Evaluation of an immunochromatographic assay for the detection of anti-hepatitis A virus IgM

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a causative agent of acute hepatitis, which is transmitted by person-to-person contact and via the faecal-oral route. Acute HAV infection is usually confirmed by anti-HAV IgM detection. In order to detect anti-HAV IgM in the serum of patients infected with HAV, we developed a rapid assay based on immunochromatography (ICA) and evaluated the sensitivity of this assay by comparing it with a commercial microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA) that is widely used for serological diagnosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The newly developed ICA showed 100% sensitivity and specificity when used to test 150 anti-HAV IgM-positive sera collected from infected patients and 75 negative sera from healthy subjects. Also, the sensitivity of ICA is about 10 times higher than MEIA used in this study by determining end point to detect independent on infected genotype of HAV. In addition, the ICA was able to detect 1 positive sample from among 50 sera from acute hepatitis patients that had tested negative for anti-HAV IgM using the MEIA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Conclusively, ICA for the detection of anti-HAV IgM will be very effective for rapid assay to apply clinical diagnosis and epidemiological investigation on epidemics due to the simplicity, rapidity and specificity.</p

Biodegradable Polymer Releasing Antibiotic Developed for Drainage Catheter of Cerebrospinal Fluid: In Vitro Results

The authors developed a biodegradable polymer that releases an antibiotic (nalidixic acid) slowly and continuously, for prevention of catheter-induced infection during drainage of cerebrospinal fluid. We investigated the in vitro antibiotic releasing characteristics and bacterial killing effects of the new polymer against E. coli. The novel fluoroquinolone polymer was prepared using diisopropylcarbodiimide, poly (e-caprolactone) diol, and nalidixic acid. FT-IR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis proved that the novel antibacterial polymer was prepared successfully without any side products. Negative MS showed that the released drug has a similar molecular weight (M.W.=232, 350) to pure drug (M.W.=232). In high pressure liquid chromatography, the released drug and drug-oligomer showed similar retention times (about 4.5-5 min) in comparison to pure drug (4.5 min). The released nalidixic acid and nalidixic acid derivatives have antibacterial characteristics against E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhi, of more than 3 months duration. This study suggests the possibility of applying this new polymer to manufacture drainage catheters that resist catheter-induced infection, by delivering antibiotics for a longer period of more than 1 month

Intramembrane proteolysis of an extracellular serine protease, epithin/PRSS14, enables its intracellular nuclear function

Background Epithin/PRSS14, a type II transmembrane serine protease, is an emerging target of cancer therapy because of its critical roles in tumor progression and metastasis. In many circumstances, the protease, through its ectodomain shedding, exists as a soluble form and performs its proteolytic functions in extracellular environments increasing cellular invasiveness. The seemingly functional integrity of the soluble form raises the question of why the protease is initially made as a membrane-associated protein. Results In this report, we show that the epithin/PRSS14 intracellular domain (EICD) can be released from the membrane by the action of signal peptide peptidase-like 2b (SPPL2b) after ectodomain shedding. The EICD preferentially localizes in the nucleus and can enhance migration, invasion, and metastasis of epithelial cancer when heterologously expressed. Unbiased RNA-seq analysis and subsequent antibody arrays showed that EICD could control the gene expression of chemokines involved in cell motility, by increasing their promoter activities. Finally, bioinformatics analysis provided evidence for the clinical significance of the intramembrane proteolysis of epithin/PRSS14 by revealing that the poor survival of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer patients with high epithin/PRSS14 expression is further worsened by high levels of SPPL2b. Conclusions These results show that ectodomain shedding of epithin/PRSS14 can initiate a unique and synchronized bidirectional signal for cancer metastasis: extracellularly broadening proteolytic modification of the surrounding environment and intracellularly reprogramming the transcriptome for metastatic conversion. Clinically, this study also suggests that the intracellular function of epithin/PRSS14 should be considered for targeting this protease for anti-cancer treatment.This work was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants (NRF-2017R1A2B4008109 to M.G.K. and NRF2019R1A2C2008067 to C.K.) and a Korea University grant (to C.K.)

Ecological connectivity analysis based on the fish community in Jeongan Stream

This study focused on the longitudinal connectivity analysis, based on fish communities in the aspect of spatial variations of 34 sites from upstream to downstream. The Fish Assessment Index (FAI), based on ecological guilds and species composition, was applied to compare the ecological health among the sampling sites. The total number of 35 fish species, were sampled during the study period with dominant species of Zacco platypus (35.4%) and Zacco koreanus (11.8%). Cluster analysis showed that all sites were categorized as 4 distinct group communities (A, B, C, D). Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed distinct difference between upstream (A, B) and downstream groups (C, D). Indicator Value Analysis (IndVal method), conducted to identify indicator species within each group, indicated that the species favoring upstream environments Rhynchocypris oxycephalus for the Group A and Iksookimia koreensis for the Group B. In contrast, the analysis indicated that the species with a preference for downstream habitats Pseudogobio esocinus for the Group C and Carassius auratus for the Group D. Ecological health, based on the FAI scores, showed a declining pattern toward the downstream, along with an increasing proportion of tolerant species and omnivores within the fish community. Overall these findings suggest the compositions of fish communities, as four groups, were modified by the weir structures and organic matter, nutrient pollutions

