Simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferometry based on independent component analysis.

An independent component analysis-based simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferometry approach is proposed. By using a one-time phase-shifting procedure, the simultaneous phase-shifting operation of two illumination wavelengths can be implemented, and then the background intensity and two orthogonal independent components of each single wavelength can be separated from a sequence of simultaneous phase-shifting dual-wavelength interferograms with random phase shifts. Subsequently, the wrapped phases of single wavelength can be calculated by above two orthogonal independent components; thus the unambiguous phase of synthetic wavelength can be achieved. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the proposed approach reveals the advantages of high accuracy, rapid speed, high stability, and good adaptability for arbitrary phase shifts.

The mutated tegument protein UL7 attenuates the virulence of herpes simplex virus 1 by reducing the modulation of α-4 gene transcription.

BACKGROUND: UL7, a tegument protein of Herpes Simplex Virus type I (HSV-1), is highly conserved in viral infection and proliferation and has an unknown mechanism of action. METHODS: A HSV-1 UL7 mutant (UL7-MU) was constructed using the CRISPR-cas9 system. The replication rate and plaque morphology were used to analyze the biological characteristics of the wild-type (WT), UL7-MU and MU-complemented P1 viruses. The virulence of the viruses was evaluated in mice. Real-time RT-qPCR and ChIP assays were used to determine the expression levels of relevant genes. RESULTS: The replication capacity of a recombinant virus (UL7-MU strain) was 10-fold lower than that of the WT strain. The neurovirulence and pathologic effect of the UL7-MU strain were attenuated in infected mice compared with the WT strain. In the latency model, the expression of latency-associated transcript (LAT) in the central nervous system (CNS) and trigeminal nerve was lower in UL7-MU-infected mice than in WT strain-infected mice. The transcription level of the immediate-early gene α-4 in UL7-MU-infected cells was reduced by approximately 2-fold compared with the clear transcriptional peak identified in WT strain-infected Vero cells within 7 h post-infection (p.i.). CONCLUSION: By modulating the transcription of the α-4 gene, UL7 may be involved in transcriptional regulation through its interaction with the transcript complex structure of the viral genome during HSV-1 infection.

The Characteristics of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection in Rhesus Macaques and the Associated Pathological Features.

As one of the major pathogens for human herpetic diseases, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) causes herpes labialis, genital herpes and herpetic encephalitis. Our aim here was to investigate the infectious process of HSV1 in rhesus macaques and the pathological features induced during this infection. Clinical symptoms that manifested in the rhesus macaque during HSV1 infection included vesicular lesions and their pathological features. Viral distribution in the nervous tissues and associated pathologic changes indicated the typical systematic pathological processes associated with viral distribution of HSV1.Interestingly, vesicular lesions recurred in oral skin or in mucosa associated with virus shedding in macaques within four to five months post-infection,and viral latency-associated transcript (LAT) mRNA was found in the trigeminal ganglia (TG)on day 365 post-infection. Neutralization testing and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) detection of specific T cell responses confirmed the specific immunity induced by HSV1 infection. Thus, rhesus macaques could serve as an infectious model for HSV1 due to their typical clinical symptoms and the pathological recurrence associated with viral latency in nervous tissues.