An Extrapulmonary Manifestation of Coronavirus Disease 2019:Olfactory Dysfunction / 中国医学科学院学报

In addition to acute respiratory symptoms,coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)could cause olfactory dysfunction,which becomes the only clinical manifestation of COVID-19 in some cases.We review the epidemiological characteristics,pathological mechanism,screening value,treatment and prognosis of olfactory dysfunction in patients with COVID-19,aiming to achieve an in-depth understanding of the early diagnosis,quarantine,scientific treatment and prognosis of COVID-19.

Gene editing: an instrument for practical application of gene biology to plant breeding / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Plant breeding is well recognized as one of the most important means to meet food security challenges caused by the ever-increasing world population. During the past three decades, plant breeding has been empowered by both new knowledge on trait development and regulation (e.g., functional genomics) and new technologies (e.g., biotechnologies and phenomics). Gene editing, particularly by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) and its variants, has become a powerful technology in plant research and may become a game-changer in plant breeding. Traits are conferred by coding and non-coding genes. From this perspective, we propose different editing strategies for these two types of genes. The activity of an encoded enzyme and its quantity are regulated at transcriptional and post-transcriptional, as well as translational and post-translational, levels. Different strategies are proposed to intervene to generate gene functional variations and consequently phenotype changes. For non-coding genes, trait modification could be achieved by regulating transcription of their own or target genes via gene editing. Also included is a scheme of protoplast editing to make gene editing more applicable in plant breeding. In summary, this review provides breeders with a host of options to translate gene biology into practical breeding strategies, i.e., to use gene editing as a mechanism to commercialize gene biology in plant breeding.

High-resolution melting-based TILLING of γ ray-induced mutations in rice / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) is a reverse genetics strategy for the high-throughput screening of induced mutations. γ radiation, which often induces both insertion/deletion (Indel) and point mutations, has been widely used in mutation induction and crop breeding. The present study aimed to develop a simple, high-throughput TILLING system for screening γ ray-induced mutations using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis. Pooled rice (Oryza sativa) samples mixed at a 1:7 ratio of Indel mutant to wild-type DNA could be distinguished from the wild-type controls by HRM analysis. Thus, an HRM-TILLING system that analyzes pooled samples of four M2 plants is recommended for screening γ ray-induced mutants in rice. For demonstration, a γ ray-mutagenized M2 rice population (n=4560) was screened for mutations in two genes, OsLCT1 and SPDT, using this HRM-TILLING system. Mutations including one single nucleotide substitution (G→A) and one single nucleotide insertion (A) were identified in OsLCT1, and one trinucleotide (TTC) deletion was identified in SPDT. These mutants can be used in rice breeding and genetic studies, and the findings are of importance for the application of γ ray mutagenesis to the breeding of rice and other seed crops.

Roles of microRNAs in allergic airway diseases / 中国医学科学院学报

The microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs regulating protein translation via mRNAs silencing. Studies have shown that microRNAs play critical roles in allergic diseases, tumors, and infections. The allergic airway diseases are characterized by inflammation and hyperresponsiveness of the respiratory tract. Several miRNAs are found to be involved in a series of pathophysiologic processes in allergic airway diseases including inflammatory cells infiltration, cytokines' expressions, airway hyperresponsiveness, and proliferation and change in phenotype of smooth muscle cells. Therefore, miRNAs may be new therapeutic targets for these allgeric diseases. This article reviews the roles of miRNAs in asthma and allergic rhinitis and their molecular biological mechanisms.

Therapeutic Effects of Huangqi Injection in the Treatment of Periodontitis in Rats / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the therapeutic effect of Huangqi injection in the treatment of periodontitis in rats.METHODS:Periodontitis model was induced by exposing and lacerating,supplying a high-glucose diet.They were given 8.0 g?kg-1 Huangqi injection for 10 days.Therapeutic effect was evaluated with blood biochemical index and clinical index.RESULTS:Huangqi injection could decrease the level of leukocytes and neutrophils in periodontitis rats while had no effect on erythrocyte,platelet and hemoglobin.Huangqi injection could decrease the level of plaque index (PLI),bleeding index (BI),alveolar bone loss (ABL) and tooth mobility (TM) while had no significant effect on probing depth (PD),periodontal bone support (PBS) and periodontal bone loss (PBL).CONCLUSION:Huangqi injection has therapeutic effect on periodontitis in rats.