Comparison of current methods used to detect Cryptosporidium oocysts in stools

In this review all of the methods that are currently in use for the investigation of Cryptosporidium in stool material are highlighted and critically discussed. It appears that more qualifications and background knowledge in this field regarding the diagnosis of the Cryptosporidium parasite is required. Furthermore, there is no standardization for the protocols that are commonly used to either detect oocysts in faeces or to diagnose the Cryptosporidium infection. It is therefore necessary to initiate further education and research that will assist in improving the accuracy of the diagnosis of Cryptosporidium oocysts in the faecal micro-cosmos. Where ambient concentrations of oocysts are low in stool material, detection becomes a formidable task. Procedures for ring tests and the standardization of multi-laboratory testing are recommended. It is also necessary to enhance the routine surveillance capacity of cryptosporidiosis and to improve the safety against it, considering the fact that this disease is under diagnosed and under reported. This review is intended to stimulate research that could lead to future improvements and further developments in monitoring the diagnostic methodologies that will assist in harmonizing Cryptosporidium oocysts in stool diagnosis.     

Biomedical Applications of Lumazine Synthase

Lumazine synthase (LS) is a family of enzyme involved in the penultimate step in the biosynthesis of riboflavin. Its enzymatic mechanism has been well defined, and many LS structures have been solved using X-ray crystallography or cryoelectron microscopy. LS is composed of homooligomers, which vary in size and subunit number, including pentamers, decamers, and icosahedral sixty-mers, depending on its species of origin. Research on LS has expanded beyond the initial focus on its enzymatic function to properties related to its oligomeric structure and exceptional conformational stability. These attributes of LS systems have now been repurposed for use in various biomedical fields. This review primarily focuses on the applications of LS as a flexible vaccine presentation system. Presentation of antigens on the surface of LS results in a high local concentration of antigens displayed in an ordered array. Such repetitive structures enable the cross-linking of B-cell receptors and result in strong immune responses through an avidity effect. Potential issues with the use of this system and corresponding solutions are also discussed with the objective of improved utilization of the LS system in vaccine development.     

IgA antibodies against endomysium and transglutaminase: a comparison of methods

Recently, the endomysial antigen has been identified as the protein cross-linking enzyme known as tissue transglutaminase (tTG). Our objective was to compare a novel enzyme immunoassay (EIA) that detects IgA antibody against tTG to two standard IFA methods utilizing thin tissue sections of rat kidney/rat stomach (KS) and distal primate esophagus (PE) as substrates to detect IgA antibody against endomysium (EMA). Sera from 100 patients suspected of having gluten-sensitive enteropathy (GSE) and 23 sera possessing various antibodies used for EIA cross-reactivity studies were included. Additional tests, performed routinely in our laboratory, were utilized to further assess sera from patients suspected having GSE. These tests include anti-gliadin IgA antibody (AGA) and anti-reticulin IgA antibody (ARA) and are part of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPGAN) revised criteria for diagnosing GSE. When compared to IFA using KS, the tTG EIA had a sensitivity of 87.5%, was 97.1% specific, and had an overall agreement of 94.0%. When compared to IFA using PE, the tTG EIA had a sensitivity of 92.6%, was 93.2% specific, and had an overall agreement of 93.0%. When the KS IFA was compared to the PE IFA for EMA, the KS IFA had a sensitivity of 96.3%, was 91.8% specific, and had an overall agreement of 93.0%. The majority of sera that were positive for tTG but were negative by IFA (KS, n = 2/PE, n = 5) possessed IgA antibodies against gliadin and/or reticulin. Five of six sera with negative results by PE IFA were positive by the KS IFA and possessed one or more antibodies to tTG and/or gliadin and/or reticulin. We conclude that the tTG EIA compares well to both KS and PE IFAs when detecting IgA antibody against endomysium. We do not recommend the use of PE to detect EMA primarily because of the inconsistencies (i.e., tissue selection, quality, and preparation) and limited availability of commercially prepared PE tissue.     

Infectious bursal disease virus rescued efficiently with 3′ authentic RNA sequence induces humoral immunity without bursal atrophy

A reverse genetics infectious bursal disease virus (RG-IBDV) that contained authentic 3′ RNA sequence was characterized both in vitro and in vivo. LP1-IBDV, a cell line-adapted IBDV strain variant E (VE) was used as the parent virus for constructing viral cDNA clones. Authentic 3′ RNA sequence was generated by using cis-acting hepatitis delta virus ribozyme (HDR). The absence of HDR in the clones did not affect viral protein expression, but the obtained viral titers were reduced by 200-folds when compared to the clones with HDR sequence. RG-IBDV generated from clones with HDR sequence was similar to LP1-IBDV by plaque size, growth kinetics and electron microscopic morphology. RG-IBDV did not cause bursal atrophy in 3-week-old chickens at 3, 7 and 17 days post infection (DPI) and induced high ELISA and neutralizing antibody titers to IBDV at 7 and 17 DPI. The results indicated that RG-IBDV can be generated efficiently with an authentic 3′ RNA terminus and the obtained RG-IBDV is non-pathogenic and immunogenic with the potential as a vaccine strain that can be further genetically modified to broaden its application.     

The Brown Norway opticospinal model of demyelination: Does it mimic multiple sclerosis or neuromyelitis optica?

