LPS-Primed Release of HMGB-1 from Cortical Astrocytes is Modulated Through PI3K/AKT Pathway.

Studies have shown that LPS-preconditioned tolerant state could protect against brain injury to subsequent challenges. We hypothesized astrocytes were directly involved in the readjustment to confer neuroprotective effects with LPS pretreatment. High-mobility group box 1(HMGB-1) from LPS-preconditioned astrocytes, presumably serving as a positive regulator, might contribute to the favorable preconditioned effects.

A drug screening method based on the autophagy pathway and studies of the mechanism of evodiamine against influenza A virus.

In this research, we have established a drug screening method based on the autophagy signal pathway using the bimolecular fluorescence complementation-fluorescence resonance energy transfer (BiFC-FRET) technique to develop novel anti-influenza A virus (IAV) drugs. We selected Evodia rutaecarpa Benth out of 83 examples of traditional Chinese medicine and explored the mechanisms of evodiamine, the major active component of Evodia rutaecarpa Benth, on anti-IAV activity. Our results showed that evodiamine could significantly inhibit IAV replication, as determined by a plaque inhibition assay, an IAV vRNA promoter luciferase reporter assay and the Sulforhodamine B method using cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction.

Heterologous SH3-p85beta inhibits influenza A virus replication.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway can support the replication of influenza A virus through binding of viral NS1 protein to the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain of p85beta regulatory subunit of PI3K. Here we investigated the effect of heterologously overexpressed SH3 on the replication of different influenza A virus subtypes/strains, and on the phosphorylation of Akt in the virus-infected cells. We found that heterologous SH3 reduced replication of influenza A viruses at varying degrees in a subtype/strain-dependent manner and SH3 overexpression reduced the induction of the phosphorylation of Akt in the cells infected with PR8(H1N1) and ST364(H3N2), but not with ST1233(H1N1), Ph2246(H9N2), and Qa199(H9N2).