Arabidopsis mutants produced by constitutive overexpression of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system are usually mosaics in the T1 generation. In this study, we used egg cell-specific promoters to ...drive the expression of Cas9 and obtained non-mosaic T1 mutants for multiple target genes with high efficiency. Comparisons of 12 combinations of eight promoters and two terminators found that the efficiency of the egg cell-specific promoter-controlled CRISPR/Cas9 system depended on the presence of a suitable terminator, and the composite promoter generated by fusing two egg cell-specific promoters resulted in much higher efficiency of mutation in the T1 generation compared with the single promoters.
Critical patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), even those whose nucleic acid test results had turned negative and those receiving maximal medical support, have been noted to progress ...to irreversible fatal respiratory failure. Lung transplantation (LT) as the sole therapy for end-stage pulmonary fibrosis related to acute respiratory distress syndrome has been considered as the ultimate rescue therapy for these patients.
From February 10 to March 10, 2020, three male patients were urgently assessed and listed for transplantation. After conducting a full ethical review and after obtaining assent from the family of the patients, we performed three LT procedures for COVID-19 patients with illness durations of more than one month and extremely high sequential organ failure assessment scores.
Two of the three recipients survived post-LT and started participating in a rehabilitation program. Pearls of the LT team collaboration and perioperative logistics were summarized and continually improved. The pathological results of the explanted lungs were concordant with the critical clinical manifestation, and provided insight towards better understanding of the disease. Government health affair systems, virology detection tools, and modern communication technology all play key roles towards the survival of the patients and their rehabilitation.
LT can be performed in end-stage patients with respiratory failure due to COVID-19-related pulmonary fibrosis. If confirmed positive-turned-negative virology status without organ dysfunction that could contraindicate LT, LT provided the final option for these patients to avoid certain death, with proper protection of transplant surgeons and medical staffs. By ensuring instant seamless care for both patients and medical teams, the goal of reducing the mortality rate and salvaging the lives of patients with COVID-19 can be attained.
Background/Aims: Programmed death ligand1(PD-L1) plays a role in the development and progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to identify miRNA(s) that are responsible for ...regulation of expression of PD-L1 in NSCLC, and to investigate the role of PD-L1 in regulation of the cell cycle in NSCLC. Methods: We predicted the target miRNA of PD-L1, which was miR-140, using the online tools TargetScan and miBase. In NSCLC cells obtained from clinical specimens, in addition to A549 and NCI-H1650 cell cultures, western blots were used to detect the level of expression of proteins, while real-time PCR was used to determine the level of expression of PD-L1, miR-140, cyclin E, and β-actin. Transfection with miR-140 mimics, miR-140 inhibitors, and PD-L1 siRNA were conducted using commercial kits. To determine whether miR-140 directly binds PD-L1, a luciferase reporter gene with wild type or mutated PD-L1 was used. Cell viability was measured with the MTT assay, and PI staining was used for cell cycle analysis. Results: We found low expression of miR-140 and high expression of PD-L1 and cyclin E in NSCLC cells. Over-expression of miR-140 suppressed the expression of PD-L1 by directly binding its 3’ UTR, and was also associated with decreased expression of cyclin E and inhibition of cellular proliferation in A549 and NCI-H1650 cells. Inhibition of PD-L1, in the absence of manipulations to miR-140, also decreased the expression of cyclin E. Conclusion: We conclude that miR-140 directly suppresses PD-L1 and inhibits the miR-140/PD-L1/cyclin E pathway in NSCLC.
