The genotype analysis of the hepatitis C virus in Heilongjiang Province, China.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health issue. HCV genotype identification is clinically important to tailor the dosage and duration of treatment, and recombination in intra-patient populations of HCV may lead to the generation of escape mutants, as previously observed for other RNA viruses. Up to now, there is no study assessing HCV genotypes and subtypes in Heilongjiang Province, China.

Position 22 of the V3 loop is associated with HIV infectivity.

Human immunodeficiency virus subtype 1B (HIV-1B) binds to the CD4 receptor and co-receptor CCR5 or CXCR4 to enter T lymphocytes. The amino acid sequence of the HIV envelope glycoprotein V3 region determines the co-receptor tropism, thereby influencing the infectivity of the virus. Our research group previously found that the amino acid at position 22 of the V3 region may affect the infectivity of the virus, and in this study, we tested this hypothesis.

Variation analysis of E1 and E2 in HCV subtypes.

Pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy effectively suppresses viral replication in 50 %-60 % of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. However, HCV-infected patients often display varied responses to therapy, and strains of subtype lb (the most widespread HCV subtype worldwide) have more-severe clinical manifestations, greater viral loads, and poorer responses to interferon treatment. Therefore, understanding the genomic variability of HCV is crucial to treatment of HCV infection.

Trends in HIV infection in the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin, China.

Background: Major hospitals in most Chinese cities have the capability to perform HIV testing. However, it is not a routine test for all patients and, as a result, many patients are not aware of their HIV status. To understand the rate of HIV infection and the factors associated with infection, we tested serum to determine HIV status and analyzed factors associated with HIV infection.

Position 22 of the V3 loop is associated with co-receptor usage and disease progression in HIV-1 subtype B isolates.

Our goal in this study was to analyze position 22 of the V3 loop associated with co-receptor usage and disease progression in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype B infection. Bioinformatics approaches were used to compare the amino acid sequence and secondary structure of the V3 loop of the CCR5-tropic virus and CXCR4-tropic virus in HIV-1 subtype B. HIV-1 subtype B V3 amino acid sequence files in the FASTA format were collected from the HIV Sequence Database.

Frequency of primary glomerular disease in northeastern China.

Most frequently reported Chinese renal biopsy data have originated from southeastern China. The present study analyzed the renal biopsy data from northeastern China. The records of 1550 consecutive native patients who were diagnosed with primary glomerular diseases (PGD) after renal biopsy at our hospital during 2005-2009 were used.

Improved expression of secretory and trimeric proteins in mammalian cells via the introduction of a new trimer motif and a mutant of the tPA signal sequence.

Ideal immunogenicity in antigens is a prerequisite to eliciting a sufficiently strong immune and memory response via either DNA or protein vaccines. To improve immunogenicity, efforts have focused on high-level expression of target proteins and on maintaining their natural conformations. In the present work, two trimer motifs (MTQ and MTI) were designed and introduced into a plasmid vector with the tissue plasminogen activator signal peptide (tPA-SP).

Subtype and sequence analysis of HIV-1 strains in Heilongjiang Province.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) is divided into two types, HIV-1 (groups M, N and O) and HIV-2. Heilongjiang Province located in the northeast of China, and the feature of the subtype distribution and sequence characteristics of HIV-1 strains prevalent in Heilongjiang Province is still uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the subtype distribution and genetic characteristics of HIV-1 strains in one hospital in Heilongjiang Province.