TWIK-related acid-sensitive potassium channels TASK-1 and TASK-3 may participate in the process of the coexistence of asthma and OSA.

Objective: To investigate the role of TWIK-related acid-sensitive potassium channels TASK-1 and TASK-3 in the mechanism of asthma combined with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in mice.

Method: C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: control group (NS-RA), asthma group (OVA-RA), OSA group (NS-IH), and asthma combined with OSA group (OVA-IH). After monitoring lung function in each group, the expression levels of TASK-1 and TASK-3 mRNA and protein in lung tissues were measured, and the correlation between the changes of both and lung function was analyzed.

Negative pressure wound therapy promotes wound healing by suppressing macrophage inflammation in diabetic ulcers.

This work aims to explore the biological role of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in the treatment of diabetic ulcer. Full-thickness skin defects were created in diabetic (db/db) and non diabetic (db/m) mice to create wound models. The mice were received NPWT or rapamycin injection.

The Application of the Acellular Dermal Matrix in the Correction of the Tear Trough Deformity.

Objective: The acellular dermal matrix (ADM) used in correcting the tear trough deformity has been reported, but there were only a few cases. The long-term effectiveness of ADM was not clear. We aim to discuss the technique and the effect of using ADM to correct the tear trough deformity through more cases.

Glycoprotein-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for serodiagnosis of infectious laryngotracheitis.

For detection of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) antibody, glycoprotein B-, C-, and D-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (B-, C-, and D-ELISAs, respectively) were developed. The B- and D-ELISAs showed enhanced detection of anti-ILTV antibodies in infected chickens compared to that of the commercial ELISA. Furthermore, the D-ELISA was efficient in detecting seroconversion with vectored vaccine, using recombinant Newcastle disease virus (rNDV) expressing glycoprotein D (gD) as the vaccine vector.

Free transplantation of autogenous palmaris longus tendon in the repair of cicatricial ectropion of lower eyelid.

Treatment of cicatricial lower eyelid ectropion is often difficult and requires surgical intervention. Numerous techniques have been developed over the years to treat the cicatricial lower eyelid ectropion. This article describes an effective surgical technique using the free transplantation of autogenous palmaris longus tendon in the repair of cicatricial lower eyelid ectropion.

[The role of toll like receptor-4 signal pathways activation in ischemia-reperfusion injury of island skin flap].

Objective: To determine the role of toll like receptor-4 signal pathways activation in ischemia-reperfusion injury of island skin flap.

Methods: A totol of 50 adult male SD rats were randomized into 3 groups: sham-operated group (n=10), ischemia/reperfusion group (n=20) and TLR4 inhibitor-eritoran tetrasodium (E5564)-treated group (n=20). The inguinal island skin flaps models were set up.

Intracellular neutralization of viral infection in polarized epithelial cells by neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-mediated IgG transport.

IgG was traditionally thought to neutralize virions by blocking their attachment to or penetration into mucosal epithelial cells, a common site of exposure to viruses. However, we describe an intracellular neutralizing action for an influenza hemagglutinin-specific monoclonal antibody, Y8-10C2 (Y8), which has neutralizing activity only at an acidic pH. When Y8 was applied to the basolateral surface of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells expressing the rat neonatal Fc receptor for IgG (FcRn), it significantly reduced viral replication following apical exposure of the cell monolayer to influenza virus.

Improved hatchability and efficient protection after in ovo vaccination with live-attenuated H7N2 and H9N2 avian influenza viruses.

Mass in ovo vaccination with live attenuated viruses is widely used in the poultry industry to protect against various infectious diseases. The worldwide outbreaks of low pathogenic and highly pathogenic avian influenza highlight the pressing need for the development of similar mass vaccination strategies against avian influenza viruses. We have previously shown that a genetically modified live attenuated avian influenza virus (LAIV) was amenable for in ovo vaccination and provided optimal protection against H5 HPAI viruses.

BBK07 immunodominant peptides as serodiagnostic markers of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease (LD) is a tick-borne infection caused by the bacterial pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi. Current diagnostic tests mostly use borrelial lysates or select antigens to detect serum antibodies against B. burgdorferi.

Variations in the hemagglutinin of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus: potential for strains with altered virulence phenotype?

A novel, swine-origin influenza H1N1 virus (H1N1pdm) caused the first pandemic of the 21st century. This pandemic, although efficient in transmission, is mild in virulence. This atypical mild pandemic season has raised concerns regarding the potential of this virus to acquire additional virulence markers either through further adaptation or possibly by immune pressure in the human host.

A 27-amino-acid deletion in the neuraminidase stalk supports replication of an avian H2N2 influenza A virus in the respiratory tract of chickens.

The events and mechanisms that lead to interspecies transmission of, and host adaptation to, influenza A virus are unknown; however, both surface and internal proteins have been implicated. Our previous report highlighted the role that Japanese quail play as an intermediate host, expanding the host range of a mallard H2N2 virus, A/mallard/Potsdam/178-4/83 (H2N2), through viral adaptation. This quail-adapted virus supported transmission in quail and increased its host range to replicate and be transmitted efficiently in chickens.

Intranasal delivery of an IgA monoclonal antibody effective against sublethal H5N1 influenza virus infection in mice.

Highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza viruses are endemic in poultry in Asia and pose a pandemic threat to humans. Since the deployment of vaccines against a pandemic strain may take several months, adequate antiviral alternatives are needed to minimize the effects and the spread of the disease. Passive immunotherapy is regarded as a viable alternative.

Adaptation of a mallard H5N2 low pathogenicity influenza virus in chickens with prior history of infection with infectious bursal disease virus.

