Production of a Transgenic Mosquito Expressing Circumsporozoite Protein, a Malarial Protein, in the Salivary Gland of Anopheles stephensi (Diptera:Culicidae)

We are producing a transgenic mosquito, a flying syringe, to deliver a vaccine protein to human beings via the saliva the mosquito deposits in the skin while biting. The mosquito produces a vaccine protein in the salivary gland (SG) and deposits the protein into the host's skin when it takes the host's blood. We chose circumsporozoite protein (CSP), currently the most promising malaria vaccine candidate, to be expressed in the SG of Anopheles stephensi. To transform the mosquitoes, plasmid containing the CSP gene under the promoter of female SG-specific gene, as well as the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene under the promoter of 3xP3 as a selection marker in the eyes, was injected into more than 400 eggs. As a result, five strains of GFP-expressing mosquitoes were established, and successful CSP expression in the SG was confirmed in one strain. The estimated amount of CSP in the SG of the strain was 40ng per mosquito. We allowed the CSP-expressing mosquitoes to feed on mice to induce the production of anti-CSP antibody. However, the mice did not develop anti-CSP antibody even after transgenic mosquitoes had bitten them several times. We consider that CSP in the SG was not secreted properly into the saliva. Further techniques and trials are required in order to realize vaccine-delivering mosquitoes

Diagnosis and management of intestinal Behçet’s disease

Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic relapsing disease with multiple organ system involvement characterized clinically by oral and genital aphthae, cutaneous lesions, and ophthalmological, neurological, and/or gastrointestinal manifestations. Little clinical evidence is available regarding the management of patients with intestinal BD, despite recognition that the presence of intestinal lesions is a poor prognostic factor, causing perforation and massive bleeding. Many recent case reports have suggested that anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF)α monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are effective in patients with intestinal BD. Adalimumab, a fully human anti-TNFα mAb, has been approved in Japan for the treatment of intestinal BD. Here, we review the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of intestinal BD, including evidence of the efficacy of anti-TNFα mAbs

The First Case of a Class I Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency, G6PD Santiago de Cuba (1339 GA), in a Chinese Population as Found in a Survey for G6PD Deficiency in Northeastern and Central China

In Liaoning Province in northeastern China, we found a G6PD-deficient patient at the age of 3. By the classification of the World Health Organization, this patient was categorized as class I (very severe G6PD deficiency). When we investigated the G6PD gene of the patient, we found that he had a replacement of G to A at nucleotide 1339. As a result, the amino acid at position 447 should change from Gly to Arg. This replacement is known as G6PD Santiago de Cuba, because it was first discovered in a Cuban boy who showed heavy chronic anemia. Today, 28 G6PD variants have been reported in the Chinese population, and all are categorized as class II (severe deficiency) or class III (mild deficiency);in class II or III deficiency, anemia is not present in daily life, but hemolytic attack can occur when the carrier ingests certain oxidative medicines or foods. This is the first report of a G6PD-deficient Chinese patient in the category of class I. We intended to find other G6PD-deficient cases in northeastern China and tested several hundred blood samples, but no cases of G6PD deficiency were found (0/414). In central China, where falciparum malaria was endemic from the 1950s to 1970s, we found two G6PD-deficient cases (2/27) and the other members from their families whose variant type was G6PD Kaiping (1388GT), which is a common variant in the Chinese population.</p