Functions of AAV-CMV-F.IX And AAV-EF1alpha-F.IX in gene therapy for hemophilia B

There has been substantial progress in using gene therapy to treat animals with hemophilia. Adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene transfer of coagulation factor IX to skeletal muscle and liver of murine and canine models of hemophilia has resulted in sustained systemic expression and, in several studies, in complete cure of the bleeding disorder. Two AAV vectors widely used at present are AAV-CMV-F.IX and AAV-EF1alpha-F.IX. This work compares the predicted molecular functions of AAV-CMV-F.IX and AAV-EF1alpha -F.IX by sequence docking and gene ontology. It is shown that both AAV-CMV-F.IX and AAV-EF1alpha -F.IX induce coagulation factor IXa activity; however, AAV-CMV-F.IX administration also yields coagulation factor XIa activity and AAV-EF1alpha -F.IX treatment results in coagulation factor Xa activity. Therefore, AAV-CMV-F.IX might be useful for factor XI deficiency. AAV-CMV-F.IX has several additional molecular functions and processes compared with AAV-CMV-F.IX.     

A field survey of iodine supplementation of primary school children and their parents in a rural village in the endemic area of iodine deficiency disorder, northeastern Thailand

Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is an important health problem in Thailand. Due to the geographical limitation of marine salt distribution, the Northern and Northeastern regions of Thailand are endemic areas of this disorder. In this study, a cross-sectional survey on the domestic use of iodine-enriched salt by the people in a rural village, Non Sam Ran, Borabue district, Mahasarakarm province in the northeastern region of Thailand was conducted. A salt survey was undertaken in the village, involving the specific health knowledge of both primary school students and their parents, and including a home visit with kitchen salt sampling. As a result of this survey, despite the smallness of the sample, concern is raised regarding the application of public health information about IDD due to a taste preference for non-iodised salt, and the quality control of the manufacture of iodine-fortified salt.     

Predicted epitopes of Lig A of Leptospira interrogans by bioinformatics method: a clue for further vaccine development

Leptospirosis is an important tropical infection. Providing sufficient antibiotic drugs and development and approval of new vaccines are the control of the possible emerging pandemic of this pathogen. For Leptospira interrogans, leptospiral Ig-like A (LigA) LigA may have value in serodiagnosis or as a protective immunogen in novel vaccines. Here, the author reports the preliminary data from the computation analysis of Lig A to find potential T-cell epitopes using a new bioinformatics tool. Among all alleles, the results from A0203, A0301 and DRB0101 show significant lower IC50 than other alleles. The 307FCISIFLSM315 corresponding to DRB0101 allele is the peptide with the best binding affinity. The determined peptides are useful for further vaccine development because it can reduce the time and minimize the total number of required tests to find the possible proper epitopes, the target for vaccine development.     

MicroRNA from tuberculosis RNA: A bioinformatics study

The role of microRNA in the pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis is the interesting topic in chest medicine at present. Recently, it was proposed that the microRNA can be a useful biomarker for monitoring of pulmonary tuberculosis and might be the important part in pathogenesis of disease. Here, the authors perform a bioinformatics study to assess the microRNA within known tuberculosis RNA. The microRNA part can be detected and this can be important key information in further study of the pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis.