Anti-HIV-1 Activity of a New Scorpion Venom Peptide Derivative Kn2-7

For over 30 years, HIV/AIDS has wreaked havoc in the world. In the absence of an effective vaccine for HIV, development of new anti-HIV agents is urgently needed. We previously identified the antiviral activities of the scorpion-venom-peptide-derived mucroporin-M1 for three RNA viruses (measles viruses, SARS-CoV, and H5N1). In this investigation, a panel of scorpion venom peptides and their derivatives were designed and chosen for assessment of their anti-HIV activities. A new scorpion venom peptide derivative Kn2-7 was identified as the most potent anti-HIV-1 peptide by screening assays with an EC50 value of 2.76 µg/ml (1.65 µM) and showed low cytotoxicity to host cells with a selective index (SI) of 13.93. Kn2-7 could inhibit all members of a standard reference panel of HIV-1 subtype B pseudotyped virus (PV) with CCR5-tropic and CXCR4-tropic NL4-3 PV strain. Furthermore, it also inhibited a CXCR4-tropic replication-competent strain of HIV-1 subtype B virus. Binding assay of Kn2-7 to HIV-1 PV by Octet Red system suggested the anti-HIV-1 activity was correlated with a direct interaction between Kn2-7 and HIV-1 envelope. These results demonstrated that peptide Kn2-7 could inhibit HIV-1 by direct interaction with viral particle and may become a promising candidate compound for further development of microbicide against HIV-1

Relationship between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and Coronary Artery Lesion in non-diabetic patients with coronary heart disease.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and coronary artery lesion in non-diabetic patients with coronary heart disease. This observational research was done at Changyi people's Hospital, China, from January 2017 to August 2020. A total of 237 non-diabetic cases with suspected coronary heart disease were selected as subjects. Patients with negative coronary angiography were labelled as non-coronary heart disease patients (control group), patients with coronary heart disease confirmed on angiography comprised the coronary heart disease group. The results showed that smoking and hypertension history in the two groups were different (P =0.031 and 0.001). Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio value and Gensini score in coronary heart disease group were higher as against the control group (both P<0.001). Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio was an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (P < 0.001) using logistic regression analysis. A significant positive correlation between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and Gensini score in coronary heart disease patients (r=0.510, P<0.001) was determined by spearman analysis. In conclusion, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio can be acquired simply and quickly from blood routine examination, and its level is related to coronary artery lesion. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio may provide certain reference value in judging coronary artery lesion in non-diabetic patients with coronary heart disease. Key words: Non-diabetic; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; lymphocyte; coronary artery lesio

From agaric hydrogel to nitrogen-doped 3D porous carbon for high-performance Li–S batteries

Reproducible massive biochar with low cost has attracted great attentions due to their potential applications in the future environment and energy. In this work, a nitrogen-doped 3D porous agaric carbon (N-AC) with high specific surface area (1568.2 m2 g−1) was fabricated without adding any activator by using the agaric hydrogel as a precursor. And when employed as a sulfur host, the resulted N-AC–sulfur composite electrode with 60 wt% sulfur content illustrates a high reversible capacity of 875 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C (1 C = 1675 mA g−1) over 100 cycles as well as an excellent rate capability of 620 mAh g−1 at 2 C. Such excellent electrochemical performances could attribute to (1) the conductive carbon skeleton of N-AC that provides rapid electron/ion transfer; (2) abundant pores range from micropores to macropores in N-AC that are beneficial to accommodating the active sulfur and polysulfides and (3) the nitrogen dopants that provide polarized sites in chemical binding of polysulfides. In a word, this work provides a compelling avenue to the design of multifunctional sulfur host for advanced Li–S batteries

Extremely high thermal conductivity of carbon fiber/epoxy with synergistic effect of MXenes by freeze-drying

As the power density of the electronics is on increasing, improving the heat dissipation performance of electronic packaging materials will play a positive role in promoting the performance of modern electronics. In this work, the three-dimensional carbon fiber (CF)-MXenes foam, in which the vertically aligned CF constructed the heat transport paths, were prepared by simple freeze-drying method. As a result, the thermal conductivity (TC) of CF-M/epoxy composites was improved to an ultra-high level (9.68 W/mK) at 30.2 wt% hybrid fillers, increasing by 4509% enhancement compared with that of neat epoxy. In addition, the thermal properties of composites, such as glass transition temperature (Tg), coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) were investigated. All the results indicated that the CF-MXenes/epoxy composite was supposed to be a promising heat dissipation material and will be used in the field of electronic packaging

Unpolarized release of vaccinia virus and HIV antigen by colchicine treatment enhances intranasal HIV antigen expression and mucosal humoral responses.

The induction of a strong mucosal immune response is essential to building successful HIV vaccines. Highly attenuated recombinant HIV vaccinia virus can be administered mucosally, but even high doses of immunization have been found unable to induce strong mucosal antibody responses. In order to solve this problem, we studied the interactions of recombinant HIV vaccinia virus Tiantan strain (rVTT-gagpol) in mucosal epithelial cells (specifically Caco-2 cell layers) and in BALB/c mice. We evaluated the impact of this virus on HIV antigen delivery and specific immune responses. The results demonstrated that rVTT-gagpol was able to infect Caco-2 cell layers and both the nasal and lung epithelia in BALB/c mice. The progeny viruses and expressed p24 were released mainly from apical surfaces. In BALB/c mice, the infection was limited to the respiratory system and was not observed in the blood. This showed that polarized distribution limited antigen delivery into the whole body and thus limited immune response. To see if this could be improved upon, we stimulated unpolarized budding of the virus and HIV antigens by treating both Caco-2 cells and BALB/c mice with colchicine. We found that, in BALB/c mice, the degree of infection and antigen expression in the epithelia went up. As a result, specific immune responses increased correspondingly. Together, these data suggest that polarized budding limits antigen delivery and immune responses, but unpolarized distribution can increase antigen expression and delivery and thus enhance specific immune responses. This conclusion can be used to optimize mucosal HIV vaccine strategies

rVTT-gagpol released from (A) the apical surface and (B) the basolateral surface (referenced and modified from [<b>35</b>]).

<p>rVTT-gagpol released from (A) the apical surface and (B) the basolateral surface (referenced and modified from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0024296#pone.0024296-Mostov1" target="_blank">[<b>35</b>]</a>).</p