喀什边境口岸陆运卡车及集装箱污染的新冠病毒基因特征分析

新疆维吾尔自治区喀什地区作为我国与中亚和欧洲的重要陆路货运口岸,来往货物运输频繁,引入新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)风险大,对我国新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)疫情防控造成压力.2020年11月我国新疆维吾尔自治区喀什地区发生输入SARS-CoV-2导致的本土聚集性COVID-19疫情.为明确货物运输载体携带SARS-CoV-2的基因特征以及边境快速物流系统作为SARS-CoV-2传播载体的可能性,本研究对2020年11月6日-2020年11月10日期间在喀什边境口岸货运卡车及运输的集装箱采集的35份SARS-CoV-2核酸阳性样本进行SARS-CoV-2全基因组序列测定和比对分析.结果 显示,35份样本ORFlab基因Ct值的中位数(最小值～最大值)为37.64(28.91～39.81),N基因Ct值的中位数(最小值～最大值)为36.50(26.35～39.30),Reads数匹配率的中位数(最小值～最大值)为51.95％(0.86％～99.31％),病毒载量较低;35份样本中基因组覆盖度达到70％以上的共计18份.基于Pango命名法,18条SARS-CoV-2基因组序列分别属于B.1、B.1.1、B.1.9、B.1.1.220、B.1.153和B.1.465共6个不同的基因型,其中3个基因型(B.1、B.1.1和B.1.153)在喀什边境接壤或邻近的四个国家同期采集的病例样本中也有发现.核苷酸突变位点和系统进化树分析显示,同一个地点采集的样本病毒基因组相似程度高;18条序列中的4条与喀什COVID-19疫情毒株代表序列处在同一个进化分支;其中1条序列与喀什COVID-19疫情毒株基因组存在1个或2个核苷酸突变位点差异,高度同源.本研究证实喀什COVID-19疫情期间边境货运卡车和集装箱存在境外多种基因型病毒的污染,其中存在喀什COVID-19疫情毒株的祖父代病毒,高度提示边境快速物流系统卡车及集装箱作为载体携带SARS-CoV-2病毒入境造成了本土疫情,这些数据为我国边境口岸地区的新冠防控策略制定及后续疫情溯源提供了关键的参考依据.     

云南省急性弛缓性麻痹病例中柯萨奇病毒B5感染情况及病毒基因特征分析

为了解云南省急性弛缓性麻痹(Acute flaccid paralysis,AFP)病例中柯萨奇病毒B组5型(Coxsackievirus B5,CV-B5)感染情况及病毒基因特征,采用回顾性研究的方法,收集AFP监测系数据资料,描述CV-B5感染AFP病例的流行病学特征及临床表现;对CV-B5分离株进行完整VP1区逆转录-聚合酶链反应扩增和核苷酸序列测定,测序结果进行同源性分析和系统发生学研究.结果显示,15例CV-B5阳性的AFP病例散在分布于7个云南省内州市、贵州省及缅甸;男女比例为1∶2,5岁以下儿童占73.3％,53.3％(8/15)的病例麻痹时伴发热,以双侧下肢麻痹(66.7％,10/15)为主,临床诊断多为肌炎(33.3％,5/15),1例病例残留麻痹.CV-B5云南株之间以及与原型株之间的核苷酸同源性分别为75.0％～100.0％和77.2％～82.0％.云南本地存在两个基因型的CV-B5共循环,大多数云南株(16株)与中国大陆CV-B5分离株均属于D基因型(D3亚型),另外两株云南株属于国外优势流行的C基因型,与其他云南株之间存在较大的核苷酸差异(20.4％～25.0％).本研究描述了 CV-B5云南地方株的分子流行病学特征,首次发现我国存在C基因型.研究显示分离自不同疾病来源及健康人群的CV-B5在亲缘关系树上无特异性区分.     

Comprehensive landscape and interference of clonal haematopoiesis mutations for liquid biopsy: A Chinese pan-cancer cohort

Tumour-derived DNA found in the plasma of cancer patients provides the probability to detect somatic mutations from circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma samples. However, clonal hematopoiesis (CH) mutations affect the accuracy of liquid biopsy for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here, we integrated landscape of CH mutations in 11,725 pan-cancer patients of Chinese and explored effects of CH on liquid biopsies in real-world. We first identified 5933 CHs based on panel sequencing of matched DNA of white blood cell and cfDNA on 301 genes for 5100 patients, in which CH number of patients had positive correlation with their diagnosis age. We observed that canonical genes related to CH, including DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, TP53, ATM, CHEK2 and SF3B1, were dominant in the Chinese cohort and 13.29% of CH mutations only appeared in the Chinese cohort compared with the Western cohort. Analysis of CH gene distribution bias indicated that CH tended to appear in genes with functions of tyrosine kinase regulation, PI3K-Akt signalling and TP53 activity, suggesting unfavourable effects of CH mutations in cancer patients. We further confirmed effect of driver genes carried by CH on somatic mutations in liquid biopsy of cancer patients. Forty-eight actionable somatic mutations in 17 driver genes were considered CH genes in 92 patients (1.80%) of the Chinese cohort, implying potential impacts of CH on clinical decision-making. Taken together, this study exhibits strong evidence that gene mutations from CH interfere accuracy of liquid biopsies using cfDNA in cancer diagnosis and treatment in real-world.     

