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Objective:To evaluate the immunogenicity of a novel influenza virus mRNA vaccine based on conserved antigens delivered by lipopolyplex (LPP) platform in a mouse model.Methods:Four copies of genes coding for extracellular domain of matrix 2 protein (M2e) and nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza A virus were synthetized after codon optimization. The fusion antigens were transcribed in vitro and delivered by LPP platform, named as LPP-4M2eNP. Expression of M2e and NP in eukaryotic cells was detected by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). BALB/c mice were inoculated intramuscularly twice with 10 μg or 30 μg LPP-4M2eNP vaccine at an interval of four weeks. Antibody response was detected by ELISA and cellular-mediated immunity (CMI) was detected by enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT). Results:IFA showed that NP and M2e were expressed correctly in eukaryotic cells. Single dose immunization could induce significant antigen (NP, M2e)-specific CMI and antigen (NP, M2e)-specific antibody response was induced in mice with Th1 type bias after boost immunization. Moreover, NP-specific CMI was increased significantly after the second immunization, while no significant change in M2e-specific CMI was observed.Conclusions:Stronger CMI was triggered in mice by single dose of LPP-4M2eNP vaccine. Furthermore, robust humoral and cellular immune responses were induced after boost immunization. This study suggested that LPP-4M2eNP vaccine, which based on conserved antigen of influenza A and delivered by LPP platform, had great potential for development and application.
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Objective:To improve the consistency of test results through reducing inter-laboratory variation in SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection with WHO SARS-CoV-2 antibody candidate international standard (IS, sample G) and antibody reference panel (samples E, F, H, I, J).Methods:Ten WHO samples (A-J) including the candidate IS and reference panel were evaluated using different methods, such as microneutralization tests based on live SARS-CoV-2, pseudovirus neutralization assay and commercial ELISA kits. The test results were compared using statistical analysis.Results:Using IS (sample G) as a reference, the relative concentrations of other samples could be determined with less variation. ELISA and pseudovirus neutralization assay had consistent results with those obtained with the microneutralization test based on SARS-COV-2 strain HB02. Weakly positive samples could be detected only by a certain kit.Conclusions:The availability of an IS for antibodies would facilitate the standardization of SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection methods. The reference panel fitted all the assays based on the SARS-CoV-2 prototype Wuhan strain. Pseudovirus neutralization assay and ELISA could be used as alternatives to live SARS-CoV-2-based neutralization test to some extent.
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Objective:To evaluate the performance of two commercial EIA kits for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) neutralizing antibodies.Methods:Two commercial SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody ELISA test kits (A and B) were used to detect serum panel consists of the following sera: 44 collected before vaccination, 120 collected one month after vaccination and 64 collected six months after recovery from convalescent patients of COVID-19. In the meantime, the above samples were also taken for live virus micro-neutralization test (micro-NT) indicated as the 50% neutralization antibody titer (NT 50). The consistency of qualitative and quantitative results between the two commercial kits and live virus neutralization test was analyzed. Results:Taking the micro-NT results as the standard, the positive coincidence rates of A and B kits were 97.40% and 100.00%, respectively; the negative coincidence rates were 97.30% and 95.95%, respectively; the Youden indices were 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. Furthermore, quantitative analysis indicated that the correlation coefficients between A and B kits and micro-NT results were 0.24 ( P<0.05) and 0.52 ( P<0.000 1) for samples collected after vaccination, respectively; while the correlation coefficients were 0.81 ( P<0.000 1) and 0.89 ( P<0.000 1) for convalescent serum samples, respectively. Conclusions:The results obtained by the two commercial neutralizing antibody detection kits were in good agreement with the qualitative results of micro-NT. The neutralizing antibody titers in convalescent serum samples detected by the two kits showed a stronger correlation with the micro-NT results.
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Objective:To evaluate the in vitro cross-neutralization of serum antibodies in human and mice immunized with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine against Delta and Beta variants. Methods:Human serum samples after a second and a third dose of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and mouse serum samples after a two-dose vaccination were collected. The neutralizing antibodies in the samples against SARS-CoV-2 strains of prototype, Delta and Beta variants were detected using micro-neutralization assay in biosafety level Ⅲ laboratory. The seroconversion rates and geometric mean titers (GMTs) of antibodies were calculated.Results:The seroconversion rates of antibodies in human serum samples against different SARS-CoV-2 strains were all above 95%. After two-dose vaccination, the GMTs of neutralizing antibodies against the prototype, Delta and Beta strains were 109, 41 and 15, respectively. The GMTs decreased by 2.7 folds and 7.3 folds for the Delta and Beta variants as compared with the prototype strain. After the booster vaccination, the GMTs of neutralizing antibodies against the prototype, Delta and Beta strains were 446, 190 and 86, respectively. The GMTs of neutralizing antibodies against Delta and Beta variants decreased by 2.3 folds and 5.2 folds as compared with that against the prototype strain. The seroconversion rates of antibodies against different SARS-CoV-2 strains in mouse serum samples were all 100%. The GMTs of neutralizing antibodies against the prototype, Delta and Beta strains were 2 037, 862 and 408, respectively. The GMTs decreased by 2.4 folds and 5.0 folds for the Delta and Beta variants.Conclusions:Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could induce a certain level of neutralizing antibodies against Delta and Beta variants in both human and mouse models. Moreover, a third dose of vaccine induced higher levels of neutralizing antibodies against Delta and Beta variants in human. This study provided valuable data for the clinical application and protective evaluation of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
