Dissecting climate change risk and financial market instability: Implications for ecological risk management.

This research investigates the impact of climate challenges on financial markets by introducing an innovative approach to measure climate risk, specifically the aggregate climate change concern (ACCC) index. The study aims to assess and quantify the potential influence of climate change and risk-related factors on the performance and dynamics of financial markets. In this paper, concern is defined as the attention paid to the risk of climate change and the associated negative consequences.

Combined Therapies of Modified Taiyi Miraculous Moxa Roll and Cupping for Patients with Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Herniation.

Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is a kind of syndrome caused by stimulation or pressure of nerve root and cauda equina due to intervertebral disc disorder, fibrous ring rupture, and pulpiform nucleus protrusion. Application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) including acupuncture therapy and cupping therapy is unique and effective treatment for lumbar intervertebral disc herniation in China. Hence, we try to investigate the combined clinical efficacy of modified Taiyi miraculous moxa roll and cupping therapy on patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.

The Antitumor Effects of Vaccine-Activated CD8 T Cells Associate with Weak TCR Signaling and Induction of Stem-Like Memory T Cells.

To understand why vaccine-activated tumor-specific T cells often fail to generate antitumor effects, we studied two α-fetoprotein-specific CD8 T cells (Tet and Tet) that had different antitumor effects. We found that Tet required high antigen doses for reactivation, but could survive persistent antigen stimulation and maintain their effector functions. In contrast, Tet had a low threshold of reactivation, but underwent exhaustion and apoptosis in the presence of persistent antigen.

A comprehensive proteogenomic study of the human Brucella vaccine strain 104 M.

Background: Brucella spp. are Gram-negative, facultative intracellular pathogens that cause brucellosis in both humans and animals. The B.

Recombinant HSA-CMG2 Is a Promising Anthrax Toxin Inhibitor.

Anthrax toxin is the major virulence factor produced by Bacillus anthracis. Protective antigen (PA) is the key component of the toxin and has been confirmed as the main target for the development of toxin inhibitors. The inhibition of the binding of PA to its receptor, capillary morphogenesis protein-2 (CMG2), can effectively block anthrax intoxication.

Targeting the WASF3-CYFIP1 Complex Using Stapled Peptides Suppresses Cancer Cell Invasion.

Activation of the WASF3 protein by extracellular stimuli promotes actin cytoskeleton reorganization and facilitates cancer cell invasion, whereas WASF3 depletion suppresses invasion and metastasis. In quiescent cells, the interaction between WASF3 and a complex of proteins, including CYFIP1, acts as a conformational restraint to prevent WASF3 activation. Therefore, we took advantage of this endogenous regulatory mechanism to investigate potential sites that disrupt WASF3 function.

[ESX-1 secreted protein ESAT-6 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enhances the phagocytosis of RAW264.7 macrophages].

Objective: To investigate the effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-1 protein early secreted antigenic target of 6 kDa (ESAT-6) in modulating phagocytosis of RAW264.7 cells.

Methods: RAW264.

Deletion modification enhances anthrax specific immunity and protective efficacy of a hepatitis B core particle-based anthrax epitope vaccine.

Protective antigen (PA) is one of the major virulence factors of anthrax and is also the major constituent of the current anthrax vaccine. Previously, we found that the 2β2-2β3 loop of PA contains a dominant neutralizing epitope, the SFFD. We successfully inserted the 2β2-2β3 loop of PA into the major immunodominant region (MIR) of hepatitis B virus core (HBc) protein.

Human IgG subclasses against enterovirus Type 71: neutralization versus antibody dependent enhancement of infection.

The emerging human enterovirus 71 (EV71) represents a growing threat to public health, and no vaccine or specific antiviral is currently available. Human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is clinical used in treating severe EV71 infections. However, the discovery of antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) of EV71 infection illustrates the complex roles of antibody in controlling EV71 infection.

Intracellular delivery of artificial transcription factors fused to the protein transduction domain of HIV-1 Tat.

Protein transduction domains (PTDs), such as the TAT peptide derived from HIV Tat protein, may transduce macromolecules into cells. In the present study, the TAT peptide-fused artificial transcription factors (ATFs) were generated by fusion of the N-terminal TAT peptide with SV40 promoter-targeted three-fingered C2H2 zinc finger proteins and the KRAB transcriptional repression domain. The fusion proteins were then expressed in an E .

Secretory expression and efficient purification of recombinant anthrax toxin lethal factor with full biological activity in E. coli.

Lethal factor (LF), a virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis, plays key roles in anthrax pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions. The detailed mechanisms by which LF contributes to infection are still under investigation. While these studies require pure, homogeneous and reliable LF preparations, most methods reported for production of recombinant LF (rLF) in B.

[Establishment of RAW264.7 cell line stably expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein ESAT-6].

For studying the effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretory protein ESAT-6 on the related functions of macrophages, RAW264.7 cells were transfected with pEGFP-C1-ESAT-6 and pEGFP-C1 by liposome respectively. After screening with a high level of G418, the macrophage cell lines that stably expressed EGFP-ESAT-6 fusion protein or EGFP were established.

