Pedro Afonso, Jorge Fontes, Rui Guedes, Fernando Tempera, Kim N. Holland, Ricardo S. Santos,
Understanding the movements of marine organisms in space and time has become a key area of research in support of management and conservation decision-making processes. This includes the optimal design of networks of marine reserves, as movements of fish are a major determinant for the reserve effect (increase in size and number inside reserves) and spillover effect (emigration from reserves). The increasing use of acoustic telemetry techniques, particularly passive acoustic arrays, is providing much ...
Tópico(s): Marine animal studies overview
2009 - Springer Nature (Netherlands) | Reviews: methods and technologies in fish biology and fisheries
Natacha Fontes, Rui D. Silva, Céline Vignault, Fatma Lecourieux, Hernâni Gerós, Serge Delrot,
During grape berry ripening, the vacuoles accumulate water, sugars and secondary metabolites, causing great impact in plant productivity and wine quality. However, the molecular basis of these compartmentation processes is still poorly understood. As in many species, the major bottleneck to study these aspects in grapevine is to obtain highly purified vacuoles with a good yield. The present paper describes an isolation method of protoplasts and intact vacuoles from grape berry cells and their functional ...
Tópico(s): Cellular transport and secretion
2010 - BioMed Central | BMC Research Notes
Sofia O. Lopes, Fernando A. C. C. Fontes, Rui M. S. Pereira, Maria do Rosário de Pinho, A. Manuela Gonçalves,
We propose a mathematical model to study the water usage for the irrigation of given farmland to guarantee that the field crop is kept in a good state of preservation. This problem is formulated as an optimal control problem. The lack of analytic solution leads us to turn to numerical methods to solve the problem numerically. We then apply necessary conditions of optimality to validate the numerical solution. To deal with the high degree of unpredictability of water inflow due to weather, we further ...
Tópico(s): Hydraulic flow and structures
2016 - Hindawi Publishing Corporation | Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Arnaldo Dias‐Santos, Joana Ferreira, Sofia Pinheiro, João Paulo Cunha, Marta Alves, Ana Luísa Papoila, Maria Francisca Moraes‐Fontes, Rui Proença,
To compare choroidal thickness (CT) between patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without ophthalmologic manifestations and a control group. To study the effects in CT of disease duration, activity index, medication and systemic comorbidities.Cross-sectional study where spectral-domain optical coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging was used to measure CT in 13 locations, subfoveally and at 500-µm intervals along a horizontal and a vertical section from the fovea. Linear regression ...
Tópico(s): Retinal Diseases and Treatments
2019 - Dove Medical Press | Clinical ophthalmology
Arnaldo Dias‐Santos, Joana Ferreira, Sofia Pinheiro, João Paulo Cunha, Marta Alves, Ana Luísa Papoila, Maria Francisca Moraes‐Fontes, Rui Proença,
To evaluate ocular involvement in a cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients of a tertiary referral center and to compare the results with the existing literature.Patients underwent a complete ophthalmological evaluation, including visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, fluorescein staining, Schirmer-I test, Goldmann applanation tonometry, fundoscopy, 10-2 automated threshold visual fields, fundus autofluorescence and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to screen for hydroxychloroquine ( ...
Tópico(s): Ocular Diseases and Behçet’s Syndrome
2020 - SAGE Publishing | Lupus
Teresa Maggio, Alessandro Allegra, Franco Andaloro, João P. Barreiros, Pietro Battaglia, Christopher M. Butler, Angela Cuttitta, Jorge Fontes, Rui Freitas, Mark Gatt, F. Saadet Karakulak, David Macías, Aldo Nicosia, Hazel A. Oxenford, Sámar Saber, Nuno Vasco Rodrigues, Taner Yıldız, Mauro Sinopoli,
Abstract The common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) is an epipelagic, mid-trophic level, highly migratory species distributed throughout the world’s tropical and subtropical oceans in waters greater than 20°C. Life-history variables, migratory behaviour, and genetic markers have been used to define major stocks in the central Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Here, we used the mitochondrial DNA gene NADH subunit 1 (688 bp) to test for differences between population groups. A total of 103 haplotypes ...
