Abstract: Heterologous boost COVID-19 vaccination can solved the problem of decreased efficacy caused by single dose of vaccine. Heterologous booster with adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) following primary immunization with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines is a widely-used vaccination strategy in clinic, while different routes of Ad5-nCoV administration exist and pose a question which route could be more optimal. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated and compared the vaccine immunity induced in mice immunized according to three different vaccination regimens: “3×phosphate buffered solution(3× PBS)”, “2×inactivated vaccine + 1×inactivated vaccine (3×INA)”, “2×inactivated vaccine + 1×Ad5-nCoV (intramuscular)[2×INA+Ad5(im)]”and“2×inactivated vaccine + 1×Ad5-nCoV (intranasal)[2×INA+Ad5(in)]”. We found that heterologous booster with Ad5-nCoV, irrespective of the route of administration, induced significantly higher levels of anti-Spike IgG and subclasses (IgG1and IgG2c), Spike-specific T cells, class-switched Spike+ memory B cells (MBCs) than homologous booster with 3rd dose of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. Of note, compared with the intramuscular given, intranasal given of Ad5-nCoV as a booster dose clearly induced higher levels of serum and bronchoalveolar bavage fluid anti-spike immunoglobulin A, and moreover, induced stronger infiltration of major innate effector cells like neutrophils, natural killer cells and dendritic cells into the lung tissue, which suggested that mucosal vaccine responses are generated upon intranasal booster with Ad5-nCoV. Altogether, our study analyzed the vaccine immunity induced by different COVID-19 vaccines administered using different regimens, which may guide the clinical use of other types of prophylactic vaccines aiming to mount improved vaccine responses.

The bacterial ATP-competitive GyrB/ParE subunits of type II topoisomerase are important anti-bacterial targets to treat super drug-resistant bacterial infections. Herein we discovered novel pyrrolamide-type GyrB/ParE inhibitors based on the structural modifications of the candidate AZD5099 that was withdrawn from the clinical trials due to safety liabilities such as mitochondrial toxicity. The hydroxyisopropyl pyridazine compound 28 had a significant inhibitory effect on Gyrase (GyrB, IC₅₀ = 49 nmol/L) and a modest inhibitory effect on Topo IV (ParE, IC₅₀ = 1.513 μmol/L) of Staphylococcus aureus. It also had significant antibacterial activities on susceptible and resistant Gram-positive bacteria with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of less than 0.03 μg/mL, which showed a time-dependent bactericidal effect and low frequencies of spontaneous resistance against S. aureus. Compound 28 had better protective effects than the positive control drugs such as DS-2969 ( 5) and AZD5099 ( 6) in mouse models of sepsis induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. It also showed better bactericidal activities than clinically used vancomycin in the mouse thigh MRSA infection models. Moreover, compound 28 has much lower mitochondrial toxicity than AZD5099 ( 6) as well as excellent therapeutic indexes and pharmacokinetic properties. At present, compound 28 has been evaluated as a pre-clinical drug candidate for the treatment of drug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial infection. On the other hand, compound 28 also has good inhibitory activities against stubborn Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli (MIC = 1 μg/mL), which is comparable with the most potent pyrrolamide-type GyrB/ParE inhibitors reported recently. In addition, the structure-activity relationships of the compounds were also studied.

L-asparaginase hydrolyzes L-asparagine to produce L-aspartic acid and ammonia. It is widely distributed in microorganisms, plants and serum of some rodents, and has important applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries. However, the poor thermal stability, low catalytic efficiency and low yield hampered the further application of L-asparaginase. In this paper, rational design and 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) design strategies were used to increase the specific enzyme activity and protein expression of L-asparaginase derived from Rhizomucor miehei (RmAsnase). The results showed that among the six mutants constructed through homology modeling combined with sequence alignment, the specific enzyme activity of the mutant A344E was 1.5 times higher than the wild type. Subsequently, a food-safe strain Bacillus subtilis 168/pMA5-A344E was constructed, and the UTR strategy was used for the construction of recombinant strain B. subtilis 168/pMA5 UTR-A344E. The enzyme activity of B. subtilis 168/pMA5 UTR-A344E was 7.2 times higher than that of B. subtilis 168/pMA5-A344E. The recombinant strain B. subtilis 168/pMA5 UTR-A344E was scaled up in 5 L fermenter, and the final yield of L-asparaginase was 489.1 U/mL, showing great potential for industrial application.
Asparaginase/genetics* ; Bacillus subtilis/genetics* ; Industrial Microbiology ; Protein Engineering ; Rhizomucor/enzymology* ; Sequence Alignment

