Publications by authors named "Zhi-wen Xu"

Article Synopsis
  • Pseudorabies virus (PRV) serves as a key model for studying α-herpesvirus, particularly its neurotropism and impact on piglets, including gastrointestinal complications leading to mortality.
  • A nasal drip PRV-infection mouse model identified that immunization with PRV XJ delgE/gI/TK effectively mitigated intestinal damage and influenced gene expression associated with key signaling pathways.
  • The findings suggest PRV may enhance its own infection via the ECM-ITGA/ITGB-p-FAK pathway, with potential for prevention through the specific immunization strategy.
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  • Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), caused by PEDV, has been affecting the swine industry in southwestern China, with a significant incidence noted in recent years.
  • A study collected 478 clinical samples from 125 pig farms, finding a 47.49% positivity rate for PEDV, and identified four genetic subgroups among the strains.
  • The research emphasizes the need for tailored vaccine development and ongoing surveillance to manage the evolving strains of PEDV and control outbreaks effectively.
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  • Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) are major health issues for pigs in Sichuan Province, leading to serious consequences for the swine industry, with high rates of infection and mortality in piglets.
  • A study analyzing 352 diarrheal piglet samples found a significant prevalence of both viruses, with PCV2 positive in 42.33% and PEDV in 50.28% of samples, while co-infections occurred in 27.56% of cases.
  • Seasonal trends showed PEDV infections peaked in winter, and genetic analysis revealed multiple strains of both viruses, indicating a need for improved surveillance and vaccine development to address the high mutation rates
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Unlabelled: Pseudorabies virus (PRV), a member of the alpha-herpesviruses, can infect both the nervous and reproductive systems of pigs, causing neonatal mortality and reproductive failure in sows, which incurs substantial economic losses. Neurotropism is a common characteristic of various viruses, allowing them to cross the blood-brain barrier and access the central nervous system. However, the precise mechanisms by which PRV affects the blood-brain barrier are not well understood.

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Porcine circovirus 4 (PCV4) was first identified in 2019, categorized within the genus in the family . To date, the virus has not been isolated from clinical samples. Meanwhile, many aspects of the biology and pathogenic mechanisms of PCV4 infection remain unknown.

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Pseudorabies viruses (PRV) pose a major threat to the global pig industry and public health. Rapid, intuitive, affordable, and accurate diagnostic testing is critical for controlling and eradicating infectious diseases. In this study, a portable detection platform based on RPA-CRISPR/EsCas13d was developed.

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Japanese encephalitis (JE), a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), poses a serious threat to global public health. The low viremia levels typical in JEV infections make RNA detection challenging, necessitating early and rapid diagnostic methods for effective control and prevention. This study introduces a novel one-pot detection method that combines recombinant enzyme polymerase isothermal amplification (RPA) with CRISPR/EsCas13d targeting, providing visual fluorescence and lateral flow assay (LFA) results.

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Background: Transanal endoscopic intersphincteric resection (ISR) surgery currently lacks sufficient clinical research and reporting.

Aim: To investigate the clinical effectiveness of transanal endoscopic ISR, in order to promote the clinical application and development of this technique.

Methods: This study utilized a retrospective case series design.

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Pseudorabies virus can cause inflammation in the central nervous system and neurological symptoms. To further investigate the protective mechanism of PRV XJ delgE/gI/TK in the central nervous system, an intracranial PRV-infection mice model was developed. The results demonstrated that immunization with PRV XJ delgE/gI/TK successfully prevented death caused by PRV-intracranial infection.

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Getah virus (GETV) is a mosquito-transmitted disease that affects animals, causing fever, aseptic meningitis, and abortion. Its prevalence in China poses risks to both animal health and public well-being. Currently, there is a scarcity of seroepidemiological data on GETV due to the absence of commercial antibody detection kits for pigs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Porcine circovirus type 4 (PCV4) has been identified in domestic pigs in China and Korea, prompting research into its potential impact on cats.
  • A study in Sichuan Province collected samples from 116 cats, finding PCV4 in 5 (4.31%) of them, marking the first molecular detection of this virus in cats globally.
  • The study revealed that a PCV4 strain from a cat showed high genetic similarity to strains found in other species, suggesting possible cross-species transmission, but further research is needed to link PCV4 to any clinical issues in cats.
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Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging discovered coronavirus that causes significant losses in the global swine industry. This study aimed to establish an indirect ELISA method for detecting PDCoV antibodies using the truncated gene of PDCoV spike protein (S). The purified S protein was used as the coating antigen for the polyclonal antibody.

