A Truncated IL‐17RC Peptide Ameliorates Synovitis and Bone Destruction of Arthritic Mice

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134880/1/adhm201600668_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134880/2/adhm201600668-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134880/3/adhm201600668.pd

Designation of a Novel DKK1 Multiepitope DNA Vaccine and Inhibition of Bone Loss in Collagen-Induced Arthritic Mice

Dickkopf-1 (DKK1), a secretory inhibitor of canonical Wnt signaling, plays a critical role in certain bone loss diseases. Studies have shown that serum levels of DKK1 are significantly higher in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and are correlated with the severity of the disease, which indicates the possibility that bone erosion in RA may be inhibited by neutralizing the biological activity of DKK1. In this study, we selected a panel of twelve peptides using the software DNASTAR 7.1 and screened high affinity and immunogenicity epitopes in vitro and in vivo assays. Furthermore, we optimized four B cell epitopes to design a novel DKK1 multiepitope DNA vaccine and evaluated its bone protective effects in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model of RA. High level expression of the designed vaccine was measured in supernatant of COS7 cells. In addition, intramuscular immunization of BALB/c mice with this vaccine was also highly expressed and sufficient to induce the production of long-term IgG, which neutralized natural DKK1 in vivo. Importantly, this vaccine significantly attenuated bone erosion in CIA mice compared with positive control mice. These results provide evidence for the development of a DNA vaccine targeted against DKK1 to attenuate bone erosion

Transfer of multiple loci of donor's genes to induce recipient tolerance in organ transplantation

Donor organ rejection remains a significant problem. The present study aimed to assess whether transferring a donor's major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes to the recipient could mitigate rejection in organ transplantation. Seven loci of MHC genes from donor mice were amplified and ligated into vectors; the vectors either contained one K locus, seven loci or were empty (control). The vectors were subsequently injected into the thymus of recipients (in heterotransplants, recipient rats received the vector containing one K locus), following which donor mouse hearts were transplanted. Following the transplantation of allograft and heterograft, electrocardiosignals were viable for a significantly longer duration in recipient mice and rats receiving the donor histocompatibility-2 complex (H-2)d genes compared with those in controls, and in mice that received seven vectors compared with those receiving one vector. Mixed lymphocyte cultures containing cells from these recipients proliferated significantly less compared with mixed lymphocyte cultures containing controls. Also, hearts from H-2d genes-treated recipients demonstrated less lymphocyte infiltration and necrosis compared with the control recipient. The present study concluded that allograft and heterograft rejection may be mitigated by introducing the donor's MHC into the recipient; transferring seven loci has been demonstrated to be more effective than transferring one locus

Low-Cost and Rapid Method of DNA Extraction from Scaled Fish Blood and Skin Mucus

PCR-based DNA amplification has been one of the major methods in aquaculture research for decades, although its use outside the modern laboratory environment is limited due to the relatively complex methods and high costs. To this end, we investigated a swabbing and disc protocol for the collection of DNA samples from fish which could extract DNA from fish skin mucus by a non-invasion technique costing only $0.02 (USD) and requiring less than 30 seconds. The disc method that we chose could use the cheap filter paper to extract DNA from above 104 crucian carp blood cells, which is comparable to the commercial kit. By using skin mucus swabbing and the disc method, we can obtain amplification-ready DNA from mucus to distinguish different species from our smallest fish (medaka, ~2.5 cm and crucian carp, ~7 cm) to our biggest fish (tilapia, ~15 cm). Furthermore, the viral pathogen Carassius auratus herpesvirus (CaHV) of crucian carp was detected using our method, which would make performing molecular diagnostic assays achievable in limited-resource settings including aquafarms and aqua stores outside the laboratory environment

Characterization of a novel esterase Rv0045c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

It was proposed that there are at least 250 enzymes in M. tuberculosis involved in lipid metabolism. Rv0045c was predicted to be a hydrolase by amino acid sequence similarity, although its precise biochemical characterization and function remained to be defined.We expressed the Rv0045c protein to high levels in E. coli and purified the protein to high purity. We confirmed that the prepared protein was the Rv0045c protein by mass spectrometry analysis. Circular dichroism spectroscopy analysis showed that the protein possessed abundant β-sheet secondary structure, and confirmed that its conformation was stable in the range pH 6.0-10.0 and at temperatures ≤ 40 °C. Enzyme activity analysis indicated that the Rv0045c protein could efficiently hydrolyze short chain p-nitrophenyl esters (C₂-C₈), and its suitable substrate was p-nitrophenyl caproate (C₆) with optimal catalytic conditions of 39 °C and pH 8.0.Our results demonstrated that the Rv0045c protein is a novel esterase. These experiments will be helpful in understanding ester/lipid metabolism related to M. tuberculosis

Visual analysis of global research on immunotherapy for gastric cancer: A literature mining from 2012 to 2022

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies. Immunotherapy becomes an indispensable part of GC. This study conducts bibliometric analysis of immunotherapy for GC to clarify the research status and identify potential new research directions. VOS viewer and CiteSpace visualization software were used to demonstrate collaborations and correlations. A total of 1141 English publications from 2012 to 2022 were included. The number of publications increased year by year. The publications were mainly from China (n = 579, 50.70%), followed by the United States. Fudan University published the most publications (n = 48, 4.21%). Frontiers in Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology ranked first in cited and co-cited journals, respectively. Kim Kyoung-Mee published the most publications on immunotherapy for GC (n = 14). The clustering of timeline view and co-cited references show the hotspot transformation on immunotherapy for GC. Initially, the hot topic was “cytokine-induced killer cells” and “myeloid-derived suppressor cells.” In recent years, the focus has turned to “targeted therapy.” “CAR-T” has become the hottest topic, and GC has entered precision therapy phase. Screening patients who can benefit from immunotherapy is key to improving prognosis. The combination of immunotherapy with other treatment options, such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy, is currently the focus of research. Chimeric antigen receptor T cell will be further studied in the future

Formula extraction and query programs

Pre-packaged executable programs for Windows and Mac O

Efficacy and safety of totally laparoscopic gastrectomy with uncut Roux-en-Y for gastric cancer: a dual-center retrospective study

Abstract Background Uncut Roux-en-Y (URY) effectively alleviates the prevalent complexities connected with RY, such as Roux-en-Y stasis syndrome (RSS). Nevertheless, for gastric cancer (GC) patients, it is still controversial whether URY has an impact on long-term prognosis and whether it has fewer afferent loop recanalization. Therefore, compare whether URY and RY have differences in prognosis and long-term complications of GC patients undergoing totally laparoscopic gastrectomy (TLG). Methods We analyzed the data of patients who underwent TLG combined with digestive tract reconstruction from dual-center between 2016 and 2022. Only patients undergoing URY and RY were selected for analysis. Relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated. Bias between the groups was reduced by propensity score matching (PSM). The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to further analyze the influence of URY on prognosis. Results Two hundred forty two GC patients were enrolled. The URY had significantly shorter operation time, liquid food intake time, and in-hospital stays than the RY (P < 0.001). The URY had fewer long-term and short-term postoperative complications than the RY, especially with regard to RSS, reflux esophagitis, and reflux gastritis. The 3-year and 5-year OS of the URY group and the RY group before PSM: 87.5% vs. 65.6% (P < 0.001) and 81.4% vs. 61.7% (P = 0.001). PSM and Cox multivariate analysis confirmed that compared to RY, URY can improve the short-term and long-term prognosis of GC patients. Conclusion TLG combined with URY for GC, especially for advanced, older, and poorly differentiated patients, may promote postoperative recovery and improve long-term prognosis