Alcohol abrogates human norovirus infectivity in a pH-dependent manner.

Alcohol-based disinfectants are widely used for the sanitization of microorganisms, especially those that cause infectious diseases, including viruses. However, since the germicidal mechanism of alcohol is lipolysis, alcohol-based disinfectants appear to have a minimal effect on non-enveloped viruses, such as noroviruses. Because there is no cultivation method for human norovirus (HuNoV) in vitro, murine norovirus and feline calicivirus have been used as surrogates for HuNoV to analyze the efficacy of disinfectant regents.

Identification of claudin-4 binder that attenuates tight junction barrier function by TR-FRET-based screening assay.

Claudins are key functional and structural components of tight junctions (TJs) in epithelial cell sheets. The C-terminal fragment of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (C-CPE) binds to claudin-4 and reversibly modulates intestinal TJ seals, thereby enhancing paracellular transport of solutes. However, the use of C-CPE as an absorption enhancer is limited by the molecule's immunogenicity and manufacturing cost.

Rebeccamycin Attenuates TNF-α-Induced Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction by Inhibiting Myosin Light Chain Kinase Production.

Background/aims: Although proinflammatory cytokine-induced disruption of intestinal epithelial barrier integrity is associated with intestinal inflammatory disease, effective treatment for barrier dysfunction is lacking. Previously, we demonstrated that rebeccamycin alleviates epithelial barrier dysfunction induced by inflammatory cytokines in Caco-2 cell monolayers; however, the underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which rebeccamycin protects the epithelial barrier function of Caco-2 cells exposed to TNF-α.