Hyperin up-regulates miR-7031-5P to promote osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells

Objective. To investigate the effects of Hyperin (Hyp) on osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3E1 cells. Methods. Differentially expressed miRNA was screened by miRNA Microarray. miR-7031-5P overexpression and knockdown MC3T3-E1 cell models were constructed by transfecting miR-7031-5P mimics and inhibitor. Alizarin red staining (ARS) assay was used to observe the formation of mineralized nodules in MC3T3-E1 cells. ALP activity was detected by using ALP detection kit. Western blot assay was used to examine the changes in osteogenic differentiation-related proteins. The relationship between miR-7031-5P and Wnt7a was revealed by dual luciferase report experiments. Results. We found that miR-7031-5P was upregulated in MC3T3-E1 cells after Hyp treatment. The results indicated that compared with the untreated group, Hyp promoted the formation of mineralized nodules and the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of MC3T3-E1 cells via overexpressing miR-7031-5P. Besides, elevated miR-7031-5P increased OPN, COL1A1, and Runx2 mRNA expression. More importantly, Wnt7a was identified as the downstream target gene of miR-70315P promoting osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. Conclusions. Hyp up-regulated miR-7031-5P to promote osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells by targeting Wnt7

Entire genome sequence analysis of genotype IX Newcastle disease viruses reveals their early-genotype phylogenetic position and recent-genotype genome size

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Six nucleotide (nt) insertion in the 5'-noncoding region (NCR) of the nucleoprotein (NP) gene of Newcaslte disease virus (NDV) is considered to be a genetic marker for recent genotypes of NDV, which emerged after 1960. However, F48-like NDVs from China, identified a 6-nt insert in the NP gene, have been previously classified into genotype III or genotype IX.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to clarify their phylogenetic position and explore the origin of NDVs with the 6-nt insert and its significance in NDV evolution, we determined the entire genome sequences of five F48-like viruses isolated in China between 1946 and 2002 by RT-PCR amplification of overlapping fragments of full-length genome and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. All the five NDV isolates shared the same genome size of 15,192-nt with the recent genotype V-VIII viruses whereas they had the highest homology with early genotype III and IV isolates.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The unique characteristic of the genome size and phylogenetic position of F48-like viruses warrants placing them in a separate geno-group, genotype IX. Results in this study also suggest that genotype IX viruses most likely originate from a genotype III virus by insertion of a 6-nt motif in the 5'-NCR of the NP gene which had occurred as early as in 1940 s, and might be the common origin of genotype V-VIII viruses.</p

Glass-ceramic Optical Fiber Containing Ba2 TiSi2O8 Nanocrystals for Frequency Conversion of Lasers

A glass-ceramic optical fiber containing Ba2TiSi2O8 nanocrystals fabricated using a novel combination of the melt-in-tube method and successive heat treatment is reported for the first time. For the melt-in-tube method, fibers act as a precursor at the drawing temperature for which the cladding glass is softened while the core glass is melted. It is demonstrated experimentally that following heat treatment, Ba2TiSi2O8 nanocrystals with diameters below 10 nm are evenly distributed throughout the fiber core. Comparing to the conventional rod-in-tube method, the melt-in-tube method is superior in terms of controllability of crystallization to allow for the fabrication of low loss glass-ceramic fibers. When irradiated using a 1030 nm femtosecond laser, an enhanced green emission at a wavelength of 515 nm is observed in the glass-ceramic fiber, which demonstrates second harmonic generation of a laser action in the fabricated glass-ceramic fibers. Therefore, this new glass-ceramic fiber not only provides a highly promising development for frequency conversion of lasers in all optical fiber based networks, but the melt-in-tube fabrication method also offers excellent opportunities for fabricating a wide range of novel glass-ceramic optical fibers for multiple future applications including fiber telecommunications and lasers

Chronic Kidney Disease Increases Atrial Fibrillation Inducibility: Involvement of Inflammation, Atrial Fibrosis, and Connexins

