Role of polymorphic loci <i>VDR</i> rs10735810, <i>MTHFR</i> rs1801131, <i>MTHFR</i> rs1801133, <i>MTR</i> rs1805087,<i> MTRR</i> rs1801394 AND <i>VEGFA</i> rs3025039 in missed abortion: A prospective cohort study

Background. Premature termination of pregnancy, including miscarriage, remains among the critical problems in modern obstetrics and gynaecology practices. In the context of early gestational failure and the notion that 80% of early miscarriages are triggered by genetic reset — some natural filter — an analysis of current knowledge of the genetic aspects of missed abortion (MA) appears relevant.Objectives. A study of the haplotype frequencies for VDR rs10735810, MTHFR rs1801131, MTHFR rs1801133, MTR rs1805087, MTRR rs1801394 and VEGFA rs3025039 polymorphic loci and their association with vitamin D deficiency in women with missed abortion.Methods. A total of 178 women aged 18 to 41 years were examined. The main cohort consisted of MA patients (n = 101) who were divided between cohort I (n = 58; patients with primary MA) and cohort II (n = 43; patients with recurrent MA). The control cohort (n = 77) consisted of women with a successful pregnancy (Z34.0) entailing a term and live birth. Genotyping of polymorphic loci VDR rs10735810, MTHFR rs1801131, MTHFR rs1801133, MTR rs1805087, MTRR rs1801394 and VEGFA rs3025039 was performed in 177 patients. Total serum 25(OH) D (n = 99) was determined by mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistica v. 10 data analysis software (StatSoft, Russia; TIBCO, USA). Results. No differences were revealed for the frequencies of studied haplotypes between MA women and those who gave birth to healthy full-term newborns (p &gt;0.1). No association was found between first-trimester MA and the presence of polymorphic loci variants (p &gt;0.1). The GG haplotype of gene VDR is even less frequent in recurrent MA patients than in control (14.0% vs. 23.7%; OR = 2.29; 95% CI: 0.738–7.075). The GG haplotype of gene MTR has a 2-fold higher frequency in primary MA patients compared to control, albeit at no statistical significance (8.6 vs. 4.0%). Haplotype TT of the gene VEGF polymorphism occurs even less frequently in primary MA patients than in control (3.5 vs. 7.9%, respectively). Patients with first-trimester MA exhibited an association between vitamin D deficiency and the frequency of polymorphic variants VDR rs10735810 (p = 0.0304) and MTHFR rs1801133 (p = 0.0180). The other studied genes did not reveal such an association.Conclusion. The study demonstrates a pathogenetic association of polymorphic variants VDR rs10735810 and MTHFR rs1801133 with missed abortion and vitamin D deficiency

Data_Sheet_2_Tomato-made edible COVID-19 vaccine TOMAVAC induces neutralizing IgGs in the blood sera of mice and humans.docx

Plant-based edible vaccines that provide two-layered protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outweigh the currently used parenteral types of vaccines, which predominantly cause a systemic immune response. Here, we engineered and selected a transgenic tomato genotype (TOMAVAC) that stably synthesized an antigenic S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2. Two-course spaced force-feeding of mice with ≈5.4 μg/ml TOMAVAC increased up to 16-fold the synthesis of RBD-specific NAbs in blood serum and the significant induction of S-IgA in intestinal lavage fluid. In a surrogate virus neutralization test, TOMAVAC-induced NAbs had 15–25% viral neutralizing activity. The results suggested early evidence of the immunogenicity and protectivity of TOMAVAC against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Furthermore, we observed a positive trend of statistically significant 1.2-fold (average of +42.28 BAU/ml) weekly increase in NAbs in the volunteers' serum relative to the initial day. No severe side effects were observed, preliminarily supporting the safety of TOMAVAC. With the completion of future large-scale studies, higher-generation TOMAVAC should be a cost-effective, ecologically friendly, and widely applicable novel-generation COVID-19 vaccine, providing two-layered protection against SARS-CoV-2.</p

Introducing the CTA concept

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to span about four decades of energy, from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV with enhanced angular and energy resolutions over existing VHE gamma-ray observatories. An international collaboration has formed with more than 1000 members from 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. In 2010 the CTA Consortium completed a Design Study and started a three-year Preparatory Phase which leads to production readiness of CTA in 2014. In this paper we introduce the science goals and the concept of CTA, and provide an overview of the project

Introducing the CTA concept

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to span about four decades of energy, from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV with enhanced angular and energy resolutions over existing VHE gamma-ray observatories. An international collaboration has formed with more than 1000 members from 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. In 2010 the CTA Consortium completed a Design Study and started a three-year Preparatory Phase which leads to production readiness of CTA in 2014. In this paper we introduce the science goals and the concept of CTA, and provide an overview of the project. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved