Secretory delivery of heterologous proteins in attenuated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio anguillarum</Emphasis> for potential use in vaccine design

To synthesize and secrete heterologous proteins in an attenuated Vibrio anguillarum strain for potential multivalent live vaccine development, different antigen-delivery systems based on bacterial-originated secretion signal peptides (SPs) were designed and identified in this work. Four SPs were derived from hemolysin of Escherichia coli, RTX protein of V. cholerae, hemolysin of V. anguillarum, zinc-metalloprotease of V. anguillarum, respectively, and their abilities to support secretion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in an attenuated V. anguillarum strain MVAV6203 were assayed. Immunodetection of GFP showed that the capability of the tested signal leaders to direct secretion of GFP varied greatly. Although all the four signal peptide-fused GFPs could be expressed correctly and trapped intracellularly in recombinant strains, only the EmpA signal peptide could confer efficient secretion to GFP. For the investigation of its potential application in live bacteria carrier vaccines, a heterologous protein EseB of Edwardsiella tarda was fused to the SP(empA) antigen-delivery system and introduced into the strain MVAV6203. Further analysis of EseB demonstrated that the constructed SP(empA) antigen-delivery system could be used to secrete foreign protein in attenuated V. anguillarum and be available for carrier vaccines development.     

华南植物区系的评论（三） Ⅳ．旋花科一些种类的修订

作者编写《广东植物志》旋花科时,对据本科的花粉形态特征划分族和属的意义予肯定并采用之;现将其中４个属、６个分类单位的分类或其分布等予于报道．对华南和北越的心萼薯属植物作修订;论证本地区不产ＡｎｉｓｅｉａＣｈｏｉｓｙ．被认为该属的狭花心萼薯Ａ．ｓｔｅｎａｎｔｈｏ和大花心萼薯Ａ．ｓｔｅｎａｎｔｈａｖａｒ．ｍａｃｒｏｓｒｅｐｈａｎａ均是龙骨萼牵牛Ｉｐｏｍｏｅａａｔｅｎａｎｔｈａ;心萼薯Ａｎｉｓｅｉａｂｉｆｌｏｒａ是毛牵牛Ａｎｉｓｅｉａｓｉｎｅｎｓｉｓ;云南土丁桂Ｅｖｏｌｖｕｌｕｓｙｕｎｎａｎｅｎｓｉｓ作新异名处理．应为我国新纪录的归化种（美洲土丁桂Ｅ．ｎｕｍｍｕｌａｒｉｕｓ）;裂叶鳞蕊藤Ｌｅｐｉｓｔｅｍｏｎｌｏｂａｔｕｍ为越南新纪录．也分布于我国江西、海南;海滩牵牛Ｉｐｏｍｏｅｏｓｔｏｌｏｎｉｆｅｒａ这个开白花的海滩植物是一种中草药;虎脚牵牛Ｉｐｏｍｏｅａｐｅｓ－ｔｉｇｒｉｄｉｓ是亚洲和非洲东部热带的广布种,广东大陆西部也有;它是ＩｐｏｍｏｅａＬｉｎｎ．选模式种;这属的中名,本文恢复《广州植物志》（１９５６）等采用的牵牛属,会比较确切用“番薯属”为这个属的中名。     

Host diversity and behavior determine patterns of interspecies transmission and geographic diffusion of avian influenza A subtypes among North American wild reservoir species

Wild birds can carry avian influenza viruses (AIV), including those with pandemic or panzootic potential, long distances. Even though AIV has a broad host range, few studies account for host diversity when estimating AIV spread. We analyzed AIV genomic sequences from North American wild birds, including 303 newly sequenced isolates, to estimate interspecies and geographic viral transition patterns among multiple co-circulating subtypes. Our results show high transition rates within Anseriformes and Charadriiformes, but limited transitions between these orders. Patterns of transition between species were positively associated with breeding habitat range overlap, and negatively associated with host genetic distance. Distance between regions (negative correlation) and summer temperature at origin (positive correlation) were strong predictors of transition between locations. Taken together, this study demonstrates that host diversity and ecology can determine evolutionary processes that underlie AIV natural history and spread. Understanding these processes can provide important insights for effective control of AIV.     

Ageing related thyroid deficiency increases brain-targeted transport of liver-derived ApoE4-laden exosomes leading to cognitive impairment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the prevalent cause of dementia in the ageing world population. Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) allele is the key genetic risk factor for AD, although the mechanisms linking ApoE4 with neurocognitive impairments and aberrant metabolism remains to be fully characterised. We discovered a significant increase in the ApoE4 content of serum exosomes in old healthy subjects and AD patients carrying ApoE4 allele as compared with healthy adults. Elevated exosomal ApoE4 demonstrated significant inverse correlation with serum level of thyroid hormones and cognitive function. We analysed effects of ApoE4-containing peripheral exosomes on neural cells and neurological outputs in aged or thyroidectomised young mice. Ageing-associated hypothyroidism as well as acute thyroidectomy augmented transport of liver-derived ApoE4 reach exosomes into the brain, where ApoE4 activated nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome by increasing cholesterol level in neural cells. This, in turn, affected cognition, locomotion and mood. Our study reveals pathological potential of exosomes-mediated relocation of ApoE4 from the periphery to the brain, this process can represent potential therapeutic target.Subject terms: Cognitive neuroscience, Alzheimer''s disease, Cellular neuroscience     

TNFα‐induced abnormal activation of TNFR/NF‐κB/FTH1 in endometrium is involved in the pathogenesis of early spontaneous abortion

Early spontaneous abortion (ESA) is one of the most common complications during pregnancy and the inflammation condition in uterine environment such as long‐term exposure to high TNFα plays an essential role in the aetiology. Ferritin heavy chain (FTH1) is considered to be closely associated with inflammation and very important in normal pregnancy, yet the underlying mechanism of how TNFα induced abortion and its relationship with FTH1 remain elusive. In this study, we found that TNFα and FTH1 were positively expressed in decidual stromal cells and increased significantly in the ESA group compared with the normal pregnancy group (NP group). Besides, TNFα expression was positively correlated with FTH1 expression. Furthermore, in vitro cell model demonstrated that high TNFα could induce the abnormal signals of TNFR/NF‐κB/FTH1 and activate apoptosis both in human endometrium stromal cells (hESCs) and in local decidual tissues. Taken together, the present findings suggest that the excessive apoptosis in response to TNFα‐induced upregulation of FTH1 may be responsible for the occurrence of ESA, and thus provide a possible therapeutic target for the treatment of ESA.