ASPCR检测微量HIV-1 K103N耐药突变方法的建立

目的 建立检测微量HIV-1 K103N耐药突变的等位基因特异扩增实时定量PCR(allele-specific real-time PCR,ASPCR)方法,用于微量K103N耐药突变的检测和分析.方法 首先建立检测K103N耐药突变的ASPCR方法,然后对方法进行验证,最后采用ASPCR方法检测对照样本.构建含K103N突变的质粒作为标准品,然后设计特异性引物用以区分野生型和突变型模板,采用SYBR green法进行实时定量PCR,并绘制标准曲线.分别采用特异性和非特异性引物扩增模板,根据二者Ct(cycle threshold)值结合相应的标准曲线判断是否存在K103N突变及突变比例.对ASPCR检测K103N突变位点的特异性、敏感性、准确性、重复性等进行验证.结果 特异性和非特异性引物扩增等量野生型模板的Ct值之差(△Ct)可达13.56;当突变比例小于0.1%时仍具有良好的准确性;批内变异系数小于0.7,批间变异系数小于1.6;检测灵敏度可达0.01%.检测阴性对照样本的△Ct显著高于临界值,阳性对照样本检测结果均为刚性.结论 ASPCR是一种快速、灵敏、准确的检测HIV-1微量耐药突变的方法,可为临床抗病毒治疗提供理论指导.     

Molecular characterization of hemoglobin C in Thailand

We describe hematologic and DNA characterization of 12 hemoglobin C heterozygotes and three compound heterozygotes for hemoglobin C and hemoglobin E found in Thailand. Amplification and DNA analysis of genomic DNA by the polymerase chain reaction procedure permitted the identification of the beta(C) mutation at codon 6 of beta-globin gene (beta 6; GAG-AAG). beta-Globin gene haplotype analysis demonstrated that all beta(C) globin genes detected in these Thai individuals were associated with the haplotype (+ - - - - - +), indicating a non-African origin of this abnormal hemoglobin in Thailand. On routine hemoglobin typing, hemoglobin C is usually mistakenly identified as hemoglobin E because of theirs similar mobilities on cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The simple DNA assay for hemoglobin C based on an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction for accurate diagnosis of hemoglobin C was therefore developed.     

河南某农村艾滋病患者劣势耐药毒株的进化及原发耐药研究

目的 了解河南省部分艾滋病患者抗病毒治疗效果及耐药发生情况,分析劣势耐药毒株在该人群本底存在情况.方法 以河南某农村149名初始接受抗病毒治疗的艾滋病患者为研究埘象,采用自建(In-house)基因型耐药检测方法分析抗病毒治疗失败患者HIV-1耐药发生情况,对抗病毒治疗后产生耐药的病例采用等位基因特异性实时定量PCR(allele-specific real-time PCR,ASPCR)方法检测其抗病毒治疗前样本劣势耐药毒株存在情况.结果 抗病毒治疗后患者的HIV-1病毒载量显著下降(t=275,P＝0.0001),但CD4+T淋巴细胞绝对数无明显变化(t＝1.765 168,P=0.0852).抗病毒治疗失败患者中耐药的发生率为4.88%,ASPCR检测发现,在调查基线时,7例耐药患者伞部存在劣势M184V突变,5例存在劣势K103N突变.结论 河南省部分未治疗的艾滋病患者存在HIV-1原发性耐药毒株,劣势耐药突变可能发展为优势耐药毒株并影响抗病毒治疗的效果.

Abstract：

Objective To evaluate the antiretroviral therapy(ART),analyze the prevalence of resistance in rural areas,Henan,and explore the presence of minor resistant variants in pre-ART.Methods One hundred and forty-nine AIDS patients initiating ART were recruited and investigated at intervals of 6 months. Method of In-house developed by our laboratory for genotypjc resistance test was to analyze the occurrence of resistance among the failure of ART,and the allele-specific real.time PCR(ASPCR)was used to detect the minor resistant variants at the baseline samples once the resistance occurred.Results Vimlload significantly decreased among the patients who received ART(t=275,P=0.0001),but the absolute counts of CD4+T lymphocytes had no significant change(t=1.765 168,P=0.0852).Rate of resistance among the patients of treatment failure was 4.88%.The result of ASPCR in the survey of baseline showed that the minor resistant variants of M184V were detected in 7 patients and mutation K103N presented in 5 patients.Conclusion The primary drug-resistant straias in the untreated patients were found in Henan,and they might develop the dominant resistance strains and bring about the failure of ART.     

