Development of a Specific and Rapid Diagnostic Method for Detecting Influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 Virus Infection Using Immunochromatographic Assay

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to develop an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) for the detection of influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus infection.Materials and methodsSeveral monoclonal antibodies against influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus were generated and an ICA (pdm09-ICA) was developed for the rapid and specific detection of influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus infection. The specificity and sensitivity of the developed assay were compared with that of hemagglutination assay and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).ResultsThe detection limit was estimated to be 1/2 (8) hemagglutinating unit; the sensitivity and specificity rates of pdm09-ICA were 75.86% (110/145) and 100% (43/43), respectively, compared with rRT-PCR. The cross-reactivity for 20 influenza viruses, including seasonal H1N1 viruses, was found to be negative except for the H1N1 virus (A/Swine/Korea/GC0503/2005).ConclusionThese results indicate that the proposed method can be easily used for rapid and specific detection of the pdm09 infection. The assay developed in this study would be a useful tool for distinguishing the pdm09 infection from seasonal influenza A and B infections

Predicting the Interactome of Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae for target selection and DB service

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play key roles in various cellular functions. In addition, some critical inter-species interactions such as host-pathogen interactions and pathogenicity occur through PPIs. Phytopathogenic bacteria infect hosts through attachment to host tissue, enzyme secretion, exopolysaccharides production, toxins release, iron acquisition, and effector proteins secretion. Many such mechanisms involve some kind of protein-protein interaction in hosts. Our first aim was to predict the whole protein interaction pairs (interactome) of <it>Xanthomonas oryzae </it>pathovar oryzae (Xoo) that is an important pathogenic bacterium that causes bacterial blight (BB) in rice. We developed a detection protocol to find possibly interacting proteins in its host using whole genome PPI prediction algorithms. The second aim was to build a DB server and a bioinformatic procedure for finding target proteins in Xoo for developing pesticides that block host-pathogen protein interactions within critical biochemical pathways.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>A PPI network in Xoo proteome was predicted by bioinformatics algorithms: PSIMAP, PEIMAP, and iPfam. We present the resultant species specific interaction network and host-pathogen interaction, XooNET. It is a comprehensive predicted initial PPI data for Xoo. XooNET can be used by experimentalists to pick up protein targets for blocking pathological interactions. XooNET uses most of the major types of PPI algorithms. They are: 1) Protein Structural Interactome MAP (PSIMAP), a method using structural domain of SCOP, 2) Protein Experimental Interactome MAP (PEIMAP), a common method using public resources of experimental protein interaction information such as HPRD, BIND, DIP, MINT, IntAct, and BioGrid, and 3) Domain-domain interactions, a method using Pfam domains such as iPfam. Additionally, XooNET provides information on network properties of the Xoo interactome.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>XooNET is an open and free public database server for protein interaction information for Xoo. It contains 4,538 proteins and 26,932 possible interactions consisting of 18,503 (PSIMAP), 3,118 (PEIMAP), and 8,938 (iPfam) pairs. In addition, XooNET provides 3,407 possible interaction pairs between two sets of proteins; 141 Xoo proteins that are predicted as membrane proteins and rice proteomes. The resultant interacting partners of a query protein can be easily retrieved by users as well as the interaction networks in graphical web interfaces. XooNET is freely available from <url>http://bioportal.kobic.kr/XooNET/</url>.</p

Spacer grid effects on the heat transfer enhancement during a reflood

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.An experimental study using 6x6 and 2x2 square lattice rod bundles has been performed to investigate the effects of spacer grids on the heat transfer enhancement during a bottom-reflood phase. The spacer grids improve a turbulent mixing of flow and induces breakup of large droplets into smaller ones. These result in the heat transfer enhancement between the fuel rods and the surrounding fluid. Since the geometry of the spacer grid affects the turbulent mixing and droplet breakup behaviors, three types of spacer grids with different geometry were tested in the present study. In order to investigate the heat transfer enhancement by spacer grids, single-phase steam cooling and droplet breakup by spacer grid were separately investigated. For the convective heat transfer enhancement in singlephase steam flow, the heater rod surface temperatures were measured in the vicinity of the space grid. In single-phase steam cooling experiment, the heat transfer was enhanced at upstream and downstream of spacer grids. Downstream of the spacer, the heat transfer enhancement decays with the distance from the top end of the spacer grid exponentially. The heat transfer enhancement depends on the Reynolds number as well as the flow blockage ratio. A new empirical correlation was developed in order to account for the effect of the Reynolds number. For the droplet breakup experiment, the sizes and velocities of droplets were measured across the spacer grid. The droplet breakup ratio decreases with increasing the Weber number of the droplet impacting on the spacer grid. The droplet breakup ratio by spacer grids was relatively higher than conventional correlations.dc201

A randomized, phase II study of gefitinib alone versus nimotuzumab plus gefitinib after platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (KCSG LU12-01)

