Objective To sequence and analyze the full-length genome of one HEV strain,W2-1 isolated from a sporadic hepatitis E patient hospitalized in 1999 in Xinjiang,China.Methods Nested RT-PCR assays with 4 sets primers were used to amplify the entire genome.The PCR products were purified and sequenced.The full-length genome was acquired by assembling the fragmental sequences using the DNAstar 5.01 software.The genome of W2-1 was analyzed by comparing with the reference HEVs from GenBank.Results The complete genome of W2-1 is 7212 nt in length,including three open reading frames (ORF1-3) with 5079,1980 and 345 nt respectively,27 nt 5'UTR and 83 nt 3'UTR,and a 3' poly A tail.Phylogenetic analysis based on full-length genome showed that W2-1 belonged to genotype 1,subtype 1b.W2-1 had high homology with the HEV strains isolated in the large hepatitis E epidemic in Xinjiang in 1987-1989,sharing 97.2％-98.5％ nucleotide identity in the full length genome.W2-1 also showed high homology with 1b strains isolated in China after 2000,with 97.6％-99.2％ nucleotide identity.The specific amino acid sites in ORF1-3 proteins that distinct between genotype 1 HEV and the potential zoonotic strains did not change in W2-1.Conclusion W2-1 belongs to subtype 1b.The study indicates subtype 1b HEV has been circulating in China in a long period after hepatitis E outbreak in Xinjiang in 1986-1989.The amino acids of ORF1-3 of subtype 1b are conserved.

Wild Cordyceps sinensis strain was isolated from Mt. Batang in Yush District of Qinghai Province. Its optimal culture conditions were 1.5% Glucose, 1% malt extract, 1 peptone, 0.5% yeasts extract, pH6.0, temperature 23℃, 5—10% inoculum, vibration velocity 80—90r/min.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of detection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA in sera from patients with acute hepatitis E using real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to detect hepatitis E virus RNA in sera from patients with acute hepatitis E.Methods A real-time RT-PCR assay, which can amplifies and detect the conserved region on ORF3, was used in this study. 434 outpatients and hospitalized patients with acute HEV infection was enrolled into this study.Simultaneously,the serum samples from 40 patients with HAV infection, 100 patients with HBV infection and 110 healthy blood donors were collected as the control The real-time RT-PCR was performed to detect HEV RNA in all these sera.Results 232 sera (53.5%) were positive for HEV RNA by real-time RT-PCR and all of the control were negative.The results of real-time RT-PCR and anti-HEV IgM (ELISA) were concordant in 67.1% samples.There was significant difference between the two methods ( Kappa = 0.308, P = 0.000 ).The first serum sample from five serum samples of the patients was positive for HEV RNA and negative for anti-HEV IgM.Follow-up studies showed all the five sera samples were positive for anti-HEV IgM.HEV RNA in serum could be detected between 2 and 10 days.Conclusions The real-time fluorescent RT-PCR method has high specificity, and can be applied to the qualitative detection of the serum with genotypes Ⅰ and Ⅳ of hepatitis E virus.Its clinical use can improve the early diagnosis of HEV.

Objective To establish a high throughput phenotypic test for the detection of drug re-sistance in human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)strains. Methods The gene encoding luciferase was in-activated through restriction enzyme digestion and ligation. LacZ gene was used to replace the genes encoding original protease and reverse transcriptase. pol genes were amplified from pSG3△env plasmid and cloned in-to a new backbone plasmid through infusion. The factors that might affect the results of the test were opti-mized. Results The parental backbone plasmid pNL4-3. Lac was constructed,of which the gene encoding luciferase was inactivated and bearing the LacZ gene instead of genes encoding protease and reverse tran-scriptase. Several influential factors including cell numbers(10 000 / well),virus inoculation(200 TCID50 /well)and the concentration of DEAE-dextran(15 μg/ ml)were optimized. The reproducibility of this test was confirmed by testing 12 anti-HIV drugs against 2 pseudovirus strains 8 times,presenting the coefficient of variations(CVs)from 4. 32% to 28. 46% . Six types of pseudovirus were constructed and tested against the 12 anti-HIV drugs,the results of which were compared with those by using the pSG3△env-based pseud-ovirus test. The results of the two tests presented good consistency. Conclusion The high throughput phe-notypic test based on pNL4-3. Lac plasmid,combining the advantages of pSG3△env and pNL4-3 systems, could be used to analyze the drug resistance patterns of HIV-1 infectors and screen new drugs for antiretrovi-ral therapy in a rapid and effective way.

