Objective To investigate the effect of mild hypothermia combined with mitochondrial divison inhibitor 1 in mitochondrial after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (IR).Methods Fourty male healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, weighing 280-320 g, were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=8 each): group Sham, group IR, hypothermia group (group H), Mdivi-1 group (group M) and hypothermia+Mdivi-1 group (group HM).Animal models of global cerebral IR were established by transoesophageal cardiac pacing inducing cardiac arrest followed by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ischemia 4 min and reperfusion 6 h).The group Sham was similarly treated to group IR except the cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.In groups H and HM, the core temperature was cooled down to 32-34℃ within 15 min starting from the beginning of reperfusion, and maintained for 6 h.In the other groups, the core temperature was maintained at the normal temperature.In groups M and HM, the animals were given Mdivi-1 (1.2 mg/kg) intravenously at the beginning of the reperfusion and the other groups were given the same Volume of dimethylsnlfone (DMSO).After 6 h of reperfusion, the rats were sacrificed, and bilateral hippocampi were immediately removed for determination the protein level of dynamin-related proten 1 (Drp1) and cytochrome C (Cyt-C) expression by Western blot and obsevation of the mitochondrial structure of pyramidal cell in hippocampal CA1 under electronic microscope.Results Compared with group Sham, the expression of Drp1 and Cyt-C was up-regulated in groups IR, H, M and HM (P＜0.05).Compared with group IR, the expression of Drp1 and Cyt-C was down-regulated in groups H, M and HM (P＜0.05).Compared with groups H and M, the expression of Drp1 and Cyt-C was down-regulated in group HM (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the expression of Drp1 and Cyt-C between groups H and M.The mitochondria were rod-shaped with clear and sound structure in group Sham, while mitochondria showed various degree of fission, swollen structures, matrix deposit, vacuoles formation and cristae collapse in other groups.The changes of group HM were relatively slight.Conclusion Mild hypothermia combined with mitochondrial divison inhibitor 1 alleviate mitochondrial damage after global cerebral IR of rats.The combined effect is better than that of any individual application.

Objective To evaluate the effect of hypothermia on the expression of dynamin?related protein 1 ( Drp1) in brain tissues during global cerebral ischemia?reperfusion ( I∕R) in rats. Methods Thirty?six healthy male Sprague?Dawley rats, weighing 280-320 g, were divided into 3 groups ( n=12 each) using a random number table: sham operation group ( group Sham ) , global cerebral I∕R group ( group I∕R) and hypothermia group ( group H) . Cardiac arrest was induced by transoesophageal cardiac pacing followed by cardiopulmonary resuscitation to establish the global cerebral I∕R model in anesthetized rats in I∕R and H groups. In group H, the body temperature ( rectal temperature) was cooled down to 32-34 ℃ within 15 min starting from the beginning of reperfusion, and maintained at this level for 6 h. At 72 h of reperfusion, neurological deficit was scored, and the rats were sacrificed, and the whole brain was removed for examination of the pathological changes in hippocampal CA1 region and for determination of nor?mal pyramidal cell count and neuronal apoptosis in hippocampal CA1 region and expression of Drp1 and cy?tochrome c (Cyt c) in hippocampal tissues (by Western blot). The apoptosis rate was calculated. Re?sults Compared with group S, the neurological deficit score and apoptosis rate were significantly in?creased, and the number of normal pyramidal cells was decreased in I∕R and H groups, the expression of Drp1 and Cyt c in hippocampal tissues was significantly up?regulated in group I∕R ( P<0.05) , and no sig?nificant change was found in the expression of Drp1 and Cyt c in hippocampal tissues in group H ( P>0.05) . Compared with group I∕R, the neurological deficit score and apoptosis rate were significantly de?creased, the number of normal pyramidal cells was increased, and the expression of Drp1 and Cyt c in hip?pocampal tissues was down?regulated in group H ( P<0.05) . Conclusion The mechanism by which hypo?thermia inhibits cell apoptosis during global cerebral I∕R may be related to down?regulation of Drp1 expres?sion in rats.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein vaccine as a booster dose.Methods:A new immunogen, namely RBD-sc-trimer, was designed by tandem repeating of single receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein to mimic the trimeric form of RBD presented by the virus. The RBD-sc-trimer protein was expressed as a His-tagged fusion protein using a baculovirus expression system and purified by nickel affinity column. The purified protein was identified by Western blot. Its in vitro binding activity to human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) was analyzed by ELISA. The immunogenicity of RBD-sc-trimer as well as RBD proteins of other forms including RBD dimer (RBD-Fc), RBD monomer (RBD) and S protein trimer (S trimer) as a booster dose was evaluated in BALB/c mice. Results:In terms of both binding and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, RBD-sc-trimer showed an immunogenicity that was superior to that of RBD-Fc and RBD and close to the level of S trimer. The antibody response induced by RBD-sc-trimer was characterized as Th1-biased. Moreover, it displayed a stronger cross-neutralization activity against SARS-CoV-2 Beta, Delta and Omicron variants. The titer of neutralizing antibody against Omicron induced by RBD-sc-trimer only decreased by 9.1 folds relative to the prototype strain, while the antibody response induced by RBD-Fc and S trimer decreased by 68.4 and 70.8 folds, respectively.Conclusions:The recombinant protein, RBD-sc-trimer, which was capable of eliciting stronger humoral response in mice as a booster dose and showed the superiority in raising cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants over non-trimeric RBD forms, should be considered as an optimal immunogen for the development of more effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Objective:To reduce the immunogenicity of vaccinia virus vector by replacing the D8L region, which is a neutralizing antibody epitope in vaccinia virus, with an exogenous gene.Methods:A gene fragment encoding influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) was inserted into the D8L region to replace it using homologous recombination technique. Then, a recombinant vaccinia virus influenza vaccine was constricted. A recombinant vaccinia virus vaccine with the TK region expressing HA was used as a control. The expression of HA was validated by Western blot. BALB/c mice were immunized with the vaccines and the serum antibody titers two weeks after each immunization were evaluated by ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition assay. The protective efficacy of the recombinant vaccinia virus was assessed through a challenge experiment.Results:Western blot confirmed the successful expression of HAD8L protein in the constructed recombinant vaccines. ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition assay showed that after the primary immunization, the anti-HA antibody titer induced by the recombinant vaccinia virus with D8L region mutation was slightly higher than that induced by the vaccine with TK region mutation, and the difference was statistically significant with the increase of immunization times ( P<0.05). The recombinant vaccinia virus with D8L region mutation showed significantly lower immunogenicity than the recombinant virus with TK region mutation after the primary immunization, but there was no significant difference between them with the increase of immunization times ( P>0.05). After H1N1pdm challenge, no virus was detected in the mice immunized with the recombinant vaccinia virus with D8L region mutation and the mice showed mild lung inflammation and less tissue damage. Conclusions:This study indicated that inserting exogenous genes into the D8L region of the neutralizing antibody epitope in the vaccinia virus vector could help to reduce the immunogenicity of the vector itself and enhance the immunogenicity of the exogenous genes. This provided a reference for the use of the vaccinia virus vector as a delivery tool in the field of vaccines or gene therapy.