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Objective:To investigate the effect of automated nested multiplex PCR system in the detection of children with severe community-acquired pneumonia(CAP), and identify the pathogenic infection of the children with severe CAP in Foshan.Methods:Children with severe CAP, who were admitted to the PICU at Foshan First People′s Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018, were enrolled in the analysis.Nasopharyngeal secretions were collected.And automated nested multiplex PCR was used to detect adenovirus, coronavirus (HKUl type, NL63 type, 229E type, 0C43 type), human metapneumovirus, influenza A virus (H1 subtype, H1-2009 subtype, H3 subtype), influenza B virus, parainfluenza virus (type 1, type 2, type 3, type 4), respiratory syncytial virus, Bacillus pertussis, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumonia.Results:Among the 290 specimens detected by the automated nested multiplex PCR, 246(84.83%) were positive.There were 166 positive samples for a single pathogen, 60 positive samples for two pathogens, 17 positive samples for three pathogens, and three positive samples for four pathogens.Among the virus-positive cases, respiratory syncytial virus was the most common pathogen in children younger than 6 months(62.39%, 73/117). The most common pathogen was human rhinovirus/enterovirus(43.48%, 20/46) from seven months to one year old.Adenovirus(37.50%, 18/48) was the most common pathogen among children aged one to three years old.Rhinovirus/enterovirus(35.00%, 7/20) was the most common pathogen among children aged three to six years old.The most common pathogen in children over six years old was influenza virus(46.67%, 7/15). The adenovirus detection rate was highest in May, the syncytial virus detection rate was highest in August, and the influenza virus detection rate was highest in July.Mycoplasma pneumoniae and pertussis were distributed throughout the year.Conclusion:The automated nested multiplex PCR system can detect multiple pathogens efficiently, quickly and accurately; the common pathogens of severe CAP are diverse in different age groups; the epidemic season of common pathogens is unique in different regions due to different climates.
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Objective@#To prepare strains of influenza A (H7N9) pseudovirus derived from different districts of China for vaccine efficacy evaluation.@*Methods@#Phylogenetic tree was built based on hemagglutinin (HA) amino acid sequence analyses from 29 influenza A (H7N9) virus strains and 6 influenza A (H7N9) virus strains with HA determinants variation were selected. 293FT cells were co-transfected with plasmid pNL4-3-Luc.R-E-, pVRC-HA and pVRC-NA with codon-optimized hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) derived from the six influenza A (H7N9) virus strains, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy assay and Western blot analysis were performed to demonstrate morphology and specificity of these particles, luciferase activity assay and hemagglutinin titers detection were used to determine their infectivity and hemagglutinin activity. And finally, pseudovirus-based neutralization assays were evaluated with HA immunized mice serum.@*Results@#Six influenza A (H7N9) peseudovirus particles derived from different districts of China were selected and prepared. All of the particles bearing HA and NA were characterized with classic influenza virus morphology, with TCID50 titer ranged from 104TCID50/50 μl to 105TCID50/50 μl and with hemagglutinin activity ranged from 64 to 512. Neutralization efficacies on influenza A/Shanghai/1/2013(H7N9) HA vaccine serum against 100TCID50 dose of these pseudovirus particles indicated their potential application in the vaccine cross-protective evaluation in future.@*Conclusions@#Six influenza A (H7N9) pseudovirus derived from different districts of China with potential antigenic variation on HA were constructed successfully, established foundation for their further application in vaccine cross-reactive efficacy evaluation.
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The newly emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a highly pathogenic respiratory virus with pathogenic mechanisms that may be driven by innate immune pathways. The goal of this study is to characterize the expression of the structural (S, E, M, N) and accessory (ORF 3, ORF 4a, ORF 4b, ORF 5) proteins of MERS-CoV and to determine whether any of these proteins acts as an interferon antagonist. Individual structural and accessory protein-coding plasmids with an N-terminal HA tag were constructed and transiently transfected into cells, and their native expression and subcellular localization were assessed using Wes tern blotting and indirect immunofluorescence. While ORF 4b demonstrated majorly nuclear localization, all of the other proteins demonstrated cytoplasmic localization. In addition, for the first time, our experiments revealed that the M, ORF 4a, ORF 4b, and ORF 5 proteins are potent interferon antagonists. Further examination revealed that the ORF 4a protein of MERS-CoV has the most potential to counteract the antiviral effects of IFN via the inhibition of both the interferon production (IFN-β promoter activity, IRF-3/7 and NF-κB activation) and ISRE promoter element signaling pathways. Together, our results provide new insights into the function and pathogenic role of the structural and accessory proteins of MERS-CoV.
Subject(s)
Humans , Cell Line , Coronavirus , Genetics , Virulence , Genes, Viral , Interferons , Open Reading Frames , Recombinant Proteins , Genetics , Metabolism , Viral Matrix Proteins , Genetics , Metabolism , Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins , Genetics , Metabolism , Viral Structural Proteins , Genetics , MetabolismABSTRACT
Objective To study the prevalence of hypertension in She Chinese population of Fujian province and its epidemiological characteristics. Methods Using random sampling method to take advantage of number table, we select a sample of 5350 people who were conducted a questionnaire survey and measured weight, height, blood pressure and other indicators. Results The prevalence of hypertension in She Chinese population of Fujian province was 36. 09%, including undiagnosed number of 1374 cases. The main risk factors of hypertension were age,the level of education, BMI,saltintake. Smoking was not significant with hypertension. The prevalence rate of hypertension among people over 60 years was 63.10%, people comsumed above 8 grams of salt per day had higher pervalence than that in the goup which comsumed below 6 grams or between 6 grams to 8 grams of salt per day. Conclusions The prevalence of hypertension in She had grown rapidly. The She Chinese population should change their lifestyle and hypertension education should perform in this population.