[Infection status and Molecular types of Rhinovirus among Cases of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Luohe City, Henan Province, from 2017 to 2022]

Objective: To understand the infection status and molecular types of rhinovirus (RV) among cases of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) in Luohe City, Henan Province, from 2017 to 2022. Methods: From October 2017 to June 2022, clinical and epidemiological data were collected from 2 270 cases of ARIs at Luohe Central Hospital in Henan Province. Throat swab specimens were obtained from these cases. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to screen for RV-positive specimens. Subsequently, the positive samples were subjected to nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR) to amplify the full-length VP1 region. Using the MEGA software, along with 169 RV reference strains recommended by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, a phylogenetic tree was constructed to determine RV types. Results: Among the 2 270 cases of ARIs, there were 1 283 male cases (56.52%). The median age (Q1, Q3) was 3 (1, 6) years, with the population under 5 years old accounting for 68.59% (1 557/2 270). RV was detected in 137 cases (6.04%), of which 68 cases (49.64%) showed co-detection with other viruses, with the most common being co-detection with enterovirus, accounting for 14.60% (20/137). The RV detection rates in the age groups of 0~4 years, 5~14 years, 15~59 years, and≥60 years were 6.42% (100/1 557), 4.69% (21/448), 3.80% (6/158), and 9.35% (10/107), respectively, with no statistically significant differences (χ2=5.310, P=0.150). The overall detection rates of RV before (2017-2019) and during (2020-2022) the COVID-19 pandemic showed no statistically significant difference (χ2=1.823, P=0.177). A total of 109 VP1 sequences were obtained, including 62 types. Among them, RV-A, RV-B, and RV-C had 42, 3, and 17 types respectively. Conclusion: RV is one of the predominant pathogens in ARIs cases in Luohe City, Henan Province, from 2017 to 2022. Multiple types of RV co-circulate without any apparent dominant type.

Quartet metabolite reference materials for inter-laboratory proficiency test and data integration of metabolomics profiling

BACKGROUND

Various laboratory-developed metabolomic methods lead to big challenges in inter-laboratory comparability and effective integration of diverse datasets.

RESULTS

As part of the Quartet Project, we establish a publicly available suite of four metabolite reference materials derived from B lymphoblastoid cell lines from a family of parents and monozygotic twin daughters. We generate comprehensive LC-MS-based metabolomic data from the Quartet reference materials using targeted and untargeted strategies in different laboratories. The Quartet multi-sample-based signal-to-noise ratio enables objective assessment of the reliability of intra-batch and cross-batch metabolomics profiling in detecting intrinsic biological differences among the four groups of samples. Significant variations in the reliability of the metabolomics profiling are identified across laboratories. Importantly, ratio-based metabolomics profiling, by scaling the absolute values of a study sample relative to those of a common reference sample, enables cross-laboratory quantitative data integration. Thus, we construct the ratio-based high-confidence reference datasets between two reference samples, providing "ground truth" for inter-laboratory accuracy assessment, which enables objective evaluation of quantitative metabolomics profiling using various instruments and protocols.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides the community with rich resources and best practices for inter-laboratory proficiency tests and data integration, ensuring reliability of large-scale and longitudinal metabolomic studies.

Integrative proteomics and metabolomics study reveal enhanced immune responses by COVID-19 vaccine booster shot against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection

Since its outbreak in late 2021, the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been widely reported to be able to evade neutralizing antibodies, becoming more transmissible while causing milder symptoms than previous SARS-CoV-2 strains. Understanding the underlying molecular changes of Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection and corresponding host responses are important to the control of Omicron COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we report an integrative proteomics and metabolomics investigation of serum samples from 80 COVID-19 patients infected with Omicron SARS-CoV-2, as well as 160 control serum samples from 80 healthy individuals and 80 patients who had flu-like symptoms but were negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The multiomics results indicated that Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection caused significant changes to host serum proteome and metabolome comparing to the healthy controls and patients who had flu-like symptoms without COVID-19. Protein and metabolite changes also pointed to liver dysfunctions and potential damage to other host organs by Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection. The Omicron COVID-19 patients could be roughly divided into two subgroups based on their proteome differences. Interestingly, the subgroup who mostly had received full vaccination with booster shot had fewer coughing symptom, changed sphingomyelin lipid metabolism, and stronger immune responses including higher numbers of lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and upregulated proteins related to CD4+ T cells, CD8+ effector memory T cells (Tem), and conventional dendritic cells, revealing beneficial effects of full COVID-19 vaccination against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection through molecular changes.

