Inhibition of avian leukosis virus subgroup J replication by miRNA targeted against env.

No effective vaccine has been developed against the subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J). The genetic diversity of ALV-J might be related to the env gene, therefore, we selected conserved sequences of the env gene and designed interference sequence. In this study, microRNAs (miRNAs) were designed and synthesized, corresponding to conserved regions of the env gene. These miRNAs were cloned into the linearized eukaryotic expression vector. The recombinant plasmids were transfected into DF-1 cells. After transfection, the cells were inoculated with ALV-J. In reporter assays, the transfection efficiency is 80% by indirect immunofluorescence (IFA). Expression of the virus envelope glycoprotein was measured by IFA and western blotting assays. The relative expression of env gene was determined using quantitative PCR. Our results show that the mi-env 231 and mi-env 1384 could effectively suppress the replication of ALV-J with an efficiency of 68.7-75.2%. These data suggest that the miRNAs targeting the env can inhibit replication of ALV-J efficiently. This finding provides evidence that miRNAs could be used as a potential tool against ALV infection.

Self-assembling and size-selective synthesis of Ni and NiO nanoparticles embedded in ordered mesoporous carbon and polymer frameworks.

We demonstrate the self-assembling and size-selective synthesis of uniform and highly dispersed Ni or NiO nanoparticles with diameters below 12 nm embedded in ordered mesoporous carbon or polymer frameworks. Self-assembly is induced by evaporation of the solvent from a mixture of metal-containing liquid crystalline (LC) mesophases of triblock copolymer and transition metal nitrate hydrate, and the carbon source is low-polymerized phenolic resol. Characterization by XRD, N(2) sorption isotherms, TEM, HRSEM, ICP-AES, TG, and XPS techniques has indicated an ordered 2D hexagonal mesostructure, high surface areas between 524 and 721 m(2) g(-1), uniform pore sizes of about 4.0 nm, large pore volumes ranging from 0.34 to 0.58 cm(3) g(-1), and metal contents ranging from 0.6 to 10.0 wt%. There is a high degree of dispersion, and a small size of nanoparticles throughout the whole framework, without aggregation outside of the pores due to the confinement effect of the mesoporous ordered matrix. The mesoporous solids show excellent adsorption properties for dyes and permit an easy magnetic separation procedure. This method is expected to be applicable to other mesoporous transition metal(oxide)-containing carbon catalysts.

Enhanced inhibition of Avian leukosis virus subgroup J replication by multi-target miRNAs.

BACKGROUND: Avian leukosis virus (ALV) is a major infectious disease that impacts the poultry industry worldwide. Despite intensive efforts, no effective vaccine has been developed against ALV because of mutations that lead to resistant forms. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop antiviral agents for the treatment of ALV infections and RNA interference (RNAi) is considered an effective antiviral strategy. RESULTS: In this study, the avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) proviral genome, including the gag genes, were treated as targets for RNAi. Four pairs of miRNA sequences were designed and synthesized that targeted different regions of the gag gene. The screened target (i.e., the gag genes) was shown to effectively suppress the replication of ALV-J by 19.0-77.3%. To avoid the generation of escape variants during virus infection, expression vectors of multi-target miRNAs were constructed using the multi-target serial strategy (against different regions of the gag, pol, and env genes). Multi-target miRNAs were shown to play a synergistic role in the inhibition of ALV-J replication, with an inhibition efficiency of viral replication ranging from 85.0-91.2%. CONCLUSION: The strategy of multi-target miRNAs might be an effective method for inhibiting ALV replication and the acquisition of resistant mutations.

Growth, electronic structure and superconductivity of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi2films.

We report growth, electronic structure and superconductivity of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi2films on Si (111). At low coverages, preferred islands with 2, 5 and 6 monolayers height develop, which agrees well with the surface energy calculation. We observe clear quantum well states as a result of electronic confinement and their dispersion agrees well with density functional theory calculations, indicating weak correlation effect despite strong contributions from Co 3delectrons.Ex situtransport measurements show that superconductivity persists down to at least 10 monolayers, with reducedTcbut largely enhanced upper critical field. Our study opens up the opportunity to study the interplay between quantum confinement, interfacial symmetry breaking and superconductivity in an epitaxial silicide film, which is technologically relevant in microelectronics.