Tópico(s): Identification and Quantification in Food
2018 - Oxford University Press | ICES Journal of Marine Science
Arnaldo Dias‐Santos, Joana Ferreira, Sofia Pinheiro, João Paulo Cunha, Marta Alves, Ana Luísa Papoila, Maria Francisca Moraes‐Fontes, Rui Proença,
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune and multisystemic disease. Recent studies with functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive tests report an unexpectedly high frequency of central nervous system involvement, even in patients with asymptomatic SLE. The purpose of this study was to identify early signs of retinal neurodegeneration by comparing the thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and all macular layers between patients ...
Tópico(s): Ocular Diseases and Behçet’s Syndrome
2020 - BioMed Central | International Journal of Retina and Vitreous
Maryou Lambros, Veronica Gil, Mateus Crespo, Mariane Fontes, Rui Neves, Niven Mahra, Gemma Fowler, Berni Ebbs, Penny Flohr, George Seed, Wei Yuan, Joanne Hunt, Deirdre Moloney, Dionne Ayanda, Joost F. Swennenhuis, Kiki Andree, Semini Sumanasuriya, Matthew Clarke, Pasquale Rescigno, Zafeiris Zafeiriou, Joaquı́n Mateo, Diletta Bianchini, Nikolas H. Stoecklein, Leon W.M.M. Terstappen, Gunther Boysen, Johann S. de Bono,
... Lambros, Veronica S. Gil, Mateus Crespo, Mariane S. Fontes, Rui N. Neves, Niven Mahra, Gemma Fowler, Berni Ebbs, ...
Tópico(s): Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research
2017 - American Association for Cancer Research | Cancer Research
Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
Ana CA Oliveira, Maria CS Pereira, Luana Nazaré da Silva Santana, Rafael M. Fernandes, Francisco Bruno Teixeira, Gedeão Batista de Oliveira, Luanna Melo Pereira Fernandes, Enéas Andrade Fontes-Júnior, Rui Daniel Prediger, Maria Elena Crespo‐López, Walace Gomes‐Leal, Rafael Rodrigues Lima, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia,
There is increasing evidence that heavy ethanol exposure in early life may produce long-lasting neurobehavioral consequences, since brain structural maturation continues until adolescence. It is well established that females are more susceptible to alcohol-induced neurotoxicity and that ethanol consumption is increasing among women, especially during adolescence. In the present study, we investigated whether chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence through early adulthood in female rats may induce ...
Tópico(s): Fatty Acid Research and Health
2015 - SAGE Publishing | Journal of Psychopharmacology
Hugo Fraga, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva, Rui Fontes,
Abstract The firefly luciferase reaction intermediate luciferyl adenylate was detected by RP‐HPLC analysis when the luciferase reaction was performed under a nitrogen atmosphere. Although this compound is always specified as an intermediate in the light‐production reaction, this is the first report of its identification by HPLC in a luciferase assay medium. Under a low‐oxygen atmosphere, luciferase can catalyze the synthesis of luciferyl coenzyme A from luciferin, ATP, and coenzyme A, but in air ...
Tópico(s): Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
2003 - Wiley | ChemBioChem
Hugo Fraga, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva, Rui Fontes,
Previous results have shown that an oxidizing product of firefly luciferin, dehydroluciferyl‐adenylate, is the main intermediate in the process of synthesis of dinucleoside polyphosphates catalyzed by firefly luciferase (EC 1.13.12.7). However, we have found that the pH effects on the luciferase oxidizing processes and on the synthesis of dinucleoside polyphosphate are opposite: acidic assay media enhance the synthesis of dinucleoside polyphosphate and inhibit the oxidizing processes. The reason ...
Tópico(s): Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
2003 - Wiley | FEBS Letters
Alexandra Rosa, Benedita V. Fonseca, Tiago Krug, Helena Manso, Liliana Gouveia, Isabel Soares de Albergaria, Gisela Gaspar, Manuel Correia, Miguel Viana‐Baptista, Rita Moiron Simões, Amélia Nogueira Pinto, Ricardo Taipa, Carla Ferreira, João Ramalho Fontes, Mário Rui Silva, João Paulo Gabriel, Ilda Matos, Gabriela Lopes, José M. Ferro, Astrid M. Vicente, Sofia A. Oliveira,
Abstract Background The genetic contribution to stroke is well established but it has proven difficult to identify the genes and the disease-associated alleles mediating this effect, possibly because only nuclear genes have been intensely investigated so far. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been implicated in several disorders having stroke as one of its clinical manifestations. The aim of this case-control study was to assess the contribution of mtDNA polymorphisms and haplogroups to ischemic stroke ...