Objective To study the in vivo expression and biodistribution of Ad5-Fluc (Adenovirus carrying firefly luciferase genes) in mice.Methods The recombinant Ad5-Fluc virus was constructed and infected to BALB/c or nude mice through three different routes.The protein expression level,tissue distribution and the characteristics of infection were analyzed by in vivo bioluminescence imaging technology.Results Compared to other two routes,the BALB/c mice infected through muscular route had the longest expression cycle (over 60 days) and the highest expression level,while the virus was transferred into the liver and spleen after infection.The nude mice had a significantly extended expression cycle than BALB/c mice.Moreover,the characteristic of liver tropism was eliminated after Ad5 F35 infection in mice,while maintained similar expression efficiency.Conclusion Due to the highest expression efficiency,the muscular route would be the optimal route for Ad5 vector based vaccination.In addition,Ad5F35 virus could become an ideal alternative vaccine vector for eliminating the liver tropism.

Objective To study the influence of site-directed deglycosylation of the HIV-1 envelope (Env) on its immunogenicity and assembly of functional pseudovirus. Methods Site-directed deglycosylation were performed using cycling mutagenesis and selection of mutants with DpnⅠ. Single-cycle infection assay was employed to analyze the effect of the mutations on the ability of functional pseudovirus assembly. The influence of deglycosylations on the immunodeficiency of Env was evaluated using pseudovirusbased neutralization assay and ELISPOT assay. Results Mutant N197Q induced higher neutralization activities for both pseudoviruses, but lower Env-specific T-cell response. And N197Q rendered the Env to lose the ability of functional pseudovirus assembly. Mutant G2 induced higher neutralization activities for pseudovirus 74-2 but lower for pseudovirus Wt, and had almost no influence on Env-specific T-cell response and functional pseudovirus forming. Conclusion The site-directed deglycosylation of the HIV-1 Env affects the pseudovirus forming and its immunogenicity.

Objective To compare cellular immune responses in mice elicited by Chinese different AIDS candidate vaccines.Methods According to their different immunization procedures,BALB/c mice were immunized with 6 AIDS candidate vaccines,separately.Spleen cells were isolated for the detection of cellular immune response to HIV-specific peptides using enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot(ELISPOT)assay and intracellular cytokine staining(ICS)method.Results AIDS vaccines were evaluated by using potential T-cell epitopes(PTE)Gag,Env and Pol peptides pool and ELISPOT.The positive conversion rates for cellular immune response of 1#-6# vaccines fluctuated from 70% to 100%.The vaccine-induced cellular immune responses to specific peptides pool are different not only in magnitude but also in breadth.The Th1type cytokines,IFN-γand IL-2,were detected with ELISPOT in 1# and 2# vaccines.The productions of IFN-γand IL-2 induced by both of the two vaccines showed a moderate correlation(r1 =0.62,P1 ＜0.01 ;r2=0.79,P2 ＜ 0.01).The positive conversion rate of IFN-γ secreting cells of 1 # vaccine was 66.7%(10/15)mice detected with both ELISPOT and ICS.And the results tested by ELISPOT and ICS showed moderate correlation(r = 0.55,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The magnitude and breadth of cellular immune responses induced by different AIDS candidate vaccines are different.Being induced by different AIDS candidate vaccines,the IFN-γand other Th1 type cytokines detected by ELISPOT or ICS could be used to evaluate the cellular immune responses in mice.