The influenza A/Mallard/Pennsylvania/10218/1984 (H5N2) virus is unable to replicate in 3-wk-old immunocompetent specific-pathogen-free chickens when a dose of 5 x 10(6) 50% egg infectious dose/ml is used. In contrast, this mallard virus shows limited replication in 3-wk-old chickens that had been previously infected at 2 days of age with, and recovered from, the immunosuppressive agent infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV; herein referred to as IBDV chickens). This limited replication in IBDV chickens allowed for the serial passage of the mallard influenza virus in chickens.

Partial direct contact transmission in ferrets of a mallard H7N3 influenza virus with typical avian-like receptor specificity.

Background: Avian influenza viruses of the H7 subtype have caused multiple outbreaks in domestic poultry and represent a significant threat to public health due to their propensity to occasionally transmit directly from birds to humans. In order to better understand the cross species transmission potential of H7 viruses in nature, we performed biological and molecular characterizations of an H7N3 virus isolated from mallards in Canada in 2001.

Results: Sequence analysis that the HA gene of the mallard H7N3 virus shares 97% identity with the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H7N3 virus isolated from a human case in British Columbia, Canada in 2004.

Minimal molecular constraints for respiratory droplet transmission of an avian-human H9N2 influenza A virus.

Pandemic influenza requires interspecies transmission of an influenza virus with a novel hemagglutinin (HA) subtytpe that can adapt to its new host through either reassortment or point mutations and transmit by aerosolized respiratory droplets. Two previous pandemics of 1957 and 1968 resulted from the reassortment of low pathogenic avian viruses and human subtypes of that period; however, conditions leading to a pandemic virus are still poorly understood. Given the endemic situation of avian H9N2 influenza with human-like receptor specificity in Eurasia and its occasional transmission to humans and pigs, we wanted to determine whether an avian-human H9N2 reassortant could gain respiratory transmission in a mammalian animal model, the ferret.

An avian live attenuated master backbone for potential use in epidemic and pandemic influenza vaccines.

The unprecedented emergence in Asia of multiple avian influenza virus (AIV) subtypes with a broad host range poses a major challenge in the design of vaccination strategies that are both effective and available in a timely manner. The present study focused on the protective effects of a genetically modified AIV as a source for the preparation of vaccines for epidemic and pandemic influenza. It has previously been demonstrated that a live attenuated AIV based on the internal backbone of influenza A/Guinea fowl/Hong Kong/WF10/99 (H9N2), called WF10att, is effective at protecting poultry species against low- and high-pathogenicity influenza strains.

Replication and transmission of H9N2 influenza viruses in ferrets: evaluation of pandemic potential.

H9N2 avian influenza A viruses are endemic in poultry of many Eurasian countries and have caused repeated human infections in Asia since 1998. To evaluate the potential threat of H9N2 viruses to humans, we investigated the replication and transmission efficiency of H9N2 viruses in the ferret model. Five wild-type (WT) H9N2 viruses, isolated from different avian species from 1988 through 2003, were tested in vivo and found to replicate in ferrets.

Avian influenza virus isolated in wild waterfowl in Argentina: evidence of a potentially unique phylogenetic lineage in South America.

Avian influenza (AI) viruses have been sporadically isolated in South America. The most recent reports are from an outbreak in commercial poultry in Chile in 2002 and its putative ancestor from a wild bird in Bolivia in 2001. Extensive surveillance in wild birds was carried out in Argentina during 2006-2007.

Multivalent HA DNA vaccination protects against highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza infection in chickens and mice.

Background: Sustained outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in avian species increase the risk of reassortment and adaptation to humans. The ability to contain its spread in chickens would reduce this threat and help maintain the capacity for egg-based vaccine production. While vaccines offer the potential to control avian disease, a major concern of current vaccines is their potency and inability to protect against evolving avian influenza viruses.

A new generation of modified live-attenuated avian influenza viruses using a two-strategy combination as potential vaccine candidates.

In light of the recurrent outbreaks of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), there is a pressing need for the development of vaccines that allow rapid mass vaccination. In this study, we introduced by reverse genetics temperature-sensitive mutations in the PB1 and PB2 genes of an avian influenza virus, A/Guinea Fowl/Hong Kong/WF10/99 (H9N2) (WF10). Further genetic modifications were introduced into the PB1 gene to enhance the attenuated (att) phenotype of the virus in vivo.

Efficient expression of the 15-kDa form of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus VP5 by suppression of a UGA codon.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), a member of the Birnaviridae family, encodes a nonstructural VP5 protein from a small open reading frame (ORF), which overlaps with a major ORF encoding pVP2, VP4 and VP3 proteins. In majority of the Sp strains of IPNV sequenced to date, VP5 gene codes for a 15-kDa protein. However, we have shown that in highly virulent strains, there is a premature in-frame stop codon (UGA) at nucleotide (nt) position 427, (preceding the 15-kDa stop codon at nt position 511) which could encode a 12-kDa protein.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo independent of VP5 expression.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), the causative agent of a highly infectious disease in salmonid fish, encodes a small non-structural protein designated VP5. This protein contains Bcl-2 homologous domains and inhibits apoptosis when expressed in cell culture. We have previously reported the generation of three VP5 mutants of IPNV-Sp serotype, using reverse genetics (Santi, N.

Molecular determinants of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus virulence and cell culture adaptation.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis viruses (IPNVs) exhibit a wide range of virulence in salmonid species. In previous studies, we have shown that the amino acid residues at positions 217 and 221 in VP2 are implicated in virulence. To pinpoint the molecular determinants of virulence in IPNV, we generated recombinant IPNV strains using the cRNA-based reverse-genetics system.