Objective To explore the effectiveness of a respiratory function training instrument with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.Methods Sixty-seven COPD patients in the stable period were randomly divided into a treatment group of 36 and a control group of 31 using a random number table.Both groups were given conventional pulmonary rehabilitation,including half-closed lip respiration,abdominal respiration and upper limb training.The treatment group was additionally provided with 30 minutes of respiratory training using a respiration function training instrument 5 times per week for 6 months.Both groups were assessed for their mobility,life quality and pulmonary function using the 6-minute walk test (6 MWT),a COPD assessment test (CAT),the BODE index,forced vital capacity (FVC),forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and surface electromyography (SEMG) of the respiratory muscles before and after the 6-month intervention.Results Before the treatment there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of any of the measurements.After the treatment,significant improvement was observed in the average 6 MWT,CAT,BODE index and SEMG results in both groups,but with significantly greater improvement in the treatment group.The average FVC and FEV1 results did not improve significantly,so after the intervention there was still no significant difference between the groups.Conclusions Respiratory training using the pulmonary function training instrument can improve the mobility,life quality and the functioning of the respiratory muscles of COPD patients in the stable period.

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is contagious and highly lethal. Commercial vaccines against RHD are produced from the livers of experimentally infected rabbits. Although several groups have reported that recombinant subunit vaccines against rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) are promising, application of the vaccines has been restricted due to high production costs or low yield. In the present study, we performed codon optimization of the capsid gene to increase the number of preference codons and eliminate rare codons in Spodoptera frugiperda 9 (Sf9) cells. The capsid gene was then subcloned into the pFastBac plasmid, and the recombinant baculoviruses were identified with a plaque assay. As expected, expression of the optimized capsid protein was markedly increased in the Sf9 cells, and the recombinant capsid proteins self-assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) that were released into the cell supernatant. Rabbits inoculated with the supernatant and the purified VLPs were protected against RHDV challenge. A rapid, specific antibody response against RHDV was detected by an ELISA in all of the experimental groups. In conclusion, this strategy of producing a recombinant subunit vaccine antigen can be used to develop a low-cost, insect cell-derived recombinant subunit vaccine against RHDV.
Animals ; Antigens, Viral/genetics/metabolism ; Caliciviridae Infections/prevention & control/*veterinary/virology ; Capsid Proteins/*genetics/metabolism ; Cell Culture Techniques/*methods ; Codon/genetics/metabolism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary ; *Gene Expression Regulation, Viral ; Hemorrhagic Disease Virus, Rabbit/*genetics/immunology ; *Rabbits ; Recombinant Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Sf9 Cells ; Spodoptera ; Viral Structural Proteins/*genetics/metabolism ; Viral Vaccines/genetics/immunology

Mechanosensitive (MS) channels are extensively studied membrane protein for maintaining intracellular homeostasis through translocating solutes and ions across the membrane, but its mechanisms of channel gating and ion selectivity are largely unknown. Here, we identified the YnaI channel as the Na/K cation-selective MS channel and solved its structure at 3.8 Å by cryo-EM single-particle method. YnaI exhibits low conductance among the family of MS channels in E. coli, and shares a similar overall heptamer structure fold with previously studied MscS channels. By combining structural based mutagenesis, quantum mechanical and electrophysiological characterizations, we revealed that ion selective filter formed by seven hydrophobic methionine (YnaI) in the transmembrane pore determined ion selectivity, and both ion selectivity and gating of YnaI channel were affected by accompanying anions in solution. Further quantum simulation and functional validation support that the distinct binding energies with various anions to YnaI facilitate Na/K pass through, which was defined as binding-block mechanism. Our structural and functional studies provided a new perspective for understanding the mechanism of how MS channels select ions driven by mechanical force.
Cryoelectron Microscopy ; Escherichia coli Proteins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Ion Channels ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Mechanotransduction, Cellular ; Models, Molecular ; Quantum Theory

In the original publication the PDB numbers were not cited.