Unlocking the antiviral potential of rosmarinic acid against chikungunya virus via IL-17 signaling pathway.

Background: The Chikungunya virus is an Alphavirus that belongs to the Togaviridae family and is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes. It causes acute infection characterized by fever, headache, and arthralgia. Some patients also experience persistent chronic osteoarthritis-like symptoms. Dedicated antiviral treatments are currently unavailable for CHIKV. This study aims to explore the potential anti-CHIKV effect of rosmarinic acid using network pharmacology. Methods: This study employed network pharmacology to predict and verify the molecular targets and pathways associated with ROSA in the context of CHIKV. The analysis outcomes were further validated using molecular docking and in vitro experiments. Results: The analysis of CHIKV targets using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and MCODE identified IL-17 as an important pathogenic pathway in CHIKV infection. Among the 30 targets of ROSA against CHIKV, nearly half were found to be involved in the IL-17 signaling pathway. This suggests that ROSA may help the host in resisting CHIKV invasion by modulating this pathway. Molecular docking validation results showed that ROSA can stably bind to 10 core targets out of the 30 identified targets. In an in vitro CHIKV infection model developed using 293T cells, treatment with 60 µM ROSA significantly improved the survival rate of infected cells, inhibited 50% CHIKV proliferation after CHIKV infection, and reduced the expression of TNF-α in the IL-17 signaling pathway. Conclusion: This study provides the first confirmation of the efficacy of ROSA in suppressing CHIKV infection through the IL-17 signaling pathway. The findings warrant further investigation to facilitate the development of ROSA as a potential treatment for CHIKV infection.

Retrospective investigation of the origin and epidemiology of the dengue outbreak in Yunnan, China from 2017 to 2018.

Since 2013, a dengue epidemic has broken out in Yunnan, China and neighboring countries. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the number of dengue cases decreased significantly. In this retrospective study, epidemiological and genetic diversity characterizations of dengue viruses (DENV) isolated in Yunnan between 2017 and 2018 were performed. The results showed that the dengue outbreak in Yunnan from 2017 to 2018 was mainly caused by DENV1 (genotype I and genotype V) and DENV2 (Asia I, Asia II, and Cosmopolitan). Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between the number of imported and local cases (correlation coefficient = 0.936). Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic divergence analysis revealed that the local isolates are closely related to the isolates from Myanmar and Laos. Interestingly, recombination analysis found that the DENV1 and DENV2 isolates in this study had widespread intra-serotype recombination. Taken together, the results of the epidemiological investigation imply that the dengue outbreak in Yunnan was primarily due to imported cases. This study provides a new reference for further investigations on the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of DENV in Yunnan, China.

Orientin downregulating oxidative stress-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction through AMPK/SIRT1 pathway in rat nucleus pulposus cells in vitro and attenuated intervertebral disc degeneration in vivo.

Although considered as a major contributor to low back pain (LBP), intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) has poor medical and surgical treatments. Various studies have revealed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and extracellular matrix (ECM) degeneration play a vital role in initiating and developing the progression of IVDD. Moreover, restoration of SIRT1/AMPK was confirmed to prevent IVDD and damage via maintaining ER and extracellular homeostasis. In addition, orientin (Ori) has been shown to upregulate SIRT1. However, the effect of Ori in nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) is not determined. Hence, in this study we aim to explore the function of Ori in IVDD pathological model. The results demonstrate that Ori treatment in vitro increased SIRT1/AMPK in NPCs, maintained ECM and ER balance and decreased oxidative stress (OS) response. Ori rescued the disordered homeostasis stimulated by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), and its function can be inhibited by thapsigargin (TG). Compound C and EX-527, inhibitors of AMPK and SIRT1 counteracted the Ori-mediated ER stress elimination. These results confirm that Ori exerts its effects by upregulating AMPK and SIRT1. Puncture-stimulated IVDD rats were used to show that Ori attenuates the pathological development in vivo. In all, we partly unveil the underlying mechanisms of Ori in IVDD.

Cross-species transmission potential of chicken anemia virus and avian gyrovirus 2.

The Gyrovirus genus consists of nonenveloped, icosahedral viruses with small circular single-stranded DNA genomes. Gyroviruses have been detected in diverse hosts, including humans, chickens, rodents, and cats. Two Gyroviruses were detected in canine serum samples using PCR in this study. The results indicated that four serum samples were positive for CAV (0.28%, 2/700) or AGV2 (0.28%, 2/700). Additionally, recombination analysis showed that AGV2 and CAV might have originated from the recombination of viruses similar to those detected in chickens and humans. We detected a total of 14 mutations in CAV VP1 amino acid sequences and identified new mutations at positions 31, 388, 390, 399, and 421 for the first time. The identification of T390C, C912T, T1230C, and T1297C mutations in AGV2 VP1, R93C mutations in AGV2 VP2, and R58C mutations AGV2 VP3 indicated that the differences might be related to a transboundary movement among hosts, which requires further elucidation. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report of an AGV2-infected dog in China, suggesting that the cross-species transmission of viruses with circular single-stranded DNA genomes is a public health concern.

OICP: An Online Fast Registration Algorithm Based on Rigid Translation Applied to Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Mold Repair.

As promising technology with low requirements and high depositing efficiency, Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) can significantly reduce the repair cost and improve the formation quality of molds. To further improve the accuracy of WAAM in repairing molds, the point cloud model that expresses the spatial distribution and surface characteristics of the mold is proposed. Since the mold has a large size, it is necessary to be scanned multiple times, resulting in multiple point cloud models. The point cloud registration, such as the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm, then plays the role of merging multiple point cloud models to reconstruct a complete data model. However, using the ICP algorithm to merge large point clouds with a low-overlap area is inefficient, time-consuming, and unsatisfactory. Therefore, this paper provides the improved Offset Iterative Closest Point (OICP) algorithm, which is an online fast registration algorithm suitable for intelligent WAAM mold repair technology. The practicality and reliability of the algorithm are illustrated by the comparison results with the standard ICP algorithm and the three-coordinate measuring instrument in the Experimental Setup Section. The results are that the OICP algorithm is feasible for registrations with low overlap rates. For an overlap rate lower than 60% in our experiments, the traditional ICP algorithm failed, while the Root Mean Square (RMS) error reached 0.1 mm, and the rotation error was within 0.5 degrees, indicating the improvement of the proposed OICP algorithm.

Fractionation and characterization of hemicelluloses from young bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) leaves.

Bamboo leaves are considered as an important source of bioactive molecules. In this work, leaves from young bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) aged 3 months were subjected to aqueous extraction and 2% NaOH solution extraction followed by precipitation in ethanol-water medium with different ethanol concentrations. The dissolved hemicellulosic polysaccharides presented a total recovery of 67.83% based on the total hemicellulose content in bamboo leaves. Chemical analysis of the fractions was performed by sugar composition analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, and 1D nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. The results revealed that all polysaccharide fractions contained xylose, arabinose, glucose, galactose, ribose, and uronic acid. The polysaccharides from young bamboo leaves mainly consisted of arabinoxylans, arabinogalactans, and non-cellulosic ß-D-glucans having (1→3)- and (1→4)-glucosidic linkages. The content of these polysaccharides was found to vary among the fractions depending on the separation method. Finally, the thermal behavior was also discussed.