Immunotherapeutic Effects of Different Doses of DNA Vaccine Delivered by Electroporation.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. New treatment methods on TB are urgently demanded.

Methods: Ninety-six female BALB/c mice were challenged with 2×10 colony-forming units (CFUs) of MTB HRv through tail vein injection, then was treated with 10μg, 50μg, 100μg, and 200μg of (MTB) chimeric DNA vaccine delivered by intramuscular injection (IM) and electroporation (EP), respectively.

Chinese Traditional Medicine NiuBeiXiaoHe (NBXH) Extracts Have the Function of Antituberculosis and Immune Recovery in BALB/c Mice.

Background: The Traditional Chinese Medicine NiuBeiXiaoHe (NBXH) is a valid antituberculosis (TB) prescription from the experience of clinical practice. However, the mechanism of NBXH extracts' immunotherapy has been poorly understood. Herein, the immunotherapeutic efficacy and the differentially expressed (DE) genes of NBXH extracts were evaluated and identified in BALB/c mice.

Effects of Mycobacterium vaccae vaccine in a mouse model of tuberculosis: protective action and differentially expressed genes.

Background: Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death worldwide. BCG is an effective vaccine, but not widely used in many parts of the world due to a variety of issues. Mycobacterium vaccae (M.

Immunogenicity and Therapeutic Effects of Latency-Associated Genes in a Reactivation Mouse Model.

In this study, the (MTB) latency-associated antigens Rv2660c, Rv1733c, Rv1813c, Rv2628, Rv2029c, and Rv2659c were compared regarding their immunogenicity and potential therapeutic effects in an MTB reactivation mouse model. Normal mice or MTB reactivation mice were immunized intramuscularly three times at 2-week intervals with saline, plasmid vector pVAX1, vaccine (a commercial inactivated vaccine), DNA, DNA, DNA, DNA, DNA, or DNA. The normal mice immunized with DNA or DNA had low numbers of Th1 cells and a lower ratio of Th1:Th2 immune cells in whole blood ( < 0.

Diagnostic performance and problem analysis of commercial tuberculosis antibody detection kits in China.

Background: The diagnosis of bacterium-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and extra-pulmonary TB is challenging clinically. The detection of the anti-TB antibody has an important, auxiliary, clinical diagnostic value. Therefore, TB antibody detection kits should be screened and evaluated, and the reagents with the highest sensitivity and specificity should be chosen and used clinically.

Precisely Designed Isopeptide Bridge-Crosslinking Endows Artificial Hydrolases with High Stability and Catalytic Activity under Extreme Denaturing Conditions.

Enzymes normally lose their activities under extreme conditions due to the dissociation of their active tertiary structure. If an enzyme could maintain its catalytic activity under non-physiological or denaturing conditions, it might be used in more applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Recently, we reported a coiled-coil six-helical bundle (6HB) structure as a scaffold for designing artificial hydrolytic enzymes.

Increase of anti-HIV activity of C-peptide fusion inhibitors using a bivalent drug design approach.

We reported the design of fusion inhibitors with improved activity using a multivalent inhibitor design strategy. First, we chose C29 as the template sequence, which is a 29-mer peptide derived from HIV-1 gp41 CHR domain and has anti-HIV activity of IC50 118 nM in a cell-cell fusion assay. We optimized the crosslink sites and linkers of the template peptide.

Inter-chain acyl transfer reaction in a peptide six-helical bundle: a chemical method for regulating the interaction between peptides or proteins.

An inter-helical acyl transfer specifically occurred between the C-and N-peptides of HIV gp41 after assembly of the six-helical bundle (6HB), forming an inter-helical covalent bond that greatly enhanced 6HB stability. In the reaction, the C-peptide was modified as an acyl donor, and the N-peptide served as an acyl acceptor.

Heteromeric assembled polypeptidic artificial hydrolases with a six-helical bundle scaffold.

Enzyme efficiency results from the cooperation of functional groups in the catalytic site. In order to mimic a natural enzyme, a definite 3D scaffold must be carefully designed so that the functional groups can work cooperatively. During the HIV-1 fusion process, the gp41 N- and C-terminal heptad repeat regions form a coiled-coil six-helical bundle (6HB) that brings the viral and target cell membranes into close proximity for fusion.