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes atrial structural remodeling and subsequently increases the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF). Atrial connexins and inflammatory responses may be involved in this remodeling process. In this study, nephrectomy was used to produce the CKD rat model. Three months post-nephrectomy, cardiac structure, function and AF vulnerability were quantified using echocardiography and electrophysiology methods. The left atrial tissue was tested for quantification of fibrosis and inflammation, and for the distribution and expression of connexin (Cx) 40 and Cx43. An echocardiography showed that CKD resulted in the left atrial enlargement and left ventricular hypertrophy, but had no functional changes. CKD caused a significant increase in the AF inducible rate (91.11% in CKD group vs. 6.67% in sham group, P &lt; 0.001) and the AF duration [107 (0–770) s in CKD vs. 0 (0–70) s in sham, P &lt; 0.001] with prolonged P-wave duration. CKD induced severe interstitial fibrosis, activated the transforming growth factor-β1/Smad2/3 pathway with a massive extracellular matrix deposition of collagen type I and α-smooth muscle actin, and matured the NLR (nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat-containing receptor) pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome with an inflammatory cascade response. CKD resulted in an increase in non-phosphorylated-Cx43, a decrease in Cx40 and phosphorylated-Cx43, and lateralized the distribution of Cx40 and Cx43 proteins with upregulations of Rac-1, connective tissue growth factor and N-cadherin. These findings implicate the transforming growth factor-β1/Smad2/3, the NLRP3 inflammasome and the connexins as potential mediators of increased AF vulnerability in CKD

Classification, replication, and transcription of Nidovirales

Nidovirales is one order of RNA virus, with the largest single-stranded positive sense RNA genome enwrapped with membrane envelope. It comprises four families (Arterividae, Mesoniviridae, Roniviridae, and Coronaviridae) and has been circulating in humans and animals for almost one century, posing great threat to livestock and poultry，as well as to public health. Nidovirales shares similar life cycle: attachment to cell surface, entry, primary translation of replicases, viral RNA replication in cytoplasm, translation of viral proteins, virion assembly, budding, and release. The viral RNA synthesis is the critical step during infection, including genomic RNA (gRNA) replication and subgenomic mRNAs (sg mRNAs) transcription. gRNA replication requires the synthesis of a negative sense full-length RNA intermediate, while the sg mRNAs transcription involves the synthesis of a nested set of negative sense subgenomic intermediates by a discontinuous strategy. This RNA synthesis process is mediated by the viral replication/transcription complex (RTC), which consists of several enzymatic replicases derived from the polyprotein 1a and polyprotein 1ab and several cellular proteins. These replicases and host factors represent the optimal potential therapeutic targets. Hereby, we summarize the Nidovirales classification, associated diseases, “replication organelle,” replication and transcription mechanisms, as well as related regulatory factors

Potential of genotype VII Newcastle disease viruses to cause differential infections in chickens and ducks

Newcastle disease (ND), caused by ND virus (NDV), is one of the most infectious and economically important diseases of the poultry industry worldwide. While infections are reported in a wide range of avian species, the pathogenicity of chicken-origin virulent NDV isolates in ducks remains elusive. In this study, two NDV strains were isolated and biologically and genetically characterized from an outbreak in chickens and apparently healthy ducks. Pathogenicity assessment indices, including the mean death time (MDT), intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) and cleavage motifs in the fusion (F) protein, indicated that both isolates were velogenic in nature. While these isolates carried pathogenic characteristics, interestingly they showed differential pathogenicity in ducks. The chicken-origin isolate caused high (70%) mortality, whereas the duck-origin virus resulted in low (20%) mortality in 4-week-old ducks. Intriguingly, both isolates showed comparable disease pathologies in chickens. Full-genome sequence analysis showed that the virus genome contains 15 192 nucleotides and carried features that are characteristic of velogenic strains of NDV. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that both isolates clustered in class II and genotype VII. However, there were several mutations in the functionally important regions of the fusion (F) and haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) proteins, which may be responsible for the differential pathogenicity of these viruses in ducks. In summary, these results suggest that NDV strains with the same genotype show differential pathogenicity in chickens and ducks. Furthermore, chicken-origin virulent NDVs are more pathogenic for ducks than duck-origin viruses. These findings propose a role for chickens in the evolution of viral pathogenicity and the potential genetic resistance of ducks to poultry viruses

Supplementation of Vitamin E Protects Chickens from Newcastle Disease Virus-Mediated Exacerbation of Intestinal Oxidative Stress and Tissue Damage

