Identification of novel rodent and shrew orthohepeviruses sheds light on hepatitis E virus evolution.

The family has seen an explosive expansion in its host range in recent years, yet the evolutionary trajectory of this zoonotic pathogen remains largely unknown. The emergence of rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) has introduced a new public health threat due to its potential for zoonotic transmission. This study investigated 2 464 wild small mammals spanning four animal orders, eight families, 21 genera, and 37 species in Yunnan Province, China.

V6 encoded by mulberry crinkle leaf virus is important for viral DNA replication.

Mulberry crinkle leaf virus (MCLV) is a representative species of the genus Mulcrilevirus in the family Geminiviridae. Here, we identified an additional V6 ORF which embedded within the V4 ORF in the MCLV virion-sense strand. The expression of V6 was confirmed by analyzing the promoter activity of V6 ORF upstream sequences and quantifying the viral DNA accumulation in V6-mutant MCLV-infected tomato plants.

Molecular Prevalence, Genetic Diversity, and Tissue Tropism of Species in Small Mammals from Yunnan Province, China.

is an intracellular parasitic zoonotic pathogen that can infect animals and cause a variety of human diseases. This study investigates prevalence in small mammals in Yunnan Province, China, focusing on tissue tropism. A total of 333 small mammals were sampled from thirteen species, three orders, four families, and four genera in Heqing and Gongshan Counties.

Molecular epidemiological study of Scrub Typhus in residence, farm and forest habitats from Yunnan Province, China.

The number of people suffering from scrub typhus, which is not of concern, is increasing year by year, especially in Yunnan Province, China. From June 1, 2021 to August 15, 2022, a total of 505 mammalian samples were collected from farm, forest, and residential habitats with high incidence of scrub typhus in Yunnan, China, for nPCR (nested PCR) and qPCR (quantitative real-time PCR) detection of Orientia tsutsugamushi. A total of 4 orders of murine-like animals, Rodentia (87.

Two genes encoded by mulberry crinkle leaf virus (MCLV): The V4 gene enhances viral replication, and the V5 gene is needed for MCLV infection in Nicotiana benthamiana.

Mulberry crinkle leaf virus (MCLV) is a member of the genus Mulcrilevirus, family Geminiviridae. The expression and functions of the V4 and V5 genes encoded by the MCLV genome remain unknown. Here, we confirmed the expression of V4 and V5 by analyzing the V4 and V5 mRNAs and the promoter activity of individual ORFs upstream sequences.

Ferroptosis inhibition attenuates inflammatory response in mice with acute hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis.

Background: Ferroptosis is involved in developing inflammatory diseases; yet, its role in acute hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (HTGP) remains unclear.

Aim: To explore whether ferroptosis is involved in the process of HTGP and elucidate its potential mechanisms.

Methods: An HTGP mouse model was induced using intraperitoneal injection of P-407 and caerulein (CAE).

Intracellular antibody targeting HBx suppresses invasion and metastasis in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocarcinogenesis via protein phosphatase 2A-B56γ-mediated dephosphorylation of protein kinase B.

Objectives: Hepatitis B virus X (HBx) is closely associated with HBV-related hepatocarcinogenesis via the inactivation of tumour suppressors. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulatory subunit B56 gamma (B56γ), as a tumour suppressor, plays a critical role in regulating cellular phosphorylation signals via dephosphorylation of signalling proteins. However, the underlying mechanism that B56γ involved in regulating HBx-associated hepatocarcinogenesis phenotypes and mediating anti-HBx antibody-mediated tumour suppression remains unknown.

HBx combined with AFB1 triggers hepatic steatosis via COX-2-mediated necrosome formation and mitochondrial dynamics disorder.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure have been recognized as independent risk factors for the occurrence and exacerbation of hepatic steatosis but their combined impacts and the potential mechanisms remain to be further elucidated. Here, we showed that exposure to AFB1 impaired mitochondrial dynamics and increased intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) in the liver of HBV-transgenic mice in vivo and the hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx)-expressing human hepatocytes both ex vivo and in vitro. HBx combined with AFB1 exposure also up-regulated receptor interaction protein 1 (RIP1), receptor interaction protein 3 (RIP3) and activated mixed lineage kinase domain like protein (MLKL), providing evidence of necrosome formation in the hepatocytes.

Downregulation of mitochondrial cyclooxygenase-2 inhibits the stemness of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by decreasing the activity of dynamin-related protein 1.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subset of malignant cells, possessing stemness, with strong tumorigenic capability, conferring resistance to therapy and leading to the relapse of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Our previous study suggested that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) would be a novel target for the CSCs-like side population (SP) cells in NPC. In the present study, we further found that COX-2 maintained the stemness of NPC by enhancing the activity of mitochondrial dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a mitochondrial fission mediator, by studying both sorted SP cells from NPC cell lines and gene expression analyses in NPC tissues.

The impact of the Wenchuan earthquake on birth outcomes.

Background: Earthquakes and other catastrophic events frequently occurring worldwide can be considered as outliers and cause a growing and urgent need to improve our understanding of the negative effects imposed by such disasters. Earthquakes can intensively impact the birth outcomes upon psychological and morphological development of the unborn children, albeit detailed characteristics remain obscure.

Methods And Findings: We utilized the birth records at Du Jiang Yan and Peng Zhou counties to investigate the birth outcomes as a consequence of a major earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, China on May 12, 2008.