Development and characterisation of neutralising monoclonal antibody to the SARS-coronavirus

There is a global need to elucidate protective antigens expressed by the SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Monoclonal antibody reagents that recognise specific antigens on SARS-CoV are needed urgently. In this report, the development and immunochemical characterisation of a panel of murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the SARS-CoV is presented, based upon their specificity, binding requirements, and biological activity. Initial screening by ELISA, using highly purified virus as the coating antigen, resulted in the selection of 103 mAbs to the SARS virus. Subsequent screening steps reduced this panel to seventeen IgG mAbs. A single mAb, F26G15, is specific for the nucleoprotein as seen in Western immunoblot while five other mAbs react with the Spike protein. Two of these Spike-specific mAbs demonstrate the ability to neutralise SARS-CoV in vitro while another four Western immunoblot-negative mAbs also neutralise the virus. The utility of these mAbs for diagnostic development is demonstrated. Antibody from convalescent SARS patients, but not normal human serum, is also shown to specifically compete off binding of mAbs to whole SARS-CoV. These studies highlight the importance of using standardised assays and reagents. These mAbs will be useful for the development of diagnostic tests, studies of SARS-CoV pathogenesis and vaccine development.     

基于椭圆方程的三维心脏超声图像的位移场估计

三维超声心动图技术能使医生直观地看到心脏整体和各部分的运动，在临床得到重视。在三维超声心动图技术中，如何定量的描述心脏中某个组织的运动状况极具临床意义。本研究提出了一种基于椭圆偏微分方程的二尖瓣三维运动估计方法。该方法直接在三维超声图像的位移场上进行了运动估计，避免了传统运动估计方法，如光流法，需要标定的缺点。本研究首先建立一个二次误差指标函数，然后利用变分法导出了三维空间下的一组椭圆型偏微分方程。这类方程有着比较成熟的数值解法，利用了有限差分法，对多个三维超声数据立方体进行了计算，结果证明这类方法是有效的。     

多发性骨髓瘤患者血清IL-6活性与急性相蛋白浓度的相关性研究

运用敏感的B_9细胞增殖试验检测了81例多发性骨髓瘤(MM)患者血清IL-6活性,同时分析了标本的几种急性相蛋白含量,结果表明,68％MM患者血清中IL-6活性大于5μ/ml(正常对照为5μ/ml以下),几种急性相蛋白中C-反应性蛋白(CRP)在MM时升高(P<0.01),平均达正常对照组的17倍以上,MM患者补体C_4与正常对照组无差异(p>0.05),C_3、白蛋白及转铁蛋白在MM时分别比正常下降24.42％、38.83％和32.80％,且与疾病分期有关,在血清IL-6大于5μ/ml的55例中,IL-6活性与CRP、C_3、白蛋白的相关系数分别为0.46,-0.34和-0.29,IL-6与转铁蛋白浓度相关不明显。本文结果提示:CRP、C_3及白蛋白等含量的变化可作为反映MM病情的简易而敏感的指标。     

Favorably tipping the balance between cytopathic and regulatory T cells to create transplantation tolerance

Therapeutic application of broadly reactive anti-T cell antibodies can lead not only to potent immunosuppression but also to profound and long-lived T cell depletion. We reasoned that a strategy that almost exclusively targets activated cytopathic donor reactive T cells and spares immunoregulatory networks might prove to be an exceptionally potent and highly selective means of producing long-term engraftment and tolerance. Herein we show that the combined administration of rapamycin and agonist IL-2- and antagonist IL-15-related cytolytic fusion proteins provides for long-term engraftment/tolerance in exceptionally stringent allotransplant models by (1) limiting the early expansion of activated T cells, (2) preserving and even exaggerating their subsequent apoptotic clearance, and (3) further amplifying the depletion of these activated T cells by antibody-dependent mechanisms, while (4) preserving CD4+CD25+ T cell-dependent immunoregulatory networks.     

Fas蛋白在糖尿病大鼠局灶性脑缺血再灌注损伤后海马区的表达及意义

目的探讨Fas蛋白在糖尿病大鼠脑缺血再灌注海马区神经元损伤中的表达及意义。方法健康雄性Wister大鼠60只,随机分为4组:①正常对照组,②假手术组,③脑缺血再灌注组(NIR),④糖尿病脑缺血再灌注组(DIR组);采用STZ诱导糖尿病和线栓法建立大脑中动脉闭塞(MCAO)模型,HE法观察海马CA1神经元缺失,用免疫组化方法检测Fas在糖尿病大鼠脑缺血再灌注海马神经元损伤中的表达。结果HE染色:正常对照与假手术组未见神经元缺失和细胞凋亡,DIR组与脑缺血再灌注组均见神经元缺失和神经细胞凋亡,而DIR组比脑缺血再灌注组神经元缺失严重(P<0.05)。正常对照与假手术组极少见Fas免疫染色阳性细胞,DIR组与脑缺血再灌注组明显见Fas免疫染色阳性细胞,且DIR组比脑缺血再灌注组多(P<0.05)。结论Fas介导的细胞凋亡可能是糖尿病脑缺血再灌注损伤后海马区神经元损伤的机制之一。     