Altered plasma metabolites and inflammatory networks in HIV-1 infected patients with different immunological responses after long-term antiretroviral therapy

Background

Chronic metabolic changes relevant to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and in response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) remain undetermined. Moreover, links between metabolic dysfunction caused by HIV and immunological inflammation in long-term treated individuals have been poorly studied.

Methods

Untargeted metabolomics and inflammatory cytokine levels were assessed in 47 HIV-infected individuals including 22 immunological responders (IRs) and 25 non-responders (INRs) before and after ART. The IRs and INRs were matched by age, gender, baseline viral load, and baseline CD4+T cell counts. Another 25 age-matched uninfected healthy individuals were also included as controls.

Results

Among the 770 plasma compounds detected in the current study, significant changes were identified in lipids, nucleotides, and biogenic amino acids between HIV-infected patients and healthy controls. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Random Forest (RF) model suggested that levels of selected metabolites could differentiate HIV-infected patients clearly from healthy controls. However, the metabolite profiles identified in our patients were similar, and only three metabolites, maltotetraose, N, N-dimethyl-5-aminovalerate, and decadienedioic acid (C10:2-DC), were different between IRs and INRs following long-term ART. The pathway enrichment analysis results revealed that disturbances in pyrimidine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and purine metabolism after HIV infection and these changes did not recover to normal levels in healthy controls even with suppressive ART. Correlation analysis of the metabolism-immune network indicated that interleukin (IL)-10, D-dimer, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and TNF-RII were positively correlated with most of the significantly changed lipid and amino acid metabolites but negatively correlated with metabolites in nucleotide metabolism.

Conclusions

Significant changes in many metabolites were observed in HIV-infected individuals before and after ART regardless of their immunological recovery status. The disturbed metabolic profiles of lipids and nucleotides in HIV infection did not recover to normal levels even after long-term ART. These changes are correlated with modified cytokines and biomarkers of chronic non-AIDS events, warranting tryout of interventions other than ART.

Multi-omics data integration using ratio-based quantitative profiling with Quartet reference materials

Characterization and integration of the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome of different datasets is difficult owing to a lack of ground truth. Here we develop and characterize suites of publicly available multi-omics reference materials of matched DNA, RNA, protein and metabolites derived from immortalized cell lines from a family quartet of parents and monozygotic twin daughters. These references provide built-in truth defined by relationships among the family members and the information flow from DNA to RNA to protein. We demonstrate how using a ratio-based profiling approach that scales the absolute feature values of a study sample relative to those of a concurrently measured common reference sample produces reproducible and comparable data suitable for integration across batches, labs, platforms and omics types. Our study identifies reference-free 'absolute' feature quantification as the root cause of irreproducibility in multi-omics measurement and data integration and establishes the advantages of ratio-based multi-omics profiling with common reference materials.

[Analysis of safety and factors influencing the surgical efficacy of benign biliary stenosis treated with autologous gastric flap repair with the vascular tip]

