Elastic priors to dynamically borrow information from historical data in clinical trials

Use of historical data and real-world evidence holds great potential to improve the efficiency of clinical trials. One major challenge is to effectively borrow information from historical data while maintaining a reasonable type I error and minimal bias. We propose the elastic prior approach to address this challenge. Unlike existing approaches, this approach proactively controls the behavior of information borrowing and type I errors by incorporating a well-known concept of clinically significant difference through an elastic function, defined as a monotonic function of a congruence measure between historical data and trial data. The elastic function is constructed to satisfy a set of prespecified criteria such that the resulting prior will strongly borrow information when historical and trial data are congruent, but refrain from information borrowing when historical and trial data are incongruent. The elastic prior approach has a desirable property of being information borrowing consistent, that is, asymptotically controls type I error at the nominal value, no matter that historical data are congruent or not to the trial data. Our simulation study that evaluates the finite sample characteristic confirms that, compared to existing methods, the elastic prior has better type I error control and yields competitive or higher power. The proposed approach is applicable to binary, continuous, and survival endpoints.     

Do Geographically Isolated Grasslands Follow the Principle of Island Biogeography in a Landscape Scale? Taking Poyang Lake Grassland as an Example

As one of the basic theories of biodiversity conservation, island biogeography has been widely accepted in the past decades. Originally, island biogeography was put forward and applied in oceanic environments. But later on, it was found out that the application was not only limited to oceanic islands, but also in terrestrial environments with relatively isolated conditions. In terms of biodiversity level, island biogeography generally focuses on a small scale, such as species diversity and genetic diversity. The studies of biodiversity on a large-scale based on island biogeography, such as ecosystem and landscape scales, were seldomly conducted. Taking Poyang Lake, the largest fresh water lake in China as case study area, 30 grasslands were randomly selected to study whether island biogeography can be applied to grasslands at a landscape level from three island attributes (area, distance and shape), and the most important ecological variable (flooding) in Poyang Lake. The results showed that in general, grasslands have the property of an island, and follow the basic principle of island biogeography. We found the area and flooding duration were the two most important determinants of landscape diversity. There was a significant positive correlation between the grassland area and the landscape diversity, which could be well expressed by logarithmic function model (R² = 0.73). There was a negative correlation between flooding duration and landscape diversity, which could be described by an inverse model (R² = 0.206). The distance to mainland and the shape of grassland were correlated with landscape diversity, but the fitting result of the models was not as good as expected. The possible reason could be that Poyang Lake is a seasonal lake, the water level varies with hydrological conditions, so that the grasslands are not strongly isolated and their shape is not stable enough required by island biogeography. Furthermore, it indicates that besides area, distance and shape attributes, flooding strongly affects the biodiversity of grassland vegetation, and should not be ignored when applying island biogeography theory to Poyang Lake. This study is expected to be a supplement for island biogeography in terrestrial environments, and the results are expected to benefit for the biodiversity conservation in Poyang Lake.     

人工辅助投食对滇金丝猴肠道微生物群落的影响

【背景】肠道菌群与宿主的消化吸收、免疫抵抗和行为等息息相关,并受宿主的饮食、生活环境等因素影响。【目的】人工辅助投食能增加野生动物的营养摄入,但对其肠道菌群影响的研究较少。【方法】以云南白马雪山国家级自然保护区内的野生和人工辅助投食滇金丝猴群的新鲜粪便为材料,通过高通量测序探究人工辅助投食对猴群肠道菌群的影响。【结果】人工辅助投食的猴群肠道菌群丰富度、均匀度及谱系多样性更高,并且个体间群落组成差异更小。通过多级物种差异判别分析(linear discriminant analysis effect size, LEfSe)分析发现,人工辅助投食对20种不同分类水平的细菌相对丰度有影响,包括提升了厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)等8种类群的相对丰度,降低了变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)等12种类群的相对丰度。通过构建微生物相关网络发现,野生猴群肠道菌群网络结构更加复杂,鲁棒性更高。京都基因与基因组百科全书(Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes, KEGG)功能预测结果表明,人工辅助投食降低了猴群肠...     

