The roles of templates consisting of amino acids in the synthesis and application of gold nanoclusters.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) with low toxicity, high photostability, and facile synthesis have attracted great attention. The ligand is of great significance in stabilizing AuNCs and regulating their properties. Ligands consisting of amino acids (proteins and peptides) are an ideal template for synthesizing applicative AuNCs due to their inherent bioactivity, biocompatibility, and accessibility.

The Contribution of Antimicrobial Peptides to Immune Cell Function: A Review of Recent Advances.

The development of novel antimicrobial agents to replace antibiotics has become urgent due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), widely distributed in all kingdoms of life, present strong antimicrobial activity against a variety of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses. The potential of AMPs as new alternatives to antibiotics has gradually attracted considerable interest.

The antimicrobial peptide MetchnikowinII enhances Ptfa antigen immune responses against avian Pasteurella multocida in chickens.

Immunostimulants and vaccines are the main means for controlling infectious diseases and searching highly effective and low toxic immunestimulants has always been the focus of researchers. The MetchnikowinII (MetII) had been expressed by us and exhibited both antibacterial and antifungal activities, in this study, we evaluated its potential for an adjuvant effect. In chickens, antigen-specific immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) were increased after MetII adjuvanted vaccination using the Ptfa protein.

Erratum: [Corrigendum] Expression of porcine protegrin‑1 in and its anticancer activity .

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/etm.2015.

Immune responses and protective efficacy of a trivalent combination DNA vaccine based on oprL, oprF and flgE genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an infectious pathogenic bacteria infecting many different species of animals. Currently, it lacks a commercial vaccine. In this study, three monovalent DNA vaccines (poprL, poprF, and pflgE), three bivalent combination DNA vaccines (poprL+poprF, poprL+pflgE, poprF+pflgE), and a trivalent DNA vaccine (poprL+poprF+pflgE) were constructed.

Immune Efficacy of different immunization doses of divalent combination DNA vaccine pOPRL+pOPRF of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

At present, there is no vaccine available against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common zoonotic pathogenic bacterium. In a previous study, the authors prepared a divalent combination DNA vaccine, pOPRL+pOPRF, which exhibited good protective efficacy. To explore the optimal immunization dose of this divalent combination DNA vaccine, in the present study, chickens were vaccinated with 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg doses.

Cloning and expression patterns of neuromedin U and its receptors in pigs.

Neuromedin U (NMU) is a highly conserved neuropeptide that performs a variety of physiological functions in animals via neuromedin U receptor-1 (NMUR1) and neuromedin U receptor-2 (NMUR2). In this study, we cloned the pig NMU, NMUR1 and NMUR2 genes. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the pig NMU cDNA encoded the amino acids Phe-Leu-Phe-Arg-Pro-Arg-Asn-NH2 at the C-terminus and that the NMU receptors, which are G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), contained the seven transmembrane domains typical of GPCRs.

Expression of porcine protegrin-1 in and its anticancer activity .

Protegrin-1 (PG-1), a β-hairpin antimicrobial peptide (AMP), is amongst the shortest AMPs in sequence length while remaining active against a variety of microorganisms. The aim of this study was produce recombinant PG-1 and investigate its anticancer activity. A DNA sequence encoding the mature PG-1, fused with a 6His-tag, was cloned into the pPICZα-A vector and transformed into .

Bursin-like peptide (BLP) enhances H9N2 influenza vaccine induced humoral and cell mediated immune responses.

Vaccination with H9N2 avian influenza whole-inactivated virus (WIV) has been shown to be ineffective at eliciting sufficient humoral and cellular immunity against H9N2 avian influenza virus. This study assessed the effects of a synthetic Bursin-like epitope peptide (BLP) as adjuvant for H9N2 WIV in mice. Titers HI and avian influenza virus neutralizing antibodies, subtypes of HA antibodies, T helper (Th) cytokine levels, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activities and changes in spleen T-cell subsets and natural killer cells were determined.

Immune responses and protective efficacy of a novel DNA vaccine encoding outer membrane protein of avian Pasteurella multocida.