We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dual inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with nimotuzumab (EGFR monoclonal antibody) plus gefitinib (EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after platinum-based chemotherapy. An open label, randomized, phase II trial was conducted at 6 centers; 160 patients were randomized (1:1) to either gefitinib alone or nimotuzumab (200 mg, i. v. weekly) plus gefitinib (250 mg p. o. daily) until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) at 3 months. Of the total 160 enrolled patients, 155 (77: gefitinib, 78: nimotuzumab plus gefitinib) received at least one dose and could be evaluated for efficacy and toxicity. The majority had adenocarcinoma (65.2%) and ECOG performance status of 0 to 1 (83.5%). The median follow-up was 22.1 months, and the PFS rate at 3 months was 48.1% in gefitinib and 37.2% in nimotuzumab plus gefitinib (P = not significant, NS). The median PFS and OS were 2.8 and 13.2 months in gefitinib and 2.0 and 14.0 months in nimotuzumab plus gefitinib. Combined treatment was not associated with superior PFS to gefitinib alone in patients with EGFR mutation (13.5 vs. 10.2 months in gefitinib alone, P=NS) or those with wild-type EGFR (0.9 vs. 2.0 months in gefitinib alone, P=NS). Combined treatment did not increase EGFR inhibition-related adverse events with manageable toxicities. The dual inhibition of EGFR with nimotuzumab plus gefitinib was not associated with better outcomes than gefitinib alone as a second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC (NCT01498562).

Connectivity among straits of the northwest Pacific marginal seas

The connectivity among straits of the northwest Pacific marginal seas is investigated with a primitive-equation ocean circulation model simulated for 10 years from 1994 to 2003. Over the simulation interval the temporal and spatial means and variations of the model sea surface temperature are comparable to those of the satellite sea surface temperature. The model transport through the straits shows good agreement with the available observations and a high seasonality in the Taiwan Strait, the Korea Strait, and the Soya Strait but relatively low seasonality in the Tsugaru Strait. The Kuroshio and Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) are two sources of water flowing through the Korea Strait. The volume transport in the Korea Strait is dominated by the Kuroshio in winter (83%) and by the TWC in summer (66%). Relative to the transport through the Korea Strait, the transport percentages of the Tsugaru Strait connecting to the northwest Pacific Ocean are 79% in winter and 65% in summer. The seasonality of the Korea Strait transport is positively correlated with the cross-strait wind stress. The drifter experiments show that it takes about 4 months for most of the drifters deployed in the Taiwan Strait to enter the Korea Strait and more than 2 months to travel from the Korea Strait to the Tsugaru and Soya straits

Intranasal immunization with plasmid DNA encoding spike protein of SARS-coronavirus/polyethylenimine nanoparticles elicits antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immunization with the spike protein (S) of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV) in mice is known to produce neutralizing antibodies and to prevent the infection caused by SARS-CoV. Polyethylenimine 25K (PEI) is a cationic polymer which effectively delivers the plasmid DNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, the immune responses of BALB/c mice immunized via intranasal (i.n.) route with SARS DNA vaccine (pci-S) in a PEI/pci-S complex form have been examined. The size of the PEI/pci-S nanoparticles appeared to be around 194.7 ± 99.3 nm, and the expression of the S mRNA and protein was confirmed <it>in vitro</it>. The mice immunized with i.n. PEI/pci-S nanoparticles produced significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.05) higher S-specific IgG1 in the sera and mucosal secretory IgA in the lung wash than those in mice treated with pci-S alone. Compared to those in mice challenged with pci-S alone, the number of B220⁺cells found in PEI/pci-S vaccinated mice was elevated. Co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules (I-A^d) were increased on CD11c⁺dendritic cells in cervical lymph node from the mice after PEI/pci-S vaccination. The percentage of IFN-γ-, TNF-α- and IL-2-producing cells were higher in PEI/pci-S vaccinated mice than in control mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results showed that intranasal immunization with PEI/pci-S nanoparticles induce antigen specific humoral and cellular immune responses.</p

High levels of soluble herpes virus entry mediator in sera of patients with allergic and autoimmune diseases

Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is a newly discovered member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily that has a role in herpes simplex virus entry, in T cell activation and in tumor immunity. We generated mAb against HVEM and detected soluble HVEM (SHVEM) in the sera of patients with various autoimmune diseases. HVEM was constitutively expressed on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, CD19+ B cells, CD14+ monocytes, neutrophils and dendritic cells. In three-way MLR, mAb 122 and 139 were agonists and mAb 108 had blocking activity. An ELISA was developed to detect sHVEM in patient sera. sHVEM levels were elevated in sera of patients with allergic asthma, atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis. The mAbs discussed here may be useful for studies of the role of HVEM in immune responses. Detection of soluble HVEM might have diagnostic and prognostic value in certain immunological disorders