Qing Tang

Sixty-two new Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) isolates were obtained from mosquitoes, biting midges, human cerebrospinal fluid and human blood samples in China during 2002-2005. The E and prM genes were sequenced and phylogenetic analyses were performed with 38 JEV other isolates from China and 36 JEV strains from other countries. Phylogenetic trees based on the E and prM gene sequences were similar. The results indicate that: (i) recent JEV isolates from China are divided into two genotypes, genotype 1 and genotype 3; (ii) recent JEV isolates from China are grouped into the same clusters within genotypes 1 and 3; and (iii) genotype 1 JEV strains have been isolated in China since 1979, whilst genotype 3 JEV strains were isolated before the 1970s. The results suggest that genotype 1 JEV was introduced to China around 1979 and that JEV strains belonging to genotypes 1 and 3 circulate in China.

-induced xenophagy, the membrane conjugation of GABARAP, but not LC3, is required for activation of TFEB/TFE3 to control lysosomal capacity. GABARAP directly binds to a previously unidentified LC3-interacting motif (LIR) in the FLCN/FNIP tumor suppressor complex and mediates sequestration to GABARAP-conjugated membrane compartments. This disrupts FLCN/FNIP GAP function toward RagC/D, resulting in impaired substrate-specific mTOR-dependent phosphorylation of TFEB. Thus, the GABARAP-FLCN/FNIP-TFEB axis serves as a molecular sensor that coordinates lysosomal homeostasis with perturbations and cargo flux within the autophagy-lysosomal network.

PURPOSE: This study aimed at establishing the link between clinical manifestations, microbiological diagnosis and the therapeutically approach in the treatment of vulvovaginitis candidosa in childhood. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 35 patients aged 1-18 years were studied and divided into two groups. The criteria for establishing the diagnosis included the clinical symptoms, the native microscopic investigations and the microbiological control of the materials taken on the 14th and 30th day before and after treatment by means of a vaginal swab. RESULTS: Etiologically, vulvovaginitis was diagnosed as candidose in 35.71% and 80.95% for the two groups, respectively, by means of the native microscopic preparation. The mycological investigations confirmed the diagnosis in 23.81% of the cases. Other bacterial findings included enterococci, intestinal bacteria and staphylococci. Positive results of the local and combined therapy were reported in 67% of the cases on the 14th day, and in 65%--on the 30th day. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal fluorine tends to persist as compared to the remaining symptoms. Vulvovaginitis candidosa most commonly occurs in conjunction with other specific bacteria. Local therapy is recommended in acute infections and the combined therapy is more efficient in chronic conditions. Combined treatment should be administered in at least two 10-day courses because of a tendency to recurrence.

Abstract c-di-GMP riboswitches are structured RNAs located in the 5′-untranslated regions (5′-UTRs) of mRNAs that regulate expression of downstream genes in response to changing concentrations of the second messenger c-di-GMP. We discovered three complete c-di-GMP riboswitches (Bc3, Bc4 and Bc5 RNA) with similar structures, which are arranged in tandem to constitute a triple-tandem (Bc3-5 RNA) riboswitch in the 5′-UTR of the csp ABCDE mRNA in Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. chinensis CT-43. Our results showed that this natural triple-tandem riboswitch controlled the expression of the reporter gene more stringently and digitally than the double-tandem or single riboswitch. A sandwich-like dual-fluorescence reporter was further constructed by fusing the Bc3-5 RNA gene between the two fluorescence protein genes amcyan and turborfp . This reporter strain was found to exhibit detectable fluorescence color changes under bright field in response to intracellular c-di-GMP level altered by induced expression of diguanylate cyclase (DGC) PleD. Using this system, two putative membrane-bound DGCs from B. thuringiensis and Xanthomonas oryzae were verified to be functional by replacing pleD with the corresponding DGC genes. This report represented the first native triple-tandem riboswitch that was applied to serve as a riboswitch-based dual-fluorescence reporter for the efficient and convenient verification of putative DGC activity in vivo .

The full-length nucleoprotein of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV; 482 amino acid residues) was expressed as a His-tagged recombinant protein (His-CCHFV rNP) in the baculovirus system. The His-CCHFV rNP was efficiently expressed in insect cells and purified by Ni(2+) column chromatography. Using this substrate, an immunoglobulin G (IgG) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the IgG ELISA, using serum samples previously determined to be antibody positive or negative by immunofluorescence tests on CCHFV-infected Vero E6 cells. We found very good correlation between the two tests: 87% for the positive sera (13 of 15) and 99% for the negative sera (107 of 108). These results indicate that the new IgG ELISA using His-CCHFV rNP has high sensitivity and specificity for detecting CCHFV antibodies. The CCHF patients' sera with high titers reacted only with the NP fragment containing amino acid residues between 201 and 306 in Western blotting. It is known that amino acid homologies are high in this region among various isolates. Thus, it is expected that this ELISA can detect antibodies not only for Chinese strains of CCHFV but also for other strains circulating in the world. These results suggest that the IgG ELISA system developed with the recombinant CCHFV NP is a valuable tool for diagnosis and epidemiological investigations of CCHFV infections.