Tea plants Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze are an important leaf-type crop that are widely used for the production of non-alcoholic beverages in the world. Exposure to excessive amounts of heavy ...metals adversely affects the quality and yield of tea leaves. To analyze the molecular responses of tea plants to heavy metals, a reliable quantification of gene expression is important and of major importance herein is the normalization of the measured expression levels for the target genes. Ideally, stably expressed reference genes should be evaluated in all experimental systems. In this study, 12 candidate reference genes (i.e., 18S rRNA, Actin, CYP, EF-1α, eIF-4α, GAPDH, MON1, PP2AA3, TBP, TIP41, TUA, and UBC) were cloned from tea plants, and the stability of their expression was examined systematically in 60 samples exposed to diverse heavy metals (i.e., manganese, aluminum, copper, iron, and zinc). Three Excel-based algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper) were used to evaluate the expression stability of these genes. PP2AA3 and 18S rRNA were the most stably expressed genes, even though their expression profiles exhibited some variability. Moreover, commonly used reference genes (i.e., GAPDH and TBP) were the least appropriate reference genes for most samples. To further validate the suitability of the analyzed reference genes, the expression level of a phytochelatin synthase gene (i.e., CsPCS1) was determined using the putative reference genes for data normalizations. Our results may be beneficial for future studies involving the quantification of relative gene expression levels in tea plants.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Human infections with zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, have raised great public health concern ...globally. Here, we report a novel bat-origin CoV causing severe and fatal pneumonia in humans.
We collected clinical data and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens from five patients with severe pneumonia from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Hubei province, China. Nucleic acids of the BAL were extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Virus isolation was carried out, and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed.
Five patients hospitalized from December 18 to December 29, 2019 presented with fever, cough, and dyspnea accompanied by complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Chest radiography revealed diffuse opacities and consolidation. One of these patients died. Sequence results revealed the presence of a previously unknown β-CoV strain in all five patients, with 99.8% to 99.9% nucleotide identities among the isolates. These isolates showed 79.0% nucleotide identity with the sequence of SARS-CoV (GenBank NC_004718) and 51.8% identity with the sequence of MERS-CoV (GenBank NC_019843). The virus is phylogenetically closest to a bat SARS-like CoV (SL-ZC45, GenBank MG772933) with 87.6% to 87.7% nucleotide identity, but is in a separate clade. Moreover, these viruses have a single intact open reading frame gene 8, as a further indicator of bat-origin CoVs. However, the amino acid sequence of the tentative receptor-binding domain resembles that of SARS-CoV, indicating that these viruses might use the same receptor.
A novel bat-borne CoV was identified that is associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in humans.
The transition form factors for doubly heavy baryons into a spin-1/2 or spin-3/2 ground-state baryon induced by both the charged current and the flavor changing neutral current are systematically ...studied within the light-front quark model. In the transition the two spectator quarks have two spin configurations and both are considered in this calculation. We use an updated vertex functions, and inspired by the flavor SU(3) symmetry, we also provide a new approach to derive the flavor-spin factors. With the obtained transition form factors, we perform a phenomenological study of the corresponding semi-leptonic decays of doubly heavy baryons induced by the
c
→
d
/
s
ℓ
+
ν
,
b
→
c
/
u
ℓ
-
ν
¯
and
b
→
d
/
s
ℓ
+
ℓ
-
. Results for partial decay widths, branching ratios and the polarization ratios
Γ
L
/
Γ
T
s are given. We find that most branching ratios for the semi-leptonic decays induced by the
c
→
d
,
s
transitions are at the order of
10
-
3
∼
10
-
2
, which might be useful for the search of other doubly-heavy baryons. Uncertainties in form factors, the flavor SU(3) symmetry and sources of symmetry breaking effects are discussed. We find that the SU(3) symmetry breaking effects could be sizable in charmed baryon decays while in the bottomed case, the SU(3) symmetry breaking effects are less significant. Our results can be examined at the experimental facilities in the future.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This Escherichia coli-produced bivalent HPV 16 and 18 vaccine was well tolerated and effective against HPV 16 and 18 associated high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection in interim analysis ...of this phase 3 trial. We now report data on long-term efficacy and safety after 66 months of follow-up.
This phase 3, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial was done in five study sites in China. Eligible participants were women aged 18–45 years, with intact cervix and 1–4 lifetime sexual partners. Women who were pregnant or breastfeeding, had chronic disease or immunodeficiency, or had HPV vaccination history were excluded. Women were stratified by age (18–26 and 27–45 years) and randomly (1:1) allocated by software (block randomisation with 12 codes to a block) to receive three doses of the E coli-produced HPV 16 and 18 vaccine or hepatitis E vaccine (control) and followed-up for 66 months. The primary outcomes were high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection (longer than 6 months) associated with HPV 16 or 18 in the per-protocol susceptible population. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01735006.
