The cellular receptors for infectious bursal disease virus

Virus receptors are simplistically defined as cell surface molecules that mediate binding (attachment, adsorption) and/or trigger membrane fusion or entry through other processes. Infectious bursal diseasevirus (IBDV) entry into host cells occurs by recognition of specific cellular receptor(s) with viral envelope glycoprotein, which comprises the initial and key step of infection. Infection can be inhibited by blockage of the process. So the interest in receptors has been stimulated in large part by thepotential in the application of developing substances that show directed blocking activity. While for the purpose one should know which host cell and viral molecules are involved in the reciprocal recognition and interaction leading to the virus entry into the cell. Here, the review presents the currently available knowledge regarding the receptors or molecules that interact with IBDV

Molecular characterization of Cymbidium kanran cultivars based on extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers

Fifty-four Cymbidium kanran cultivars from China, Japan and Korea were examined and analyzed by using the successive screening of 3'-end extended random primer amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers to determine their molecular diversity and relationships. In ERAPD analyses, the strandspecific DNA sequence of direct oligonucleotide extension sequencing primers was independently read from each of the RAPD fragments without recourse to cloning or strand separation. Eight primers, identified from 80 original RAPD primers, produced strong repetitive polymorphic bands that were used in 3'-end-extended random primer amplified DNA marker analysis. The products of primers ACTGAACGCCCG + ACTGAACGCCGG and ACTGAACGCCC + ACTGAACGCC, linked to the same locus (2.5 - kb), were developed from the original ACTGAACGC RAPD primer; the products of this marker were more stable and specific than the original RAPD marker. Unweighted pair-group mean analysis (UPGMA) grouped them into two clusters based upon geographical traits. We demonstrated that the ERAPD technique is a powerful tool for cultivar identification and establishment of genetic relationships of cultivars in Cymbidium kanran.Key words: Cymbidium kanran; genetic relationship; Extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD

Toward nanofluids of ultra-high thermal conductivity

The assessment of proposed origins for thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids signifies the importance of particle morphology and coupled transport in determining nanofluid heat conduction and thermal conductivity. The success of developing nanofluids of superior conductivity depends thus very much on our understanding and manipulation of the morphology and the coupled transport. Nanofluids with conductivity of upper Hashin-Shtrikman (H-S) bound can be obtained by manipulating particles into an interconnected configuration that disperses the base fluid and thus significantly enhancing the particle-fluid interfacial energy transport. Nanofluids with conductivity higher than the upper H-S bound could also be developed by manipulating the coupled transport among various transport processes, and thus the nature of heat conduction in nanofluids. While the direct contributions of ordered liquid layer and particle Brownian motion to the nanofluid conductivity are negligible, their indirect effects can be significant via their influence on the particle morphology and/or the coupled transport

Longitudinal neural connection detection using a ferritin-encoding adeno-associated virus vector and in vivo MRI method

The investigation of neural circuits is important for interpreting both healthy brain function and psychiatric disorders. Currently, the architecture of neural circuits is always investigated with fluorescent protein encoding neurotropic virus and ex vivo fluorescent imaging technology. However, it is difficult to obtain a whole-brain neural circuit connection in living animals, due to the limited fluorescent imaging depth. Herein, the non-invasive, whole-brain imaging technique of MRI and the hypotoxicity virus vector AAV (adeno-associated virus) were combined to investigate the whole-brain neural circuits in vivo. AAV2-retro are an artificially-evolved virus vector that permits access to the terminal of neurons and retrograde transport to their cell bodies. By expressing the ferritin protein which could accumulate iron ions and influence the MRI contrast, the neurotropic virus can cause MRI signal changes in the infected regions. For mice injected with the ferritin-encoding virus vector (rAAV2-retro-CAG-Ferritin) in the caudate putamen (CPu), several regions showed significant changes in MRI contrasts, such as PFC (prefrontal cortex), HIP (hippocampus), Ins (insular cortex) and BLA (basolateral amygdala). The expression of ferritin in those regions were also verified with ex vivo fluorescence imaging. In addition, we demonstrated that changes in T2 relaxation time could be used to identify the spread area of the virus in the brain over time. Thus, the neural connections could be longitudinally detected with the in vivo MRI method. This novel technique could be utilized to observe the viral infection long-term and detect the neural circuits in a living animal. Keywords: Neural circuit; Ferritin; In vivo MRI; rAAV2-retro; Immunohistochemistry

Band alignment and enhanced breakdown field of simultaneously oxidized and nitrided Zr film on Si

The band alignment of ZrO2/interfacial layer/Si structure fabricated by simultaneous oxidation and nitridation of sputtered Zr on Si in N2O at 700°C for different durations has been established by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Valence band offset of ZrO2/Si was found to be 4.75 eV, while the highest corresponding conduction offset of ZrO2/interfacial layer was found to be 3.40 eV; owing to the combination of relatively larger bandgaps, it enhanced electrical breakdown field to 13.6 MV/cm at 10-6 A/cm2

