Objective To screen and identify the dengue virus-specific antigens,then establish the ELISA detection method for dengue virus antibody.Methods Using bioinformatic software DNAStar and ANTHEPROT to analyze the hydrophilicity,flexibility,surface probability and antigenicity of dengue virus type 1-4,Japanese encephalitis virus and Yellow fever virus M,E and NSI protein amino acid sequence and also consider the influence of secondary structure.Then in accordance with epitopes localion and amino acid sequence similarity,forecast the share and specific epitopes.Reference the sequence information of different dengue virus strains in GenBank to analyze the epitopes conservative.Based on the results of bioinformatic analysis,5 specific epitopes were amplified and inserted into prokaryotic expression vector pMAL-C2x or pET32a.Then the vectors was transferred into E.coli Rosetta( DE3 ).lsopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside(IPTG) was used to induce the expression of gene segments.SDS-PAGE were used to identify the expression proteins,and the antigenicity were tested using Western blot.Using the antigen selected by Western blot,ELISA method for dengue virus antibody detection was established.Results Eighty shared epitopes and 25 specific epitopes were forecasted,and 5 antigenic fragments encloude analyzed epitopes from dengue virus type 2 and 3 were expressed in E.coli successfully.One dengue virus type 1-4 shared antigens (Den-Ag5),one dengue virus type 2 and 4 shared antigens( DenAg3),one dengue virus type 1-3 shared antigens(Den-Ag2) and two dengue virus type 1,2 and 4 shared antigens( Den-Ag1,Den-Ag4)were conformed using Western blot.Using antigens Den-Ag5,Den-Ag1 and DenAg2,the ELISA method for dengue virus antibody detection were established.Conclusion Based on the bioinformatic analysis and Western blot verification,5 dengue virus specific antigen were conformed,and the ELISA detection method for dengue virus antibody were established.

Objective To explore a rapid bacterial identifying method based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis technology to provide the scientific basis for the diagnosis and treatment of unknown pathogenic bacteria.Methods The pure colonies were iso-lated and cultured directly from a clinical patient′s sputum sample.The colony as a template for PCR amplification with universal primers to amplify 16S rRNA gene fragments of unknown bacteria.The product of PCR was sequenced directly,then the sequence result was compared by using the BLAST of NCBI and the pathogen was identified based on the sequence homology.Results 1 strain of unknown pathogen was identified as ochrobactrum by this test and confirmed by ABI bacterial rapid identification sys-tem.Conclusion This study simplifies the isolation and identification procedures of unknown pathogen from the clinical samples and establishes a simple method for the rapid identification of pathogens by using 16S rRNA gene amplification.

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify dengue virus type 2 specific antigens and establish an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting dengue virus type 2 antibody.

METHODSUsing the bioinformatic software DNAstar and ANTHEPROT, we analyzed the hydrophilicity, flexibility, surface probability and antigenicity of dengue virus type 1-4, Japanese encephalitis virus, and Yellow fever virus M and E protein amino acid sequences, and also evaluated the influence of secondary structure. The specific epitopes of dengue virus type 2 were predicted according to the epitope location and amino acid sequence similarity, and the epitope conservation was assessed using the sequence information of different dengue virus type 2 strains in GenBank. Based on the results of bioinformatic analysis, 5 specific epitopes were amplified and inserted into the prokaryotic expression vector pET32a, which were transferred into E. coli Rosetta (DE3) for expression of the proteins. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting were used to identify the expressed proteins and test their antigenicities. The antigen selected by Western blotting was used to establish the ELISA system for dengue virus type 2 antibody detection.

RESULTSBioinformatic analysis predicted 8 possible dengue virus type 2 specific epitopes, and 6 of them were efficiently expressed in E. coli. Western blotting confirmed 1 dengue virus type 2 specific antigen, the ELISA system for dengue virus antibody detection was successfully established using this specific antigen.

CONCLUSIONWe have obtained a dengue virus type 2 specific antigen and established an ELISA system for detection of dengue virus type 2 antibody.

Antibodies, Viral ; immunology ; Antigens, Viral ; immunology ; Computational Biology ; Dengue Virus ; classification ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Humans ; Immunodominant Epitopes ; Software