About

The Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM) combines bioinformatics and wet lab experiments to understand and better control tuberculosis (TB) in humans and animals. We believe that, in order to achieve the UN sustainable development goal of eradicating TB, we need to create strategies to fight all pathogens causing the disease in humans, including the ones responsible for zoonotic TB and those restricted to certain regions of the globe. We are advocates of the One Health concept to improve global health. Our research is mainly focused on bacterial genomics and the effect of genetic variations on bacterial phenotype, with an emphasis on the differences among species and lineages of the M. tuberculosis complex.

The LaPAM was founded in 2016 by Professor Ana Marcia de Sá Guimarães from the Department of Microbiology of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil. It is located at 1374 Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, Cidade Universitária Campus, São Paulo, Brazil. Procedures involving live tuberculous mycobacteria are performed at the Biosafety Level 3+ Laboratory “Prof. Klaus Eberhard Stewien” located across the hallway from LaPAM.

Our BSL3+ Facility

Our BSL3+ facility is a multi-user laboratory dedicated to handling level 3 pathogens. It was founded in 2004 by Prof Edison Luiz Durigon, under the Network of Virology Laboratories funded by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation), and is the first level 3 laboratory of Brazil. It is named after “Prof. Klaus Eberhard Stewien”. It is a fully-equipped facility, shower-out, with state of the art infra-structure for this type of containment. For many years, it was dedicated to the study of viral pathogens, and since 2016, it has been used for tuberculosis research. One of the goals of our laboratory is to provide high-level training for graduate students interested in working in this type of facility, helping build a BSL3 knowledgeable workforce in Brazil.


Publications

  • Sayedahmed et al., 2023¨. Impact of an autophagy-inducing peptide on immunogenicity and protection efficacy of an adenoviral vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine expressing the spike protein. Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development 30, 194-207.
  • Galhardo et al., 2023. Molecular detection and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs of positive owners during the first COVID-19 wave in Brazil. Scientific Reports, 13(1):14418.
  • Camargo et al, 2022. The rate and role of pseudogenes of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Microbial Genomics, 8(10), 000876, 2022.
  • de Souza Barbosa et al., 2022. Infection of SARS-CoV-2 in domestic dogs associated with owner viral load. Research in Veterinary Science, 153:61-65.
  • Romano et al., 2022¨. Unraveling the metabolism of Mycobacterium caprae using comparative genomics. Tuberculosis, 102254.
  • Botosso et al., 2022. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 equine F (Ab′) 2 immunoglobulin as a possible therapy for COVID-19. Scientific Reports, 12:3890.
  • Dantas et al., 2022. Retrospective analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection profile in COVID-19 positive patients in Vitoria da Conquista, Northeast Brazil. Viruses, 14 (11): 2424.
  • Gaeta et al., 2022. The first Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae recovered from a sheep with respiratory disease in Brazil – draft genome and genomic analysis. Veterinary Research Communications, 1-8.
  • de Oliveira et al., 2022. SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts carbon metabolism and depends on glutamine for replication in Syrian hamster astrocytes. Journal of Neurochemistry.
  • Couto et al., 2021. High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in persons experiencing homelessness and shelter workers from a day-shelter in São Paulo, Brazil. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009754. 
  • Lima et al., 2021. Genomic analysis of an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in a man‐made multi‐host species system: A call for action on wildlife in Brazil. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 1-12.
  • Oliveira et al., 2021. SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts carbon metabolism and depends on glutamine for replication in syrian hamster astrocytes. BioRxiv.
  • Sales et al., 2021. Multispacer sequencing typing for Mycobacterium bovis.  Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8:666283.
  • Carneiro et al., 2021. Genetic diversity and potential paths of transmission of Mycobacterium bovis in Amazon: the discovery of M. bovis lineage Lb1 circulating in South America. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8:630989.
  • Guimaraes and Zimpel, 2020. Mycobacterium bovis: from genotyping to genome sequencing. Microorganisms, 8(5):E667.
  • Zimpel et al., 2020. Global distribution and evolution of Mycobacterium bovis lineages. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11:843.
  • de Morais et al., 2020. Natural infection by SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals: a review of case reports and current evidence of their role in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 591216. (LaPAM co-autorship)
  • Barbosa et al., 2020.  Novel antigenic proteins of Mycoplasma agalactiae as potential vaccine and serodiagnostic candidates. Veterinary Microbiology, v. 249. (LaPAM co-authorship)
  • Pereira et al., 2019. Genome sequencing of Mycobacterium pinnipedii strains: genetic characterization and evidence of superinfection in a South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens). BMC Genomics, 20:1030.
  • de Carvalho et al., 2019. Genomic profile of Brazilian methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus resembles clones dispersed worldwide. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 68(5):693-702. (LaPAM co-autorship)
  • Nascimento et al., 2018. RNA-Seq based transcriptome of whole blood from immunocompetent pigs (Sus scrofa) experimentally infected with Mycoplasma suis strain Illinois. Veterinary Research, 18;49(1):49. (LaPAM co-autorship)
  • Santos-Junior et al., 2018. Ureaplasma diversum and Its Membrane-Associated Lipoproteins Activate Inflammatory Genes Through the NF-κB Pathway via Toll-Like Receptor 4. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9:1538. (LaPAM co-autorship)
  • Zimpel et al., 2017. Complete genome sequence of Mycobacterium bovis SP38 and comparative genomics of Mycobacterium bovis and M. tuberculosis strains. Frontiers in Microbiology, v8, article 2389.
  • Zimpel et al., 2017. Mycobacterium bovis in European Bison (Bison bonasus) raises concerns about tuberculosis in Brazilian captive wildlife populations: a case report. BMC Research Notes, 10(1):91.
  • Guimaraes et al., 2015. Draft genome sequence of Mycobacterium bovis strain SP38, a pathogenic bacterium isolated from a bovine in Brazil. Genome Announcements, 3(3):pii: e00511-15.

Google citations (Prof. Ana Marcia de Sá Guimarães)