Engineering HIV-1-resistant T-cells from short-hairpin RNA-expressing hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in humanized BLT mice.

Down-regulation of the HIV-1 coreceptor CCR5 holds significant potential for long-term protection against HIV-1 in patients. Using the humanized bone marrow/liver/thymus (hu-BLT) mouse model which allows investigation of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) transplant and immune system reconstitution as well as HIV-1 infection, we previously demonstrated stable inhibition of CCR5 expression in systemic lymphoid tissues via transplantation of HSPCs genetically modified by lentiviral vector transduction to express short hairpin RNA (shRNA). However, CCR5 down-regulation will not be effective against existing CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 and emergence of resistant viral strains.

[Research on the parameter drift problem of near infrared spectra based corn variety discrimination technology].

Aiming to differentiate 13 varieties of corn, present paper proposes an effective approach to solving the parameter drift problem of spectrum instruments. Remarkable drift has been found among the inter-day data when using the identical spectrum instrument to acquire sample data at different times, modeling with the intra-day data, and testing with the rest. The correct recognition rate is reduced to only 7.

Nipah virus envelope-pseudotyped lentiviruses efficiently target ephrinB2-positive stem cell populations in vitro and bypass the liver sink when administered in vivo.

Sophisticated retargeting systems for lentiviral vectors have been developed in recent years. Most seek to suppress the viral envelope's natural tropism while modifying the receptor-binding domain such that its tropism is determined by the specificity of the engineered ligand-binding motif. Here we took advantage of the natural tropism of Nipah virus (NiV), whose attachment envelope glycoprotein has picomolar affinity for ephrinB2, a molecule proposed as a molecular marker of "stemness" (present on embryonic, hematopoietic, and neural stem cells) as well as being implicated in tumorigenesis of specific cancers.

Development of a Coxsackievirus A16 neutralization assay based on pseudoviruses for measurement of neutralizing antibody titer in human serum.

Serum neutralizing antibody titers are indicative of protective immunity against Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71), the two main etiological agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), and provide the basis for evaluating vaccine efficacy. The current CV-A16 neutralization assay based on inhibition of cytopathic effects requires manual microscopic examination, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, a high-throughput neutralization assay was developed by employing CV-A16 pseudoviruses expressing luciferase for detecting infectivity in rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells and measuring serum viral neutralizing antibodies.

Inhibitory effect of HIV-specific neutralizing IgA on mucosal transmission of HIV in humanized mice.

HIV-1 infections are generally initiated at mucosal sites. Thus, IgA antibody, which plays pivotal roles in mucosal immunity, might efficiently prevent HIV infection. However, mounting a highly effective HIV-specific mucosal IgA response by conventional immunization has been challenging and the potency of HIV-specific IgA against infection needs to be addressed in vivo.

Replication kinetics of coxsackievirus A16 in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16), together with enterovirus type 71 (EV71), is responsible for most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) worldwide. Recent findings suggest that the recombination between CVA16 and EV71, and the co-circulation of these two viruses may have contributed to the increase of HFMD cases in China over the past few years. It is therefore important to further understand the virology, epidemiology, virus-host interactions and host pathogenesis of CVA16.

[The utility research on NIR diffuse reflectance and transmittance measurements mode in authenticity identification of maize population samples].

In the present paper, the spectral measurements of maize population samples were researched so as to identify their authenticity. Diffuse reflectance and transmittance measure modes were used to collect spectral data of 8 maize varieties. DPLS-DA was used to compress pretreated data.

A novel HIV-1 reporter virus with a membrane-bound Gaussia princeps luciferase.

HIV-1 reporter viruses are a critical tool for investigating HIV-1 infection. By having a reporter gene incorporated into the HIV-1 genome, the expressed reporter protein acts as a specific tag, thus enabling specific detection of HIV-1 infected cells. Currently existing HIV-1 reporter viruses utilize reporters for the detection of HIV-1 infected cells by a single assay.

Vpu augments the initial burst phase of HIV-1 propagation and downregulates BST2 and CD4 in humanized mice.

While human cells express potent antiviral proteins as part of the host defense repertoire, viruses have evolved their own arsenal of proteins to antagonize them. BST2 was identified as an inhibitory cellular protein of HIV-1 replication, which tethers virions to the cell surface to prevent their release. On the other hand, the HIV-1 accessory protein, Vpu, has the ability to downregulate and counteract BST2.

Transcriptome profiling of low temperature-treated cassava apical shoots showed dynamic responses of tropical plant to cold stress.

Background: Cassava is an important tropical root crop adapted to a wide range of environmental stimuli such as drought and acid soils. Nevertheless, it is an extremely cold-sensitive tropical species. Thus far, there is limited information about gene regulation and signalling pathways related to the cold stress response in cassava.

N-{2-[4-(2-Hy-droxy-eth-yl)piperazin-1-yl]eth-yl}phthalimide.

In the title compound, C(16)H(21)N(3)O(3), the piperazine ring adopts a chair conformation, with its N-C bonds in pseudo-equatorial orientations. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, generating C(5) chains propagating in [101]. Weak aromatic π-π stacking inter-actions also occur [centroid-centroid separation = 3.

