转基因番木瓜作为抗结核植物口服疫苗的初步研究

转基因植物疫苗的研制,可改变传统的疫苗接种方式和接种手段,大大降低疫苗的生产成本,具有广阔的应用前景。结核病的泛滥使抗结核的免疫预防急需开发新型的疫苗,研制抗结核的转基因植物疫苗具有重大的理论和实践意义。本文对具有良好免疫原性的结核杆菌分泌蛋白ESAT—6基因,进行了修饰改造,构建了带潮霉素选择抗性基因的植物表达载体和根癌农杆菌工程菌;采用叶盘法转化热带水果番木瓜,获得了13株抗性植株,通过PCR、Southern blot和RNA dot blot分子检测,确认了4株为转基因植株。番木瓜ESAT—6转基因植株的获得,为进一步的结核病植物口服疫苗的免疫研究和新型抗结核疫苗的研制与开发奠定了基础。     

乙肝病毒表面抗原基因在胡萝卜中的克隆及表达

构建HBV表达抗原（HBsAg)植物表达载体并在胡萝卜植株中表达。采用自行构建adr亚型HBsAg基因克隆T-adr,再次酶切获得860bp含PreS2的HBsAg基因片段,将其插入到植物表达载体pBPC55,新质粒命名为pBPC91adr。将其与含除草剂抗性基因及GUS蛋白基因的筛选质粒pBPC93共同经基因枪（PDS-1000/He)转化胡萝卜悬浮细胞,经含除草剂（Biolaphos)的培养基筛选及植物激素诱导分化,获得除草剂抗性胡萝卜幼苗,结果为转化后8周,自胡萝卜细胞中分化出除草剂抗性胡萝卜幼苗,提取新分化幼苗总DNA,特异性引物PCR扩增后可见860bp扩增带;Southern-Blot证明有HBsAg基因整合,胡萝卜蛋白萃取物的Western-Blot及ELISA检测证实有HBsAg蛋白表达。利用基因枪转化使质粒pBPC91adr中HBsAg基因在胡萝卜幼苗内整合并表达,提示以植物生产疫苗具有可行性。     

转基因植物疫苗的研究进展

近些年,随着遗传技术和植物基因工程的发展进步,疫苗（亚单位疫苗、活载体疫苗和核酸疫苗等）的研究迅速发展起来。尤其是利用转基因植物技术生产植物疫苗的研究受到了广泛的关注,在转基因植物（蔬菜、水果、农作物）的可食用部位表达抗原生产人或动物治疗用重组蛋白和疫苗的技术为可食性疫苗的研制开辟了新途径,展现了诱人的开发前景。植物来源的疫苗具有很多优势,如生产成本低、易于保存、免疫接种方便、甚至不需提取纯化等处理而直接食用。目前已有很多转基因植物疫苗产品投入开发和生产。文章综述了近几年转基因植物疫苗在表达系统、生产、生物安全／管理、公众健康等方面的研究进展,对转基因植物疫苗存在的问题进行了分析,并对其研究前景提出了展望。     

疫苗生产的新途径——转基因植物

与发酵生产方式相比,转基因植物疫苗生产技术具有高效、经济和简便等特点。植物表达系统生产外源蛋白一般采用两种方式：（１）编码外源抗原基因与植物基因组稳定整合;（２）利用植物病毒载体,使外源蛋白在植物细胞中瞬时表达。植物系统生产的抗原疫苗可保持自然免疫原性质,口服后能够诱发体液和粘膜免疫反应。     

转基因植物作为生物反应器生产口蹄疫疫苗的研究进展

利用转基因植物作为生物反应器表达重组蛋白,生产外源蛋白质作为动物疫苗是一个很有吸引力的廉价生产系统,它有可能代替生产成本较高的传统疫苗的发酵生产系统。通过口蹄疫病毒VPI结构蛋白基因在转基因植物中的表达,口蹄疫疫苗已在植物中产生。在植物中生产的抗原能够保持其自身的免疫原性。本文简要综述了近十年来用转基因植物作为生物反应器生产口蹄疫疫苗的研究进展、特点及其应用前景。     

转基因植物表达HIV疫苗的研究进展

转基因植物成本低廉,表达的外源蛋白安全性高,易于大规模生产。建立HIV疫苗的植物表达系统,开辟了HIV疫苗研制的新领域。本综述了转基因植物表达HIV疫苗过程中目的基因的选择与修饰、载体的构建、受体植物的选定、目的基因的表达、优势与安全性等研究进展。     

乙型肝炎表面抗原基因转化花生及其表达

构建了乙肝表面抗原主蛋白基因(SHBs)的植物表达载体, 通过农杆菌介导转化花生(Arachis hypogaea)并利用潮霉素筛选出抗性苗, 经PCR和Southern杂交鉴定转基因植株; 取植株的蛋白粗提液进行ELISA检测, 结果表明, SHBs能在花生中表达, 且具有免疫原性, 其在新鲜叶片中的表达量约为2.41 mg.g-1鲜重, 占总可溶性蛋白的0.033%。     

转基因番茄口服疫苗的现状,问题及对策

日趋成熟的植物基因工程技术为转基因植物口服疫苗的研究提供了基础并带来了广阔的发展前景.番茄是最常用的转基因植物受体材料之一,可以直接生食避免了加热过程对外源蛋白的损伤.随着转基因植物免疫保护机制的进一步阐明以及国际番茄基因组测序计划的完成,转基因番茄口服疫苗的发展也迎来了新的机遇.但与此同时,我们也应看到转基因番茄口服疫苗仍存在诸多不确定的因素,如外源蛋白表达量不高、口服时可能被消化以及转基因植物安全性问题等.如何成功解决这些问题将成为转基因番茄口服疫苗发展过程中的重大考验.综述了植物口服疫苗这一概念出现后的近二十年中,番茄作为受体材料研制口服疫苗的现状,问题及对策,旨在为转基因番茄口服疫苗的进一步研究提供思路.     

乙型肝炎表面抗原基因转化花生及其表达

构建了乙肝表面抗原主蛋白基因(SHBs)的植物表达载体,通过农杆菌介导转化花生(Arachishypogaea)并利用潮霉素筛选出抗性苗,经PCR和Southern杂交鉴定转基因植株;取植株的蛋白粗提液进行ELISA检测,结果表明,SHBs能在花生中表达,且具有免疫原性,其在新鲜叶片中的表达量约为2.41μg.g-1鲜重,占总可溶性蛋白的0.033%。     

转基因苜蓿口服疫苗的研究和应用

随着植物转基因技术的成熟,利用转基因牧草生产人或动物可食性疫苗更成为当今研究的热点.苜蓿以其营养价值高,粗蛋白、维生素和矿物质含量丰富,氨基酸平衡、适口性好等优点,成为研制植物口服疫苗最为理想的生物反应器.该文分别从植物口服疫苗的优点、苜蓿的遗传转化技术、外源基因在转基因苜蓿中的表达水平及免疫效果等,介绍国内外以苜蓿作为受体生产植物可食疫苗的研究进展,指出研究中存在的问题,并展望其广阔的应用前景.     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.