Prevalence of pfcrt mutations in Congolese and Malawian Plasmodium falciparum isolates as determined by a new Taqman assay

A real-time PCR assay was developed to detect the K76T point mutation in the Plasmodium falciparum putative chloroquine resistance transporter gene. The assay was used with malaria positive clinical isolates from Rutshuru in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and from Malawi. The K76T mutation was found in 52/56 (93%) clinical isolates from the DRC, where chloroquine resistance is high, but in none of the 12 isolates tested from Malawi where chloroquine is now rarely used. Sixteen percent of specimens from the DRC had detectable levels of both wild-type and mutant alleles. The real-time PCR results were compared to results from a nested allele-specific PCR assay and from direct DNA sequencing. Using allele-specific PCR as the reference method, the new assay is 100% sensitive and specific towards the mutant allele. In addition to its low per-test cost, the new assay is fast, easily automated, sensitive and well-suited to large-scale epidemiological studies.     

Dysregulated DNA methylation of GLA gene was associated with dysfunction of autophagy

Lysosomes are an essential organ for cellular metabolism and play an important role in autophagy. We examined the association between methylation and autophagy in a severely affected female patient with Fabry disease, which is caused by mutation of the GLA gene on the X chromosome, and her two sisters, who had few symptoms. We confirmed autophagic flux by LC3 turnover assay using fibroblasts from each sister. In the severe female patient, autophagic flux showed abnormal while her two sisters with few symptoms had normal autophagic flux, revealing the direct relationship between symptoms and autophagic flux. Furthermore, we observed the levels of p62, which is a substrate for autophagy, and lysosome morphology. In the severe patient of this family, lysosomes were enlarged and p62 was accumulated. The methylated allele of the GLA gene in the severe patient had a high proportion of wild alleles; conversely, the sisters' methylated allele had a high proportion of mutant alleles. Therefore, we examined the mRNA expression level of the mutant allele by allele-specific PCR. It was high in the severe patient and low in the siblings with few symptoms. That is, the correlation between the mRNA expression level of the mutant allele and disease severity was confirmed. We showed a correlation between severe symptoms, dysfunction of autophagy and methylation of wild alleles in Fabry disease. It was suggested that allele-specific PCR may lead to a diagnosis and help to determine the prognosis of female patients with Fabry disease.     

Spatial distribution and r-DNA second internal transcribed spacer characterization of Anopheles dirus (Diptera: Culicidae) complex species in north-east India

The identity and distribution of the prevalent member species of the Anopheles dirus complex mosquitoes in the north-eastern region of India was investigated in a cross-sectional study. We altogether collected 267 individuals of An. dirus s.l. from 27 forested/forest fringed locations spread across the seven north-eastern states, identified the species using a ribosomal DNA (r-DNA) second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) based allele specific polymerase chain reaction (ASPCR) method and sequenced the ITS2 locus in a sub set of mosquitoes. An. baimaii was identified as the main, almost exclusive (266/267), species of the Dirus complex throughout the north-east India with no intraspecific variation in the 479 base pair long ITS2 sequences in 59 of the 60 individuals sequenced. Ribosomal DNA of one individual from Assam state did not amplify in the ASPCR, possessed 786 base pair long ITS2 sequence and showed 99.7% similarity with the sequence of An. dirus species D (An. baimaii) from Yunnan province of China, later referred to as species X of the Dirus complex. These observations suggest the presence of another, possibly the new, species of the Dirus complex, sympatric with An. baimaii, in Assam warranting investigations on its distribution, biology and role in human malaria transmission in north-east India.