Differential Immune Responses and Protective Effects in Avirulent Mycobacterial Strains Vaccinated BALB/c Mice.

Screening live mycobacterial vaccine candidates is the important strategy to develop new vaccines against adult tuberculosis (TB). In this study, the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of several avirulent mycobacterial strains including Mycobacterium smegmatis, M. vaccae, M.

Development and evaluation of a new interferon-gamma release assay for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in HIV-infected individuals in China.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are at high risk of contracting tuberculosis (TB) disease, and current methods for diagnosing TB infection are less effective in this population. We developed and evaluated a new interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), named A.TB, in HIV-infected individuals, with and without active TB, in a setting of high TB burden and low HIV prevalence.

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a novel recombinant BCG strain overexpressing antigens Ag85A and Ag85B.

Recombinant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (rBCG) strain is the promising vaccine candidate for tuberculosis (TB) prevention, which aims at providing more enduring and enhanced protection than the parental BCG vaccine. In this study, three rBCG strains overexpressing immunodominant antigens Ag85B (rBCG::85B), Ag85A (rBCG::85A), or both (rBCG::AB) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were constructed, respectively. rBCG strains showed higher level of overexpression of Ag85A and/or Ag85B proteins than BCG containing empty vector pMV261(rBCG::261), which had low levels of endogenous expression of both proteins as expected.

A DNA vaccine expressing CFP21 and MPT64 fusion protein enhances BCG-induced protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.

The efficacy of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in preventing adult tuberculosis (TB) is highly variable. Genetic differences between BCG vaccine substrains, which can be divided into early strains and late strains based on the loss of region of difference two (RD2), may result in the variability and BCG substrains. The effect of lack of RD2 on the protective efficacy of BCG substrains against TB remains unknown.

Enhanced protection against tuberculosis by vaccination with recombinant BCG over-expressing HspX protein.

Immunization with Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) did not induce adequate Th1 responses to the latency antigen, HspX of M. tuberculosis. To increase the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of BCG, a recombinant BCG strain over-expressing antigen HspX (rBCG::X) was constructed.

An improved whole-blood gamma interferon assay based on the CFP21-MPT64 fusion protein.

Differentiation of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) from a healthy, unexposed population plays a vital role in the strategy of controlling and eliminating tuberculosis (TB). Both CFP21 and MPT64, antigens encoded by the RD2 region which are restricted in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, are TB-specific diagnostic candidate antigens. In this study, we designed a fusion protein by linking both CFP21 and MPT64 with a 15-amino-acid peptide, (G(4)S(1))(3), and overexpressed the fusion protein in Escherichia coli.

A preparatively convenient ligand-free catalytic PEG 2000 Suzuki-Miyaura coupling.

A ligand-free Suzuki-Miyaura reaction for the cross-coupling of aryl and heteroaryl bromides with aryl and heteroarylboronic acids has been developed utilizing catalytic polyethylene glycol 2000 (PEG 2000). This preparatively convenient system afforded the corresponding cross-coupled products in good to excellent isolated yields after a simple aqueous workup. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the Pd-PEG 2000 catalyst system revealed in situ-generated palladium nanoparticles after only 1 min of reaction.

Cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-xylosylrutinoside as primary phenolic antioxidants in black raspberry.

Anthocyanin constituents in black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis L.) were investigated by HPLC-DAD, and their involvement as potent, significant antioxidants in black raspberries was demonstrated by three common antioxidant assays (FRAP, DPPH, ABTS) in this study. Five anthocyanins were present in black raspberries: cyanidin 3-sambubioside, cyanidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-xylosylrutinoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, and pelargonidin 3-rutinoside.

Differential immunogenicity and protective efficacy of DNA vaccines expressing proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a mouse model.

BALB/c mice were vaccinated three times (2-week intervals) with plasmid DNA separately encoding antigen Ag85B, ESAT-6 or Ag85A from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The protective efficacy of these DNA vaccines against intravenous M. tuberculosis H37Rv challenge infection was measured by counting bacterial loads in spleen and lung and recording changes in lung pathology.

Fabrication of Cd(OH)2 nanorings by ultrasonic chiselling on Cd(OH)2 nanoplates.

Cd(OH)2 nanorings were successfully fabricated from Cd(OH)2 nanoplates by ultrasonic chiselling, a unique effect of the sonochemical process that has never been reported before.

Fabrication of a hydrogen peroxide biosensor based on a self-assemble composite oxide film.

A titania film with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was immobilized on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes to act as a biosensor of hydrogen peroxide via the self-assembling and sol-gel route. The film was characterized by the atomic functional microscopy, electrochemical and UV-vis spectroscopy methods. The resulting biosensor exhibited fast amperometric response and good stability to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

Heterostructured Bi2Se3 nanowires with periodic phase boundaries.

Single and multijunction nanowires with diameters of 10-40 nm were synthesized by an electrically assisted sonochemical method in aqueous solution at room temperature. By properly controlling the reaction conditions and reactants, this method opens a new strategy towards the fabrication of one-dimensional superlattices in nanowires under ambient conditions. Such a chemical approach provides a promising and simple way to synthesize high-performance building blocks for device applications.