林麝源蜡样芽孢杆菌SCBCM001株的分离鉴定及全基因组序列分析

【背景】细菌性疾病是林麝规模化养殖的重要制约因素,蜡样芽孢杆菌曾在林麝化脓灶中检出,但是目前对林麝源蜡样芽孢杆菌的研究报道很少。【目的】对分离自病死林麝肝脏中的一株疑似蜡样芽孢杆菌进行分离鉴定和全基因组序列分析,为林麝相关疾病的防治奠定基础。【方法】将病原菌纯化培养后,对病原菌进行生化试验、药敏试验和小鼠致病性试验;并通过第3代单分子测序技术进行全基因组测序,根据测序结果进一步评估物种间的亲缘关系,并进行基因功能注释和遗传进化分析。【结果】该病原菌经平均核苷酸相似度分类和系统发育树分析属于蜡样芽孢杆菌群,生化结果符合蜡样芽孢杆菌的一般特征,将分离菌株命名为SCBCM001。该菌株对小鼠的半数致死量为8.3×107 CFU,对大多数β-内酰胺类、四环素和磺胺异噁唑耐药,对氨基糖苷类、头孢氨苄、头孢哌酮和亚胺培南等药物敏感;全基因组测序结果表明该菌株的染色体大小为5292570bp,GC含量为35.37%,多位点序列分型显示该菌株属于ST427序列类型。在菌株SCBCM001基因组内发现hblA、hblC、hblD、nheA、nheB、clo和cytK等多种毒力因子,同时菌株携带对β-内酰...     

绒山羊源大肠杆菌噬菌体φPTK的分子生物学特性及对小鼠大肠杆菌感染的防治效果

【背景】抗生素耐药问题是影响人类及养殖业健康的重要因素,噬菌体能特异性裂解细菌,成为抗生素替代品研究热点,是解决抗生素耐药难题、促进养殖业健康发展的新途径。【目的】通过研究绒山羊源大肠杆菌烈性噬菌体φPTK (phage target of K1)的分子生物学特性,同时利用小鼠感染模型研究φPTK对小鼠大肠杆菌感染的防治效果,为绒山羊大肠杆菌病的防控提供新策略。【方法】用聚乙二醇-氯化钠(PEG 8000-NaCl)浓缩φPTK后,采用透射电子显微镜观察其超微形态结构;运用苯酚-氯仿法提取φPTK核酸后通过Illumina HiSeq高通量测序分析其全基因组结构,使用Mauve比较基因组学分析,通过MEGA绘制噬菌体进化树;通过构建小鼠感染模型分析φPTK对小鼠感染大肠杆菌的防治效果。【结果】透射电镜显示φPTK头部为正多面体形,直径90 nm,有长约112 nm、直径约18 nm的可收缩长尾;φPTK基因组全长169 688 bp,GC含量37.72%,有264个开放阅读框,含穿孔素-裂解酶(holin-lysin)裂解系统,有抗穿孔素蛋白和裂解抑制辅助蛋白,未发现抗生素耐药基因和毒力基因;比较基因组分析表明,φPTK为一株新的绒山羊源大肠杆菌烈性噬菌体;小鼠大肠杆菌感染前和感染后分别使用φPTK进行预防和治疗的试验表明,未使用φPTK的阳性对照组小鼠全部死亡,预防组和治疗组小鼠存活率分别为80%和60%。【结论】噬菌体φPTK是一株能够在小鼠大肠杆菌感染中具有较好预防效果的有尾噬菌体目(Caudovirales)肌尾噬菌体科(Myoviridae)绒山羊源大肠杆菌烈性噬菌体,本研究为绒山羊噬菌体生物制剂的创制奠定了基础。     

基因重组与外源铁离子对大肠杆菌合成血红素的影响

【背景】大肠杆菌通过C5途径合成卟啉及血红素,5-氨基乙酰丙酸(5-aminolevulinic acid,5-ALA)是C5途径中关键的前体物质,血红素由原卟啉IX (protoporphyrin IX, PPIX)螯合一个铁离子所形成,目前5-ALA与PPIX的外泌对卟啉的积累和血红素合成的影响尚不清楚。【目的】构建5-ALA外泌蛋白基因rhtA和卟啉外泌蛋白基因tolC双缺失的大肠杆菌以积累卟啉,同时外源添加铁离子,并过表达亚铁螯合酶基因hemH及参与铁摄取的基因efeB,促进卟啉向血红素的转化。【方法】通过Red同源重组敲除大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)的rhtA和tolC,并外源添加不同浓度的FeSO₄及Fe₂(SO₄)₃,同时构建重组质粒pEHE过表达hemH和efeB,检测卟啉和血红素含量,分析卟啉向血红素的转化。【结果】敲除rhtA和tolC对菌体生长无显著影响,与野生菌WT相比,敲除菌株WT-RT的卟啉含量增加,血红素合成略有提升。外源添加100μmol/L Fe²⁺     