Objective: To investigate the complication rate and risk factors associated with using autologous gastric flap tissue with a vascular tip to treat benign biliary strictures. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 92 patients with benign biliary stenosis who applied autologous gastric flap tissue to repair the stenosis at the PLA General Hospital from January 2006 to May 2022. Among them, there were 40 males and 52 females, aged from 25 to 79 (50.5±12.9) years. The perioperative clinical data of the patients were recorded(Body Mass Index、preoperative platelets et.), and a multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing postoperative complications. Long-term follow-up was conducted to evaluate the long-term efficacy of autologous gastric flap tissue with vascular tissues for benign biliary stenosis surgery. Results: The incidence of recent postoperative complications in patients was 26.1%, and univariate analysis showed that preoperative bile-intestinal anastomosis, positive intraoperative bile bacterial culture, low preoperative hemoglobin, and low preoperative platelet count were significantly associated with the occurrence of postoperative complications after biliary stenosis repair with a vascularized gastric flap (P<0.05). Multifactorial analysis showed that low preoperative platelets (OR=0.990, 95%CI: 0.982-0.998, P=0.015), low preoperative hemoglobin (OR=4.953, 95%CI: 1.405-15.010, P=0.012) and positive intraoperative bile bacterial culture (OR=19.338, 95%CI: 3.618-103.360, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for the development of postoperative complications. The excellent long-term follow-up rate of patients was 92.0%. Conclusions: The procedure of repairing benign biliary stenosis with a vascularized gastric flap preserves the function of the sphincter of Oddi and reconstructs the normal physiological passage of the bile duct. This procedure is safe and feasible and provides a reliable option for the surgical treatment of bile duct injury and bile duct stenosis.

Determination of Vitamin K1, MK-4, MK-7, and D Levels in Human Serum of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Women Based on High Stability LC-MS/MS: MK-7 May Be a New Marker of Bone Metabolism

INTRODUCTION

Vitamin K (VK) as well as vitamin D (VD) plays an important role in osteoporosis. Vitamin K1 (VK1), vitamin K2 (VK2, menaquinone-4 (MK-4), and menaquinone-7 (MK-7)) are significant for the metabolism of skeletal muscle. 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3) reflect circulating VD levels. More sensitive measurements remain to be developed. In the present study, a new high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of VK1, VK2 (MK-4 and MK-7), as well as 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in human serum.

METHODS

We developed a simple LC-MS/MS method for the determination of VK1, MK-4, MK-7, 25(OH)D2, and 25(OH)D3 levels in human serum and validated the method in a study cohort of 200 patients divided into the premenopausal women group and postmenopausal osteoporosis patient group.

RESULTS

The overall precision (coefficient of variation) ranged from 2.66 to 10.11% in the specified working range (0.05-5 ng/mL) for VK1, MK-4, and MK-7. Serum VK1, MK-4, and MK-7 levels in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were 1.187 ± 0.094 ng/mL, 0.058 ± 0.009 ng/mL, and 0.885 ± 0.064 ng/mL, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). Serum VK1, MK-4, and MK-7 levels in premenopausal women were 1.143 ± 0.103 ng/mL, 0.028 ± 0.003 ng/mL, and 1.553 ± 0.226 ng/mL, respectively. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis were 0.757 ± 0.056 ng/mL and 11.72 ± 0.632 ng/mL, respectively. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels in premenopausal were 1.793 ± 0.575 ng/mL and 12.42 ± 1.069 ng/mL, respectively.

CONCLUSION

A new LC-MS/MS method for determination of serum VK and VD levels was evaluated and validated. MK-7 in plasma decreased earlier than VD in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients. MK-7 status is significantly associated with osteoporosis and could be considered a predictable biomarker in the diagnosis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Quantitative Analysis of Nucleoside Triphosphate Pools in Mouse Muscle Using Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry Detection

Defects in deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) metabolism are associated with a number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion syndromes (MDS). These disorders affect the muscles, liver, and brain, and the concentrations of dNTPs in these tissues are already normally low and are, therefore, difficult to measure. Thus, information about the concentrations of dNTPs in tissues of healthy animals and animals with MDS are important for mechanistic studies of mtDNA replication, analysis of disease progression, and the development of therapeutic interventions. Here, we present a sensitive method for the simultaneous analysis of all four dNTPs as well as all four ribonucleoside triphosphates (NTPs) in mouse muscles using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The simultaneous detection of NTPs allows them to be used as internal standards for the normalization of dNTP concentrations. The method can be applied for measuring dNTP and NTP pools in other tissues and organisms.