Rational Redesign of Glucose Oxidase for Improved Catalytic Function and Stability

Glucose oxidase (GOx) is an enzymatic workhorse used in the food and wine industries to combat microbial contamination, to produce wines with lowered alcohol content, as the recognition element in amperometric glucose sensors, and as an anodic catalyst in biofuel cells. It is naturally produced by several species of fungi, and genetic variants are known to differ considerably in both stability and activity. Two of the more widely studied glucose oxidases come from the species Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and Penicillium amagasakiense (P. amag.), which have both had their respective genes isolated and sequenced. GOx from A. niger is known to be more stable than GOx from P. amag., while GOx from P. amag. has a six-fold superior substrate affinity (KM) and nearly four-fold greater catalytic rate (kcat). Here we sought to combine genetic elements from these two varieties to produce an enzyme displaying both superior catalytic capacity and stability. A comparison of the genes from the two organisms revealed 17 residues that differ between their active sites and cofactor binding regions. Fifteen of these residues in a parental A. niger GOx were altered to either mirror the corresponding residues in P. amag. GOx, or mutated into all possible amino acids via saturation mutagenesis. Ultimately, four mutants were identified with significantly improved catalytic activity. A single point mutation from threonine to serine at amino acid 132 (mutant T132S, numbering includes leader peptide) led to a three-fold improvement in kcat at the expense of a 3% loss of substrate affinity (increase in apparent KM for glucose) resulting in a specify constant (kcat/KM) of 23.8 (mM−1 · s−1) compared to 8.39 for the parental (A. niger) GOx and 170 for the P. amag. GOx. Three other mutant enzymes were also identified that had improvements in overall catalysis: V42Y, and the double mutants T132S/T56V and T132S/V42Y, with specificity constants of 31.5, 32.2, and 31.8 mM−1 · s−1, respectively. The thermal stability of these mutants was also measured and showed moderate improvement over the parental strain

Who's Afraid of the Boss: Cultural Differences in Social Hierarchies Modulate Self-Face Recognition in Chinese and Americans

Human adults typically respond faster to their own face than to the faces of others. However, in Chinese participants, this self-face advantage is lost in the presence of one's supervisor, and they respond faster to their supervisor's face than to their own. While this “boss effect” suggests a strong modulation of self-processing in the presence of influential social superiors, the current study examined whether this effect was true across cultures. Given the wealth of literature on cultural differences between collectivist, interdependent versus individualistic, independent self-construals, we hypothesized that the boss effect might be weaker in independent than interdependent cultures. Twenty European American college students were asked to identify orientations of their own face or their supervisors' face. We found that European Americans, unlike Chinese participants, did not show a “boss effect” and maintained the self-face advantage even in the presence of their supervisor's face. Interestingly, however, their self-face advantage decreased as their ratings of their boss's perceived social status increased, suggesting that self-processing in Americans is influenced more by one's social status than by one's hierarchical position as a social superior. In addition, when their boss's face was presented with a labmate's face, American participants responded faster to the boss's face, indicating that the boss may represent general social dominance rather than a direct negative threat to oneself, in more independent cultures. Altogether, these results demonstrate a strong cultural modulation of self-processing in social contexts and suggest that the very concept of social positions, such as a boss, may hold markedly different meanings to the self across Western and East Asian cultures

Online Survival Analysis Software to Assess the Prognostic Value of Biomarkers Using Transcriptomic Data in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

In the last decade, optimized treatment for non-small cell lung cancer had lead to improved prognosis, but the overall survival is still very short. To further understand the molecular basis of the disease we have to identify biomarkers related to survival. Here we present the development of an online tool suitable for the real-time meta-analysis of published lung cancer microarray datasets to identify biomarkers related to survival. We searched the caBIG, GEO and TCGA repositories to identify samples with published gene expression data and survival information. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival plot with hazard ratio and logrank P value are calculated and plotted in R. The complete analysis tool can be accessed online at: www.kmplot.com/lung. All together 1,715 samples of ten independent datasets were integrated into the system. As a demonstration, we used the tool to validate 21 previously published survival associated biomarkers. Of these, survival was best predicted by CDK1 (p<1E-16), CD24 (p<1E-16) and CADM1 (p = 7E-12) in adenocarcinomas and by CCNE1 (p = 2.3E-09) and VEGF (p = 3.3E-10) in all NSCLC patients. Additional genes significantly correlated to survival include RAD51, CDKN2A, OPN, EZH2, ANXA3, ADAM28 and ERCC1. In summary, we established an integrated database and an online tool capable of uni- and multivariate analysis for in silico validation of new biomarker candidates in non-small cell lung cancer