Prediction of HBF-0259 interactions with hepatitis B Virus receptors and surface antigen secretory factors

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an etiological agent of viral hepatitis, which may lead to cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current treatment strategies have not shown promising effect to date but various complications such as, drug toxicity-resistance have been reported. Study on newly discovered compounds, with minimal side effects, as specific HBV inhibitors is a fundamental subject introducing new biologic drugs. Here, we aimed to, by prediction, estimate interactions of HBF-0259 as a non-toxic anti-HBV compound on inhibiting the HBV through either interaction with the viral entry or HBsAg secreting factors using In Silico procedure. Molecular docking was performed by Hex 8.0.0 software to predict the interaction energy (Etot) between HBF-0259 and known cellular factors involved in HBV entry and HBsAg secreting factors. Hex 8.0.0 also employed to create protein–protein complexes. These interactions were then used to analyze the binding site of HBF-0259 within the assumed receptors by MGLTools software. Finally, the amino acid sequences involved in this interaction were aligned for any conservancy. Here, we showed that HBF-0259 Etot with CypA (–545.41 kcal/mol) and SCCA1 (499.68 kcal/mol), involved in HBsAg secretion and HBV integration, respectively, was higher than other interactions. Furthermore, HBF-0259 predicted interaction energy was even higher than those of CypA inhibitors. In addition, we claim that preS1 and/or preS2 regions within HBsAg are not suitable targets for HBF-0259. HBF-0259 has higher interaction energy with CypA and SCCA1, even more than other known receptors, co-receptors, viral ligands, and secretory factors. HBF-0259 could be introduced as potent anti-viral compound in which CypA and or SCCA1, as previously shown, are involved. © 2016 Indian Virological Societ

Allelic forms of merozoite surface protein-3 in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from southeast of Iran

Background: Genetic diversity has provided Plasmodium falciparum with the potential capacity of avoiding the immune response, and possibly supported the natural selection of drug or vaccine-resistant parasites. Merozoite surface protein-3 (MSP-3) has been used to develop vaccines and investigate the genetic diversity regarding P. falciparum malaria in Iran. Objectives: The main goal of this study was to analyze the polymorphic antigen MSP-3 genes across southeast of Iran among four different districts, to identify the differences in the allele frequency and genetic diversity. Materials and Methods: Nested polymerase chain reaction amplification was used to determine polymorphisms of N-terminal region of the MSP-3 gene. A total of 85 microscopically positive P. falciparum infected individuals from southeast of Iran were included in this study. Results: Of the 85 confirmed P. falciparum samples obtained from four different districts, 72 were successfully scored for MSP-3.The MSP-3 allele classes (K1 and 3D7 types) showed comparable prevalence in all districts. Overall frequencies of K1 and 3D7 allele classes were 94.5 % for both. Conclusions: Since no study has yet looked at the extent of P. falciparum MSP-3 in this geographic region, these data can be helpful to support development of a vaccine based on MSP-3 against malaria. There should be a comparative analysis in different seasonal peaks to indicate the allelic polymorphism of MSP-3 over a period. © 2014, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences; Published by Kowsar Corp

Epidemiology and the agreement rate of serological tests in human brucellosis in North East of Iran

Background: Brucellosis still remains a major health problem with different symptoms and various diagnostic methods. Diagnostic methods of brucellosis are usually based on detecting specific antibodies in the patient’s serum. Nowadays, many serological tests are applied for the diagnosis of human brucellosis. Most routine tests are serum agglutination tests based on Wright and 2-Mercaptoethanol (2-ME). Objectives: The aim of this study (cross sectional study) was to evaluate the prevalence of brucellosis and assess the degree of agreement among serum samples of suspected brucellosis serological tests routinely performed in Mashhad, Iran. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in Mashhad from August 2011 to September 2012. Sera (2 - 3 mL) were collected from 83 cases suspected of brucellosis among 594 patients. Ten serum samples were collected from healthy subjects as control sera. Rose Bengal test for initial screening and Wright and 2 ME as standard tests were conducted to determine antibody titers. Thereafter, IgG and IgM levels were determined by the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. Results: Among 83 serum samples, Rose Bengal test was able to identify 20 (12%) positive specimens; the standard tube agglutination test was able to detect 30 (18%) positive samples, and the ELISA IgG and ELISA IgM were able to trace 42 (21%) and 13 (6.5%) positive samples, respectively. Ten control samples had negative results for the ELISA method. The results were calculated by the Kappa formula. The highest level of agreement was among 1 = KRB-SAT tests and the lowest level of agreement was among tests K ELISA IgM-IgG = 0.30. Conclusions: According to the results, brucellosis has remained endemic in this region. Most cases were detected by ELISA IgG. The highest kappa agreements were between tests KRB-SAT, KRB-IgG and KSAT-IgG, while the lowest levels of agreement were between tests SAT-IgM and ELISA IgM-IgG. Considering that ELISA IgM results are covered by SAT and ELISA IgG test results, applications of this test do not seem necessary. © 2015, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center