Avian Pasteurella multocida is a causative agent of fowl cholera. Two proteins OmpH and OmpA are the major immunogenic antigens of avian P. multocida, which play an important role in inducing immune responses that confer resistance against infections.

Imidapril provides a protective effect on pulmonary hypertension induced by low ambient temperature in broiler chickens.

Objective: The objective of this article is to explore the role of imidapril on pulmonary hypertension induced by low ambient temperature in broiler chickens.

Materials And Methods: Ninety chickens were randomly divided into three groups (n = 30): a control group, a low-temperature group and an imidapril group. Chickens in the low-temperature group and imidapril group were exposed to low ambient temperature from 14 days of age until 45 days of age; chickens in the imidapril group were gavaged with imidapril 3 mg/kg once daily for 30 days.

Expression of 4kD scorpion defensin and its in vitro synergistic activity with conventional antibiotics.

The 4kD scorpion defensin (SD) is a potent disulfide-linked peptide. In this study, we expressed it in methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris and purified it using Ni-NTA His Bind Resin. We investigated its in vitro antibacterial activity and effect in combination with several conventional antibiotics.

[Expression of bursin receptor on membranes of hybridoma cell and identification of binding peptide of bursin from 12-merrandom phage display peptide library].

Objective: Bursin (BS) could greatly promote the production of monoclonal antibody in hybridoma cell. We studied the interaction between BS and hybridoma cell.

Methods: Fluorescence microscopy, Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM) and fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) were used.

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the duck enteritis virus UL5 gene.

Duck enteritis virus (DEV) is a herpesvirus that causes an acute, contagious, and fatal disease. In the present article, the DEV UL5 gene was cloned and sequenced from a vaccine virus. According to the consensus sequence of herpesvirus UL5 and UL3 gene degenerate oligonucleotide primers were designed and were used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA products with 4577 bp in size.

The molecular design of a recombinant antimicrobial peptide CP and its in vitro activity.

Antibacterial peptides from various sources express different antibacterial activity. In order to obtain a high activity antibacterial peptide, the sequences of four antimicrobial peptides--Protegrin-1, 4 kDa Scorpion Defensin, Metalnikowin-2A and Sheep Myeloid Antibacterial Peptide SMAP-29--were exploited to generate a synthetic antimicrobial peptide cp gene, which was then cloned into the expression vector pPICZalpha-A. The constructed recombinant expression vector pPICZalpha-cp was transformed into Pichia pastoris X-33, in which the synthetic antimicrobial peptide (CP) could be expressed under the control of the inducible AOX1 promoter and secreted via the alpha mating factor leader of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

[Secreted expression of the combinant antimicrobial peptide PL in Pichia pastoris and its antibacterial activity in vitro].

In order to obtain a high activity antibacterial peptide, An expression vector pPICZalphaA-pl is constructed with a tandem of four antimicrobial peptides in the same direction,which includes Protegrin-1 (PG-1), Scorpion Defensin (SD), Metalnikowin-2A and Sheep Myeloid Antibacterial Peptide (SMAP-29) (serial number in GenBank are AAB27599, AAAB27538, P80409 and P49928 respectively). At the same time the expression vector pPICZalphaA-sd which express Scorpion Defensin was contructed. The expression vectors of pPICZalphaA-pl and pPICZalphaA-sd were linearized and transformed into the yeast host strain X-33 respectively.

[Influence of epitope A modification and N-linked glycosylated site mutation of PRRSV NJ-a strain ORF5 gene on the ability to induce neutralizing antibodies and T cell proliferation response].

To enhance the DNA immunogencity of PRRSV ORF5 gene, CpG sequence and the universal helper T cell antigen epitope (PADRE) sequence were inserted between the decoy epitope and the neutralizing epitope. At the same time, site-mutations were introduced at N33 and N51 to diminish the coverage effect to epitope B from the polysaccharides. Subsequently, the modified ORF5 gene (MORF5) and PRRSV ORF6 gene were cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.