Porcine bocavirus (PBoV) is a recently discovered, non-enveloped and single-stranded DNA virus that can infect pigs. In order to understand PBoV infection and its genetic characterization in piglets in Xinjiang China, PBoV was detected by PCR in 156 clinical samples from 1-month-old piglets. PBoV was detected in 9 clinical samples, with a prevalence rate of 5.77% (9/156). Then nonstructural protein NS1 gene was amplified, sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that the prevalence rate in the sick piglets was 9.33% (7/75), which is significantly higher than that in the healthy piglets (2.47%, 2/81). The nucleotide sequences of NS1 gene share high identities (96.1-99.2%) within the same groups of PBoVs. Phylogenetic analysis based on complete nucleotide sequence of NS1 gene showed that PBoV strains can be classified into three genetic groups, among which group I contains PBoV1 strains, group II contains PBoV2 strains, and group III contains PBoV3, PBoV4 and PBoV5 strains. Porcine/XJ-12, porcine/XJ-27, porcine/XJ-65, and porcine/XJ-145 had close genetic distance with subgroup 1, belonging to group I; strains porcine/XJ-79 and porcine/XJ-134 were clustered with subgroup 2, belonging to group II, while porcine/XJ-8, porcine/XJ-52 and porcine/XJ-96 were clustered with subgroup 3, which belonged to group III. This study demonstrated for the first time that PBoV strains in Xinjiang belong to three subgroups of three different genetic groups, indicating a substantial genetic diversity of the epidemic strains circulating in China, which provided the useful epidemiological data for scientific control and prevention of this disease in farm pigs.

Kidney stone formers with family history have a high rate of stone recurrence after kidney stone removal surgery and there is no effective medication available for treatment. Here, we show that Garcinia cambogia extract (GCE) efficiently removes calcium oxalate kidney stones from Malpighian tubules in both genetic and non-genetic Drosophila models of nephrolithiasis, and hydroxycitrate -a major component of GCE, directly dissolves calcium oxalate stones in Drosophila Malpighian tubules ex vivo. Our study discovers a potential novel therapeutic strategy for the clinical treatment of nephrolithiasis and suggests that clinical-grade Garcinia cambogia extract could be used to treat patients with nephrolithiasis in the future.

Aging is a multi-faceted process regulated by multiple cellular pathways, including the proteostasis network. Pharmacological or genetic enhancement of the intracellular proteostasis network extends lifespan and prevents age-related diseases. However, how proteostasis is regulated in different tissues throughout the aging process remains unclear. Here, we show that Drosophila homologs for Cubulin/Amnionless (dCubilin/dAMN)-mediated protein reabsorption from hemolymph (fly equivalent of blood) by nephrocytes modulates longevity through regulating proteostasis in muscle and brain tissues in Drosophila. We find that overexpression of dAMN receptor in nephrocytes extends lifespan, whereas nephrocyte-specific dCubilin or dAMN RNAi knockdown results in a protein reabsorption defect and shortens lifespan in flies. And we show that dCubilin/dAMN-mediated protein reabsorption in nephrocytes regulates proteostasis in hemolymph and improves healthspan. In addition, we show that enhanced dCubilin/dAMN-mediated protein reabsorption in nephrocytes slows down the aging process in muscle and brain by maintaining the proteostasis network in these tissues. Furthermore, our study shows that dCubilin/dAMN -mediated protein reabsorption in nephrocytes affects proteasome activity in the whole body and muscle tissues. Altogether, our work has revealed an inter-organ communication network across nephrocytes and muscle/neuronal tissue which is essential to maintain proteostasis and to delay senescence in these organs. The findings have provided insights into the role of renal protein reabsorption in the aging process via this tele-proteostasis network.