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Porcine circovirus 4 (PCV4) was discovered in 2019 and then proved to be pathogenic to piglets. Nevertheless, few studies were currently available about PCV4 infection in species other than pigs and there is no information about the prevalence of PCV4 in dogs. To fill this gap, 264 dog samples were collected from animal hospitals in the Southwest of China from 2021 to 2022 and screened for PCV4.

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Article Synopsis
  • Porcine circovirus 4 (PCV4) was identified in 2019 and is harmful to piglets, but its prevalence in Southwest China was not previously known.
  • A study collected 374 samples from sick pigs between 2021-2022 and found a low positive rate of 1.34% for PCV4, detected in 2 out of 12 cities.
  • One PCV4 strain was sequenced, revealing it belonged to a new genotype (PCV4c) and showing a close relationship with other viral strains, providing new insights into the virus's evolution in this region.
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Seneca Valley virus (SVV), a non-enveloped positive single-stranded virus can cause vesicular disease in swine. However, the mechanisms by which SVV activates an innate immune response remain unknown. Mitofusin-2 (MFN2), a mitochondria-shaping protein regulating mitochondrial fusion and fission, plays a crucial role in innate immune responses.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) as a potential marker of malnutrition and its correlation with heart failure (HF) outcomes, despite existing debate on its reliability.
  • A meta-analysis of 14 studies with a total of 19,605 HF patients found that lower PNI levels are significantly linked to higher risks of all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs).
  • The findings suggest that PNI could be a valuable, easy-to-calculate indicator of patient prognosis in heart failure, where lower values indicate a worse outcome.
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Based on a variant strain, we constructed a gE/gI/TK-deleted pseudorabies virus (PRV). A total of 18 female mice were randomized to a vaccination group to receive PRV XJ delgE/gI/TK, a vehicle group to receive Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, and a mock group to confirm the protection of PRV delgE/gI/TK on the central nervous system in mice. Subsequently, the vaccination and vehicle groups were infected with PRV XJ.

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The ant-like bethylid ectoparasitoid Scleroderma guani (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) envenomates host to suppress immune response. Yet, the roles of its venom in inhibiting melanization of the host hemolymph have not been fully characterized. Here, we demonstrated that S.

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Superoxide dismutase (SOD) known as an important antioxidative stress protein has been recently found in venoms of several parasitoid wasps. However, its functions and characteristics as a virulent factor remain scarcely described. Here, we report the characterization of two venomous SOD genes (SguaSOD1 and SguaSOD3) from the ectoparasitoid, Scleroderma guani.

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The ability to sense and recognize various classes of compounds is of particular importance for survival and reproduction of insects. Ionotropic receptor (IR), a sub-family of the ionotropic glutamate receptor family, has been identified as one of crucial chemoreceptor super-families, which mediates the sensing of odors and/or tastants, and serves as non-chemosensory functions. Yet, little is known about IR characteristics, evolution, and functions in Lepidoptera.

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Venom is a prominently maternal virulent factor utilized by parasitoids to overcome hosts immune defense. With respect to roles of this toxic mixture involved in manipulating hosts immunity, great interest has been mostly restricted to Ichneumonoidea parasitoids associated with polydnavirus (PDV), of which venom is usually considered as a helper component to enhance the role of PDV, and limited Chalcidoidea species. In contrast, little information is available in other parasitoids, especially ectoparasitic species not carrying PDV.

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Despite substantial advances in uncovering constituents of parasitoid venoms due to their potential applications as insecticides and pharmaceuticals, most of these studies are primarily restricted to braconid and ichneumonid wasps. Little information is available regarding virulent factors from venom of Eulophidae. In order to provide insight into the venom components of this family and parasitoid venom evolution, a venom protein repertoire (venomics) of the endoparasitoid wasp, Tetrastichus brontispae was deciphered using a proteomic approach.

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Abnormally expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and genes have been found to play key roles in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. The aim of this paper was to assess inter-relationships and the regulatory mechanisms of ESCC through a network-based approach. We built three regulatory networks: an abnormally expressed network, a related network and a global network.

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Genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) have important roles in human oncology. However, most of the biological factors are reported in disperse form which makes it hard to discover the pathology. In this study, genes and miRNAs involved in human endometrial cancer(EC) were collected and formed into regulatory networks following their interactive relations, including miRNAs targeting genes, transcription factors (TFs) regulating miRNAs and miRNAs included in their host genes.

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Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules found in multicellular eukaryotes which are implicated in development of cancer, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Expression is controlled by transcription factors (TFs) that bind to specific DNA sequences, thereby controlling the flow (or transcription) of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA. Interactions result in biological signal control networks.

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