Construction of a chimeric lysin Ply187N-V12C with extended lytic activity against staphylococci and streptococci.

Developing chimeric lysins with a wide lytic spectrum would be important for treating some infections caused by multiple pathogenic bacteria. In the present work, a novel chimeric lysin (Ply187N-V12C) was constructed by fusing the catalytic domain (Ply187N) of the bacteriophage lysin Ply187 with the cell binding domain (146-314aa, V12C) of the lysin PlyV12. The results showed that the chimeric lysin Ply187N-V12C had not only lytic activity similar to Ply187N against staphylococcal strains but also extended its lytic activity to streptococci and enterococci, such as Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis, which Ply187N could not lyse.

Existence of separate domains in lysin PlyG for recognizing Bacillus anthracis spores and vegetative cells.

As a potential antimicrobial, the bacteriophage lysin PlyG has been reported to specifically recognize Bacillus anthracis vegetative cells only and to kill B. anthracis vegetative cells and its germinating spores. However, how PlyG interacts with B.

Establishment of a lung cancer biobank of a southern chinese population.

There is an increasing need for establishment of biobanks for human cancer, which may facilitate basic and clinical researches as well as the development of novel approaches to early diagnostics, prevention and treatment, including personalized medicine. Herein we report the establishment of a lung cancer biobanks using biological samples from a lung cancer patient population in Southern China. Since 2007, we have collected lung cancer tissue from 1,054 patients with lung cancer, from whom 11,895 frozen tumor and normal matched tissues, 4,899 tissue paraffin blocks, and 3,562 blood serum samples were accumulated.