Between Nov 22, 2012, and April 1, 2013, 8827 women were assessed for eligibility. 1455 women were excluded, and 7372 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive the HPV vaccine (n=3689) or control (n=3683). Vaccine efficacy was 100·0% (95% CI 67·2–100·0) against high-grade genital lesions (0 0% of 3310 participants in the vaccine group and 13 0·4% of 3302 participants in the control group) and 97·3% (89·9–99·7) against persistent infection (2 0·1% of 3262 participants in the vaccine group and 73 2·2% of 3271 participants in the control group) in the per-protocol population. Serious adverse events occurred at a similar rate between vaccine (267 7·2% of 3691 participants) and control groups (290 7·9% of 3681); none were considered related to vaccination.
The E coli-produced HPV 16 and 18 vaccine was well tolerated and highly efficacious against HPV 16 and 18 associated high-grade genital lesions and persistent infection and would supplement the global HPV vaccine availability and accessibility for cervical cancer prevention.
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China, Fujian Provincial Project, Fundamental Funds for the Central Universities, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences, and Xiamen Innovax.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
A compact dual band-notched ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with high isolation is designed on a FR4 substrate (27 × 30 × 0.8 mm 3 ). To improve the input impedance ...matching and increase the isolation for the frequencies ≥ 4.0 GHz, the two antenna elements with compact size of 5.5 × 11 mm 2 are connected to the two protruded ground parts, respectively. A 1/3 λ rectangular metal strip producing a 1.0 λ loop path with the corresponding antenna element is used to obtain the notched frequency from 5.15 to 5.85 GHz. For the rejected band of 3.30-3.70 GHz, a 1/4 λ open slot is etched into the radiator. Moreover, the two protruded ground parts are connected by a compact metal strip to reduce the mutual coupling for the band of 3.0-4.0 GHz. The simulated and measured results show a bandwidth with |S 11 | ≤ -10 dB, |S 21 | ≤ -20 dB and frequency ranged from 3.0 to 11.0 GHz excluding the two rejected bands, is achieved, and all the measured and calculated results show the proposed UWB MIMO antenna is a good candidate for UWB MIMO systems.
To accelerate the application of the CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/ CRISPR-associated protein 9) system to a variety of plant species, a toolkit with ...additional plant selectable markers, more gRNA modules, and easier methods for the assembly of one or more gRNA expression cassettes is required.
We developed a CRISPR/Cas9 binary vector set based on the pGreen or pCAMBIA backbone, as well as a gRNA (guide RNA) module vector set, as a toolkit for multiplex genome editing in plants. This toolkit requires no restriction enzymes besides BsaI to generate final constructs harboring maize-codon optimized Cas9 and one or more gRNAs with high efficiency in as little as one cloning step. The toolkit was validated using maize protoplasts, transgenic maize lines, and transgenic Arabidopsis lines and was shown to exhibit high efficiency and specificity. More importantly, using this toolkit, targeted mutations of three Arabidopsis genes were detected in transgenic seedlings of the T1 generation. Moreover, the multiple-gene mutations could be inherited by the next generation.
We developed a toolkit that facilitates transient or stable expression of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in a variety of plant species, which will facilitate plant research, as it enables high efficiency generation of mutants bearing multiple gene mutations.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Statins play an important role in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Increasing attention has been given to the relationship between statins and insulin resistance, but many randomized controlled ...trials confirm that the therapeutic effects of statins on diabetic nephropathy are more beneficial than harmful. However, further confirmation of whether the beneficial effects of chronic statin administration on diabetic nephropathy outweigh the detrimental effects is urgently needed. Here, we find that long-term statin administration may increase insulin resistance, interfere with lipid metabolism, leads to inflammation and fibrosis, and ultimately fuel diabetic nephropathy progression in diabetic mice. Mechanistically, activation of insulin-regulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway leads to increased fatty acid synthesis. Furthermore, statins administration increases lipid uptake and inhibits fatty acid oxidation, leading to lipid deposition. Here we show that long-term statins administration exacerbates diabetic nephropathy via ectopic fat deposition in diabetic mice.
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