ABSTRACT
Human schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease of great importance in public health. A large number of people are infected with schistosomiasis, making vaccine development and effective diagnosis important control strategies. A rational epitope prediction workflow using Schistosoma mansoni hypothetical proteins was previously presented by our group, and an improvement to that approach is presented here. Briefly, immunodominant epitopes from parasite membrane proteins were predicted by reverse vaccinology strategy with additional in silico analysis. Furthermore, epitope recognition was evaluated using sera of individuals infected with S. mansoni. The epitope that stood out in both in silico and in vitro assays was used to compose a rational chimeric molecule to improve immune response activation. Out of 2185 transmembrane proteins, four epitopes with high binding affinities for human and mouse MHCII molecules were selected through computational screening. These epitopes were synthesized to evaluate their ability to induce TCD4+ lymphocyte proliferation in mice. Sm204830e and Sm043300e induced significant TCD4+ proliferation. Both epitopes were submitted to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to evaluate their recognition by IgG antibodies from the sera of infected individuals, and epitope Sm043300 was significantly recognized in most sera samples. Epitope Sm043300 also showed good affinity for human MHCII molecules in molecular docking, and its sequence is curiously highly conserved in four S. mansoni proteins, all of which are described as G-protein-coupled receptors. In addition, we have demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating this epitope, which showed low similarity to human sequences, into a chimeric molecule. The stability of the molecule was evaluated by molecular modeling aimed at future molecule production for use in diagnosis and vaccination trials.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Helminth/immunology , Immunodominant Epitopes/immunology , Schistosoma mansoni/immunology , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Antibodies, Helminth/blood , Antibodies, Helminth/immunology , Antigens, Helminth/genetics , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques , Drug Design , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Female , HLA-DRB1 Chains/immunology , Helminth Proteins/chemistry , Helminth Proteins/immunology , Histocompatibility Antigens Class II/immunology , Histocompatibility Antigens Class II/metabolism , Humans , Immunodominant Epitopes/genetics , Immunodominant Epitopes/metabolism , Lymphocyte Activation , Membrane Proteins/chemistry , Membrane Proteins/immunology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Models, Molecular , Molecular Docking Simulation , Protein Conformation , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/chemistry , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/immunology , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/genetics , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/immunology , Schistosoma haematobium/immunology , Schistosoma mansoni/genetics , Schistosomiasis mansoni/blood , Schistosomiasis mansoni/immunology , Sequence Alignment , Vaccines, Subunit/immunology , Vaccines, Synthetic/immunologyABSTRACT
As atividades de educação em saúde no ambiente escolar são práticas de promoção da saúde indutoras de processos de transformação coletiva que incidem sobre as condições de vida da população. Este estudo objetiva analisar a percepção dos pais/responsáveis de escolas de ensino fundamental público quanto à participação dos acadêmicos universitários em ações de educação em saúde do Programa de Educação pelo Trabalho para Saúde (PET). Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e descritiva, realizada mediante aplicação de questionários a pais/responsáveis de escolares de seis a 14 anos em duas escolas de ensino fundamental públicas. Foram aplicados cem questionários que levantaram dados sobre a participação dos acadêmicos em atividades de educação em saúde e sua contribuição para a formação dos profissionais de saúde. A análise dos dados foi realizada seguindo-se o referencial da análise de conteúdo. Os resultados da pesquisa permitem afirmar que os pais/responsáveis pelos escolares avaliam que as atividades de educação em saúde desenvolvidas por acadêmicos nas escolas contribuíram para a melhoria da qualidade de atenção à saúde na comunidade escolar e para a formação do futuro profissional de saúde.
Health education activities in the school environment are health-promoting practices that encourage the processes of collective transformation that affect the living conditions of the population. This study aims to analyze the perception of parents/responsible guardians of schoolchildren of six to fourteen years old, in two public elementary schools regarding the participation of university academics in Health Education activities in the PET project (Education through Working for Health). This qualitative and descriptive study was based on the application of 100 questionnaires to the parents/responsible guardians to generate data about university student participation in health education activities and their contribution toward developing health care professionals. Data analysis was performed through content analysis. The survey results revealed that parents/responsible guardians of the schoolchildren believe that health education activities developed by university academics in schools have contributed to improving the quality of health care in the school community and to the development of future health care professionals.