Tópico(s): Metabolism and Genetic Disorders
2008 - BioMed Central | BMC Medical Genetics
Rui Fontes, Diogo Fernandes, Filipe Peralta, Hugo Fraga, Inês Maio, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva,
The activating and stabilizing effects of inorganic pyrophosphate, tripolyphosphate and nucleoside triphosphates on firefly luciferase bioluminescence were studied. The results obtained show that those effects are a consequence of the luciferase‐catalyzed splitting of dehydroluciferyl‐adenylate, a powerful inhibitor formed as a side product in the course of the bioluminescence reaction. Inorganic pyrophosphate, tripolyphosphate, CTP and UTP antagonize the inhibitory effect of dehydroluciferyl‐adenylate ...
Tópico(s): Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies
2008 - Wiley | FEBS Journal
Tiago Krug, Helena Manso, Liliana Gouveia, João Sobral, Joana M. Xavier, Isabel Soares de Albergaria, Gisela Gaspar, Manuel Correia, Miguel Viana‐Baptista, Rita Moiron Simões, Amélia Nogueira Pinto, Ricardo Taipa, Carla Ferreira, João Ramalho Fontes, Mário Rui Silva, João Paulo Gabriel, Ilda Matos, Gabriela Lopes, José M. Ferro, Astrid M. Vicente, Sofia A. Oliveira,
Cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. They are complex disorders resulting from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, and may share several susceptibility genes. Several recent studies have implicated variants of the Kalirin (KALRN) gene with susceptibility to cardiovascular and metabolic phenotypes, but no studies have yet been performed in stroke patients. KALRN is involved, among others, in the inhibition of inducible ...
Tópico(s): Nuclear Receptors and Signaling
2010 - Springer Science+Business Media | Human Genetics
Tópico(s): Peptidase Inhibition and Analysis
2011 - Elsevier BV | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects
Hugo Fraga, Diogo Fernandes, Jiří Novotný, Rui Fontes, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva,
Abstract Firefly luciferase catalyzes the synthesis of H 2 O 2 from the same substrates as the bioluminescence reaction: ATP and luciferin ( d‐ LH 2 ). About 80 % of the enzyme‐bound intermediate d‐ luciferyl adenylate ( d‐ LH 2 ‐AMP) is oxidized into oxyluciferin, and a photon is emitted during this reaction. The enzyme pathway responsible for the generation of H 2 O 2 is a side reaction in which d‐ LH 2 ‐AMP is oxidized into dehydroluciferyl adenylate ( L‐AMP ). Like the bioluminescence reaction, the luciferase‐ ...
Tópico(s): Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
2006 - Wiley | ChemBioChem
Hugo Fraga, Diogo Fernandes, Rui Fontes, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva,
The effect of CoA on the characteristic light decay of the firefly luciferase catalysed bioluminescence reaction was studied. At least part of the light decay is due to the luciferase catalysed formation of dehydroluciferyl‐adenylate (L‐AMP), a by‐product that results from oxidation of luciferyl‐adenylate (LH 2 ‐AMP), and is a powerful inhibitor of the bioluminescence reaction (IC 50 = 6 n m ). We have shown that the CoA induced stabilization of light emission does not result from an allosteric effect but ...
Tópico(s): Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
2005 - Wiley | FEBS Journal
Rui Fontes, João Meireles Ribeiro, A Sillero,
A combined analysis of enzyme inhibition and activation is presented, based on a rapid equilibrium model assumption in which one molecule of enzyme binds one molecule of substrate (S) and/or one molecule of a modifier X. The modifier acts as activator (essential or non-essential), as inhibitor (total or partial), or has no effect on the reaction rate (v), depending on the values of the equilibrium constants, the rate constants of the limiting velocity steps, and the concentration of substrate ([S]). Different ...
