Molecular alliance of Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus and a short unmodified antisense oligonucleotide of its anti-apoptotic IAP-3 gene: A novel approach for gypsy moth control

Baculovirus IAP (inhibitor-of-apoptosis) genes originated by capture of host genes. Unmodified short antisense DNA oligonucleotides (oligoDNAs) from baculovirus IAP genes can down-regulate specific gene expression profiles in both baculovirus-free and baculovirus-infected insects. In this study, gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae infected with multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV), and LdMNPV-free larvae, were treated with oligoDNA antisense to the RING (really interesting new gene) domain of the LdMNPV IAP-3 gene. The results with respect to insect mortality, biomass accumulation, histological studies, RT-PCR, and analysis of DNA apoptotic fragmentation suggest that oligoRING induced increased apoptotic processes in both LdMNPV-free and LdMNPV-infected insect cells, but were more pronounced in the latter. These data open up possibilities for promising new routes of insect pest control using antisense phosphodiester DNA oligonucleotides

Characterization of 2 genetic variants of Na(v) 1.5-arginine 689 found in patients with cardiac arrhythmias

Hundreds of genetic variants in SCN5A, the gene coding for the pore-forming subunit of the cardiac sodium channel, Na(v) 1.5, have been described in patients with cardiac channelopathies as well as in individuals from control cohorts. The aim of this study was to characterize the biophysical properties of 2 naturally occurring Na(v) 1.5 variants, p.R689H and p.R689C, found in patients with cardiac arrhythmias and in control individuals. In addition, this study was motivated by the finding of the variant p.R689H in a family with sudden cardiac death (SCD) in children. When expressed in HEK293 cells, most of the sodium current (I(Na)) biophysical properties of both variants were indistinguishable from the wild-type (WT) channels. In both cases, however, an ∼2-fold increase of the tetrodotoxin-sensitive late I(Na) was observed. Action potential simulations and reconstruction of pseudo-ECGs demonstrated that such a subtle increase in the late I(Na) may prolong the QT interval in a nonlinear fashion. In conclusion, despite the fact that the causality link between p.R689H and the phenotype of the studied family cannot be demonstrated, this study supports the notion that subtle alterations of Na(v) 1.5 variants may increase the risk for cardiac arrhythmias

Novel inter-subunit contacts in Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus revealed by Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV, genus Hordeivirus) is a rod-shaped single-stranded RNA virus similar to viruses of the structurally characterized and well-studied genus Tobamovirus. Here we report the first high-resolution structure of BSMV at 4.1 Å obtained by cryo-electron microscopy. We discovered that BSMV forms two types of virion that differ in the number of coat protein (CP) subunits per turn and interactions between the CP subunits. While BSMV and tobacco mosaic virus CP subunits have a similar fold and interact with RNA using conserved residues, the axial contacts between the CP of these two viral groups are considerably different. BSMV CP subunits lack substantial axial contacts and are held together by a previously unobserved lateral contact formed at the virion surface via an interacting loop, which protrudes from the CP hydrophobic core to the adjacent CP subunit. These data provide an insight into diversity in structural organization of helical viruses

Local and average fields inside surface-disordered waveguides: Resonances in the one-dimensional Anderson localization regime

We investigate the one-dimensional propagation of waves in the Anderson localization regime, for a single-mode, surface disordered waveguide. We make use of both an analytical formulation and rigorous numerical simulation calculations. The occurrence of anomalously large transmission coefficients for given realizations and/or frequencies is studied, revealing huge field intensity concentration inside the disordered waveguide. The analytically predicted s-like dependence of the average intensity, being in good agreement with the numerical results for moderately long systems, fails to explain the intensity distribution observed deep in the localized regime. The average contribution to the field intensity from the resonances that are above a threshold transmission coefficient $T_{c}$ is a broad distribution with a large maximum at/near mid-waveguide, depending universally (for given $T_{c}$) on the ratio of the length of the disorder segment to the localization length, $L/\xi$. The same universality is observed in the spatial distribution of the intensity inside typical (non-resonant with respect to the transmission coefficient) realizations, presenting a s-like shape similar to that of the total average intensity for $T_{c}$ close to 1, which decays faster the lower is $T_{c}$. Evidence is given of the self-averaging nature of the random quantity $\log[I(x)]/x\simeq -1/\xi$. Higher-order moments of the intensity are also shown.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Multifold Emission Enhancement in Nanoimprinted Hybrid Perovskite Metasurfaces

Recent developments in the physics of high-index resonant dielectric nanostructures suggest alternative mechanisms for subwavelength light control driven by Mie resonances with a strong magnetic response that can be employed for the design of novel optical metasurfaces. Here we demonstrate metasurfaces based on nanoimprinted perovskite films optimized by alloying the organic cation part of perovskites. We reveal that such metasurfaces can exhibit a significant enhancement of both linear and nonlinear photoluminescence (up to 70 times) combined with advanced stability. Our results suggest a cost-effective approach based on nanoimprint lithography and combined with simple chemical reactions for creating a new generation of functional metasurfaces that may pave the way toward highly efficient planar optoelectronic metadevicesThe work was partially supported by the Australian Research Council. Partial financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Grant No. 14.Y26.31.0010 for optical measurements) and in the framework of Increase Competitiveness Program of NUST “MISiS” (No. K2-2015-014 for sample preparation) is acknowledged. We also appreciate the partial support from the Welch Foundation grant AT 16-17 and CONACYT for academic opportunities and support (visiting research of A.C.P.)

Nanoscale Generation of White Light for Ultrabroadband Nanospectroscopy

Achieving efficient localization of white light at the nanoscale is a major challenge due to the diffraction limit, and nanoscale emitters generating light with a broadband spectrum require complicated engineering. Here we suggest a simple, yet highly efficient, nanoscale white-light source based on a hybrid Si/Au nanoparticle with ultrabroadband (1.3-3.4 eV) spectral characteristics. We incorporate this novel source into a scanning-probe microscope and observe broadband spectrum of photoluminescence that allows fast mapping of local optical response of advanced nanophotonic structures with submicron resolution, thus realizing ultrabroadband near-field nanospectroscopy.The work was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Grant 17-19-01532 for nanoparticles fabrication), the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation (Project 14.Y26.31.0010 for optical measurements), the Australian Research Council, and A*STAR SERC Pharos program, Grant 152 73 00025 (Singapore)