Molecular epidemiology and recombination of Enterovirus A71 in mainland China from 1987 to 2017

International Microbiology - Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is an important pathogen of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in young children. This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the...     

Targeting mesenchymal stem cell therapy for severe pneumonia patients

Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lungs and it is the world’s leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age.The latest coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)virus is a prominent culprit to severe pneumonia.With the pandemic running rampant for the past year,more than 1590000 deaths has occurred worldwide up to December 2020 and are substantially attributable to severe pneumonia and induced cytokine storm.Effective therapeutic approaches in addition to the vaccines and drugs under development are hence greatly sought after.Therapies harnessing stem cells and their derivatives have been established by basic research for their versatile capacity to specifically inhibit inflammation due to pneumonia and prevent alveolar/pulmonary fibrosis while enhancing antibacterial/antiviral immunity,thus significantly alleviating the severe clinical conditions of pneumonia.In recent clinical trials,mesenchymal stem cells have shown effectiveness in reducing COVID-19-associated pneumonia morbidity and mortality;positioning these cells as worthy candidates for combating one of the greatest challenges of our time and shedding light on their prospects as a nextgeneration therapy to counter future challenges.     

A Developmental Framework for Complex Plasmodesmata Formation Revealed by Large-Scale Imaging of the Arabidopsis Leaf Epidermis

Plasmodesmata (PD) form tubular connections that function as intercellular communication channels. They are essential for transporting nutrients and for coordinating development. During cytokinesis, simple PDs are inserted into the developing cell plate, while during wall extension, more complex (branched) forms of PD are laid down. We show that complex PDs are derived from existing simple PDs in a pattern that is accelerated when leaves undergo the sink–source transition. Complex PDs are inserted initially at the three-way junctions between epidermal cells but develop most rapidly in the anisocytic complexes around stomata. For a quantitative analysis of complex PD formation, we established a high-throughput imaging platform and constructed PDQUANT, a custom algorithm that detected cell boundaries and PD numbers in different wall faces. For anticlinal walls, the number of complex PDs increased with increasing cell size, while for periclinal walls, the number of PDs decreased. Complex PD insertion was accelerated by up to threefold in response to salicylic acid treatment and challenges with mannitol. In a single 30-min run, we could derive data for up to 11k PDs from 3k epidermal cells. This facile approach opens the door to a large-scale analysis of the endogenous and exogenous factors that influence PD formation.     

The primary culture of mirror carp snout and caudal fin tissues and the isolation of Koi herpesvirus

The explosive Koi herpesvirus (KHV) epidemic has caused the deaths of a large number of carp and carp variants and has produced serious economic losses. The mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio var. specularis) exhibits strong environmental adaptability and its primary cells can be used to isolate KHV. This study utilized the tissue explant method to systematically investigate primary cell culture conditions for mirror carp snout and caudal fin tissues. We demonstrated that cells from these two tissue types had strong adaptability, and when cultured in Medium 199 (M199) containing 20% serum at 26 to 30°C, the cells from the snout and caudal fin tissues exhibited the fastest egress and proliferation. Inoculation of these two cell types with KHV-infected fish kidney tissues produced typical cytopathic effects; additionally, identification by electron microscopy, and PCR indicated that KHV could be isolated from both cell types.     

Silencing of FABP3 Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis in Embryonic Carcinoma Cells

Fatty acid–binding protein 3 (FABP3) facilitates the movement of fatty acids in cardiac muscle. Previously, we reported that FABP3 is highly upregulated in the myocardium of ventricular septal defect patients and overexpression of FABP3 inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in embryonic carcinoma cells (P19 cells). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of FABP3 gene silencing on P19 cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. We used RNA interference and a lentiviral-based vector system to create a stable FABP3-silenced P19 cell line; knockdown of FABP3 was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Expression analysis of specific differentiation marker genes using quantitative real-time PCR and observation of morphological changes using an inverted microscope revealed that knockdown of FABP3 did not significantly affect the differentiation of P19 cells into cardiomyocytes. CCK-8 proliferation assays and cell cycle analysis demonstrated that FABP3 gene silencing significantly inhibited P19 cell proliferation. Furthermore, Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining and the caspase-3 activity assay revealed that FABP3 gene silencing significantly promoted serum starvation–induced apoptosis in P19 cells. In agreement with our previous research, these results demonstrate that FABP3 may play an important role during embryonic heart development, and that either overexpression or silencing of FABP3 will lead to an imbalance between proliferation and apoptosis, which may result in embryonic cardiac malformations.     

Synthesis of Oligodeoxyribonucleoside Methylphosphonates Containing 2-Aminopurine

Abstract

Oligodeoxyribonucleoside methylphosphonates containing multiple 2-aminopurine bases were synthesized by solid-phase phosphonamidite chemistry for investigating their triple helix formation with natural DNA or other duplex targets and for cellular uptake studies of the methylphosphonate oligomers. The base-labile phenoxyacetyl group was used as the N ²-amino protecting group for 2-aminopurine, allowing the final deprotection of the oligomers to be performed under the standard ethylenediamine condition.