Search

Yellow fever (YF) is a viral disease that affects both humans and non-human primates (NHPs). Neotropical monkeys are more severely stricken by YF and the impact of the disease can be devastating to the endangered golden-headed lion tamarins (GHLTs, Leontopithecus chrysomelas). Susceptible GHLTs were immunized with the commercial Brazilian YF 17DD live attenuated vaccine or two other experimental non-replicating YF vaccines: a purified whole-virus, b-propiolactone-inactivated vaccine and a plant-derived recombinant subunit vaccine. Safety, immunogenicity and viremia and RNAemia blockade were characterized. No YF clinical manifestations were observed in any of the GHLTs that received the attenuated virus, either as a vaccine or as the homologous vaccination with the live attenuated vaccine used as the challenge virus. All three concentrations of the attenuated vaccine induced neutralizing antibodies and only one in 16 animals had detectable viremia and RNAemia after challenge. The inactivated vaccine elicited neutralizing antibodies preventing post-challenge viremia and RNAemia in five out of six animals. The plant-based vaccine induced neutralizing antibodies in five out of six animals and prevented viremia and RNAemia in three out of six against challenge. The safety profile and the immunogenicity of the YF attenuated vaccine were demonstrated in GHLTs with a blocking effectiveness over 90 %, where blockade can be defined as the capacity to prevent viremia and RNAemia after homologous vaccination with the live attenuated vaccine. The use of the inactivated vaccine in this species served as a preliminary pre-clinical study for this approach and after administration in three-dose regimen demonstrated a blocking profile of 83 %. Using a two-dose regimen, the plant-based vaccine was able to block viremia and RNAemia in 50 % of the animals. The present study can endorse the use of attenuated or non-replicating yellow fever vaccines in New World primates threatened by the recent disease outbreaks in Brazil., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hatching synchronisation is widespread in oviparous taxa. It has been demonstrated that many species use sounds to coordinate synchronous hatching, being widespread among archosaurs (birds and crocodilians). Recent studies have shown that some turtle species produce vocalisations from within the egg, but the role of this behaviour in synchronising hatch is untested. The small amount of information about sound production by turtle embryos, limited to a handful of closely related species, precludes any inferences based on differences in their ecology, reproductive behaviour and phylogenetic context. With the goal to investigate if coordinated synchronous behaviour is mediated by within-egg vocalisations in turtles, we recorded clutches from six different turtle species. The selected animals present different ecological and reproductive niches and belong to distinct phylogenetic lineages at the family level. We aimed to understand: (1) what is the phylogenetic distribution of within-egg vocal behaviour among turtles; (2) if asynchronous turtle species vocalise from within the egg; (3) if clutch size influences synchronous behaviour and (4) if within-egg turtle calls follow any phylogenetic signal. The new evidence provides light to the current knowledge about synchronous behaviour and within-egg calls, challenging previous hypothesis that within-egg sounds are accidentally produced as side-effects of other behaviours., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The attenuated yellow fever (YF) vaccine is one of the most successful vaccines ever developed. After a single dose administration YF vaccine can induce balanced Th1/Th2 immune responses and long-lasting neutralizing antibodies. These attributes endorsed it as a model of how to properly stimulate the innate response to target protective immune responses. Despite their longstanding success, attenuated YF vaccines can cause rare fatal adverse events and are contraindicated for persons with immunosuppression, egg allergy and age < 6 months and >60 years. These drawbacks have encouraged the development of a non-live vaccine. The aim of the present study is to characterize and compare the immunological profile of two adjuvant formulations of an inactivated YF 17DD vaccine candidate. Inactivated YF vaccine formulations based on alum (Al(OH)3) or squalene (AddaVax®) were investigated by immunization of C57BL/6 mice in 3-dose or 2-dose schedules, respectively, and compared with a single dose of attenuated YF virus 17DD. Sera were analyzed by ELISA and Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT) for detection of total IgG and neutralizing antibodies against YF virus. In addition, splenocytes were collected to evaluate cellular responses by ELISpot. Both inactivated formulations were able to induce high titers of IgG against YF, although neutralizing antibodies levels were borderline on pre-challenge samples. Analysis of IgG subtypes revealed a predominance of IgG2a associated with improved neutralizing capacity in animals immunized with the attenuated YF vaccine, and a predominance of IgG1 in groups immunized with experimental non-live formulations (alum and AddaVax®). After intracerebral (IC) challenge, attenuated and inactivated vaccine formulations showed an increase in neutralizing antibodies. The AddaVax®-based inactivated vaccine and the attenuated vaccine achieved 100% protection, and alum-based equivalent formulation achieved 70% protection.