Sucrose preferentially promotes expression of OsWRKY7 and OsPR10a to enhance defense response to blast fungus in rice

Sucrose controls various developmental and metabolic processes in plants. It also functions as a signaling molecule in the synthesis of carbohydrates, storage proteins, and anthocyanins, as well as in floral induction and defense response. We found that sucrose preferentially induced OsWRKY7, whereas other sugars (such as mannitol, glucose, fructose, galactose, and maltose) did not have the same effect. A hexokinase inhibitor mannoheptulose did not block the effect of sucrose, which is consequently thought to function directly. MG132 inhibited sucrose induction, suggesting that a repressor upstream of OsWRKY7 is degraded by the 26S proteasome pathway. The 3-kb promoter sequence of OsWRKY7 was preferentially induced by sucrose in the luciferase system. Knockout mutants of OsWRKY7 were more sensitive to the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, whereas the overexpression of OsWRKY7 enhanced the resistance, indicating that this gene is a positive regulator in the plant defense against this pathogen. The luciferase activity driven by the OsPR10a promoter was induced by OsWRKY7 and this transcription factor bound to the promoter region of OsPR10a, suggesting that OsWRKY7 directly controls the expression of OsPR10a. We conclude that sucrose promotes the transcript level of OsWRKY7, thereby increasing the expression of OsPR10a for the defense response in rice

Superior outcomes of kidney transplantation compared with dialysis An optimal matched analysis of a national population-based cohort study between 2005 and 2008 in Korea

Data regarding kidney transplantation (KT) and dialysis outcomes are rare in Asian populations. In the present study, we evaluated the clinical outcomes associated with KT using claims data from the Korean national public health insurance program. Among the 35,418 adult patients with incident dialysis treated between 2005 and 2008 in Korea, 1539 underwent KT. An optimal balanced risk set matching was attempted to compare the transplant group with the control group in terms of the overall survival and major adverse cardiac event-free survival. Before matching, the dialysis group was older and had more comorbidities. After matching, there were no differences in age, sex, dialysis modalities, or comorbidities. Patient survival was significantly better in the transplant group than in the matched control group (P<0.001). In addition, the transplant group showed better major adverse cardiac event-free survival than the dialysis group (P<0.001; hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.75). Korean patients with incident dialysis who underwent long-term dialysis had significantly more cardiovascular events and higher all-cause mortality rates than those who underwent KT. Thus, KT should be more actively recommended in Korean populations.OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:T201619962RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200001ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A079841CITE_RATE:1.206FILENAME:Superior_outcomes_of_kidney_transplantation.14.pdfDEPT_NM:컴퓨터공학부EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:YFILEURL:https://srnd.snu.ac.kr/eXrepEIR/fws/file/91ab95e8-39ce-4d72-8fb3-f6b12c82256d/linkCONFIRM:

Structuring heterogeneous biological information using fuzzy clustering of k-partite graphs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extensive and automated data integration in bioinformatics facilitates the construction of large, complex biological networks. However, the challenge lies in the interpretation of these networks. While most research focuses on the unipartite or bipartite case, we address the more general but common situation of <it>k</it>-partite graphs. These graphs contain <it>k </it>different node types and links are only allowed between nodes of different types. In order to reveal their structural organization and describe the contained information in a more coarse-grained fashion, we ask how to detect clusters within each node type.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Since entities in biological networks regularly have more than one function and hence participate in more than one cluster, we developed a <it>k</it>-partite graph partitioning algorithm that allows for overlapping (fuzzy) clusters. It determines for each node a degree of membership to each cluster. Moreover, the algorithm estimates a weighted <it>k</it>-partite graph that connects the extracted clusters. Our method is fast and efficient, mimicking the multiplicative update rules commonly employed in algorithms for non-negative matrix factorization. It facilitates the decomposition of networks on a chosen scale and therefore allows for analysis and interpretation of structures on various resolution levels. Applying our algorithm to a tripartite disease-gene-protein complex network, we were able to structure this graph on a large scale into clusters that are functionally correlated and biologically meaningful. Locally, smaller clusters enabled reclassification or annotation of the clusters' elements. We exemplified this for the transcription factor MECP2.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In order to cope with the overwhelming amount of information available from biomedical literature, we need to tackle the challenge of finding structures in large networks with nodes of multiple types. To this end, we presented a novel fuzzy <it>k</it>-partite graph partitioning algorithm that allows the decomposition of these objects in a comprehensive fashion. We validated our approach both on artificial and real-world data. It is readily applicable to any further problem.</p