A Sawtooth Permanent Magnetic Lattice for Ultracold Atoms and BECs

We propose a new permanent magnetic lattice for creating periodic arrays of Ioffe-Pritchard permanent magnetic microtraps for holding and controlling ultracold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Lattice can be designed on thin layer of magnetic films such as $Tb_6$$Gd_10$$Fe_{80}$$Co_4$. In details, we investigate single layer and two crossed layers of sawtooth magnetic patterns with thicknesses of 50 and 500nm respectively with a periodicity of 1$\mu$m. Trap depth and frequencies can be changed via an applied bias field to handle tunneling rates between lattice sites. We present analytical expressions and using numerical calculations show that this lattice has non-zero potential minima to avoid majorana spin flips. One advantage of this lattice over previous ones is that it is easier to manufacture.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

The effect of spin-orbit interaction on entanglement of two-qubit Heisenberg XYZ systems in an inhomogeneous magnetic field

The role of spin-orbit interaction on the ground state and thermal entanglement of a Heisenberg XYZ two-qubit system in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field is investigated. For a certain value of spin-orbit parameter $D$, the ground state entanglement tends to vanish suddenly and when $D$ crosses its critical value $D_c$, the entanglement undergoes a revival. The maximum value of the entanglement occurs in the revival region. In finite temperatures there are revival regions in $D-T$ plane. In these regions, entanglement first increases with increasing temperature and then decreases and ultimately vanishes for temperatures above a critical value. This critical temperature is an increasing function of $D$, thus the nonzero entanglement can exist for larger temperatures. In addition, the amount of entanglement in the revival region depends on the spin-orbit parameter. Also, the entanglement teleportation via the quantum channel constructed by the above system is investigated and finally the influence of the spin-orbit interaction on the fidelity of teleportation and entanglement of replica state is studied.Comment: Two columns, 9 pages, 8 Fig

Dual band, Miniaturized Permittivity Measurement Sensor with Negative-Order SIW Resonator

A novel dual band, highly sensitive Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) sensor for permittivity measurements is presented. A pair of modified Complementary Split Ring Resonators (CSRRs) is etched on SIW surface. CSRRs are located in the center of SIW, where the electric field distribution is high so that the coupling be maximized. The coupling between the SIW and the CSRRs as well as the adjacent CSRRs results in two notches in transmission coefficient. These notches vary with the dielectric loading on the sensor. The ratio of a notch variation to the load permittivity variation determines the sensitivity of proposed sensor. Two sensitivities proportional to two notches are provided. Normalized sensitivities from both notches show identical values. Therefore, any environmental effect have the same variation on the TZs. This demonstrates the potential of the proposed sensor for differential operation that can mitigate the effect of environmental condition. The size of the proposed sensor is small as the inductive and the capacitive effects of CSRRs forced the SIW to operate below the cut off frequency at negative-order-resonance mode. All design steps including SIW design, CSRRs design and modified CSRRs effects are presented in details. The sensor operation principle is described through an equivalent circuit model as well as simulation results. The experimental results indicates that the normalized sensitivity is 3.4% which is much higher than similar sensors. The prototype sensor size (27.8 x 18.4 x 0.508 mm(3)) is smaller than those reported in the literature