ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the relationship between microdeletions of AZF( azoospermia factor) on Y chromosome in male with idiopathic azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Only patients with an apparently normal 46,XY karyotype and normal FSH, LH and T were included in this study. Multiplex PCR was used to detect the sequence-tagged sites( STS) as follows :sY84, sY86, sY127, sY134, sY152, sY153, sY254, sY255, and ZFX/Y was used as internal control gene.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No microdeletion was detected in the control whereas 8 microdeletion cases existed in 67 idiopathic azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia, including 4 in AZFc, 2 in AZFa + AZFc, 1 in AZFc + AZFb, and 1 in AZFb. The prevalence rate of microdeletion was 11.94%, which was statistically different from the control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Microdeletions in the AZF regions on the long arm of the Y-chromosome are associated with idiopathic azoospermic and severely oligozoospermic men. Multiplex PCR was a rapid and reliable method for screening microdeletions of AZF.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Azoospermia , Genetics , Chromosome Deletion , Chromosomes, Human, Y , Genetic Loci , Karyotyping , Oligospermia , Genetics , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Seminal Plasma Proteins , GeneticsABSTRACT
Interferon-tau (IFN-tau) is a newly discovered IFN of type I. It was originally found for its role as a pregnancy recognition hormone in ruminant animals such as sheep and cows. Like the other type I IFNs, IFN-tau have the same biological activities including antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory effects. In order to clearly identify the function of IFN-tau, the coding sequence of IFN-tau was amplified by PCR from IFN-tau cDNA, this fragment digested by EcoR I and BamH I and was inserted into pBV220 to form the recombinant plasmid pBV220/IFN-tau which was then transformed into E.coli BL21. It was found that pBV220/IFN-tau was highly expressed as inclusion body in BL21. Next, the expressed protein was purified on S-100 High Resolution and the purified product was confirmed by amino acid sequence analysis. Moreover, the standard antiviral activity test indicated that the activity of IFN-tau was about 2.09?106IU/ml.
ABSTRACT
HIV p24 core protein can induce both cellular and neutralizing antibody responses.HIV-1 CA-virus-like particles(VLPs)vaccines provide a promising approach for the development of an effective vaccination strategy against HIV infection.Rhizosecreion of the recombinant proteins provides a new manufacturing platform that can simplify the extraction and purification procedure.Lycium barbarum L.was transformed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 harboring the plant expression vector pCAMBIA1305.2-MA4-CA with a GRP signal peptide and MA4-CA fusion gene.Transgenic hairy roots were induced and cultivated in hydroponic culture.Western blotting indicated that the recombinant CA proteins were present in two forms,a glycosylated monomer(37 kDa)and a dimer(50 kDa)in the roots and hydroponic medium.It appeared from the present immunohistochemical data that the recombinant CA proteins fused with GRP signal peptide were confined to the cytoplasm,cell wall and intercellular space,indicating targeting into the secretory pathway.It demonstrated for the first time the rhizosecretion of HIV-1 recombinant capsid protein in Lycium barbarum L.hairy roots,and may offer a novel method for expressing HIV-1 CA-VLPs vaccines in plants.
ABSTRACT
The HIV-1 capsid protein (CA) plays an essential role in viral core assembly and maturation. Proteolytic cleavage at the MA-CA junction of the retroviral gag polyprotein refolds the amino-terminal end of capsid into a beta-helix structure that is stabilized by a salt bridge between the protein's processed amino-terminus and a conserved acidic residue. The refolded capsid aminoterminus then creates a new CA-CA interface, allowing assembly of the mature capsid core. Recently, researches focus on assembly of CA in vitro and development of CA vaccine. CA vaccine will provide widely immune protection because CA is comparatively conserved. Experiments demonstrate that fusing as few as four matrix residues onto the amino-terminus of capsid redirects protein assembly from cylinder to spheres in vitro. Evaluation of immunogenicity showed that immunization with virus-like particles induced both cellular and neutralizing antibody responses. Furthermore, mucosal administration of virus-like particles effectively induced both mucosal and systemic immune responses. These results indicate that virus-like particles consisting of HIV structural proteins are an attractive vaccine platform for eliciting anti-viral immune responses, especially neutralizing antibody responses. The production of antigens for vaccines in plants indicates that plant-based transgenic expression represents a viable means of producing CA vaccine for the development of HIV vaccine and for use in HIV diagnostic procedures and it has the potential as a safe and cost-effective alternative to traditional production systems.