32 documents found, page 1 of 4
Evaluating the response of malaria-infected RBCs to magnetic nanocarriers under...
Ferreira, Margarida Gomes; Freitas, Bruno José Ferreira; Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Pinho, Diana; Minas, Graça; Veiga, Maria IsabelMalaria still affects millions of people each year, posing a persistent public health challenge. One major hurdle is the increasing resistance of malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, to the current therapeutic drugs, which calls for alternative treatment strategies. This work takes a first step in exploring whether targeted drug delivery systems using nanocarriers can provide a promising solution to mitigat...
Development and fabrication of a microfluidic device for mechanical characteriz...
Ferreira, Margarida Gomes; Freitas, Bruno; Baptista, Vitória; Pinho, Diana; Minas, Graça; Veiga, Maria Isabel; Faustino, Vera; Catarino, Susana OliveiraThis work reports the design and fabrication of a polymeric microfluidic device, with a hyperbolic contraction, to promote extensional flow and allow the single cell mechanical characterization, in vitro, of healthy and malaria-infected red blood cells (RBCs). The obtained results show an extensional flow profile of the velocity across the microchannel for both healthy and infected RBCs, while the ability of th...
Deep into the proteomic network of Plasmodium falciparum's lipocalin
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Rey-Souto, Cora; Silva, Miguel; Franco, Anahir; Freitas, Bruno; Catarino, Susana Oliveira; Vizoso-Vázquez, AngélMalaria, an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, threats half of the world's population yearly due to the parasite's ability to develop resistance to antimalarial drugs. Therefore, innovative intervention strategies, which rely on a deeper understanding of the parasite's complex biology are urgently needed. Most antimalarial drugs target the symptomatic stage of infection of the parasite that is t...
Deep into the proteomic network of hemozoin formation in the malaria parasite
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Silva, Miguel; Freitas, Bruno; Catarino, Susana Oliveira; Vizoso-Vázquez, Angél; Veiga, Maria IsabelMalaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted to and between people by mosquitoes. Despite progress in its control, malaria still threatens half of the world’s population yearly, owing to the capacity of the parasite to develop resistance to antimalarial drugs treatment. Thus, innovative intervention measures are urgent and strictly depend on our better understanding of the parasit...
On-chip optical microsystem for Plasmodium falciparum malaria detection
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Ferreira, Gabriel Malheiro; Minas, Graça; Veiga, Maria Isabel; Catarino, Susana OliveiraThe limitations in the currently used diagnostic methods pose challenges to effective malaria control and elimination. To overcome this, herein, optical spectrophotometry is explored for the detection and quantification of low-level Plasmodium falciparum infections. Specifically, we characterize the optical spectra of healthy and infected samples and design, simulate, and fabricate an on-chip optical detection ...
Optical spectrophotometry as a promising method for quantification and tage dif...
Baptista, Vitória; Silva, Miguel; Ferreira, Gabriel M; Calçada, Carla; Minas, Graça; Veiga, Maria Isabel; Catarino, Susana OliveiraMalaria is one of the most life-threatening infectious diseases worldwide, claiming half a million lives yearly. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is crucial for disease control and elimination. Currently used diagnostic methods require blood sampling and fail to detect low-level infections. At the symptomatic stage of infection, the parasites feed on red blood cells' (RBCs) hemoglobin, forming inert crystals, the ...
Dissecting the role of lipocalin in Plasmodium falciparum
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Silva, Miguel; Catarino, Susana Oliveira; Veiga, Maria Isabel[Excerpt] Malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites, is an infectious disease responsible for millions of cases and deaths yearly. Despite the efforts, the disease control has been continuedly threatened by the resilient capacity of the parasite to acquire resistance to antimalarial drugs treatment, which target the symptomatic intraerythrocytic developmental cycle.
Design of a two-fluorophore pH biosensor targeted to the digestive vacuole of P...
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Lozano, Rita; Catarino, Susana Oliveira; Veiga, Maria IsabelThe maintenance of pH homeostasis is critical for biological processes in all organisms, with the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, being no exception. The parasite food vacuole is a major acidic digestive organelle, where the pH is thought to be regulated by proton pumps in its membrane. The acidic environment promotes the action of enzymes involved in hemoglobin degradation, and polymerization of toxic...
Extensional flow for assessing the effect of nanocarriers on the mechanical def...
Kriebel, Jana; Gonçalves, Inês Maia Silva Rodrigo; Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Veiga, Maria Isabel; Minas, Graça; Lima, Rui; Catarino, Susana OliveiraThe effect of nanoparticles on the mechanical behavior of red blood cells (RBCs) under an extensional flow has not been extensively studied. In this work, by using a microfluidic hyperbolic contraction, it is assessed the deformability of healthy RBCs in contact with ∼20 nm nanoparticles of magnetic iron and non-magnetic cerium. The results showed that, under a controlled extensional flow, the healthy RBCs defo...
Plasmodium falciparum heme species dynamics under antimalarial exposure
Baptista, Vitória Cunha; Silva, Miguel; Calçada, Carla; Esho, Ruth; Catarino, Susana Oliveira; Veiga, Maria IsabelWhile the recently approved first malaria vaccine provides new hope with a reduction in deadly severe malaria, decreasing the disease burden towards elimination requires highly effective drug treatment. However, treatment efficacy is constantly challenged by the capacity of Plasmodium falciparum parasites to develop resistance. The present artemisinin-based combination therapy is no exception. As the portfolio ...