low percentage of CD56(dim) NK cells in the peripheral blood of SS patients compared to those in the healthy control group. Both NK cell populations showed down-modulation of NKG2C and NKG2D expression, which was associated with high serum levels of the soluble form of NKG2D ligands. In contrast, an expansion of ""memory"" CD57+ NKG2C+ NK cells and high cytomegalovirus antibody titers were detected in SS patients. Profiling of the TLR signaling genes in NK cells from SS patients showed an abundance of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in NK cells in the unstimulated condition, with mostly up-regulation of NF kappa B/JNK p38 pathway genes, but there was down-regulation of type I (IFN-alpha/beta) and II (IFN-gamma) interferon and IL-12A. After activation of NK cells with TLR7/8 agonist, the down-regulated genes correlated with the IFN response, and IL-12 became up-regulated, together with other antitumor factors. NK cell activation with a dual agonist for TLR7 and TLR8 is able to induce the expression of IFN-gamma and type I IFN, which can improve immunity in SS patients.
- Effect of exercise training on Treg cell response in severe COPD individuals: a randomized and controlled trial(2022) ITO, J. T.; OLIVEIRA, L. M.; V, L. Alves; XAVIER, R. F.; SATO, M. N.; CARVALHO, C. R. F.; TIBERIO, I. F. L. C.; LOPES, F. D. T. Q. S.
- Generation of Cytotoxic T Cells and Dysfunctional CD8 T Cells in Severe COVID-19 Patients(2022) GOZZI-SILVA, Sarah Cristina; OLIVEIRA, Luana de Mendonca; ALBERCA, Ricardo Wesley; PEREIRA, Natalli Zanete; YOSHIKAWA, Fabio Seiti; PIETROBON, Anna Julia; YENDO, Tatiana Mina; ANDRADE, Milena Mary de Souza; RAMOS, Yasmim Alefe Leuzzi; BRITO, Cyro Alves; OLIVEIRA, Emily Araujo; BESERRA, Danielle Rosa; ORFALI, Raquel Leao; AOKI, Valeria; DUARTE, Alberto Jose da Silva; SATO, Maria NotomiCOVID-19, the infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has spread on a pandemic scale. The viral infection can evolve asymptomatically or can generate severe symptoms, influenced by the presence of comorbidities. Lymphopenia based on the severity of symptoms in patients affected with COVID-19 is frequent. However, the profiles of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells regarding cytotoxicity and antiviral factor expression have not yet been completely elucidated in acute SARS-CoV-2 infections. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic and functional profile of T lymphocytes in patients with moderate and severe/critical COVID-19. During the pandemic period, we analyzed a cohort of 62 confirmed patients with SARS-CoV-2 (22 moderate cases and 40 severe/critical cases). Notwithstanding lymphopenia, we observed an increase in the expression of CD28, a co-stimulator molecule, and activation markers (CD38 and HLA-DR) in T lymphocytes as well as an increase in the frequency of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and NK cells that express the immunological checkpoint protein PD-1 in patients with a severe/critical condition compared to healthy controls. Regarding the cytotoxic profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, an increase in the response of CD4+ T cells was already observed at the baseline level and scarcely changed upon PMA and Ionomycin stimulation. Meanwhile, CD8+ T lymphocytes decreased the cytotoxic response, evidencing a profile of exhaustion in patients with severe COVID-19. As observed by t-SNE, there were CD4+ T-cytotoxic and CD8+ T with low granzyme production, evidencing their dysfunction in severe/critical conditions. In addition, purified CD8+ T lymphocytes from patients with severe COVID-19 showed increased constitutive expression of differentially expressed genes associated with the caspase pathway, inflammasome, and antiviral factors, and, curiously, had reduced expression of TNF-alpha. The cytotoxic profile of CD4+ T cells may compensate for the dysfunction/exhaustion of TCD8+ in acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings may provide an understanding of the interplay of cytotoxicity between CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in the severity of acute COVID-19 infection.
- Immunological evaluation of young unvaccinated patients with Turner syndrome after COVID-19(2023) CASTRO, Mateus V. de; SILVA, Monize V. R.; OLIVEIRA, Luana de M.; GOZZI-SILVA, Sarah C.; NASLAVSKY, Michel S.; SCLIAR, Marilia O.; MAGALHAES, Monize L.; ROCHA, Katia M. da; NUNES, Kelly; CASTELLI, Erick C.; MAGAWA, Jhosiene Y.; SANTOS, Keity S.; CUNHA-NETO, Edecio; SATO, Maria N.; ZATZ, MayanaObjectives: The X-chromosome contains the largest number of immune-related genes, which play a major role in COVID-19 symptomatology and susceptibility. Here, we had a unique opportunity to investigate, for the first time, COVID-19 outcomes in six unvaccinated young Brazilian patients with Turner syndrome (TS; 45, X0), including one case of critical illness in a child aged 10 years, to evaluate their immune response according to their genetic profile. Methods: A serological analysis of humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2, phenotypic character-ization of antiviral responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after stimuli, and the production of cytotoxic cytokines of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells were performed in blood samples collected from the patients with TS during the convalescence period. Whole exome sequencing was also performed.Results: Our volunteers with TS showed a delayed or insufficient humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 (particularly immunoglobulin G) and a decrease in interferon-gamma production by cluster of differentiation (CD)4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes after stimulation with toll-like receptors 7/8 agonists. In contrast, we observed a higher cytotoxic activity in the volunteers with TS than the volunteers without TS after phor-bol myristate acetate/ionomycin stimulation, particularly granzyme B and perforin by CD8 + and natural killer cells. Interestingly, two volunteers with TS carry rare genetic variants in genes that regulate type I and III interferon immunity.Conclusion: Following previous reports in the literature for other conditions, our data showed that pa-tients with TS may have an impaired immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, other medical conditions associated with TS could make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.(c) 2023 The Author(s).