Objective:To analyze the association of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) [Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) rs155209 and receptor activity modifying protein 1 (RAMP1) rs3754701] and the prognosis of chronic hepatitis B patients who were under interferon therapy.Methods:A total of 317 patients and their anticoagulant blood samples were collected in this study. The SNPs in the CGRP and region RAMP1 were genotyped using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Logistic regression method was used to assess the results from different phenotypic outcomes between cases and controls, after adjusted for sex and age in co-dominant, dominant and recessive genetic models.Results:Data from this study clearly demonstrated the relevance of CGRP rs155209 and RAMP1 rs3754701 with DNA response and ALT response. RAMP1 rs3754701T was strongly associated with both DNA response and ALT response ( OR=2.277, 95 %CI: 1.386-3.741, P=0.001; OR=1.694, 95 %CI: 1.073-2.675, P=0.024). However, CGRP rs155209C was less prone to DNA response and ALT response ( OR=0.150, 95 %CI: 0.083-0.271, P<0.001; OR=0.583, 95 %CI: 0.367-0.925, P=0.022). Conclusions:Results from our study suggested that both RAMP1 rs3754701 and CGRP rs155209 were associated with the prognosis of patients under interferon therapy in Han population, from the northern parts of China while RAMP1 rs3754701T was a protective factor for both ALT response and DNA response, but CGRP rs155209C carriers were less prone to DNA and ALT responses.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence and risk factors of benign liver space-occupying mass in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and the ultrasound features that differentiate these masses from small hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the color Doppler and clinical data of 17 721 patients with CHB treated in the Hepatology Unit of Nanfang Hospital between January, 2016 and December, 2017. The data were compared with those of 21629 healthy control subjects undergoing routine physical examination in the Center of Heath Management of Nanfang Hospital during the same period. RESULTS: Compared with the control subjects, the patients with CHB had significantly higher incidences of hepatic cysts (11.8% 8.7%, < 0.05), hepatic hemangioma (8.2% 1.6%, < 0.05) and hepatic cirrhosis nodules (20.6% 2.4%, < 0.05). The incidences of hepatic cysts and cirrhosis nodules increased with age and was significantly higher in male than in female patients ( < 0.001). The highest incidence of hepatic hemangioma was found in CHB patients aged 30-49 years without a gender difference (>0.05). Sonographically, the benign liver masses commonly showed homogeneous echo within the lesion with clear boundaries and regular shape. Hepatic hemangioma was distinctively hyperechoic in 83.32% (1579/1895) of the patients, while small hepatocellular carcinoma presented with weaker peripheral and internal blood flow signals with a lower flow velocity in the arteries and a higher flow velocity in the portal vein. Liver cirrhosis nodules mostly showed a mixture of strong and weak echoes (79.60%; 7637/9595) without blood flow signal within or around the nodule; an increased volume of the nodule accompanied by heterogeneous echoes within the nodule indicated an increased probability of malignant lesion. Hepatic cysts often displayed no echo within the lesion, but the echo could be enhanced posteriorly. CONCLUSIONS The patients with CHB are at a significantly higher risk of developing hepatic cysts, hepatic hemangiomas and hepatic cirrhosis nodules than the control population, and an older age and the male gender are associated with a higher incidence of hepatic cysts or cirrhosis. The differences in the sonographic and hemodynamic features can help to differentiate hepatic benign mass from malignant lesions, and kinetic changes in sonography can be used to monitor potential malignant transformation of the cirrhotic lesions.

OBJECTIVETo detect potential mutation in a Chinese family affected with succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency.

METHODSGenomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood samples of the proband, her family members and 100 healthy controls. All exons and flanking intronic regions of the ALDH5A1 gene were amplified by PCR and subjected to direct sequencing.

RESULTSThe proband was found to have compound heterozygous mutations of the ALDH5A1 gene, namely c.398_399delAA (p.N134X) and c.638G>T (p.R213L), for which her parents were both heterozygous carriers. The same mutations were not found among the 100 healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONThe novel mutations of the ALDH5A1 gene probably underlie the pathogenesis of the disease in the infant, which also enriched the mutation spectrum of the ALDH5A1 gene.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; ethnology ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; China ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Developmental Disabilities ; ethnology ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Family Health ; Female ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Infant ; Introns ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Succinate-Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase ; deficiency ; genetics

The contents of cholesterol in a number of vegetable oils were determined by saponification-gas chromatography ( FID) . There was quite a large possibility that cholesterol peak was seriously interfered by saponification-gas chromatography ( FID) , so it was difficult to set a cholesterol content value to differentiate vegetable oil from waste oil. Solid phase extraction ( SPE) sample pretreatment was chosen and the process conditions were optimized. The optimal conditions were as follows:0. 25 g of oil samples, 20 mL of 0. 6%ethyl ether-hexane ( V/V) as eluent ( get rid of fatty acid glycerides) and 20 mL of 15% ethyl ether-hexane ( V/V) as eluent ( obtain cholesterol) . An obvious cholesterol-content-difference between vegetable oils and waste oils was found by SPE-GC. The detected cholesterol contents in 84 vegetable oil samples were all less than 50 μg/g and the contents of 11 waste oil samples among the 13 waste oils were greater than 50 μg/g. Therefore, cholesterol content in vegetable oil of more than 50 μg/g could be determined as suspected waste oil, not vice versa by SPE-GC. The correlation coefficient R2 was 0. 9999 in 0-760 mg/L concentration range, and the detection limit was 6. 0 μg/g. Relative standard deviations at two concentration levels of 17. 7 and 695 mg/L were 1. 6% and 1. 5% respectively. The recovery was 103%.