Background: Alouatta spp. are highly susceptible to yellow fever (YF) infection and develop an often fatal disease. The threat posed by an outbreak started in 2016 leads us to investigate vaccination as a potential tool in preventing YF in non-human primates (NHP)., Methods: Susceptible howler monkeys were immunized with three different concentrations of the human Brazilian commercial YF17DD vaccine. Post-vaccination viremia/RNAemia, immunogenicity, and safety were characterized., Results: The vaccine did not produce YF clinical manifestations in any of the NHPs. After immunization, all animals seroconverted demonstrating the ability of the YF vaccine to induce humoral response in Alouatta species., Conclusions: The present work has demonstrated the safe and immunogenic profile of the existing YF 17DD vaccine in howler monkeys. This knowledge may support further studies with other susceptible monkey species and provide a possible solution for controlling epizootics and preventing the devastation of endangered species., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data., (© 2020 The Authors. Ecology © 2020 The Ecological Society of America.)

Scientists have long been trying to understand why the Neotropical region holds the highest diversity of birds on Earth. Recently, there has been increased interest in morphological variation between and within species, and in how climate, topography, and anthropogenic pressures may explain and affect phenotypic variation. Because morphological data are not always available for many species at the local or regional scale, we are limited in our understanding of intra- and interspecies spatial morphological variation. Here, we present the ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS, a data set that includes measurements of up to 44 morphological traits in 67,197 bird records from 2,790 populations distributed throughout the Atlantic forests of South America. This data set comprises information, compiled over two centuries (1820-2018), for 711 bird species, which represent 80% of all known bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest. Among the most commonly reported traits are sex (n = 65,717), age (n = 63,852), body mass (n = 58,768), flight molt presence (n = 44,941), molt presence (n = 44,847), body molt presence (n = 44,606), tail length (n = 43,005), reproductive stage (n = 42,588), bill length (n = 37,409), body length (n = 28,394), right wing length (n = 21,950), tarsus length (n = 20,342), and wing length (n = 18,071). The most frequently recorded species are Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 1,837), Turdus albicollis (n = 1,658), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 1,468), Turdus leucomelas (n = 1,436), and Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 1,384). The species recorded in the greatest number of sampling localities are Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 243), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 242), Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 210), Platyrinchus mystaceus (n = 208), and Turdus rufiventris (n = 191). ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS (ABT) is the most comprehensive data set on measurements of bird morphological traits found in a biodiversity hotspot; it provides data for basic and applied research at multiple scales, from individual to community, and from the local to the macroecological perspectives. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or teaching and educational activities., (© 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of America.)

