ABSTRACT Although the Araucaria Mixed Forest has long been recognized for their woods and ecosystem services, we still lack basic information on what tree species occur there. Habitat loss and overexploitation have led several tree species of this forest into an extinction process. Therefore, it is urgent to compile what are the tree species of this forest type, identify if these species are threatened and which were not assessed for their threat category. We aimed to answer: (1) How many tree species occur in the Araucaria Mixed Forest? 2) How many of these species are under a threat category? (3) Does the number of threatened species per state/province mirror the species richness of the state/province through the Araucaria Mixed Forest distribution? We found 1,213 tree species for the forest type. The states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro presented the highest species richness. The number of assessed species reflected the total number of species per state/province. Of the species listed, 5.3 % were classified as threatened and 72.8 % have not been assessed. We provided the most comprehensive tree species list to date for the Araucaria Mixed Forest and unveiled the conservation status of its tree flora.

The electrospinning has been widely used in tissue engineering for the preparation of wound dressing with the most varied polymers and drugs. Considering that propolis has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory characteristics, the aim was to develop electrospun fibers from PBAT (poly (butylene-adipate-co-terephthalate)/PCL (poly(ε-caprolactone) containing propolis in order to promote antimicrobial action and the healing of wounds. By the optical microscopy analysis, the best parameter for obtaining the fibers was chosen: 16.5% (v/v) of propolis extract alcoholic solution, 14.0 cm needle-collector distance, 17.0 kV of voltage and 0.5 mL h-1 flow rate. The scanning electron microscopy demonstrated fiber diameters of 0.51 ± 0.12 μm for the polymer blend and 1.16 ± 0.98 μm for the blend with propolis. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed no evidence of chemical interaction with propolis, this being a physical interaction. This interaction was corroborated by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) due to the variation in the heats involved, mainly in the aromatic part of the polymer blend, indicating a better interaction in the PBAT group. Finally, it was found that fibers presents propolis antimicrobial activity against the bacteria Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. The results indicate that this blend has a great potential to be used as a cutaneous dressing.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o efeito da Angiotensina II (Ang II) sobre a esteroidogenese nas células da teca bovina, cultivadas in vitro. Para isso, células da teca bovina foram obtidas de folículos maiores que 10 mm de diâmetro de ovários oriundos de abatedouro e submetidas a diferentes tratamentos em uma sequência de experimentos. No experimento 1, o perfil de expressão do RNAm de CYP17A1 foi avaliado nas células da teca em resposta ao LH (10ng ml-1) e/ou Ang II (0,1µM) em diferentes momentos de tratamento. No experimento 2, foi investigado o efeito dose-resposta de Ang II (0,001; 0,1 e 10µM), acrescido de insulina (100ng ml-1) e LH (100ng ̸ml) sobre a esteroidogênese nas células da teca bovina. O experimento 3 explorou os possíveis efeitos da Ang II por meio do tratamento de células da teca com saralasina (antagonista dos receptores da Ang II). Após 24 horas, nos experimentos 2 e 3, o meio de cultura foi coletado e avaliado quanto aos níveis de testosterona e androstenediona pela técnica de HPLC. Em paralelo, a expressão gênica de enzimas-chave da esteroidogênese (HSD3B2, CYP11A1, CYP17A1) e STAR foi avaliada por qRT-PCR. Não se observou diferença na produção de testosterona e androstenediona entre controle e grupos tratados, bem como, na expressão do RNAm para os genes estudados. Em conclusão, nossos resultados não demonstraram um papel da Ang II sobre a esteroidogenese nas células da teca bovina

The main objective of this study was to detect the steroidogenic effects of Ang II in bovine theca cells in vitro. Bovine theca cells were obtained from follicles (larger than 10mm of diameter) collected from a local abattoir and submitted to different treatments in a sequence of experiments. In experiment 1, CYP17A1 mRNA profile was evaluated in LH- (10ng ml-1) and Ang II-treated (0.1µM) theca cells. In experiment 2, a dose-response effect of Ang II (0.001; 0.1 e 10µM) plus insulin (100ng ml-1) and LH (100ng ml-1) was evaluated on steroidogenesis of bovine theca cells. Experiment 3 explored the effects of saralasin (an antagonist of Ang II receptors) on steroid production and steroidogenic enzymes regulation in theca cells. After 24 hours, culture media from experiments 2 and 3 was collected to evaluate testosterone and androstenedione levels by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. In parallel, mRNA levels of key steroidogenic enzymes (HSD3B2, CYP11A1, CYP17A1) and STAR were assessed by RT-PCR. There was no difference in testosterone and androstenedione production between treated and controls groups, as well as in mRNA levels of the evaluated genes. In conclusion, the results suggest that Ang II does not regulate steroidogenesis in bovine theca cells