Tópico(s): Biochemical Acid Research Studies
2000 - Polish Biochemical Society | Acta Biochimica Polonica
Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
Francisco Bruno Teixeira, Luana Nazaré da Silva Santana, F R Bezerra, Sabrina de Carvalho, Enéas Andrade Fontes-Júnior, Rui Daniel Prediger, Maria Elena Crespo‐López, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia, Rafael Rodrigues Lima,
Binge drinking is common among adolescents, and this type of ethanol exposure may lead to long-term nervous system damage. In the current study, we evaluated motor performance and tissue alterations in the cerebral cortex of rats subjected to intermittent intoxication with ethanol from adolescence to adulthood. Adolescent male Wistar rats (35 days old) were treated with distilled water or ethanol (6.5 g/kg/day, 22.5% w/v) during 55 days by gavage to complete 90 days of age. The open field, inclined ...
Tópico(s): Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
2014 - Public Library of Science | PLoS ONE
Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva, Júlia M. C. S. Magalhães, Rui Fontes,
Firefly oxyluciferin (2-(6′-hydroxybenzothiazolyl)-4-hydroxythiazole) was chemically synthesized and characterized by means of 13C and 1H NMR, UV–vis spectrometry and RP-HPLC using different pH elution conditions. One of the chromatographic peaks observed in luciferase-catalyzed reaction mixtures was identified as corresponding to oxyluciferin.
Tópico(s): Biosensors and Analytical Detection
2001 - Elsevier BV | Tetrahedron Letters
Rui Fontes, Alexey Dukhovich, Antonio Sillero, Marı́a A. Günther Sillero,
The formation of dehydroluciferin (L) from luciferin (LH2) in the reaction catalyzed by firefly luciferase (EC 1.13.12.7) has been studied. The E.LH2-AMP complex may follow two different pathways: towards production of light and towards the synthesis of the E.L-AMP complex. This last step has an inhibitory effect on light emission as molecules of the enzyme are trapped in a light unproductive complex. The effects of CoA and nucleoside 5'-triphosphates (NTPs) on light emission are quantitatively different. ...
Tópico(s): Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications
1997 - Elsevier BV | Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Rui Fontes, Begoña Ortiz, Anabel de Diego, Antonio Sillero, Marı́a A. Günther Sillero,
It was previously assumed that E·LH 2 ‐AMP was the intermediate complex in the synthesis of Ap 4 A catalyzed by firefly luciferase (EC 1.13.12.7), when luciferin (LH 2 ) was used as cofactor. However, here we show that LH 2 is partly transformed, shortly after the onset of the luciferase reaction, to dehydroluciferin (L) with formation of an E·L‐AMP complex which is the main intermediate for the synthesis of Ap 4 A. Formation of three more derivatives of LH 2 were also observed, related to the production ...
Tópico(s): Retinal Development and Disorders
1998 - Wiley | FEBS Letters
Rui Fontes, Marı́a A. Günther Sillero, Antonio Sillero,
ABSTRACT Acyl coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase (EC 6.2.1.8 ) from Pseudomonas fragi catalyzes the synthesis of adenosine 5′-tetraphosphate (p 4 A) and adenosine 5′-pentaphosphate (p 5 A) from ATP and tri- or tetrapolyphosphate, respectively. dATP, adenosine-5′- O -[γ-thiotriphosphate] (ATPγS), adenosine(5′)tetraphospho(5′)adenosine (Ap 4 A), and adenosine(5′)pentaphospho(5′)adenosine (Ap 5 A) are also substrates of the reaction yielding p 4 (d)A in the presence of tripolyphosphate (P 3 ). UTP, CTP, and AMP are not substrates ...
Tópico(s): Biochemical and Molecular Research
1998 - American Society for Microbiology | Journal of Bacteriology
Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
Fernando B. R. da Silva, Polyane A. Cunha, Paula Ribera, Mayara A. Barros, Sabrina de Carvalho Cartágenes, Luanna Melo Pereira Fernandes, Francisco Bruno Teixeira, Enéas Andrade Fontes-Júnior, Rui Daniel Prediger, Rafael Rodrigues Lima, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia,
Over the last years, heavy ethanol consumption by teenagers/younger adults has increased considerably among females. However, few studies have addressed the long-term impact on brain structures' morphology and function of chronic exposure to high ethanol doses from adolescence to adulthood in females. In line with this idea, in the current study we investigated whether heavy chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence to adulthood may induce motor impairments and morphological and cellular alterations ...