Using an untargeted metabolomics approach to analyze serum metabolites in COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe public health issue that has infected millions of people. The effective prevention and control of COVID-19 has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of cured cases. However, little research has been done on a complete metabonomic examination of metabolic alterations in COVID-19 patients following treatment. The current project pursues rigorously to characterize the variation of serum metabolites between healthy controls and COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative via untargeted metabolomics.

Methods: The metabolic difference between 20 COVID-19 patients (CT ≥ 35) and 20 healthy controls were investigated utilizing untargeted metabolomics analysis employing High-resolution UHPLC-MS/MS. COVID-19 patients’ fundamental clinical indicators, as well as health controls, were also collected.

Results: Out of the 714 metabolites identified, 203 still significantly differed between COVID-19 patients and healthy controls, including multiple amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerophospholipids. The clinical indexes including monocytes, lymphocytes, albumin concentration, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin have also differed between our two groups of participators.

Conclusion: Our results clearly showed that in COVID-19 patients with nucleic acid turning negative, their metabolism was still dysregulated in amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism, which could be the mechanism of long-COVID and calls for specific post-treatment care to help COVID-19 patients recover.

Therapeutic Monitoring of Plasma Digoxin for COVID-19 Patients Using a Simple UPLC-MS/MS Method

Background:

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been reported in 8%-16% of patients with 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Digoxin is one of the main drugs to treat CVD.

Objective:

The clinician conducted therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of digoxin according to the drug usage on patients to monitor the concentration of digoxin, so as to avoid its toxic and side effects, and provide a theoretical reference for clinical usage of digoxin in patients with COVID-19.

Methods:

A method for quantifying digoxin concentration in plasma with ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed. After simple protein precipitation of plasma with methanol, digoxin and its internal standard (digoxin-d3) were detected in the positive ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring.

Results:

Plasma digoxin in the range of 0.2-10 ng/mL had good linearity. The UPLC-MS/MS method was validated with inter-run accuracies ranging from 91.3% to 107.4% and precision less than 13%. Nine plasma samples (5 at valley concentration and 4 at follow-up after stopping dosing) from three patients with COVID-19 were tested. The mean plasma digoxin concentration was 0.73 ng/mL (ranged from 0 to 1.31 ng/mL). Digoxin was detected at the concentration of 0.93 ng/mL after stopping drug administration for 14 days.

Conclusion:

In this study, we established a simple UPLC-MS/MS method using protein-precipitation to perform TDM of digoxin in patients with COVID-19, and found that about 56% of digoxin plasma concentration was within the treatment window (0.8-2.0 ng/mL). Digoxin can be remained in the body for nearly 14 days in severe patients with COVID-19 after stopping dosing.

Proteomic and Metabolomic Characterization of COVID-19 Patient Sera

Early detection and effective treatment of severe COVID-19 patients remain major challenges. Here, we performed proteomic and metabolomic profiling of sera from 46 COVID-19 and 53 control individuals. We then trained a machine learning model using proteomic and metabolomic measurements from a training cohort of 18 non-severe and 13 severe patients. The model was validated using 10 independent patients, 7 of which were correctly classified. Targeted proteomics and metabolomics assays were employed to further validate this molecular classifier in a second test cohort of 19 COVID-19 patients, leading to 16 correct assignments. We identified molecular changes in the sera of COVID-19 patients compared to other groups implicating dysregulation of macrophage, platelet degranulation, complement system pathways, and massive metabolic suppression. This study revealed characteristic protein and metabolite changes in the sera of severe COVID-19 patients, which might be used in selection of potential blood biomarkers for severity evaluation.