Objective To analyze the practicability of using ELISA kit for the detection of hepati-tis E virus antigen ( HEV-Ag) in plasma donations and Biomex HEV seroconversion panels. Methods The HEV-Ag positive samples were screened out from 36 340 donated blood plasma samples. Real-time fluores-cent PCR was performed for the detection of HEV RNA in HEV-Ag positive samples. The open reading frame 2 (ORF2) in HEV RNA was amplified by nested RT-PCR and the amplified products were confirmed by sequencing analysis. Phylogenetic tree was constructed for HEV genotyping. Five Biomex HEV serocon-version panels were used in this study for the detection of HEV-Ag, anti-HEV antibody and HEV RNA as well as the correlation analysis between HEV-Ag and HEV RNA. Results Twenty-six out of 36 340 plasma samples (0. 07%) were positive for HEV-Ag. Of the 26 samples, 25 samples were positive for HEV RNA as indicated by the results of nested RT-PCR and 23 positive samples were confirmed by sequencing analysis. The positive rate of HEV RNA in blood plasma donators was 1 ∶ 1 580 (0. 06%). There were 17 samples of genotype 1 (74%) and 6 samples of genotype 4 (26%) according to the phylogenetic tree analysis. All of the HEV-Ag positive samples were also positive for HEV RNA as indicated by the analysis of Biomex sero-conversion panels. HEV-Ag was consistent with the peak of the HEV RNA concentration. Conclusion A close relationship between HEV-Ag and HEV RNA was observed. HEV-Ag screening could be used as a measure to reduce the risk of HEV transmission by blood transfusion.

Objective To evaluate the efficiency of multimodal analgesia for the patients who had the posterior lumbar spine surgery.Methods Sixty-four cases of patients who were scheduled to the posterior lumbar spine surgery were randomly divided into two groups, multimodal analgesia group (n =32) and control group(n=32).Multimodal analgesia group patients were given oxycodone acetaminophen 1 day before and the next day after operation, during the operation the patients received injiection of multimodal drugs (consisting of ropivacaine 150 mg, flurbiprofen 50 mg, phenylephrine 0.4 ml, normal saline 50 ml) around the incisions by infiltrated injection before the skin incision closed, then had controlled intravenous analgesia.In the control group, the incisions were sutured without the local infiltration analgesia.Then only had patient controlled intravenous analgesia after operati on.Visual analogue scale(VAS) ,Japanese Orthopedic Association(JOA) and Prolo lumbar function score was recorded respectively perioperatively.Results (1) VAS: the patients of multimodal analgesia group had significantly lower rest pain scores and activity pain scores at 6, 12,24 hours, first moving than the control group((3.1±1.6) ,(2.8±1.1),(2.4±0.9) ,(2.3±1.1) vs.(3.5±1.8) ,(3.4± 1.3), (3.4±0.8), (3.0± 1.5), P＜0.05).There was no significant difference at the discharge between the two groups (P＞0.05).(2)JOA:JOA scores of the patients of multimodal analgesia group were obviously higher than that of the control group at 1,3,7 days after operation (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference at the discharge between the two groups (P＞0.05).(3) Prolo lumbar function score : Prolo scores of the patients of the multimodal analgesia group were obviously higher than that of control group at 1,3,7 days after operation (P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference at the discharge between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Multimodal Analgesia is shown to safely provide excellent pain control and functional recovery.It can reduce visual analogue pain score and improve lumbar function after surgery.

The ELISPOT assay is increasingly used for assessing cellular immune responses in clinical trials of HIV-1 or cancer vaccines. However, to date, data from clinical trials do not consistently show that immune responses are correlated with clinical endpoints. This is due in part to the lack of assay standardization and validation across laboratories and therefore, a quality control panel is required to establish competency and comparability amongst different laboratories. In this study peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals were screened and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The recovery and viability of the PBMCs and the frequencies of interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting cells after CEF peptide pool stimulation were detected after various intervals in seven different laboratories. The recovery and viability did not differ significantly after different intervals. Although the frequencies of IFN (interferon)-γ-secreting cells among thawed PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) fluctuated after CEF peptide pool stimulation at different intervals, they were not significantly decreased compared with those among fresh PBMCs. However, the viabilities, recoveries and frequencies of IFN-γ-secreting cells differed significantly among the seven laboratories. Our results indicate that cryopreserved PBMCs could be used as a quality control panel for ELISPOT. However, the procedures for ELISPOT need to be standardized amongst different laboratories.