Duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding and factors associated with prolonged viral shedding in patients with COVID-19.

To investigate the factors associated with the duration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA shedding in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A retrospective cohort of COVID-19 patients admitted to a designated hospital in Beijing was analyzed to study the factors affecting the duration of viral shedding. The median duration of viral shedding was 11 days (IQR, 8-14.

Pathological Findings in Myasthenia Gravis Patients with Thymic Hyperplasia and Thymoma.

Thymectomy is routinely carried out in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and thymomas. However, there is still a dispute as to whether MG patients with thymic hyperplasia should undergo thymectomy. We aimed to investigate the pathological findings in the thymus in patients with co-existing MG and thymic hyperplasia or thymomas treated with thymectomy, as well as effects of immunosuppression.

Hippocampal immediate early gene transcription in the rat fluid percussion traumatic brain injury model.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of neurological disability and death in the USA across all age groups, ethnicities, and incomes. In addition to the short-term morbidity and mortality, TBI leads to epilepsy and severe neurocognitive symptoms, both of which are referenced to post-traumatic hippocampal dysfunction, although the mechanisms of such hippocampal dysfunction are incompletely understood. Here, we study the temporal profile of the transcription of three select immediate early gene (IEG) markers of neuronal hyperactivation, plasticity, and injury, c-fos, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and Bax, in the acute period following the epileptogenic lateral fluid percussion injury in a rodent TBI model.

Expression of L protein of Hantaan virus 84FLi strain and its application for recovery of minigenomes.

Hantaan virus (HTNV) is an Old World hantavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). To visualize the localization of the L protein of HTNV strain 84FLi within cells, a fusion protein composed of enhanced green fluorescent protein and L protein, EGFP-L, was expressed in Vero cells. The 273 KDa expressed fusion protein of EGFP-L localized in the perinuclear region.

[Identification of a functional ITAM-like sequence within G1 cytoplasmic tail of Hantaan virus].

The G1 cytoplasmic tail of Hantaan virus (HTNV) harbors a highly conserved region, which is homologous to immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAM) and is termed the ITAM-like sequence. To demonstrate the potential signal-transducing activity of G1 ITAM-like sequence resembling the canonical ITAM within immune and endothelial cells, a series of experiments were performed to define its interaction with cellular kinases. The synthesized G1 ITAM-like peptide was shown to coprecipitate with cellular phosphoprotein complexes by an immune-complex kinase assay.

Aberrant activation of CDK5 is involved in the pathogenesis of OPIDN.

Exposure to triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP) may result in a late neurological complication, i.e. organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN).

Expression of dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3 grabbing nonintegrin on dendritic cells generated from human peripheral blood monocytes.

Aim: To generate dendritic cells (DCs) from human peripheral blood and to detect the expression of dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN; CD209) for the further study of DC-SIGN in hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission.

Methods: Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from blood of healthy individuals by Ficoll-Hypaque sedimentation and cultured in complete medium containing rhGM-CSF and rhIL-4. Cells were cultured for seven days, with cytokine addition every two days to obtain immature DCs.

Cellular entry of Hantaan virus A9 strain: specific interactions with beta3 integrins and a novel 70kDa protein.

Cellular entry of pathogenic hantaviruses had been shown to be mediated by beta3 integrins. However, no direct evidence exists that hantavirus binds to beta3 integrins, and integrin beta3 subunit is not expressed on some cells permissive to hantavirus infection. In this report, utilizing beta3-integrin-transfected CHO cells, we demonstrated that integrin beta3 subunit renders CHO cells susceptible to Chinese Hantaan virus (HTN) strain A9 (isolated in China), and the viral infection was correspondingly inhibited by antibodies to alphavbeta3, alphaIIbbeta3, beta3, and alphav integrins.

[Exosome: Trojan horse in immunotherapy].

Exosomes are small membrane-bound vesicles that are secreted by a multitude of eukaryocytes as a consequence of fusion of multivesicular bodies with the plasma membrane. Exosomes can play critical roles in different physiological processes depending on their origins. Exosomes secreted from professional antigen-presenting cells are enriched in MHC class I and II complexes, costimulatory molecules, hsp 70 and hsp 90 chaperones, therefore exosomes, like Trojan horse, are of importance of immunoregulation in vivo and in vitro.

[The relationship between cellular infection by Hantaan virus and expression of beta3 integrin].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between cellular entry of Hantaan virus (HTNV) and expression of beta3 integrin in beta3-integrin-deficient and HTNV-insusceptible China hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

Methods: Eukaryotic expression vector encoding human integrin beta3 and eukaryotic expression vector harboring human integrin alphav or alphaIIb subunit cDNA were transfected into HTNV non-permissive CHO cells individually or collectively. Screening for stable transfectant clones was performed using G418 selective (culture medium.

[Construction of human integrin beta3 subunit eukaryotic expression vector and efficient surface expression of integrin alphaIIbbeta3].

Aim: To establish efficient surface expression of Homo sapiens integrin alphaIIbbeta3 in beta3-integrin-deficient and HV-insusceptible CHO cells, so as to lay the foundation for the further study of cellular entry of hantavirus mediated by beta3 integrins.

Methods: Eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1-beta3 harboring ORF region of human integrin beta3 subunit cDNA was constructed, then pcDNA3.

[Spinal cord neuronal apoptosis induced by triorthocresyl phosphate poisoning in hens].

Objective: To investigate the role of neuronal apoptosis in organophosphorus poisoning-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) and its dynamic pathological changes.

Methods: To establish OPIDN animal model, triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP)was given to hens with a single dose (1 000 mg/kg, im). Changes of neuropathology, number of neurons and apoptotic cells in the third lumbar spinal cord were observed by HE, Nissl and TUNEL methods 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 18 days after injection.