Objective To discuss the diagnosis and treatment of Cushing's disease without remission after transsphenoidal surgery.Methods 12 patients of Cushing's disease without remission after transsphenoidal surgery were investigated in this retrospective study.There were 2 males and 10 females with an average age of 36 (21-46) years old.Cushing's disease was diagnosed with the typical symptoms and signs of Cushing's syndrome,endocrinological examination and CT or MRI.Transsphenoidal surgery was performed in all patients.None of the patients achieved remission after operation.Serum and urinary free cortisol (UFC)were still elevated 3 months after operation.Subtotal adrenalectomy combined with pituitary radiotherapy were performed in 5 patients,single subtotal adrenalectomy in 4,pituitary radiotherapy in 2 and bilateral adrenalectomy with adrenal autotransplantation in 1 patient.Results Those receiving subtotal adrenalectomy combined with pituitary radiotherapy had no recurrence or Nelson's syndrome during 20 years of follow-up,but 4 patients receiving single subtotal adrenalectomy recurred after 2 to 9 years after operation.2 patients achieved remission with pituitary radiotherapy 1 to 2 years later without recurrence during 5 years of follow-up.One patient who underwent bilateral adrenalectomy with adrenal autotransplantation needed steroid replacement and Nelson's syndrome occurred during 2 years of follow-up because transplanted adrenal gland had no function.Conclusion The diagnosis of Cushing's disease should be reconfirmed for patients without remission after transsphenoidal surgery and the treatment should be individualized based on the results of operation,pathology and imaging.

OBJECTIVETo investigate α-toxin-induced apoptosis of umbilical vein endothelial cells and explore its role in vertical infection of Staphylococcus aureus L-form.

METHODSHUV-EC-C cells exposed to different concentrations (0, 10, 30, 90, and 270 ng/ml) of α-toxin for different time lengths (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 h) were examined for apoptosis using flow cytometry with Annexin V-PI staining. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and the activities of, caspase-3 and caspase-8 in the cell culture were detected by ELISA and colorimetric method, respectively. α-Toxin-induced cell apoptosis was also analyzed in HUV-EC-C cells treated with a neutralizing antibody of TNF-α or with the inhibitory peptides of caspase-3 (zDEVD-FMK) and caspase-8 (zIETD-fmk).

RESULTSα-Toxin induced apoptosis of HUV-EC-C cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner and caused significantly enhanced expression of TNF-α and the activation of both caspase-3 and caspase-8. Inhibition of TNF-α with its neutralizing antibody and the inhibitory peptides of caspase-3 or -8 all significantly decreased α-toxin-induced cell apoptosis, and the caspase-3 inhibitor completely blocked α-toxin-induced cell apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONα-Toxin-induced apoptosis is partially mediated by the extrinsic cell death pathway of TNF-α and caspase-8 and plays an important role in the vertical infection of S. aureus L-form to affect fetal growth and development.

Apoptosis ; Bacterial Toxins ; toxicity ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 8 ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; L Forms ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Objective To discuss the clinical feasibility and significance of retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy for bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia.Methods 9 patients with bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia received retroperitoneal laparoscopic operations.5 cases had the typical clinical manif(e)stetions of Cushing's syndrome and 4 patients presented hypertension or diabetes mellitus without any sign of Cushing's syndrome.Body mass index was 18.8-31.2,with 25.0 as the average.Serum cortisol was 544-1746 nmol/L,with 984 nmol/L as the average.Urinary free cortisol (UFC) was 347-1989 nmol/24h with 1129 nmol/24h as the average.CT scan showed bilateral enlargement of the adrenal glands with multiple macronodules.The size of the adrenal gland was 6 cm × 5 cm × 4 cm to 10 cm × 6 cm× 3 cm,with 8 cm× 5 cm × 4 cm as the average.Results One patient underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy with replantation of adrenal gland tissue in scrotum,1patient underwent right lateral adrenalectomy combined with left subtotal adrenalectomy,4 patients underwent right lateral adrenalectomy ( 1case was converted to open surgery due to hemorrhage),and 3 patients underwent left lateral adrenalectomy.The average operation duration was 116 min,ranging from 60 to 165 min.The estimated average intraoperative blood loss was 110 ml,ranging from 20 to 600 ml.No severe complications like injury in great vessels or organs happened during the operation.Pathological diagnosis showed nodular or adenomatoid hyperplasia of adrenal cortex.The average postoperative follow-up was 58 months,ranging from 12 to 84 months.Clinical symptoms of Cushing's syndrome disappeared after surgery in the 5 cases with typical clinical features of Cushing's syndrome.Body weight and blood glucose recovered to normal level for those 4 cases presenting body weight increasement,hypertension or diabetes mellitus.2 cases with right lateral adrenalectomy received left adrenalectomy 33 and 41months after the first operation due to recurrence of Cushing's syndrome.Conclusions Retroperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy for bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia is technically feasible in experienced hands. Unilateral adrenalectomy can relieve most of the Cushing's symptoms.Bilateral adrenalectomy or unilateral adrenalectomy combined with contralateral subtotal adrenalectomy can be performed if the symptoms are not improved or recurred after unilateral adrenalectomy.