Tópico(s): Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
2018 - Frontiers Media | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
Sabrina de Carvalho Cartágenes, Luanna Melo Pereira Fernandes, Taiana Cristina Vilhena Sarmento Carvalheiro, Thais Sousa, Antônio Rafael Quadros Gomes, Marta Chagas Monteiro, Ricardo Sousa de Oliveira Paraense, Maria Elena Crespo‐López, Rafael Rodrigues Lima, Enéas Andrade Fontes-Júnior, Rui Daniel Prediger, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia,
Ketamine is used in clinical practice as an anesthetic that pharmacologically modulates neurotransmission in postsynaptic receptors, such as NMDA receptors. However, widespread recreational use of ketamine in “party drug” worldwide since the 1990s quickly spread to the Asian orient region. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the behavioral and oxidative effects after immediate withdrawal of intermittent administration of ketamine in adolescent female rats. For this, twenty female Wistar rats ...
Tópico(s): Tryptophan and brain disorders
2019 - Hindawi Publishing Corporation | Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
Hugo Fraga, Joaquim C. G. Esteves da Silva, Rui Fontes,
Dehydroluciferyl-coenzyme A (L-CoA) was chemically synthesized and characterized by MS, UV–vis spectrometry and RP-HPLC. The identity of the chemically synthesized compound with the one that was produced by firefly luciferase was confirmed. Moreover, the reversibility of the enzymatic conversion of dehydroluciferin ⇌ dehydroluciferyl-adenylate ⇌ L-CoA was also confirmed. The chemical synthesis of L-CoA, described here, may help the clarification of the activator effect of CoA on luciferase bioluminescent ...
Tópico(s): Cell Image Analysis Techniques
2004 - Elsevier BV | Tetrahedron Letters
Helena M.R. Gonçalves, Isabel S. Tavares, Susana A.F. Neves, Rui Fontes, Abel J. Duarte,
The pressing need to develop a specific analytical sensor that can identify and quantify Fe(II) without a cytotoxic response was the major motivation drive in this work. The turn-on fluorescent sensor here described can successfully detect Fe(II) and discriminate this ion from other analytes that commonly act as interferents in biological media. Moreover, this reduced fluoresceinamine-based sensor has a high photostability and high dissociation constant, which is an indication that the complex obtained ...
Tópico(s): Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
2021 - Elsevier BV | Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Rui Fontes, Marı́a A. Günther Sillero, A Sillero,
The synthesis of diadenosine hexaphosphate (Ap6A), a potent vasoconstrictor, is catalyzed by acyl-CoA synthetase from Pseudomonas fragi. In a first step AMP is transferred from ATP to tetrapolyphosphate (P4) originating adenosine pentaphosphate (p5A) which, subsequently, is the acceptor of another AMP moiety from ATP generating diadenosine hexaphosphate (Ap6A). Diadenosine pentaphosphate (Ap5A) and diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) were also synthesized in the course of the reaction. In view of the variety ...
Tópico(s): Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
1999 - Elsevier BV | Biochimie
Sofia O. Lopes, Fernando A. C. C. Fontes, Rui M. S. Pereira, Maria do Rosário de Pinho, C. Ribeiro,
In a previous study, the authors developed the planning of the water used in the irrigation systems of a given farmland in order to ensure that the field cultivation is in a good state of preservation. This planning was modelled and tackled as an optimal control problem: minimize the water flow (control) so that the extent water amount in the soil (trajectory) fulfils the cultivation water requirements. In this paper, we characterize the solution of our problem guaranteeing the existence of the solution ...
Tópico(s): Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
2014 - Springer Science+Business Media | Lecture notes in electrical engineering
Sofia O. Lopes, Fernando A. C. C. Fontes, Rui M. S. Pereira, A. Manuela Gonçalves, Gaspar J. Machado,
We aim to plan the water usage in the irrigation of a given farmland keeping, at same time, the field cultivation in a good state of preservation. This problem is modeled and tackled as an optimal control problem: minimize the water flow (control) so that the extent water amount in the soil (trajectory) fulfills the cultivation water requirements. To estimate rainfall, we consider two models: one based on the average monthly rainfall of the last 10 years in Lisbon area and another which considers ...
Tópico(s): Water resources management and optimization
2013 - American Institute of Physics | AIP conference proceedings