三孢布拉霉crgA启动子的克隆和活性分析

【背景】CrgA是三孢布拉霉(Blakesleatrispora,Bt)中调控类胡萝卜素合成的关键负调控因子,其表达水平会影响类胡萝卜素的合成。【目的】克隆三孢布拉霉crgA启动子并分析其活性,为进一步解析CrgA表达调控机制奠定基础。【方法】通过综合微生物基因组(integrated microbial genomes, IMG)数据库提供的基因组序列,克隆crgA翻译起始位点上游2 000 bp序列,分析其顺式调控元件和转录起始区域预测,通过RT-qPCR分析不同光照时间对三孢布拉霉crgA相对转录水平的影响;构建4个不同长度的crgA启动子截短序列驱动的GUS-mGFP5重组表达载体p1303-procrgAF、F1、F2和F3,利用农杆菌侵染整合到三孢布拉霉基因组中,在黑暗和光照条件下测定β-D-葡萄糖苷酸酶(β-D-glucuronidase,GUS)酶活性并观察荧光信号。【结果】crgA启动子不仅包含基础的TATA-box和CAAT-box元件,还包括多个与光响应相关的元件。观察荧光结果显示CaMV35S和构建的4个突变启动子均能在三孢布拉霉体内驱动下游基因表达,检测GUS...     

淋病奈瑟菌肽基脯氨酰异构酶的原核表达及其作为候选疫苗的初步评价

【背景】淋病是我国主要的性传播疾病之一,感染淋病奈瑟菌可促进人类免疫缺陷病毒(human immunodeficiency virus, HIV)的传播和感染。目前我国淋病发病人数呈上升趋势,随着多重耐药菌株的出现,亟须研发保护性疫苗来防治淋病的传播和感染。【目的】分析淋病奈瑟菌(Neisseria gonorrhoeae, NG)肽基脯氨酰异构酶(peptidyl-prolyl isomerase, PPIase)蛋白的高级结构和表位,探讨其作为疫苗和分子诊断靶点的潜力。【方法】利用生物信息学软件分析PPIase蛋白的极性、亲水性、柔韧性、表面可及性、二级和三级结构,以及T、B细胞表位等;用pET32a(+)质粒构建PPIase蛋白的原核表达系统并纯化蛋白,用纯化的重组蛋白和超声波破碎的NG全菌抗原分别免疫BALB/c小鼠,收获免疫血清;制备NG全细胞抗原,分别以全细胞抗原酶联免疫吸附试验(enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA)和间接免疫荧光试验检测重组PPIase蛋白血清抗体与NG全细胞表面抗原的结合情况。【结果】生物信息学分析结果显示,...     

二苯醚类除草剂的微生物降解研究进展

二苯醚类除草剂是一类广谱、高效、高选择性的除草剂,广泛应用于大豆、花生等农田一年生和多年生阔叶杂草的防除。由于该类除草剂不易降解,多年连续使用会导致其在土壤环境中的大量积累。本文概述了二苯醚类除草剂的基本结构及其对生物的影响,总结了降解二苯醚类除草剂的微生物种类、降解途径和降解过程中关键酶及其基因,分析了影响微生物降解二苯醚类除草剂的因素,对二苯醚类除草剂微生物降解未来的研究方向进行了展望,为深入研究二苯醚类除草剂的生物降解提供参考。     

非洲猪瘟病毒I226R蛋白抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的天然免疫应答

本研究旨在探究非洲猪瘟病毒(African swine fever virus, ASFV) I226R蛋白(I226R protein, pI226R)抑制cGAS-STING信号通路的作用机制。利用双荧光素酶报告系统和实时荧光定量PCR (real-time quantitative PCR, qPCR)证明pI226R显著抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的I型干扰素及干扰素刺激相关基因的产生。免疫共沉淀及激光共聚焦显微镜试验发现pI226R与cGAS蛋白相互作用。免疫印迹分析证明pI226R通过自噬-溶酶体途径促进cGAS蛋白的降解。同时,pI226R阻碍了cGAS与E3泛素连接酶三基序蛋白56 (tripartite motif protein 56, TRIM56)的结合,导致cGAS的单泛素化减弱,从而抑制了cGAS的活化和cGAS-STING通路的激活。总之,本研究证明ASFV pI226R通过拮抗cGAS进而抑制宿主的抗病毒天然免疫反应,进一步增加了对研究ASFV免疫逃逸机制的理解,为疫苗的研发提供了理论基础。