低营养及低氧状态下NIH3T3细胞增殖及细胞周期的变化及对bFGF的影响

目的： 体外模拟慢性创面缺氧、低营养环境，观察成纤维细胞在该状态下增殖及细胞周期的变化及对外源性生长因子（bFGF）的反应,探讨低氧、低营养条件下成纤维细胞的病理生理变化。方法: 单纯缺氧环境采用厌氧培养箱，通入混合气，氧分压（PO₂）分为27 mmHg和44 mmHg 2个水平；低营养环境则控制培养液新生牛血清（NCS）浓度。用MTT法检测细胞活性以及其对外源性生长因子的反应，用流式细胞仪检测细胞周期。结果: PO₂ 44 mmHg时细胞增殖速度较同期对照组无明显差异；PO₂ 27 mmHg时，细胞增殖速度较同期对照组明显减慢（P<0.01），细胞被阻滞于G₀期，S期细胞比例明显减少，bFGF未显示促增殖作用。NCS浓度为0.5%的低营养状态下细胞增殖速度较同期对照组明显减慢（P<0.01），细胞被阻滞于G₀-G₁期（P<0.01）；bFGF能明显改善低营养状态下的增殖减慢（P<0.01），使G₂-M期细胞比例增加（P<0.05）。结论: 27 mmHg PO₂或NCS浓度为0.5%的低营养环境使细胞阻滞于G₀-G₁期，影响成纤维细胞增殖；bFGF可以改善低营养条件下细胞增殖减慢的状态，但对极度缺氧条件下的成纤维细胞增殖障碍无明显作用。     

Antitumor immune response by CX3CL1 fractalkine gene transfer depends on both NK and T cells

The CX3C chemokine fractalkine (CX3CL1) exists as both a membrane-bound form promoting firm cell-cell adhesion and a soluble form chemoattracting leukocytes expressing its receptor CX3CR1. When adenoviral vector expressing mouse fractalkine (AdFKN) was transduced to the tumor cells, fractalkine was expressed as both membrane-bound form on the tumor cells and soluble form in the supernatant in vitro. Intratumoral injection of AdFKN (1 x 10(9)PFU/tumor) into C26 and B16F10 tumors resulted in marked reduction of tumor growth compared to control (C26: 86.5%, p<0.001; B16F10: 85.5%, p<0.001). Histological examination of tumor tissues revealed abundant infiltration of NK cells, dendritic cells, and CD8(+) T lymphocytes 3 and/or 6 days after treatment with AdFKN. Splenocytes from mice treated by AdFKN developed tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells, and thereby protected from rechallenging with parental tumor cells. Antitumor effects by AdFKN were completely abrogated in both NK cell-depleted mice and CD8(-/-) mice, and partially blocked in CD4(-/-) mice. These data indicated that fractalkine mediates antitumor effects by both NK cell-dependent and T cell-dependent mechanisms. This study suggests that fractalkine can be a suitable candidate for immunogene therapy of cancer because fractalkine induces both innate and adaptive immunity.     

Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus elicit differential innate immune responses following intramammary infection

Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are among the most prevalent species of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, respectively, that induce clinical mastitis. The innate immune system comprises the immediate host defense mechanisms to protect against infection and contributes to the initial detection of and proinflammatory response to infectious pathogens. The objective of the present study was to characterize the different innate immune responses to experimental intramammary infection with E. coli and S. aureus during clinical mastitis. The cytokine response and changes in the levels of soluble CD14 (sCD14) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), two proteins that contribute to host recognition of bacterial cell wall products, were studied. Intramammary infection with either E. coli or S. aureus elicited systemic changes, including decreased milk output, a febrile response, and induction of the acute-phase synthesis of LBP. Infection with either bacterium resulted in increased levels of interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), gamma interferon, IL-12, sCD14, and LBP in milk. High levels of the complement cleavage product C5a and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were detected at several time points following E. coli infection, whereas S. aureus infection elicited a slight but detectable increase in these mediators at a single time point. Increases in IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha were observed only in quarters infected with E. coli. Together, these data demonstrate the variability of the host innate immune response to E. coli and S. aureus and suggest that the limited cytokine response to S. aureus may contribute to the well-known ability of the bacterium to establish chronic intramammary infection.     

The study of tuberculosis outbreak in a high school—Shanghai,China, 2017–2018

Journal of Public Health - To investigate the attack rate of active tuberculosis (TB) cases and detection rate of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) cases, and to identify possible factors...