ITGB3/CD61: a hub modulator and target in the tumor microenvironment

β3 integrin (ITGB3), also known as CD61 or GP3A, is one of the most widely studied components in the integrin family. As an adhesion receptor on the cell surface, ITGB3 participates in reprogramming tumor metabolism, shaping the stromal and immune microenvironment, facilitating epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and endothelial to mesenchymal transition (End-MT) and maintaining tumor stemness, etc. Recent studies proposed various intervention strategies against ITGB3 and have achieved promising outcomes in several types of tumor. Here, we review the adaption response and cellular crosstalk in the tumor microenvironment mediated by ITGB3, as well as its upstream and downstream signaling pathways. Lastly, we focus on the inhibitors of ITGB3, ultimately indicating that ITGB3 is a promising target in the tumor microenvironment.

Simultaneous determination of ribonucleoside and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates in biological samples by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

Information about the intracellular concentration of dNTPs and NTPs is important for studies of the mechanisms of DNA replication and repair, but the low concentration of dNTPs and their chemical similarity to NTPs present a challenge for their measurement. Here, we describe a new rapid and sensitive method utilizing hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of dNTPs and NTPs in biological samples. The developed method showed linearity (R² > 0.99) in wide concentration ranges and could accurately quantify dNTPs and NTPs at low pmol levels. The intra-day and inter-day precision were below 13%, and the relative recovery was between 92% and 108%. In comparison with other chromatographic methods, the current method has shorter analysis times and simpler sample pre-treatment steps, and it utilizes an ion-pair-free mobile phase that enhances mass-spectrometric detection. Using this method, we determined dNTP and NTP concentrations in actively dividing and quiescent mouse fibroblasts.

Differential Activities of DNA Polymerases in Processing Ribonucleotides during DNA Synthesis in Archaea

Consistent with the fact that ribonucleotides (rNTPs) are in excess over deoxyribonucleotides (dNTPs) in vivo, recent findings indicate that replicative DNA polymerases (DNA Pols) are able to insert ribonucleotides (rNMPs) during DNA synthesis, raising crucial questions about the fidelity of DNA replication in both Bacteria and Eukarya. Here, we report that the level of rNTPs is 20-fold higher than that of dNTPs in Pyrococcus abyssi cells. Using dNTP and rNTP concentrations present in vivo, we recorded rNMP incorporation in a template-specific manner during in vitro synthesis, with the family-D DNA Pol (PolD) having the highest propensity compared with the family-B DNA Pol and the p41/p46 complex. We also showed that ribonucleotides accumulate at a relatively high frequency in the genome of wild-type Thermococcales cells, and this frequency significantly increases upon deletion of RNase HII, the major enzyme responsible for the removal of RNA from DNA. Because ribonucleotides remain in genomic DNA, we then analyzed the effects on polymerization activities by the three DNA Pols. Depending on the identity of the base and the sequence context, all three DNA Pols bypass rNMP-containing DNA templates with variable efficiency and nucleotide (mis)incorporation ability. Unexpectedly, we found that PolD correctly base-paired a single ribonucleotide opposite rNMP-containing DNA templates. An evolutionary scenario is discussed concerning rNMP incorporation into DNA and genome stability.

Hydroxyurea-Mediated Cytotoxicity Without Inhibition of Ribonucleotide Reductase

In many organisms, hydroxyurea (HU) inhibits class I ribonucleotide reductase, leading to lowered cellular pools of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. The reduced levels for DNA precursors is believed to cause replication fork stalling. Upon treatment of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus with HU, we observe dose-dependent cell cycle arrest, accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks, stalled replication forks, and elevated levels of recombination structures. However, Sulfolobus has a HU-insensitive class II ribonucleotide reductase, and we reveal that HU treatment does not significantly impact cellular DNA precursor pools. Profiling of protein and transcript levels reveals modulation of a specific subset of replication initiation and cell division genes. Notably, the selective loss of the regulatory subunit of the primase correlates with cessation of replication initiation and stalling of replication forks. Furthermore, we find evidence for a detoxification response induced by HU treatment.