2-(2-Bromo-eth-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(10)H(8)BrNO(2), contains three crystallographically independent mol-ecules. Two of the N-C-C-Br side chains adopt anti conformations [torsion angles = -179.8 (5) and -179.

HIV latency in the humanized BLT mouse.

Even after extended treatment with powerful antiretroviral drugs, HIV is not completely eliminated from infected individuals. Latently infected CD4(+) T cells constitute one reservoir of replication-competent HIV that needs to be eliminated to completely purge virus from antiretroviral drug-treated patients. However, a major limitation in the development of therapies to eliminate this latent reservoir is the lack of relevant in vivo models that can be used to test purging strategies.

Effects of pH and ORP on microbial ecology and kinetics for hydrogen production in continuously dark fermentation.

The microbial structure and kinetic characteristics of the hydrogen producing strains in two fermentative continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs) were studied by controlling pH and oxidation and reduction potential (ORP). The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) tests were conducted to investigate the fermentative performance of Clostridium histolyticum (C. histolyticum), Clostridium lituseburense (C.

Expression profiling of cassava storage roots reveals an active process of glycolysis/gluconeogenesis.

Mechanisms related to the development of cassava storage roots and starch accumulation remain largely unknown. To evaluate genome-wide expression patterns during tuberization, a 60 mer oligonucleotide microarray representing 20 840 cassava genes was designed to identify differentially expressed transcripts in fibrous roots, developing storage roots and mature storage roots. Using a random variance model and the traditional twofold change method for statistical analysis, 912 and 3 386 upregulated and downregulated genes related to the three developmental phases were identified.

[A new discrimination method of maize seed varieties based on near-infrared spectroscopy].

A new discrimination method for the maize seed varieties based on the near-infrared spectroscopy was proposed. The reflectance spectra of maize seeds were obtained by a FT-NIR spectrometer (12000-4000 cm(-1)). The original spectra data were preprocessed by first derivative method.

High-throughput, sensitive quantification of repopulating hematopoietic stem cell clones.

Retroviral vector-mediated gene therapy has been successfully used to correct genetic diseases. However, a number of studies have shown a subsequent risk of cancer development or aberrant clonal growths due to vector insertion near or within proto-oncogenes. Recent advances in the sequencing technology enable high-throughput clonality analysis via vector integration site (VIS) sequencing, which is particularly useful for studying complex polyclonal hematopoietic progenitor/stem cell (HPSC) repopulation.

[Fast discrimination of commerical corn varieties based on near infrared spectra].

The existing methods for the discrimination of varieties of commodity corn seed are unable to process batch data and speed up identification, and very time consuming and costly. The present paper developed a new approach to the fast discrimination of varieties of commodity corn by means of near infrared spectral data. Firstly, the experiment obtained spectral data of 37 varieties of commodity corn seed with the Fourier transform near infrared spectrometer in the wavenumber range from 4 000 to 12 000 cm(-1).

[Fast discrimination of varieties of transgene wheat based on biomimetic pattern recognition and near infrared spectra].

A new method for the fast discrimination of varieties of transgene wheat by means of near infrared spectroscopy and biomimetic pattern recognition (BPR) was proposed and the recognition models of seven varieties of transgene wheat and two varieties of acceptor wheat were built. The experiment adopted 225 samples, which were acquired from nine varieties of wheat. Firstly, a field spectroradiometer was used for collecting spectra in the wave number range from 4 000 to 12 000 cm(-1).

Inhibition of HIV-1 infection by a unique short hairpin RNA to chemokine receptor 5 delivered into macrophages through hematopoietic progenitor cell transduction.

Background: We recently expressed a potent and noncytotoxic short hairpin (sh)RNA directed against chemokine (c-c motif) receptor 5 (CCR5) using lentiviral mediated transduction of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and demonstrated the stable reduction of CCR5 expression in T-lymphocytes.

Methods: In the present study, we further assessed the activity of the shRNA through HPC transduction and differentiation into macrophages derived from fetal liver CD34+ (FL-CD34+) HPCs. Transduced lentiviral vector encoding the human CCR5 shRNA was stably maintained in FL-CD34+ cells and in the terminally differentiated macrophages using macrophage colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-3 and stem cell factor.

A highly efficient short hairpin RNA potently down-regulates CCR5 expression in systemic lymphoid organs in the hu-BLT mouse model.

Inhibiting the expression of the HIV-1 coreceptor CCR5 holds great promise for controlling HIV-1 infection in patients. Here we report stable knockdown of human CCR5 by a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in a humanized bone marrow/liver/thymus (BLT) mouse model. We delivered a potent shRNA against CCR5 into human fetal liver-derived CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor/stem cells (HPSCs) by lentiviral vector transduction.

[Fast discrimination of varieties of corn based on near infrared spectra and biomimetic pattern recognition].

A new method for fast discrimination of varieties of corn by means of near infrared spectroscopy and biomimetic pattern recognition (BPR) was proposed and the recognition models for seven kinds of corn were built. The experiment adopted 140 samples acquired from seven varieties of corn. Firstly, a field spectroradiometer was used for collecting spectra in the wave number range of 4000 to 12,000 cm(-1).