No abstract

Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, located in north-west China, is one of the major endemic areas for haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). In this study, the epidemiological data of HFRS in Xi'an from 1959 to 2010, especially in the past ten years (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010), were surveyed. The features of hantavirus (HV) host carriers, the molecular characteristics of the HV S gene from hosts and patients, and the genome of the viral isolate were also investigated. Data showed that there might be a ten-year cycle of HFRS in Xi'an. Although the main population group infected over the past ten years was still the 16-59-year-old male farmers, the composition of the population and geographical distribution of HFRS cases have changed slowly, accompanied by the development of environmental and socio-economic situations. Apodemus agrarius remains the dominant host of HV. The HV strains from host rodents and patients in Xi'an belonged to the Hantaan virus (HTNV); no Seoul virus strains were found. Phylogenetic analysis of the small segments of strains taken from hosts and patients, and the whole genome of a viral isolate showed that the virus circulating in Xi'an had high similarity to Guizhou strains. The study also indicated that the vaccine candidate strain A16 isolated during the past century in Xi'an might be a recombinant strain of HTNV and the Amur virus, thus it may not be an optimal vaccine strain.

BackgroundH19 is a well-characterized Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that has been proven to promote myoblast differentiation in humans and mice. However, its mechanism of action is still not fully interpreted.MethodsUsing RT-qPCR, we examined H19 RNA levels in various tissues from 1-week, 1-month, 6-month and 36-month old male cattle (i.e., newborn, infant, young and adult). The protein and mRNA levels of MyoG, MyHC, Sirt1 and FoxO1 in the satellite and C2C12 cells with an H19 silencing or overexpression vector were respectively detected using western blot and real-time qPCR.ResultsH19 was highly expressed in skeletal muscle at all the studied ages. High expression of H19 was required for the differentiation of bovine satellite cells. Knockdown of H19 caused a remarkable increase in the myoblast-inhibitory genes Sirt1/FoxO1, suggesting that H19 suppresses Sirt1/FoxO1 expression during myogenesis. Western blotting analysis of co-transfection of Sirt1 or FoxO1 expression vectors with pcDNA-H19 indicated that Sirt1/FoxO1 overexpression neutralized the promotion of myoblast differentiation through transfection of pcDNA-H19.ConclusionH19 promoted the differentiation of bovine skeletal muscle satellite cells by suppressing Sirt1/FoxO1.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11658-017-0040-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Based on our findings, multimodal intervention and management programs can be developed to improve poor medication adherence among the MMT patient population.

The 6-year retention rates for MMT in the 8 clinics in Xi'an were higher than those reported in other studies of other clinics. High therapeutic doses (>60 mg/d) could reduce the risk of patients withdrawing from treatment. Retention rates were relatively high in cohorts who were elderly, living with family, employed, or drug users, especially those with a long history of drug abuse.

To explore the epidemiological, phylogeographic, and migration characteristics of human rabies in Shaanxi province, China from 2009 to 2015. The collected data were described and the sequenced glycoprotein (G) and nucleoprotein (N) genes were implemented to estimate the evolutionary rates and phylogeographic patterns using BEAST v.1.8.2. A total of 269 rabies cases were reported and 70.26% of the cases were male and 61.71% were between the ages of 19-59. The majority of the cases were farmers (83.27%). The estimated evolutionary rate of the N genes was 2.4 × 10 substitutions/site/year and the G genes was 3.4 × 10 . The time of the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) was estimated around 1990. We detected viral migration paths from Sichuan, Guizhou, and Hunan to Hanzhong prefecture of Shaanxi and then spreaded to Xi'an and other prefectures. The main population affected by rabies virus was male adult farmers. The evolution rate of rabies viruses in Shaanxi was similar with the prior results reported by others and the ancestor virus should be circulating in neighboring province Sichuan around 1990 and then transmitted to Shaanxi. Promptly standard wound treatment and timely post-exposure prophylaxis should be compulsory for the dog-bitten victims.

The efficient production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for clinical applications has attracted the attention of the scientific community. To develop a novel microbial cell factory for the efficient biosynthesis of a cecropin A-melittin mutant (CAM-W), a recombinant Bacillus subtilis WB700 expression system was genetically modified with a novel vector, including a fusion gene encoding CAM-W, the autoprotease EDDIE and the signal peptide SacB under the control of the maltose-inducible promoter Pglv. A total of 159 mg of CAM-W was obtained from 1 L of fermentation supernatant. The purified CAM-W showed a consistent size with the expected molecular weight of 3.2 kDa. Our findings suggest that this novel expression system can be used as a powerful tool for the efficient production of CAM-W.

No abstract