Features of Ebola Virus Disease at the Late Outbreak Stage in Sierra Leone: Clinical, Virological, Immunological, and Evolutionary Analyses.

We performed Ebola virus disease diagnosis and viral load estimation for Ebola cases in Sierra Leone during the late stage of the 2014-2015 outbreak (January-March 2015) and analyzed antibody and cytokine levels and the viral genome sequences. Ebola virus disease was confirmed in 86 of 1001 (9.7%) patients, with an overall case fatality rate of 46.

Genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.

A novel Ebola virus (EBOV) first identified in March 2014 has infected more than 25,000 people in West Africa, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths. Preliminary analyses of genome sequences of 81 EBOV collected from March to June 2014 from Guinea and Sierra Leone suggest that the 2014 EBOV originated from an independent transmission event from its natural reservoir followed by sustained human-to-human infections. It has been reported that the EBOV genome variation might have an effect on the efficacy of sequence-based virus detection and candidate therapeutics.

[Utility of high throughput sequencing technology in analyzing the terminal sequence of caudovirales bacteriophage genome].

To confirm the hypothesis that the high frequency sequences of high throughput sequencing are the terminal sequences of the bacteriophage genome. An adaptor of specific sequence was linked to the end of the bacteriophage T3 genomic DNA, which was then subject to high throughput sequencing; as a control, the same T3 genomic DNA without adaptor was also analyzed by high throughput sequencing. The sequencing results were examined with bioinformatics software.

Close relationship between the 2009 H1N1 virus and South Dakota AIV strains.

Although previous publications suggest the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus was reassorted from swine viruses of North America and Eurasia, the immediate ancestry still remains elusive due to the big evolutionary distance between the 2009 H1N1 virus and the previously isolated strains. Since the unveiling of the 2009 H1N1 influenza, great deal of interest has been drawn to influenza, consequently a large number of influenza virus sequences have been deposited into the public sequence databases. Blast analysis demonstrated that the recently submitted 2007 South Dakota avian influenza virus strains and other North American avian strains contained genetic segments very closely related to the 2009 H1N1 virus, which suggests these avian influenza viruses are very close relatives of the 2009 H1N1 virus.

[Construction of HCV-producing cell model based on self-cleaving ribozyme].

Objectives: To construct a stable HCV-producing cell model for anti-HCV drug research.

Methods: The HCV-ribozyme recombinant plasmid pJFH1-Rbz was constructed to generate the exact 5' and 3' ends of HCV genomic RNA by placing two self-cleaving ribozymes at both ends of the HCV JFH-1 cDNA. The plasmid was then transfected into HepG2 cells and the resultant clones were screened with G418.

[Construction of the nucleic vaccine pVVP3L-18HN and its antitumor effect on human laryngeal carcinoma].

Objective: Nucleic vaccine of pVVP3IL-18HN expressing apoptin gene, Newcastle disease virus HN gene and IL-18 gene were constructed to observe the combinative antitumor effect of the above three genes.

Methods: Eukaryotic expression plasmid pVVP3IL-18HN was constructed by inserting apoptin gene and fragment comprising fused IL-18HN gene and IRES promoter into the downstream of CMV promoter of vector pVAX1. The expression of inserted gene was identified by RT-PCR, indirect immunofluorescence and Western-blot.

[Induction of apoptosis in human hepatoma cell line SMMC7721 by Newcastle disease virus HN gene].

Objective: To investigate the mechanisms of apoptosis induced in human hepatoma cell line SMMC7721 by plasmid pVHN constructed with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) HN gene.

Methods: Twenty-four h after transfection with liposome-plasmid pVHN complexes in vitro, the mortality rate of SMMC7721 cells was determined by MTT staining and flow cytometry (FCM) with PI staining. The alteration of mitochondrial trans-membrane potential of the cells was detected by FCM with rhodamine 123 staining.

[Antitumor research on mouse melanoma with combined application of Newcastle disease virus and its HN gene].

Background & Objective: Although Newcastle disease virus (NDV) shows antitumor effect on many tumors, its mechanism is unclear. Hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) gene was found to play an important role in NDV antitumor effect and HN protein located on tumor cell surface. This research was to evaluate the possibility of HN protein as a foreign antigen of tumor cell and the antitumor effect of the combined application of HN gene and NDV.