Yellow fever (YF) is a high-lethality viral disease, endemic in tropical regions of South America and Africa, with a population of over 900 million people under risk. A highly effective attenuated vaccine, produced in embryonated eggs, has been used for about 80 years. However, egg-based production limits manufacturing capacity, and vaccine shortage led to the emergency use of a fractional dose (1/5) by the WHO in an outbreak in Africa in 2016 and by Brazilian authorities during an outbreak in 2018. In addition, rare but fatal adverse events of this vaccine have been reported since 2001. These two aspects make clear the need for the development of a new vaccine. In an effort to develop an inactivated YF vaccine, Bio-Manguinhos/FIOCRUZ started developing a new vaccine based on the production of the attenuated 17DD virus in serum-free conditions in Vero cells propagated in bioreactors, followed by chromatography-based purification and β-propiolactone inactivation. Virus purification was studied in this work. Capture was performed using an anion-exchange membrane adsorber (Sartobind® Q), resulting in a virus recovery of 80.2 ± 4.8% and a residual DNA level of 1.3 ± 1.6 ng/dose, thus in accordance with the recommendations of the WHO (<10 ng/dose). However, the level of host cell proteins (HCP) was still high for a human vaccine, so a second chromatography step was developed based on a multimodal resin (Capto™ Core 700). This step resulted in a virus recovery of 65.7 ± 4.8% and decreased HCP levels to 345 ± 25 ppm. The overall virus recovery in these chromatography steps was 52.7%. SDS-PAGE of the purified sample showed a band with molecular mass of 56 kDa, thus consistent with the virus envelope protein (E) and corresponding to 96.7% of identified proteins. A Western blot stained with an antibody against the E protein showed a single band, confirming the identity of the sample., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, changes in Vero cell cultivation methods have been employed in order to improve cell growth conditions to obtain higher viable cell densities and to increase viral titers. The propagation of the 17DD yellow fever virus (YFV) in Vero cells grown on Cytodex I microcarriers was evaluated in 3-L bioreactor vessels. Prior to the current changes, Vero cells were repeatedly displaying insufficient microcarrier colonization. A modified cultivation process with four changes has resulted in higher cell densities and higher virus titers than previously observed for 17DD YFV., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Yellow fever is an acute infectious disease caused by prototype virus of the genus Flavivirus. It is endemic in Africa and South America where it represents a serious public health problem causing epidemics of hemorrhagic fever with mortality rates ranging from 20% to 50%. There is no available antiviral therapy and vaccination is the primary method of disease control. Although the attenuated vaccines for yellow fever show safety and efficacy it became necessary to develop a new yellow fever vaccine due to the occurrence of rare serious adverse events, which include visceral and neurotropic diseases. The new inactivated vaccine should be safer and effective as the existing attenuated one. In the present study, the immunogenicity of an inactivated 17DD vaccine in C57BL/6 mice was evaluated. The yellow fever virus was produced by cultivation of Vero cells in bioreactors, inactivated with β-propiolactone, and adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide (alum). Mice were inoculated with inactivated 17DD vaccine containing alum adjuvant and followed by intracerebral challenge with 17DD virus. The results showed that animals receiving 3 doses of the inactivated vaccine (2 μg/dose) with alum adjuvant had neutralizing antibody titers above the cut-off of PRNT50 (Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test). In addition, animals immunized with inactivated vaccine showed survival rate of 100% after the challenge as well as animals immunized with commercial attenuated 17DD vaccine., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

During infection, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) interacts with the cellular host factor cyclophilin A (CypA) through residues 85-93 of the N-terminal domain of HIV-1's capsid protein (CA). The role of the CA:CypA interaction is still unclear. Previous studies showed that a CypA-binding loop mutant, Δ87-97, has increased ability to assemble in vitro. We used this mutant to infer whether the CypA-binding region has an overall effect on CA stability, as measured by pressure and chemical perturbation. We built a SAXS-based envelope model for the dimer of both WT and Δ87-97. A new conformational arrangement of the dimers is described, showing the structural plasticity that CA can adopt. In protein folding studies, the deletion of the loop drastically reduces CA stability, as assayed by high hydrostatic pressure and urea. We hypothesize that the deletion promotes a rearrangement of helix 4, which may enhance the heterotypic interaction between the N- and C-terminal domains of CA dimers. In addition, we propose that the cyclophilin-binding loop may modulate capsid assembly during infection, either in the cytoplasm or near the nucleus by binding to the nuclear protein Nup385., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.)