Alpha-enolase (ENO1), also known as 2-phospho-D-glycerate hydrolase, is a metalloenzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 2-phosphoglyceric acid to phosphoenolpyruvic acid in the glycolytic pathway. It is a multifunctional glycolytic enzyme involved in cellular stress, bacterial and fungal infections, autoantigen activities, the occurrence and metastasis of cancer, parasitic infections, and the growth, development and reproduction of organisms. This article mainly reviews the basic characteristics and biological functions of ENO1.

T helper 17(Th17) cell is a new subset of CD4+ T cells that produce a proinflammatory cytokine interleukin‐17 (IL‐17). Th17 cells have recently been shown to play a critical role in many autoimmune diseases that had previously been thought to be Th1 dominant. Although Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) was thought to be a Th1‐type disease, the contributions of Th17 cells to the pathogenesis remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression levels of Th1/Th17 cell‐associated factors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and plasma from patients with HT by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our results showed that the expression levels of Th1 cells‐related T‐bet and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) mRNA in PBMC from HT significantly decreased. However, the mRNA of Th17 coherent retinoic acid‐related orphan nuclear receptor gamma t (RORγt) and IL‐17 in patients with HT increased. In addition, a negative correlation between T‐bet and RORγt mRNA expression was found in patients with HT, and the similar phenomena also appeared on the levels of mRNA and plasma concentration between IFN‐γ and IL‐17. It suggested that Th17 cells rather than Th1 cells predominated among patients suffering from HT, and Th17 cells might be involved in the pathogenesis of HT.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal infectious disease of wild and domestic cats, and the occurrence of FIP is frequently reported in China. To trace the evolution of type I and II feline coronavirus in China, 115 samples of ascetic fluid from FIP‐suspected cats and 54 fecal samples from clinically healthy cats were collected from veterinary hospitals in China. The presence of FCoV in the samples was detected by RT‐PCR targeting the 6b gene. The results revealed that a total of 126 (74.6%, 126/169) samples were positive for FCoV: 75.7% (87/115) of the FIP‐suspected samples were positive for FCoV, and 72.2% (39/54) of the clinically healthy samples were positive for FCoV. Of the 126 FCoV‐positive samples, 95 partial S genes were successfully sequenced. The partial S gene‐based genotyping indicated that type I FCoV and type II FCoV accounted for 95.8% (91/95) and 4.2% (4/95), respectively. The partial S gene‐based phylogenetic analyses showed that the 91 type I FCoV strains exhibited genetic diversity; the four type II FCoV strains exhibited a close relationship with type II FCoV strains from Taiwan. Three type I FCoV strains, HLJ/HRB/2016/10, HLJ/HRB/2016/11 and HLJ/HRB/2016/13, formed one potential new clade in the nearly complete genome‐based phylogenetic trees. Further analysis revealed that FCoV infection appeared to be significantly correlated with a multi‐cat environment (p < 0.01) and with age (p < 0.01). The S gene of the three type I FCoV strains identified in China, BJ/2017/27, BJ/2018/22 and XM/2018/04, exhibited a six nucleotide deletion (C4035AGCTC4040). Our data provide evidence that type I and type II FCoV strains co‐circulate in the FIP‐affected cats in China. Type I FCoV strains exhibited high prevalence and genetic diversity in both FIP‐affected cats and clinically healthy cats, and a multi‐cat environment and age (<6 months) were significantly associated with FCoV infection.

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) is an emerging and re-emerging epizootic virus of swine that causes substantial economic losses to the pig industry in China and other countries. The variations in the virus, and its co-infections with other enteric viruses, have contributed to the poor control of PEDV infection. In the current study, a broad epidemiological investigation of PEDV was carried out in 22 provinces or municipalities of China during 2015-2018. The enteric viruses causing co-infection with PEDV and the genetic diversity of the PEDV S1 gene were also analysed.The results indicated that, of the 543 diarrhoea samples, 66.85% (363/543) were positive for PEDV, and co-infection rates of PEDV with 13 enteric viruses ranged from 3.58% (13/363) to 81.55% (296/363). Among these enteric viruses, the signs of diarrhoea induced by PEDV were potentially associated with co-infections with porcine enterovirus 9/10 (PEV) and torque teno sus virus 2 (TTSuV-2) (p < .05). The 147 PEDV strains identified in our study belong to Chinese pandemic strains and exhibited genetic diversity. The virulence-determining S1 proteins of PEDV pandemic strains were undergoing amino acid mutations, in which S58_S58insQGVN-N135dup-D158_I159del-like mutations were common patterns (97.28%, 143/147).When compared with 2011-2014 PEDV strains, the amino acid mutations of PEDV pandemic strains were mainly located in the N-terminal domain of S1 (S1-NTD), and 21 novel mutations occurred in 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, protein homology modelling showed that the mutations in pattern of insertion and deletion mutations of the S1 protein of PEDV pandemic strains may have caused structural changes on the surface of the S1 protein. These data provide a better understanding of the coinfection and genetic evolution of PEDV in China. K E Y W O R D Sco-infection, mutation, PEDV, S1 gene

Taken together, our data reveal that up-regulation of LOXL4 expression is a frequent event in GC progression, contributes to tumor cell proliferation and metastasis, and LOXL4 may be a potential independent prognostic marker and therapeutic target for GC.

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In an effort to trace the evolution of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), S1 and ORF3 genes of viruses identified in 41 pig farms from seven regions (North, Northeast, Northwest, Central, East, South West, and South, respectively) of China in 2015 were sequenced and analyzed. Sequence analysis revealed that the 41 ORF3 genes and 29 S1 genes identified in our study exhibited nucleotide homologies of 98.2%–100% and 96.6%–100%, respectively; these two genes exhibited low nucleotide sequence similarities with classical CV777 strain and early Chinese strain LZC. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the identified PEDV strains belonged to global non S-INDEL strains, and exhibited genetic diversity; S1 gene of the HLJ2015/DP1-1 strain harbored an unique deletion of 12 nucleotides (A1130CAACTCCACTG1141); while the Chinese PEDV S-INDEL reference strains included two types of the “CV777” S-INDEL as well as the “US” S-INDEL, and all co-circulated with Chinese non S-INDEL strains. Of 29 identified S1 genes, the SS2 epitope (Y748SNIGVCK755) was highly conserved, while the SS6 epitope (L764QDGQVKI771) and pAPN receptor-binding region (aa 490–615) exhibited amino substitutions. Nine possible recombination events were identified between the 29 identifed S1 genes and the 3 S1 reference genes from early Chinese PEDV strains. The complete S genes of selected Chinese PEDV field strains (2011–2015) showed 5.18%–6.07% nucleotide divergence, which is far higher than the divergence observed in early Chinese PEDV strains (3.1%) (P<0.05). Our data provide evidence that PEDV non S-INDEL strains with genetic diversities and potential recombination circulate in seven regions of China in 2015; Chinese PEDV S-INDEL strains exhibit genetic diversity and co-circulate with non S-INDEL strains.

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