Treating tuberculosis with high doses of anti-TB drugs: mechanisms and outcomes

Tuberculosis (TB) is considered as one of the most serious threats to public health in many parts of the world. The threat is even more severe in the developing countries where there is a lack of advanced medical amenities and contemporary anti-TB drugs. In such situations, dosage optimization of existing medication regimens seems to be the only viable option. Therapeutic drug monitoring study results suggest that high-dose treatment regimens can compensate the low serum concentration of anti-TB drugs and shorten the therapy duration. The article presents a critical review on the possible changes that occur in the host and the pathogen upon the administration of standard and high-dose regimens. Some of the most common factors that are responsible for low anti-TB drug concentrations in the serum are differences in hosts’ body weight, metabolic processing of the drug, malabsorption and/or drug–drug interaction. Furthermore, failure to reach the cavitary pulmonary and extrapulmonary tissues also contributes to the therapeutic inefficiency of the drugs. In such conditions, administration of higher doses can help in compensating the pathogenic outcomes of enhancement of the pathogen’s physical barriers, efflux pumps and genetic mutations. The present article also presents a summary of the recorded treatment outcomes of clinical trials that were conducted to test the efficacy of administration of high dose of anti-tuberculosis drugs. This review will help physicians across the globe to understand the underlying pathophysiological changes (including side effects) that dictate the clinical outcomes in patients administered with standard and/or high dose anti-TB drugs.     

Cyclic secondary somatic embryogenesis and efficient plant regeneration in mountain ash (Sorbus pohuashanensis)

An efficient protocol for secondary somatic embryogenesis in mountain ash is reported. Secondary somatic embryos (SSEs), initially obtained from primary embryos, were proliferated and maintained for more than 2?years via cyclic secondary somatic embryogenesis. SSEs were produced on the surfaces of cotyledons and radicles of maternal somatic embryos. Histological observations of the various stages of SSE development revealed four typical stages: globular, heart-shaped, torpedo, and cotyledon. Addition of a low concentration of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) to Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium resulted in the induction of SSEs, but addition of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-d) to MS medium decreased SSE formation. Addition of casein hydrolysate (CH) to MS medium promoted induction of SSEs. Cotyledonary SSEs were cultured on MS medium with 20?C60?g?L^?1 sucrose under light for 1?month until maturation. After transferred to MS medium containing either 0.06???M NAA or 0.15???M indole-3-butyric acid in the light, over 50?% of the mature SSEs developed into plantlets. Addition of 1.0?g?L^?1 activated charcoal was beneficial for SSE germination (over 60?%). At 18?°C, over 90?% of the germinated SSEs converted to plantlets on ? MS (half-strength of MS macroelements) with 1.8???M NAA under light. Plantlets acclimatized successfully to ex vitro conditions and field plants developed with normal phenotypes.     

利用AFLP技术鉴定凤凰单丛古茶树种质资源

本文采用AFLP技术对34个凤凰单丛古茶树资源进行了种质鉴定分析.结果显示,筛选出多态性较高的5对引物中,引物组合E41M42、E41M39和E41M33可鉴别出供试的全部资源,鉴别效率为100%;有23份资源具有特异带,占供试材料的67.6%.由此研究表明,AFLP技术可以通过特异带、特异的谱带类型、不同引物提供谱带的组合将风凰单丛古茶树资源区分开来,这对保护凤凰单丛古茶树资源的育种产权、登录新品种、鉴定和检测其种子与苗木的真实性和纯度具有重要的现实意义.     

Active tolerance induction and prevention of autoimmune diabetes by immunogene therapy using recombinant adenoassociated virus expressing glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 peptide GAD(500-585)

Tolerance induction of autoreactive T cells against pancreatic beta cell-specific autoantigens such as glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) and insulin has been attempted as a method to prevent autoimmune diabetes. In this study, we investigate whether adenoassociated virus (AAV) gene delivery of multiple immunodominant epitopes expressing GAD(500-585) could induce potent immune tolerance and persistently suppress autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice. A single muscle injection of 7-wk-old female NOD mice with rAAV/GAD(500-585) (3 x 10(11) IU/mouse) quantitatively reduced pancreatic insulitis and efficiently prevented the development of overt type I diabetes. This prevention was marked by the inactivation of GAD(500-585)-responsive T lymphocytes, the enhanced GAD(500-585)-specific Th2 response (characterized by increased IL-4, IL-10 production, and decreased IFN-gamma production; especially elevated anti-GAD(500-585) IgG1 titer; and relatively unchanged anti-GAD(500-585) IgG2b titer), the increased secretion of TGF-beta, and the production of protective regulatory cells. Our studies also revealed that peptides 509-528, 570-585, and 554-546 in the region of GAD(500-585) played important roles in rAAV/GAD(500-585) immunization-induced immune tolerance. These data indicate that using AAV, a vector with advantage for therapeutic gene delivery, to transfer autoantigen peptide GAD(500-585), can induce immunological tolerance through active suppression of effector T cells and prevent type I diabetes in NOD mice.     