[Stable expression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein EspB in RAW264.7].

Objective: We established a cell line stably expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretory protein EspB in order to provide evidences for studying EspB in modulating the functions of macrophage.

Methods: The recombinant plasmid pEGFP-C1-EspB was first constructed, then RAW264.7 cell was transfected with pEGFP-C1-EspB and pEGFP-C1 by liposome respectively.

Antiviral potential of exogenous human omega interferon to inhibit pandemic 2009 A (H1N1) influenza virus.

The pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus broke out in North America and spread rapidly throughout the world. The type I interferon (IFN) response represents one of the first lines of defense against influenza virus infections. In this study, the protective potential of human exogenous IFN-ω against pandemic 2009 A (H1N1) influenza virus was assessed both in vitro and in guinea pigs.

High-level expression of Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein EspB in E. coli and preparation of novel anti-EspB monoclonal antibodies.

The ESX-1 secretion system plays a critical role in the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The ESX-1 secreted protein EspB is cleaved close to its C-terminus during secretion and is necessary for inhibiting phagosome maturation. In this study, the EspB gene of M.

Hepatitis B virus core particles displaying Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen ESAT-6 enhance ESAT-6-specific immune responses.

Early secreted antigenic target-6 (ESAT-6), an important Mycobacterium tuberculosis T-cell antigen, is an attractive candidate antigen for tuberculosis subunit vaccine development. Because ESAT-6 has a low inherent immunogenicity, we used Hepatitis B virus core (HBc) protein as an immune carrier to enhance ESAT-6 immunogenicity. The ESAT-6 gene was inserted into the major immunodominant region of the HBc molecule by fusion PCR.

Protection against anthrax and plague by a combined vaccine in mice and rabbits.

The protective antigen (PA) of Bacillus anthracis and the Fraction 1 Capsular Antigen (F1 antigen), V antigen of Yersinia pestis have been demonstrated to be potential immunogens and candidate vaccine sub-units against anthrax and plague respectively. In this study, the authors have investigated the antibody responses and the protective efficacy when the antigens were administered separately or in combination intramuscularly formulation adsorbed to an aluminum hydroxide adjuvant. Results show that immunized rF1 + rV and rPA antigen together was as effective as separately for induction of serological antibody response, and these titers were maintained for over 1 year in mice.

Fusion protein of Delta 27LFn and EFn has the potential as a novel anthrax toxin inhibitor.

PA-binding domain of LF (LFn) or PA-binding domain of EF (EFn) is the anthrax protective antigen (PA) binding domain of anthrax lethal factor (LF) or edema factor (EF). Here we show the development of a novel anthrax toxin inhibitor, fusion protein of N-terminal 27 amino acids deletion of LFn (Delta27LFn) and EFn. In a cell model of intoxication, fusion protein of Delta27LFn and EFn (Delta27LFn-EFn) was a 62-fold more potent toxin inhibitor than LFn or EFn, and this increased activity corresponded to a 39-fold higher PA-binding affinity by Biacore analysis.

Chimeric hepatitis B virus core particles carrying an epitope of anthrax protective antigen induce protective immunity against Bacillus anthracis.

The major aim of present study is to develop and evaluate chimeric virus-like particles (VLPs) displaying a neutralizing epitope of anthrax protective antigen (PA) as a potential vaccine against anthrax. The truncated hepatitis B virus core (HBc) protein (aa 1-144) was used as a carrier, and the 2beta2-2beta3 loop of the PA domain 2 (aa 302-325) which has been shown contains a dominant neutralizing epitope was inserted into the major immunodominant region (MIR) of the HBc. The recombinant protein HBc-N144-PA-loop2 was expressed in Escherichia coli, and was able to form HBc-like particles confirmed by electron microscopy.

The 2beta2-2beta3 loop of anthrax protective antigen contains a dominant neutralizing epitope.

Anthrax toxin consists of three proteins, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor, and edema factor. PA is the major component in the current anthrax vaccine, but the antigenic epitopes on it are not well-defined. We generated a pool of toxin-neutralizing anti-PA monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to analyze the neutralizing epitopes of PA.

[Expression and characterization of the recombination anthrax lethal factor].

The gene encoding anthrax lehtal factor (LF) was cloned into a secretory expression plasmid and then expressed in periplasmic space of E. coli. The recombinant LF (rLF) expressed was about 4% of the total proteins in E.

[Expression and analysis of biological activity of the recombination anthrax edema factor].

Anthrax toxin consists of three separate proteins, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). EF is bacterial adenylate cyclase which, upon activation by its eukaryotic cofactor, calmodulin, causes a rapid increase in the intracellular cAMP level of host cells. EF can reduce the protective ability of host animal.

[Expression, purification and characterization of the recombinant anthrax protective antigen].

An expression plasmid carrying anthrax protective antigen (PA) gene was constructed, which has an OmpA signal sequence attached to the 5' end of PA gene. The plasmid was transformed into E. coli and induced to express recombinant PA (rPA) .