Development of novel monoclonal antibodies for blocking NF-κB activation induced by CD2v protein in African swine fever virus

BackgroundCD2v, a critical outer envelope glycoprotein of the African swine fever virus (ASFV), plays a central role in the hemadsorption phenomenon during ASFV infection and is recognized as an essential immunoprotective protein. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting CD2v have demonstrated promise in both diagnosing and combating African swine fever (ASF). The objective of this study was to develop specific monoclonal antibodies against CD2v.MethodsIn this investigation, Recombinant CD2v was expressed in eukaryotic cells, and murine mAbs were generated through meticulous screening and hybridoma cloning. Various techniques, including indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), western blotting, immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and bio-layer interferometry (BLI), were employed to characterize the mAbs. Epitope mapping was conducted using truncation mutants and epitope peptide mapping.ResultsAn optimal antibody pair for a highly sensitive sandwich ELISA was identified, and the antigenic structures recognized by the mAbs were elucidated. Two linear epitopes highly conserved in ASFV genotype II strains, particularly in Chinese endemic strains, were identified, along with a unique glycosylated epitope. Three mAbs, 2B25, 3G25, and 8G1, effectively blocked CD2v-induced NF-κB activation.ConclusionsThis study provides valuable insights into the antigenic structure of ASFV CD2v. The mAbs obtained in this study hold great potential for use in the development of ASF diagnostic strategies, and the identified epitopes may contribute to vaccine development against ASFV

Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots as Fluorescent Probes for Sensitive and Selective Detection of Nitrite

Nitrites are the upstream precursors of the carcinogenic nitrosamines, which are widely found in the natural environment and many food products. It is important to develop a simple and sensitive sensor for detecting nitrites. In this work, a fluorescence probe based on nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) was developed for the sensitive and selective determination of nitrites. At pH 2, the fluorescence of N-CQDs can be selectively quenched by nitrite due to the fact N-nitroso compounds can be formed in the reaction of amide groups with nitrous acid, which results in fluorescence static quenching. Under optimal conditions, fluorescence intensity quenching upon addition of nitrite gives a satisfactory linear relationship covering the linear range of 0.2–20 μM, and the limit of detection (LOD) is 40 nM. Moreover, this method has been successfully applied to the determination of nitrites in tap water, which indicates its great potential for monitoring of nitrites in environmental samples

A Traction Three-Phase to Single-Phase Cascade Converter Substation in an Advanced Traction Power Supply System

The advanced traction power supply system (ATPSS) is a new directional development for traction power supply systems, which can totally remove the neutral sections and effectively promote power quality. However, the existing converters suffer from small substation capacity. In this paper, a new configuration based on a three-level neutral point clamped (3L-NPC) three-phase to single-phase cascade converter in a substation is proposed for ATPSS, which can be used to match the capacity of the converter for high voltage and large power applications. The control strategy of the proposed converter is analyzed in depth, and the phase disposition sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PD-SPWM) with phase shift carrier SPWM (PSC-SPWM) is employed in the inverters. Then, the inductance equalizing circuit is applied for the voltage balance on the DC-link. Besides, a LC filter circuit is designed to eliminate the double line-frequency ripple of DC voltage. Afterwards, a simulation model and an experimental prototype are developed, respectively. The simulation results show that the proposed converter in this paper can not only meet the requirements of voltage and capacity for the traction network, but also improve power quality. Finally, the experimental results verify the correctness and feasibility of the proposed control strategy

Activity and Mechanism of Action of Antifungal Peptides from Microorganisms: A Review

Harmful fungi in nature not only cause diseases in plants, but also fungal infection and poisoning when people and animals eat food derived from crops contaminated with them. Unfortunately, such fungi are becoming increasingly more resistant to traditional synthetic antifungal drugs, which can make prevention and control work increasingly more difficult to achieve. This means they are potentially very harmful to human health and lifestyle. Antifungal peptides are natural substances produced by organisms to defend themselves against harmful fungi. As a result, they have become an important research object to help deal with harmful fungi and overcome their drug resistance. Moreover, they are expected to be developed into new therapeutic drugs against drug-resistant fungi in clinical application. This review focuses on antifungal peptides that have been isolated from bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms to date. Their antifungal activity and factors affecting it are outlined in terms of their antibacterial spectra and effects. The toxic effects of the antifungal peptides and their common solutions are mentioned. The mechanisms of action of the antifungal peptides are described according to their action pathways. The work provides a useful reference for further clinical research and the development of safe antifungal drugs that have high efficiencies and broad application spectra

The Preparation and Properties of Multilayer Cu-MTa2O5 Composite Coatings on Ti6Al4V for Biomedical Applications

For the enhancement of the anticorrosion and antibacterial performance of the biomedical alloy Ti6Al4V, a novel Cu incorporated multilayer Ta2O5ceramic composite coating Cu-Ta2O5/Ta2O5/Ta2O5-TiO2/TiO2/Ti (coating codeCu-MTa2O5) was developed by radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering. Meanwhile, to better display the multilayer Ta2O5 coating mentioned above, a monolayer Ta2O5 ceramic coating was deposited onto the surface of Ti6Al4V alloy as a reference. The surface morphology, microstructure, phase constituents, and elemental states of the coating were evaluated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The adhesion strength, wettability, anticorrosion and antibacterial properties of the coating were examined by a scratch tester, contact angle measurement, electrochemical workstations, and plate counting method, respectively. The results showed that the deposited coatings were amorphous and hydrophobic. Cu doped into the Ta2O5 coating existed as CuO and Cu2O. A Ta2O5-TiO2/TiO2/Ti multi-interlayer massively enhanced the adhesion strength of the coating, which was 2.9 times stronger than that of the monolayer Ta2O5coating. The multilayer Cu-MTa2O5 coating revealed a higher corrosion potential and smaller corrosion current density as compared to the uncoated Ti6Al4V, indicating the better anticorrosion performance of Ti6Al4V. Moreover, a 99.8% antibacterial effect of Cu-MTa2O5 coated against Staphylococcus aureuswas obtained