Browsing by Author "Pinto, Maria Beatriz"
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- Bee Venom-Loaded Niosomes as Innovative Platforms for Cancer Treatment: Development and Therapeutical Efficacy and Safety EvaluationPublication . Pinto, Maria Beatriz; Pires, Patrícia C.; Calhelha, Ricardo C.; Silva, Ana Rita; Sousa, Maria João; Vilas-Boas, Miguel; Falcão, Soraia; Veiga, Francisco; Makvandi, Pooyan; Paiva-Santos, Ana CláudiaDespite past efforts towards therapeutical innovation, cancer remains a highly incident and lethal disease, with current treatments lacking efficiency and leading to severe side effects. Hence, it is imperative to develop new, more efficient, and safer therapies. Bee venom has proven to have multiple and synergistic bioactivities, including antitumor effects. Nevertheless, some toxic effects have been associated with its administration. To tackle these issues, in this work, bee venom-loaded niosomes were developed, for cancer treatment. The vesicles had a small (150 nm) and homogeneous (polydispersity index of 0.162) particle size, and revealed good therapeutic efficacy in in vitro gastric, colorectal, breast, lung, and cervical cancer models (inhibitory concentrations between 12.37 ng/mL and 14.72 ng/mL). Additionally, they also revealed substantial anti-inflammatory activity (inhibitory concentration of 28.98 ng/mL), effects complementary to direct antitumor activity. Niosome safety was also assessed, both in vitro (skin, liver, and kidney cells) and ex vivo (hen’s egg chorioallantoic membrane), and results showed that compound encapsulation increased its safety. Hence, small, and homogeneous bee venom-loaded niosomes were successfully developed, with substantial anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects, making them potentially promising primary or adjuvant cancer therapies. Future research should focus on evaluating the potential of the developed platform in in vivo models.
- Exploitation of Coleostephus myconis-associated endophytic fungi repel or attract Xylella fastidiosa vectorPublication . Cameirão, Cristina; Fernandes, Gisela Mariana; Martins, Fátima; Pinto, Maria Beatriz; Pereira, J.A.; Baptista, PaulaXylella fastIdiosa is a bacterium transmitted by insectvectors that cause high losses in a variety ofagriculturally important crops. In Europe, an outbreak ofthe disease was recently detected in olive trees, being Philaenus spumarius só far identífied as the only vector involved in this outbreak. Thus, vector contrai by using bait plants and/or insect repellents that emit volatile compounds produced by microorganisms that colonize host plants [endophyte] may help to reduce the dissemination ofthe disease. In this work the endophytic fungal community of Coleostephus myconis, a ground cover plant present in the olive graves and commonly infested by P. spumarius, was studied. Fungi were isolated from stems, leaves and inflorescences ofplants with three leveis of P. spumarius infestation, collected in an olive grove located in Mirandela. The fungal isolates obtained were identified by sequencing the ITS region of rDNA the partial tefl. A total of 121 species/genera were identified, bemg Alternaria, Chalastospora and Valsa the most abundant genera. The diversity and abundance of endophytic fungi was higher in the leaf and inflorescences than in the stem. The composition and diversity of endophytic fungal community was different between infested and non-infested plants, especially at the levei of their leaves. Endophyte community similarity between the different plant organs was low, especially between stem and inflorescences. Altogether, the results show that P. spumaríus affects the composition and structure ofendophytic fungal community associated to C. myconis, especially in their leaves. The effect of this change in the fungal community in attractiveness/ repulsion of P. spumarius should be studied in the future.