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Sulfolobus has a HU-insensitive class II ribonucleotide reductase

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HU impairs DNA replication and is toxic to Sulfolobus cells

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HU treatment leads to selective loss of the regulatory subunit of DNA primase

The in vitro, in vivo antifungal activity and the action mode of Jelleine-I against Candida species

Recently, the mortality of life-threatening fungal infections increased dramatically. However, there are few antifungals existed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as promising antifungal candidates have attracted much attention. Here, we present a small antimicrobial peptide Jelleine-I that had potent in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity. Negligible hemolytic activity and in vivo toxicity were observed. Selectivity index (SI) of Jelleine-I is at least 4.6 times higher than amphotericin B. Jelleine-I could increase the production of cellular ROS and bind with genome DNA. This may contribute to its antifungal activity. Furthermore, drug resistance is not induced when the fungal cells were repeatedly treated by Jelleine-I. In conclusion, our results suggest that Jelleine-I may have the potential to be developed as a novel antifungal agent.

D-amino acid substitution enhances the stability of antimicrobial peptide polybia-CP

With the increasing emergence of resistant microbes toward conventional antimicrobial agents, there is an urgent need for the development of antimicrobial agents with novel action mode. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are believed to be one kind of ideal alternatives. However, AMPs can be easily degraded by protease, which limited their therapeutic use. In the present study, D-amino acid substitution strategy was employed to enhance the stability of polybia-CP. We investigated the stability of peptides against the degradation of trypsin and chymotrypsin by determining the antimicrobial activity or determining the HPLC profile of peptides after incubation with proteases. Our results showed that both the all D-amino acid derivative (D-CP) and partial D-lysine substitution derivative (D-lys-CP) have an improved stability against trypsin and chymotrypsin. Although D-CP takes left-hand α-helical conformation and D-lys-CP loses some α-helical content, both of the D-amino acid-substituted derivatives maintain their parental peptides' membrane active action mode. In addition, D-lys-CP showed a slight weaker antimicrobial activity than polybia-CP, but the hemolytic activity decreased greatly. These results suggest that D-CP and D-lys-CP can offer strategy to improve the property of AMPs and may be leading compounds for the development of novel antimicrobial agents.

Antifungal effect and action mechanism of antimicrobial peptide polybia-CP

The incidence of life-threatening invasive fungal infections increased significantly in recent years. However, the antifungal therapeutic options are very limited. Antimicrobial peptides are a class of potential lead chemical for the development of novel antifungal agents. Antimicrobial peptide polybia-CP was purified from the venom of the social wasp Polybia paulista. In this study, we synthesized polybia-CP and determined its antifungal effects against a series of Candidian species. Our results showed that polybia-CP has potent antifungal activity and fungicidal activity against the tested fungal cells with a proposed membrane-active action mode. In addition, polybia-CP could induce the increase of cellular reactive oxygen species production, which would attribute to its antifungal activity. In conclusion, the present study suggests that polybia-CP has potential as an antifungal agent or may offer a new strategy for antifungal therapeutic option.

Effects of different exercise durations on Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway activation in mouse skeletal muscle

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute exercise stress on the nuclear factor-erythroid2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/antioxidant response element (ARE) transactivation, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) cytosolic protein and Nrf2 nucleoprotein expressions, Nrf2 target genes mRNA expressions, and glutathione redox (GSH/GSSG) ratio level; with a particular focus on the changes in Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway activation following different durations of exercise. Wild-type mice (C57BL/6J, two months old) were separated into one-hour and six-hour treadmill running groups, as well as a non-exercise control group (n = 10 in each group). Measurements of Nrf2/ARE transactivation, Nrf2 nucleoprotein expressions, Keap1 cytosolic protein expression, Nrf2 target genes' mRNA expressions (superoxide dismutase-1 [SOD1], superoxide dismutase-2 [SOD2], γ-glutamyl cysteine ligase-modulatory [GCLm], γ-glutamyl cysteine ligase-catalytic [GCLc], glutathione reductase [GR], glutathione peroxidase-1 [Gpx1], catalase [CAT], and hemoxygenase-1 [Ho-1]), and GSH/GSSG ratio were carried out immediately after exercise. The results showed significant increases in Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway activation and the mRNA expressions of six measured enzymes in skeletal muscle after six hours of exercise; while in the one-hour exercise group, there was no change in Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway activation and only two enzymes' mRNA expressions were increased. It is suggested that the changes in Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway activation and its target genes' mRNA expressions were dependent on the exercise duration, with longer duration associated with higher responses.

