ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To investigate the dynamic changes in urine metabolic profiles in rats induced by D-galactose (D-Gal),and to study the correlations between the differential metabolites and behavior indicators using the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR)-based metabonomics.METHODS Subcutaneous injection of D-Gal 100 mg· kg-1 for 10 weeks was adopted in the model group.The sample of urine was collected at day 0 (dO),d14,d28,d42,d56 and d70.NMR metabonomics technique was used for acquisition of data,which was analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis.The ability of learning and memory were measured by Morris water maze test from d70.After the behavioral test,the rats were sacrificed and the hippocampus was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining.RESULTS Principal component analysis (PCA) results revealed that there was considerable difference between the model group and the normal control group at d70.According to the varible importance plot (VIP) calculation and S-plot scores,a total of 12 metabolites were screened and identified as potential biomarkers at d70.The differences of metabolites and Morris water maze test were subjected to correlation analysis,and the results showed that the levels of choline,lactate and dimethylglycine in the model group were significantly increased and negatively correlated with the times of crossing the platform (r =-0.90,-0.50 and-0.52;n=10).Formate was significantly negatively correlated with the time spent in the target area (r =-0.51,n=10),but choline and formate were significantly positively correlated with the escape latency (r =0.72 and 0.53;n=10).However,the levels of creatine and taurine decreased in the model group,which was significantly positively correlated to the times of acrossing platforms (r =0.89 and 0.71;n=10),while alanine was significantly positively correlated to the time spent in the target area(r =0.74,n=10).Taurine,alanine and creatine were significantly negatively correlated with the escape latency (r =-0.66,-0.50 and-0.85;n=10).The correlations between the differential metabolites and the behavioral indicators were further proved.CONCLUSION The metabolic profile changes in urine from D-Gal induced aging model rats are significantly correlated with impairement of ability in learning and memory.1H-NMR metabonomics in urinary metabolic profile changes may be used as an evaluation index in the D-Gal induced aging rats model.
ABSTRACT
Ebola virus (EBOV) causes highly lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates and has a significant impact on public health. The nucleoprotein (NP) of EBOV (EBOV-NP) plays a central role in virus replication and has been used as a target molecule for disease diagnosis. In this study, we generated a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against EBOV-NP and mapped the epitope motif required for recognition by the MAb. The MAb generated via immunization of mice with prokaryotically expressed recombinant NP of the Zaire Ebola virus (ZEBOV-NP) was specific to ZEBOV-NP and able to recognize ZEBOV-NP expressed in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The MAb cross-reacted with the NP of the Reston Ebola virus (REBOV), the Cote-d'Ivoire Ebola virus (CIEBOV) and the Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BEBOV) but not with the NP of the Sudan Ebola virus (SEBOV) or the Marburg virus (MARV). The minimal epitope sequence required for recognition by the MAb was the motif PPLESD, which is located between amino acid residues 583 and 588 at the C-terminus of ZEBOV-NP and well conserved among all 16 strains of ZEBOV, CIEBOV and BEBOV deposited in GenBank. The epitope motif is conserved in four out of five strains of REBOV.