絮凝活性产紫青霉EL-02的分离鉴定及其絮凝活性初探

【目的】分离鉴定有絮凝活性真菌,同时对其絮凝活性进行初步研究。【方法】采用梯度稀释、平板划线、18SrDNA检测等方法分离鉴定絮凝活性菌株。通过高速离心、超声破碎、乙醇沉淀、定性试验等方法确定絮凝活性物质性质。【结果】从渤海湾海岸土壤样品中分离筛选出一株有较高絮凝活性的真菌,经鉴定为产紫青霉(Penicillium purpurogenum),命名为产紫青霉EL-02(P.purpurogenum EL-02)。超声破碎试验证实其絮凝活性主要存在于发酵上清液。根据絮凝活性曲线,确定4d为积累絮凝活性产物的最佳发酵时间。乙醇沉淀法获得该菌株絮凝活性物质。经鉴定该菌株所产絮凝活性物质为糖类,且其活性在pH2-11,温度-70℃-100℃范围内保持稳定。【结论】分离筛选到一株有絮凝活性的产紫青霉EL-02,经鉴定其产生糖类絮凝活性物质。     

High-level expression and immunogenicity of a porcine circovirus type 2 capsid protein through codon optimization in Pichia pastoris

The porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) capsid protein (Cap) is an important antigen for the development of vaccines. To achieve high-level expression of recombinant PCV2 Cap in Pichia pastoris, the wild-type Cap (wt-Cap) and optimized Cap (opti-Cap) gene fragments encoding the same amino acid sequence of PCV2 were amplified by PCR using DNA from lymph nodes of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome-suffered pigs and synthesized based on the codon bias of the methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris, respectively. The wt-Cap and opti-Cap gene fragments were inserted into the site between EcoRI and NotI sites in pPIC9K, which was under the control of the alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) promoter and α-mating factor signal sequence from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The recombinant plasmids, designated as pPIC9K-wt-Cap and pPIC9K-opti-Cap, were linearized using SacI and transformed into P. pastoris GS115 by electroporation. The expressed intracellular soluble opti-Cap reached 174 μg/mL without concentration in a shake flask and kept good reactivity to PCV2-specific positive sera, whereas the wt-Cap could not be detectable throughout three times electroporation. Strong specific PCV2-Cap antibodies were elicited from piglets immunized with vaccine based on opti-Cap. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved opti-Cap yield is the highest ever reported. Our results demonstrated that codon optimization play an important role on the high-level expression of a codon-optimized PCV2-Cap gene in P. pastoris, and the vaccine based on opti-Cap may be a potential subunit vaccine candidate.     

Flexible and High‐Loading Lithium–Sulfur Batteries Enabled by Integrated Three‐In‐One Fibrous Membranes

Lithium–sulfur batteries are appealing as high‐energy storage systems and hold great application prospects in wearable and portable electronics. However, severe shuttle effects, low sulfur conductivity, and especially poor electrode mechanical flexibility restrict sulfur utilization and loading for practical applications. Herein, high‐flux, flexible, electrospun fibrous membranes are developed, which succeed in integrating three functional units (cathode, interlayer, and separator) into an efficient composite. This structure helps to eliminate negative interface effects, and effectively drives synergistic boosts to polysulfide confinement, electron transfer, and lithium‐ion diffusion. It delivers a high initial capacity of 1501 mA h g^?1 and a discharge capacity of 933 mA h g^?1 after 400 cycles, with slow capacity attenuation (0.069% per cycle). Even under high sulfur loading (13.2 mg cm^?2, electrolyte/sulfur ratio = 6 mL g^?1) or in an alternative folded state, this three‐in‐one membrane still exhibits high areal capacity (11.4 mA h cm^?2) and exceptional application performance (powering an array of over 30 light‐emitting diodes (LEDs)), highlighting its huge potential in high‐energy flexible devices.     

High-quality Fagopyrum esculentum genome provides insights into the flavonoid accumulation among different tissues and self-incompatibility

Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) and Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum), the two most widely cultivated buckwheat species, differ greatly in flavonoid content and reproductive mode. Here, we report the first high-quality and chromosome-level genome assembly of common buckwheat with 1.2 Gb. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that common buckwheat underwent a burst of long terminal repeat retrotransposons insertion accompanied by numerous large chromosome rearrangements after divergence from Tartary buckwheat. Moreover, multiple gene families involved in stress tolerance and flavonoid biosynthesis such as multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) and chalcone synthase (CHS) underwent significant expansion in buckwheat, especially in common buckwheat. Integrated multi-omics analysis identified high expression of catechin biosynthesis-related genes in flower and seed in common buckwheat and high expression of rutin biosynthesis-related genes in seed in Tartary buckwheat as being important for the differences in flavonoid type and content between these buckwheat species. We also identified a candidate key rutin-degrading enzyme gene (Ft8.2377) that was highly expressed in Tartary buckwheat seed. In addition, we identified a haplotype-resolved candidate locus containing many genes reportedly associated with the development of flower and pollen, which was potentially related to self-incompatibility in common buckwheat. Our study provides important resources facilitating future functional genomics-related research of flavonoid biosynthesis and self-incompatibility in buckwheat.