- The imbalance between subpopulations of regulatory T (TREG) Cells at different stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)(2023) ALVES, Luan Henrique Vasconcelos; A, Juliana Tiyaki Ito; OLIVEIRA, Luana Mendonca De; TIBERIO, Iolanda Lopes Calvo; STELMACH, Rafael; SATO, Maria Notomi; ALMEIDA, Francine Maria; LOPES, Fernanda Degobbi Tenorio Quirino dos Santos
- Upregulation of PD-1 Expression and High sPD-L1 Levels Associated with COVID-19 Severity(2022) BESERRA, Danielle Rosa; ALBERCA, Ricardo Wesley; BRANCO, Anna Claudia Calvielli Castelo; OLIVEIRA, Luana de Mendonca; ANDRADE, Milena Mary de Souza; GOZZI-SILVA, Sarah Cristina; TEIXEIRA, Franciane Mouradian Emidio; YENDO, Tatiana Mina; DUARTE, Alberto Jose da Silva; SATO, Maria NotomiCOVID-19 has several mechanisms that can lead to lymphocyte depletion/exhaustion. The checkpoint inhibitor molecule programmed death protein 1 (PD-1) and its programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL-1) play an important role in inhibiting cellular activity as well as the depletion of these cells. In this study, we evaluated PD-1 expression in TCD4+, TCD8+, and CD19+ lymphocytes from SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. A decreased frequency of total lymphocytes and an increased PD-1 expression in TCD4+ and CD19+ lymphocytes were verified in severe/critical COVID-19 patients. In addition, we found a decreased frequency of total monocytes with an increased PD-1 expression on CD14+ monocytes in severe/critical patients in association with the time of infection. Moreover, we observed an increase in sPD-L1 circulant levels associated with the severity of the disease. Overall, these data indicate an important role of the PD-1/PDL-1 axis in COVID-19 and may provide a severity-associated biomarker and therapeutic target during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Dysfunctional purinergic signaling correlates with disease severity in COVID-19 patients(2022) PIETROBON, Anna Julia; ANDREJEW, Roberta; CUSTODIO, Ricardo Wesley Alberca; OLIVEIRA, Luana de Mendonca; SCHOLL, Juliete Nathali; TEIXEIRA, Franciane Mouradian Emidio; BRITO, Cyro Alves de; GLASER, Talita; KAZMIERSKI, Julia; GOFFINET, Christine; TURDO, Anna Claudia; YENDO, Tatiana; AOKI, Valeria; FIGUEIRO, Fabricio; BATTASTINI, Ana Maria; ULRICH, Henning; BENARD, Gill; DUARTE, Alberto Jose da Silva; SATO, Maria NotomiEctonucleotidases modulate inflammatory responses by balancing extracellular ATP and adenosine (ADO) and might be involved in COVID-19 immunopathogenesis. Here, we explored the contribution of extracellular nucleotide metabolism to COVID-19 severity in mild and severe cases of the disease. We verified that the gene expression of ectonucleotidases is reduced in the whole blood of patients with COVID-19 and is negatively correlated to levels of CRP, an inflammatory marker of disease severity. In line with these findings, COVID-19 patients present higher ATP levels in plasma and reduced levels of ADO when compared to healthy controls. Cell type-specific analysis revealed higher frequencies of CD39+ T cells in severely ill patients, while CD4+ and CD8+ expressing CD73 are reduced in this same group. The frequency of B cells CD39+CD73+ is also decreased during acute COVID-19. Interestingly, B cells from COVID-19 patients showed a reduced capacity to hydrolyze ATP into ADP and ADO. Furthermore, impaired expression of ADO receptors and a compromised activation of its signaling pathway is observed in COVID-19 patients. The presence of ADO in vitro, however, suppressed inflammatory responses triggered in patients' cells. In summary, our findings support the idea that alterations in the metabolism of extracellular purines contribute to immune dysregulation during COVID-19, possibly favoring disease severity, and suggest that ADO may be a therapeutic approach for the disease.
- HIV-I INHIBITION BY IFN-I ADJUVANTS IN NEONATAL MACROPHAGES(2019) PIETROBON, Anna Julia; YOSHIKAWA, Fabio Seiti Yamada; OLIVEIRA, Luana De Mendonca; PEREIRA, Natalli Zanete; SOUZA, Tais Aparecida Matozo De; BARGIERI, Bruna Cunha De Alencar; DUARTE, Alberto Jose Da Silva; SATO, Maria Notomi