A neonatal murine model of coxsackievirus A4 infection for evaluation of vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Coxsackievirus A4 (CVA4) infection can cause hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), an epidemic illness affecting neonatal and paediatric cohorts, which can develop to severe neurological disease with high mortality. In this study, we established the first ICR mouse model of CVA4 infection for the evaluation of inactivated vaccines and antiviral drug screening. The CVA4 YT226R strain was selected to infect the neonatal mice and three infectious factors were optimized to establish the infection model. The 3-day-old neonatal mice exhibited clinical symptoms such as hind limb paralysis and death. The severe inflammatory reactions were closely related to the abnormal expression of the acute phase response proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and an imbalance in the IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio. Importantly, the inactivated CVA4 whole-virus vaccine induced humoral immune responses in adult females and the maternal antibodies afforded mice complete protection against lethal dose challenges of homologous or heterologous CVA4 strains. Both IFN-α2a and antiserum inhibited the replication of CVA4 and increased the survival rates of neonatal mice during the early stages of infection. This neonatal murine model of CVA4 infection will be useful for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines and for screening of antiviral drugs targeting CVA4 to decrease morbidity and mortality.

Modulation of oxygen vacancy in tungsten oxide nanosheets for Vis-NIR light-enhanced electrocatalytic hydrogen production and anticancer photothermal therapy.

Oxygen vacancy (OV) tuning was introduced into oxygen-deficient WO3 nanosheets to optimize the chemical and electronic properties. Enhanced electronic conduction, extended light absorption, enhanced HER reaction kinetics and benign photothermal performance were verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental studies. Vis-NIR light-enhanced electrocatalytic HER was accomplished with a small overpotential of 52 mV (at 10 mA cm-2) and a low Tafel slope of 37 mV dec-1 and performed much more efficiently than that in darkness, comparable to the noble-metal catalysts (Pt, Pt/C). Moreover, the resultant WO3-OVs possess good photothermal conversion efficiency. The promising potential of the WO3-OVs for anticancer photothermal therapy has been demonstrated with a high photothermal conversion efficiency (∼41.6%) upon single wavelength near-infrared irradiation and an efficient tumor inhibition rate (∼96.8%). This design of photoelectronic/thermal materials paves an exciting new avenue for the conversion of well-developed metal oxides to be high-performance and multifunctional materials for energy and oncology applications.

Vitamin A Deficiency Impairs Mucin Expression and Suppresses the Mucosal Immune Function of the Respiratory Tract in Chicks.

The chicken immune system is immature at the time of hatching. The development of the respiratory immune system after hatching is vital to young chicks. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin A supplement levels on respiratory mucin and IgA production in chicks. In this study, 120 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly divided into 4 groups consisting of three replicates of 10 broilers and subjected to dietary vitamin A supplement levels of 0, 1,500, 6,000, or 12,000 IU/kg for seven days. Compared with control birds, vitamin A supplementation significantly increased the mucin and IgA levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as well as the IgA level in serum. In the lungs, vitamin A supplementation downregulated TNF-α and EGFR mRNA expression. The TGF-ß and MUC5AC mRNA expression levels were upregulated by vitamin A supplementation at a dose of 6,000 IU/kg, and the IL-13 mRNA expression level was increased at the 12,000 IU/kg supplement level. Vitamin A deficiency (control) significantly decreased the mRNA expression levels of MUC2, IgA, EGFR, IL-13 and TGF-ß in trachea tissue. Histological section analysis revealed that the number of goblet cells in the tracheal epithelium was less in the 0 and 12,000 IU/kg vitamin A supplement groups than in the other groups. In conclusion, vitamin A deficiency suppressed the immunity of the airway by decreasing the IgA and mucin concentrations in neonatal chicks. This study suggested that a suitable level of vitamin A is essential for the secretion of IgA and mucin in the respiratory tract by regulating the gene expression of cytokines and epithelial growth factors.

Synthetic ß-sheet forming peptide amphiphiles for treatment of fungal keratitis.

Fungal keratitis is a leading cause of ocular morbidity. It is frequently misdiagnosed as bacterial keratitis, causing a delay in proper treatment. Furthermore, due to the lack of safe and effective anti-fungal agents for clinical use, treatment of fugal keratitis remains a challenge. In recent years, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have received considerable attention as potent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents with the potential to overcome antibiotics resistance. We previously reported the design of short synthetic ß-sheet forming peptides (IKIK)2-NH2 and (IRIK)2-NH2 with excellent antimicrobial activities and selectivities against various clinically relevant microorganisms, including Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and yeast Candida albicans (C. albicans). In this study, we evaluated the application of the two most promising synthetic ß-sheet forming peptide candidates for in vivo fungal keratitis treatment in comparison with the commercially available amphotericin B. It was found that topical solutions of the designed peptides are safe, and as effective as the clinically used amphotericin B. Compared to the costly and unstable amphotericin B, (IKIK)2-NH2 and (IRIK)2-NH2 are water-soluble, less expensive and stable. Thus, the synthetic ß-sheet forming peptides are presented as promising candidates for the treatment of fungal keratitis.