AAV8 gene therapy reverses cardiac pathology and prevents early mortality in a mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia.

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal-recessive disorder primarily attributed to biallelic GAA repeat expansions that reduce expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). FRDA is characterized by progressive neurodegeneration, with many patients developing cardiomyopathy that progresses to heart failure and death. The potential to reverse or prevent progression of the cardiac phenotype of FRDA was investigated in a mouse model of FRDA, using an adeno-associated viral vector (AAV8) containing the coding sequence of the gene.

What About Mom? Health Literacy and Maternal Mortality.

This study examined health literacy of postpartum education materials assessing readability, understandability and cultural sensitivity using common health literacy measures. Materials examined rated poorly on measures of health literacy and cultural sensitivity using evidence-based measures including the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT), Fry-based Readability and National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS). Findings suggested a need for health literate and culturally sensitive postpartum education.

Slow Infection due to Lowering the Amount of Intact versus Empty Particles Is a Characteristic Feature of Coxsackievirus B5 Dictated by the Structural Proteins.

Enterovirus B species typically cause a rapid cytolytic infection leading to efficient release of progeny viruses. However, they are also capable of persistent infections in tissues, which are suggested to contribute to severe chronic states such as myocardial inflammation and type 1 diabetes. In order to understand the factors contributing to differential infection strategies, we constructed a chimera by combining the capsid proteins from fast-cytolysis-causing echovirus 1 (EV1) with nonstructural proteins from coxsackievirus B5 (CVB5), which shows persistent infection in RD cells.

Surface Functionalization of Hepatitis E Virus Nanoparticles Using Chemical Conjugation Methods.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) have been used as nanocarriers to display foreign epitopes and/or deliver small molecules in the detection and treatment of various diseases. This application relies on genetic modification, self-assembly, and cysteine conjugation to fulfill the tumor-targeting application of recombinant VLPs. Compared with genetic modification alone, chemical conjugation of foreign peptides to VLPs offers a significant advantage because it allows a variety of entities, such as synthetic peptides or oligosaccharides, to be conjugated to the surface of VLPs in a modulated and flexible manner without alteration of the VLP assembly.

Surface modulatable nanocapsids for targeting and tracking toward nanotheranostic delivery.

Nanoparticle diagnostics and therapeutics (nanotheranostics) have significantly advanced cancer detection and treatment. However, many nanotheranostics are ineffective due to defects in tumor localization and bioavailability. An engineered Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) nanocapsid is a proposed platform for targeted cancer-cell delivery.

Chemically activatable viral capsid functionalized for cancer targeting.

Aim: To design a theranostic capsule using the virus-like nanoparticle of the hepatitis E virus modified to display breast cancer cell targeting functional group (LXY30).

Methods: Five surface-exposed residues were mutated to cysteine to allow conjugation to maleimide-linked chemical groups via thiol-selective linkages. Engineered virus-like nanoparticles were then covalently conjugated to a breast cancer recognized ligand, LXY30 and an amine-coupled near-infrared fluorescence dye.

His-tagged norovirus-like particles: A versatile platform for cellular delivery and surface display.

In addition to vaccines, noninfectious virus-like particles (VLPs) that mimic the viral capsid show an attractive possibility of presenting immunogenic epitopes or targeting molecules on their surface. Here, functionalization of norovirus-derived VLPs by simple non-covalent conjugation of various molecules is shown. By using the affinity between a surface-exposed polyhistidine-tag and multivalent tris-nitrilotriacetic acid (trisNTA), fluorescent dye molecules and streptavidin-biotin conjugated to trisNTA are displayed on the VLPs to demonstrate the use of these VLPs as easily modifiable nanocarriers as well as a versatile vaccine platform.

Accumulation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls in livers of young sheep.

A major part of sheep livers contains levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) above the former but to some extent also the new maximum levels (MLs) in the EU. In order to investigate the relationship between the intake of these contaminants and their accumulation in livers, kidney fat and meat, young blackhead sheep were fed with grass pellets containing PCDD/Fs at 2.5 times the maximum level.