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes a highly devastating and contagious disease in poultry, which is mainly attributed to extensive tissue damages in the digestive, respiratory and nervous systems. However, nature and dynamics of NDV-induced oxidative stresses in the intestine of chickens remain elusive. METHODS: In this study, we examined the magnitude of intestinal oxidative stress and histopathological changes caused by the virulent NDV infection, and explored the protective roles of vitamin E (vit. E) in ameliorating these pathological changes. For these purposes, chickens were divided into four groups namely i) non supplemented and non-challenged (negative control, CON); ii) no supplementation of vit. E but challenged with ZJ1 (positive control, NS+CHA); iii) vit. E supplementation at the dose of 50 IU/day/Kg body weight and ZJ1 challenge (VE50+CHA); and 4) vit. E supplementation at the dose of 100 IU/day/Kg body weight and ZJ1 challenge (VE100+CHA). In all groups, we analyzed concentrations of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) using biochemical methods. The virus loads were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and antibody titers by hemagglutination inhibition assays. We also examined the histopathological changes in the duodenal and jejunal mucosa at 3 and 5-day post infection (dpi) with NDV. RESULTS: A significant elevation in the NO level was observed in NDV challenged chickens compared to the CON chickens at 2 dpi. The MDA contents were significantly increased whereas GSH was significantly decreased in NDV-challenged chickens compared to control. Furthermore, activities of GST, CAT, SOD, as well as the TOAC were markedly decreased in challenged chickens in comparison with control. Virus copy numbers were higher in NDV infected NS+CHA group compared to other groups. Severe histopathological changes including inflammation, degeneration and broken villi were observed in the intestine of NDV challenged chickens. However, all these malfunctions of antioxidant system and pathological changes in the intestine were partially or completely reversed by the vit. E supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that NDV infection causes oxidative stress and histopathological changes in the duodenum and jejunum of chickens, which can be partially or fully ameliorated by supplementation of vit. E. Additionally, these findings suggest that oxidative stress contributes to the intestinal damages in NDV infected chickens. These findings will help to understand the pathogenesis of NDV and further investigation of therapeutic agents for control of Newcastle disease

Production, characterization, and epitope mapping of a monoclonal antibody against genotype VII Newcastle disease virus V protein

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) V protein is crucial for viral interferon (IFN) antagonism and virulence, determining its host range restriction. However, little information is available on the B cell epitopes of V protein and the subcellular movement of V protein in the process of NDV infection. In this study, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) clone 3D7 against genotype VII NDV V protein was generated by immunizing mice with a purified recombinant His-tagged carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) region of V protein. Fine epitope mapping analysis and B-cell epitope prediction indicated that mAb 3D7 recognized a linear epitope 152RGPAELWK159, which is located in the V protein CTD region. Sequence alignment showed that the mAb clone 3D7-recognized epitope is highly conserved among Class II genotype VII NDV strains, but not among other genotypes, suggesting it could serve as a genetic marker to differentiate NDV genotypes. Furthermore, the movement of V protein during NDV replication in infected cells were determined by using this mAb. It was found that V protein localized around the nucleus during virus replication. The establishment of V protein-specific mAb and identification of its epitope extend our understanding of the antigenic characteristics of V protein and provide a basis for the development of epitope-based diagnostic assays

Prosedur penyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah dalam rangka meminimalisir resiko di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang

Permasalah kehidupan perekonomian yang sulit, membuat masyarakat berinisiatif untuk membuka usaha sendiri. Mereka membutuhkan suatu bantuan berupa dana untuk memperlancar usahanya, maka BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang ikut untuk mengembangkan produknya yaitu pembiayaan mudharabah sesuai perkembangan dunia perbankan dalam target peningkatan keuntungan dan menyejahterakan masyarakat. Dengan diberikanya pembiayaan tersebut, terkadang muncul adanya pembiayaan bermasalah dikarenakan ada beberapa faktor diantaranya ketidakmampuan anggota untuk membayar tepat waktu atau jatuh tempo pembayaran diakibatkan karena usaha anggota yang kurang lancar dan lain sebagaianya. Tugas Akhir ini berjudul “ Prosedur Penyelesaian Pembiayaan Bermasalah pada Akad Mudharabah Dalam Rangka Meminimalisir Risiko” Berdasarkan judul tersebut dapat diambil rumusan masalah yaitu apa penyebab terjadinya pembiayaan bermasalah pada BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang dan bagaimana prosedur penyelesaian pembiayaaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan dimana sumber data yang digunakan berasal dari data primer dan sekunder yang diperoleh melalui metode wawancara dengan manajer, bagian pembiayaan dan dokumentasi. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif kualitatif yang bertujuan untuk menggambarkan secara sistematis dan akurat mengenai objek penelitian. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa penyebab terjadinya pembiayaan bermasalah yaitu faktor internal meliputi kurang telitinya petugas BMT dalam menganalisi data calon anggota, kurang disiplinya dalam penagihan dan eksternal meliputi karakter anggota yang kurang baik, usahanya bangkrut dan terjadinya bencana alam yang tidak terduga. Adapun prosesdur yang digunakan BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia dalam menyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah dengan cara kekeluargaan atau musyawarah dengan anggota, penjadwalan kembali (rescheduling), persyaratan kembali (reconditioning), pengambilan jaminan (eksekusi), dan write off final. Di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia dalam penyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah jarang menngunakan jalur hukum, tetapi sering menggunakan cara kekeluargaan yang dianggap lebih efektif dan eksekusi jaminan apabila anggota tersebut sudah mengalami macet atau bermasalah