The herpesvirus accessory protein γ134.5 facilitates viral replication by disabling mitochondrial translocation of RIG-I

RIG-I and MDA5 are cytoplasmic RNA sensors that mediate cell intrinsic immunity against viral pathogens. While it has been well-established that RIG-I and MDA5 recognize RNA viruses, their interactive network with DNA viruses, including herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), remains less clear. Using a combination of RNA-deep sequencing and genetic studies, we show that the γ₁34.5 gene product, a virus-encoded virulence factor, enables HSV growth by neutralization of RIG-I dependent restriction. When expressed in mammalian cells, HSV-1 γ₁34.5 targets RIG-I, which cripples cytosolic RNA sensing and subsequently suppresses antiviral gene expression. Rather than inhibition of RIG-I K63-linked ubiquitination, the γ₁34.5 protein precludes the assembly of RIG-I and cellular chaperone 14-3-3ε into an active complex for mitochondrial translocation. The γ₁34.5-mediated inhibition of RIG-I-14-3-3ε binding abrogates the access of RIG-I to mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS) and activation of interferon regulatory factor 3. As such, unlike wild type virus HSV-1, a recombinant HSV-1 in which γ₁34.5 is deleted elicits efficient cytokine induction and replicates poorly, while genetic ablation of RIG-I expression, but not of MDA5 expression, rescues viral growth. Collectively, these findings suggest that viral suppression of cytosolic RNA sensing is a key determinant in the evolutionary arms race of a large DNA virus and its host.     

Prostaglandin E3 attenuates macrophage-associated inflammation and prostate tumour growth by modulating polarization

Alternative polarization of macrophages regulates multiple biological processes. While M1-polarized macrophages generally mediate rapid immune responses, M2-polarized macrophages induce chronic and mild immune responses. In either case, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-derived lipid mediators act as both products and regulators of macrophages. Prostaglandin E₃ (PGE₃) is an eicosanoid derived from eicosapentaenoic acid, which is converted by cyclooxygenase, followed by prostaglandin E synthase successively. We found that PGE₃ played an anti-inflammatory role by inhibiting LPS and interferon-γ-induced M1 polarization and promoting interleukin-4-mediated M2 polarization (M2a). Further, we found that although PGE₃ had no direct effect on the growth of prostate cancer cells in vitro, PGE₃ could inhibit prostate cancer in vivo in a nude mouse model of neoplasia. Notably, we found that PGE₃ significantly inhibited prostate cancer cell growth in a cancer cell-macrophage co-culture system. Experimental results showed that PGE₃ inhibited the polarization of tumour-associated M2 macrophages (TAM), consequently producing indirect anti-tumour activity. Mechanistically, we identified that PGE₃ regulated the expression and activation of protein kinase A, which is critical for macrophage polarization. In summary, this study indicates that PGE₃ can selectively promote M2a polarization, while inhibiting M1 and TAM polarization, thus exerting an anti-inflammatory effect and anti-tumour effect in prostate cancer.     

PRPF6 promotes androgen receptor/androgen receptor-variant 7 actions in castration-resistant prostate cancer cells

Androgen receptor (AR) and its variants play vital roles in development and progression of prostate cancer. To clarify the mechanisms involved in the enhancement of their actions would be crucial for understanding the process in prostate cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer transformation. Here, we provided the evidence to show that pre-mRNA processing factor 6 (PRPF6) acts as a key regulator for action of both AR full length (AR-FL) and AR variant 7 (AR-V7), thereby participating in the enhancement of AR-FL and AR-V7-induced transactivation in prostate cancer. In addition, PRPF6 is recruited to cis-regulatory elements in AR target genes and associates with JMJD1A to enhance AR-induced transactivation. PRPF6 also promotes expression of AR-FL and AR-V7. Moreover, PRPF6 depletion reduces tumor growth in prostate cancer-derived cell lines and results in significant suppression of xenograft tumors even under castration condition in mouse model. Furthermore, PRPF6 is obviously highly expressed in human prostate cancer samples. Collectively, our results suggest PRPF6 is involved in enhancement of oncogenic AR signaling, which support a previously unknown role of PRPF6 during progression of prostate cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancers.     

Lyciumamide A,a dimer of phenolic amide,protects against NMDA-induced neurotoxicity and potential mechanisms in vitro

Journal of Molecular Histology - Currently, the excessive activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) is considered to be a crucial mechanism of brain injury. Lycium barbarum A (LyA) is a...     

An apicoplast‐resident folate transporter is essential for sporogony of malaria parasites

Malaria parasites are fast replicating unicellular organisms and require substantial amounts of folate for DNA synthesis. Despite the central role of this critical co‐factor for parasite survival, only little is known about intraparasitic folate trafficking in Plasmodium. Here, we report on the expression, subcellular localisation and function of the parasite's folate transporter 2 (FT2) during life cycle progression in the murine malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. Using live fluorescence microscopy of genetically engineered parasites, we demonstrate that FT2 localises to the apicoplast. In invasive P. berghei stages, a fraction of FT2 is also observed at the apical end. Upon genetic disruption of FT2, blood and liver infection, gametocyte production and mosquito colonisation remain unaltered. But in the Anopheles vector, FT2‐deficient parasites develop inflated oocysts with unusual pulp formation consisting of numerous single‐membrane vesicles, which ultimately fuse to form large cavities. Ultrastructural analysis suggests that this defect reflects aberrant sporoblast formation caused by abnormal vesicular traffic. Complete sporogony in FT2‐deficient oocysts is very rare, and mutant sporozoites fail to establish hepatocyte infection, resulting in a complete block of parasite transmission. Our findings reveal a previously unrecognised organellar folate transporter that exerts critical roles for pathogen maturation in the arthropod vector.