Tarsal exposure to atovaquone inhibits chikungunya virus transmission by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, but not the transmission of Zika virus.

The antimalarial drug atovaquone was recently reported to inhibit the in vitro replication of different arboviruses, including chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Furthermore, atovaquone was shown to block Plasmodium parasite transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes when the mosquitoes were exposed to low concentrations on treated surfaces (i.e. tarsal exposure). Therefore, we evaluated the anti-CHIKV and -ZIKV effects of atovaquone via tarsal exposure in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. We first confirmed that atovaquone exerted a dose-dependent antiviral effect on CHIKV and ZIKV replication in mosquito-derived cells. The modest antiviral effect could be rescued by adding exogenous uridine. Next, we assessed the effect of tarsal exposure to atovaquone on the fitness of Ae. aegypti. Concentrations up to 100 µmol/m2 did not affect the fecundity and egg-hatching rate. No significant effect on mosquito survival was observed when mosquitoes were exposed to concentrations up to 25 µmol/m2. To evaluate the antiviral effect of atovaquone against CHIKV, we exposed female mosquitoes to 100 µmol/m2 atovaquone for 1h, after which the mosquitoes were immediately infected with CHIKV or ZIKV via bloodmeal. Atovaquone did not significantly reduce ZIKV or CHIKV infection in Ae. aegypti, but successfully blocked the transmission of CHIKV in saliva. Tarsal exposure to antiviral drugs could therefore be a potential new strategy to reduce virus transmission by mosquitoes.

Isolation, Characterization and Proliferation of Cancer Cells from Breast Cancer Patients.

INTRODUCTION: The most cases of cancer death, which are in the first rank among cancers suffered by women is breast cancer. The breast cancer therapy for patients has been done, but still not optimal, so it is necessary to understand the mechanism of therapy in model cell of breast cancer. AIM: This study aim to develop an isolation technique of breast cancer cell from patients as a cancer cell model. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Breast cancer cell isolation is performed by enzymatic methods using the collagen I and hyaluronidase. Then, breast cancer cells were characterized using flow cytometry based on the CD44/CD24 expression where MDA-MB468 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines were used as positive controls. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), p53, HER2, and Ki67 expression were assessed using an immunohistochemistry assay. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: The morphology of cancer cells was fibroblast like cells on the day 7th after isolation. Isolated breast cancer cells expressed 95.33±0.47% of CD44+/CD24+ and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) low expressions. Isolation of breast cancer cells can use In-house enzymatic protocol. Isolated breast cancer showed the same expression as MDA-MB468 (CD44+/CD24+) and HER2- compared to MCF-7 cell lines (CD44-/CD24+). CONCLUSION: These cells belonged to a basal type of breast carcinoma and expressed CD44+/CD24+, then isolated BCCs can be used as model cancer cells for further research.