Molecular epidemiology of norovirus infections in children with acute gastroenteritis in South Korea in November 2005 through November 2006.

Norovirus infections were detected in 114 of 762 children with acute gastroenteritis in South Korea from November 2005 to November 2006. Seasonality peaks in December, March, and October were also assessed in this study. We identified seven noroviral genotypes (GI-6, GII-2, GII-3, GII-4, GII-5, GII-6, and GII-8) and a C1-120 strain showing low identity (79.3%) with GII-13 and GII-17.

Direct vaccination with pseudotype baculovirus expressing murine telomerase induces anti-tumor immunity comparable with RNA-electroporated dendritic cells in a murine glioma model.

Baculovirus pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus G protein (Bac-VSV-G) was found to efficiently transduce and express transgenes on mammalian cells. In this study, this recombinant virus was used for induction of anti-tumor immunity against murine telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTERT) and was compared with RNA-electroporated dendritic cells (DCs) in a murine glioma model. Splenocytes from the mice vaccinated with Bac-VSV-G expressing mTERT (Bac-VSVG-mTERT) showed significantly increased numbers of mTERT-specific IFN-gamma-secreting T cells using an ELISPOT technique, and also showed increased NK cell activity. In addition, the TERT-specific T cells activated by Bac-VSVG-mTERT and mTERT RNA-electroporated DCs were predominantly CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells, respectively. The protective anti-tumor effect of Bac-VSVG-mTERT was similar to that of mTERT RNA-electroporated DCs. These results suggest that the pseudotype baculovirus expressing TERT may be a good candidate for a genetic vaccine for use in the treatment of malignant gliomas.

Inhibition of herpesvirus-6B RNA replication by short interference RNAs.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a process of sequence-specific gene silencing, which is initiated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). RNAi may also serve as an antiviral system in vertebrates. This study describes the inhibition of herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) replication by short interference RNAs (siRNAs) that are targeted to the U38 sequence that encodes DNA polymerase. When virus-infected SupT1 cells were treated by siRNA, these cells blocked the cytopathic effect (CPE) and detected the HHV-6B antibody-negative in indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFA). Our result suggests that RNAi can efficiently block Herpesvirus-6B replication.

Characteristics of HIV-Tat protein transduction domain.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein transduction domain (PTD), which contains rich arginine and lysine residues, is responsible for the highly efficient transduction of protein through the plasma membrane. In addition, it can be secreted from infected cells and has the ability to enter neighboring cells. When the PTD of Tat is fused to proteins and exogenously added to cells, the fusion protein can cross plasma membranes. Recent reports indicate that the endogenously expressed Tat fusion protein can demonstrate biodistribution of several proteins. However, intercellular transport and protein transduction have not been observed in some studies. Therefore, this study examined the intercellular transport and protein transduction of the Tat protein. The results showed no evidence of intercellular transport (biodistribution) in a cell culture. Instead, the Tat fusion peptides were found to have a significant effect on the transduction and intercellular localization properties. This suggests that the HIV-1 PTD passes through the plasma membrane in one direction.