The N-terminal domain of human hemokinin-1 influences functional selectivity property for tachykinin receptor neurokinin-1

Human hemokinin-1 (hHK-1) is a substance P-like tachykinin peptide preferentially expressed in non-neuronal tissues. It is involved in multiple physiological functions such as inflammation, hematopoietic cells development and vasodilatation via the interaction with tachykinin receptor neurokinin-1 (NK1). To further understand the intracellular signal transduction mechanism under such functional multiplicity, current study was focused on the differential activation of Gs and Gq pathways by hHK-1 and its C-terminal fragments, which is termed as functional selectivity. We demonstrated these hHK-1 and related peptide fragments can independently activate Gs and Gq pathways, showing a relative bias toward Gq over Gs pathway. The T1, K3 and Q6 of hHK-1 might play roles in the activation of adenylate cyclase mediated by Gs, while having negligible effect on Gq mediated intracellular calcium release. The stepwise truncation of N-terminal amino acid of hHK-1 caused gradual decrease in ERK1/2 phosphorylation level and NF-κB activity. However, it had little influence on the induction of NK1 receptor desensitization and internalization. Taken together these data support that hHK-1 and its C-terminal fragments are human NK1 receptor agonists with different functional selectivity properties and that such functional selectivity leads to differential activation of downstream signaling and receptor trafficking.

Treatment of volatile organic compounds in a biotrickling filter under thermophilic conditions

The objectives of this research were to investigate the potential to biologically treat volatile organic compounds emitted by the forest products industry at thermophilic conditions and to examine the microbial community developed at high temperatures. Three biotrickling filters were run in parallel at temperatures ranging from 40 degrees C (mesophilic control) to 70 degrees C. The first phase involved treatment of methanol, for a 3-month run, and the second phase involved a 260-day run on the treatment of alpha-pinene. Methanol removal rates over 100 g m(-3) h(-1) where achieved at temperatures up to 70 degrees C. Alpha-pinene removal was achieved at temperatures up to 60 degrees C with optimal treatment occurring at 55 degrees C at rates up to 60 g m(-3) h(-1). The time for acclimation increased with increasing temperature and was longer for pinene than for methanol. Filter performance was also able to quickly recover from a shutdown period of up to 2 weeks due to the robustness of the microbial communities as determined by DNA fingerprinting analysis. The high-temperature communities treating methanol or pinene were more similar to each other than the mesophilic communities (i.e., 40 degrees C). The mesophilic methanol community had a high degree of functional redundancy, while the mesophilic pinene community was more unique and very distinct from the others. These results show that biofiltration at high temperatures is achievable and opens up a range of possibilities for applying biofiltration to hot gas streams.

Oldest playable musical instruments found at Jiahu early Neolithic site in China

Excavations at the early Neolithic site of Jiahu in Henan Province, China have produced what may be the earliest complete, playable, tightly-dated multinote musical instruments. Jiahu was occupied from 7000 BC to 5700 BC, considerably antedating the well known Peiligang culture. Here we describe six exquisitely made complete flutes which were found in radiocarbon-dated excavation layers, along with fragments of perhaps 30 more. The flutes are made from the ulnae of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis Millen) and have 5, 6, 7 and 8 holes. The best preserved flute has been played and tonally analysed. In addition to early musical artefacts, the archaeological record at Jiahu contains important information on the very foundations of Chinese society. We describe the archaeological characteristics of the Jiahu site, details concerning its dating, its place in the prehistory of the Chinese Neolithic, the ethnicity of its population and the results of a tonal analysis of a nearly 9,000-year-old musical instrument found there.

[Analysis of 9 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with legionnaires disease]

OBJECTIVE

To study the characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with legionnaires disease (LD) to avoid misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.