Opticospinal demyelinating diseases in humans are mostly characterized by the opticospinal form of multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Increasing attention has recently focused on astrocyte markers, aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in these diseases. We induced opticospinal demyelination in Brown Norway rats with soluble recombinant rat myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (1-116) and incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Clinical, MRI, neuropathological and immunological evaluations were performed, with a focus on AQP4 and GFAP. We confirmed the opticospinal phenotype, including extensive myelitis, but also showed the MRI-characterized involvement of the periventricular area. Expression levels of myelin, AQP4 and GFAP showed the early involvement of astrocytes before demyelination in the optic nerve. The overexpression of AQP4 was particularly pronounced in the spinal cord and was concomitant with demyelination and astrocyte apoptosis. The disability scores were correlated with demyelination and inflammation but not with AQP4/GFAP expression. No antibodies against the linear and conformational epitopes of AQP4 were detected. Whereas a NMO-like phenotype was observed in this model, the AQP4/GFAP expression during the disease process was more closely related to opticospinal MS than NMO. However, this model raises the question of a continuum between opticospinal MS and the seronegative NMO subtype.     

Identification and characterization of a monoclonal antibody recognizing the linear epitope RVADVI on VP1 protein of enterovirus 71

Several large outbreaks of hand–foot–mouth disease (HFMD) have occurred in the Asian‐Pacific region since 1997, with Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and/or Coxsackievirus A16 (CAV16) as the main causative agents. Despite the close genetic relationship between the two viruses, only EV71 is associated with severe clinical manifestations and deaths. Effective antiviral treatment and vaccines are not available. High‐quality monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are necessary to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of EV71. In this study, a mAb (designated 1D9) was generated using EV71 C5 strain virus particles as immunogens. Examined by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and Western blotting, 1D9 detected successfully all 11 subgenotypes of EV71 and showed no cross‐reactivity to the four selected subgenogroups of Coxsackieviruses CAV4, CAV6, CAV10, and CAV16. A linear motif, R₃VADVI₈, which is located at the N‐terminus of the EV71 VP1 protein, was identified as the minimal binding region of 1D9. Alignment and comparison of the 1D9‐defined epitope sequence against the listed sequences in the NCBI EV71 database indicated that this epitope R₃VADVI₈ was highly conserved among EV71 strains, while no significant similarity was observed when blasted against the Coxsackieviruses. This suggests that the mAb 1D9 may be useful for the development of a cost‐effective and accurate method for surveillance and early differentiation of EV71 from CAV16 infection. J. Med. Virol. 84:1620–1627, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Nano‐particle vaccination combined with TLR‐7 and ‐9 ligands triggers memory and effector CD8+ T‐cell responses in melanoma patients

Optimal vaccine strategies must be identified for improving T‐cell vaccination against infectious and malignant diseases. MelQbG10 is a virus‐like nano‐particle loaded with A‐type CpG‐oligonucleotides (CpG‐ODN) and coupled to peptide_16–35 derived from Melan‐A/MART‐1. In this phase IIa clinical study, four groups of stage III‐IV melanoma patients were vaccinated with MelQbG10, given (i) with IFA (Montanide) s.c.; (ii) with IFA s.c. and topical Imiquimod; (iii) i.d. with topical Imiquimod; or (iv) as intralymph node injection. In total, 16/21 (76%) patients generated ex vivo detectable Melan‐A/MART‐1‐specific T‐cell responses. T‐cell frequencies were significantly higher when IFA was used as adjuvant, resulting in detectable T‐cell responses in all (11/11) patients, with predominant generation of effector‐memory‐phenotype cells. In turn, Imiquimod induced higher proportions of central‐memory‐phenotype cells and increased percentages of CD127⁺ (IL‐7R) T cells. Direct injection of MelQbG10 into lymph nodes resulted in lower T‐cell frequencies, associated with lower proportions of memory and effector‐phenotype T cells. Swelling of vaccine site draining lymph nodes, and increased glucose uptake at PET/CT was observed in 13/15 (87%) of evaluable patients, reflecting vaccine triggered immune reactions in lymph nodes. We conclude that the simultaneous use of both Imiquimod and CpG‐ODN induced combined memory and effector CD8⁺ T‐cell responses.     

小鼠腺病毒检验方法例析

目的用IFA、ELISA及EIA三种小鼠的腺病毒检测方式进行实验研究,观察其各自的特异性与敏感性。方法进行IFA、ELISA及EIA三种小鼠腺病毒检测方法,完成检测的操作及抗原的制备,并比较各自的实验数据等。结果在感染一周之后,IFA达到7／10,ELISA的阳性率为三者之最达到8／10,EIA为6／10,三种实验结果的比对没有统计学的意义,其中P〉0．05。结论对于小鼠腺病毒的检测比较,ELISA由于其高敏感性、强特异性及很好的重复性,最适宜实验进行。     

Identification of two novel membrane proteins from the Tiger frog virus (TFV)

The Tiger frog virus (TFV) belongs to the genus Ranavirus in the family Iridoviridae, and its genome was completely sequenced in 2002. In order to better understand the viral structure and functional genes involved in infection and virus-host interactions, two candidate genes, ORF001L and ORF020R, were selected for our study. ORF001L and ORF020R were analyzed by genomic comparison and by using the TMHMM software. Both genes were conserved in the genus Ranavirus, may encode putative membrane proteins, and were determined as late genes by temporal analysis. In order to identify whether these two proteins were structural proteins or not, ORF001L and ORF020R were cloned and expressed in the pET32a (+) vector. Antisera against the two proteins were prepared by immunization of mice with purified proteins. Western blot analysis suggested that both ORF001L and ORF020R were structural proteins. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) revealed that the subcellular location of the two proteins was confined to the cytoplasm, especially at the viral assembly site (AS). Immunogold electron microscopy (IEM) further localized these two proteins, showing that they were envelope proteins.