METHOD

Nine cases of pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with LD were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULT

The clinical and chest X-ray manifestations varied, and no characteristics were found in these cases. Because cross antibodies existed between Legionella pneumophila and other causal bacteria, it was found difficult to differentiate LD, pulmonary tuberculosis and other causal bacteria infection. Efficacy of erythromycin combined with rifampicin, and decrease of serum titres of Legionella pneumophila four times after treatment were found helpful for definite diagnosis of LD.

CONCLUSION

Only paying much attention to LD, and detecting the serum antibody as early as possible can provide evidence for diagnosing of the disease.

[Treatment of congenital glaucoma with trabeculotomy]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the method of localization of Schlemm's canal during trabeculotomy to evaluate the successful rate of trabeculotomy.

METHOD

The author treated 38 cases (46 eyes) of congenital glaucoma with trabeculotomy. Harms trabeculotomy knife was introduced into the Schlemm's canal through the cutting end of an external collecting channel. The follow-up period was over 6 months in 37 eyes.

RESULTS

The intraocular pressure, C/D ratio were significantly improved after surgery compared to the preoperative ones (P < 0.05). But no significant differences were found in the corneal diameter, the depth of the anterior chamber, the length of ocular axis before and after surgery (P > 0.05). The intraocular pressure of 27 eyes (73.0%) was less than or equal to 2.8 kPa (1 kPa = 7.5 mmHg), showing good control of glaucoma.

CONCLUSION

During trabeculotomy, the trabeculotomy knife introduced in to the Schlemm's canal through an external collecting channel is a better and accurate method of localization of Schlemm's canal. The method is relatively simple, reliable and has certain value in clinical application.

Study on the antimutagenic effect of pine needle extract

The micronucleus test and sister-chromatic exchange (SCE) test were used to research the antimutagenic effect of pine needle extract. The results showed that the mutagenic effect of cyclophosphamide (CP) was inhibited by the pine needle extract. The micronucleus frequencies (MNF) of mouse bone marrow and human lymphocytes from peripheral blood were decreased with the effect of the extract (the dose was 2000 mg/kg or 5 mg/ml); the frequency of SCE in human lymphocytes was also reduced significantly, which indicated that the MNF and the SCE frequencies were negatively correlated with the dose of pine needle extract (r = -0.9782, -0.9587, -0.9765, respectively). This suggested that the pine needle extract was an effective antimutagen and it is important to choose the proper doses of pine needle extract for antitumor effect.

An activated sludge-based biosensor for rapid IC50 estimation and on-line toxicity monitoring

The RODTOX (Rapid Oxygen Demand and TOXicity tester), an activated sludge-based respirographic biosensor, is a device for on-line monitoring of the short-term biochemical oxygen demand (stBOD) and potential toxicity of incoming wastewater on the basis of on-line interpretation of respirograms resulting from pulse additions of either calibration substrate or sample. The principle of toxicity detection is based on the comparison of calibration respirograms before and after receiving a potential toxicant. In this paper, the results of the RODTOX as an on-line toxicity monitor are presented. In addition, a simple and fast procedure to estimate the IC50 of a toxicant has been developed, and its validity and good repeatability demonstrated. The performance of this procedure is compared with that of the Microtox test.

Mitomycin C-induced meiotic crossing-over on the interstitial segments in the Chinese hamster heterozygous for a reciprocal translocation

Using Chinese hamsters heterozygous for T(2;10)3Idr and T(1;3)8Idr reciprocal translocations, the authors studied mitomycin C (MMC)-induced crossing-over on the interstitial segments. Marker chromosomes with unequal-length chromatids resulting from crossing-over were clearly detectable, and the frequencies of such marker chromosomes were constant among individual males which were heterozygous for the same reciprocal translocation. The frequency of MMC-induced crossing-over on the interstitial segments increased roughly with increase in dose. These findings, therefore, indicated that marker chromosomes with unequal-length chromatids in translocation heterozygotes may be a useful indicator for detection of the cytogenetic effects of environmental mutagens on germ cells.