The emerging role of non-coding RNAs from extracellular vesicles in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disease. Recently, different non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular RNAs, have been found to contribute to Alzheimer's disease's pathogenesis. Extracellular vehicles could be enriched in ncRNAs and in their role in mediating intercellular communication. Signatures of extracellular vesicular ncRNAs have shown them to be a potential biomarker in Alzheimer's disease. This perspective discusses the potential role of extracellular vehicle ncRNAs in Alzheimer's disease, providing a theoretical basis for extracellular vesicular ncRNAs in Alzheimer's disease, from pathogenesis to diagnosis and treatment.

Utilization of recombinase polymerase amplification method combined with lateral flow dipstick for visual detection of respiratory syncytial virus.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major causative agent of respiratory tract infection necessitating hospitalization in children. A rapid diagnostic method would facilitate early detection of RSV infection and timely implementation of special treatment. Here, a reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) assay combined with lateral flow dipstick (LFD) was evaluated for rapid visual detection of RSV. The primers were designed to target the conserved L gene. The RT-RPA-LFD assay could simultaneously detect RSV subtype A and B with the same detection limit of 10 copies of a given RNA molecule. Moreover, the assay showed no cross-reactivity with other common human pathogens. The performance of the RT-RPA-LFD assay was evaluated by testing 136 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs). The agreement of the detection results between RT-RPA-LFD and qRT-PCR was 100% (34 positive and 102 negative cases). In summary, the developed RT-RPA-LFD assay had good performance in detecting RSV in clinical specimens, thus providing a novel alternative solution for the detection of RSV under field conditions.

[Determination of the trace levels of urinary fibrinopeptides by high-performance capillary electrophoresis].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE)-based method for detection of trace amount of urinary fibrinopeptide A and B (FPA and FPB, respectively) as the specific molecular markers of thrombus formation in vivo. METHODS: The HPCE system consisted of a 25 cm x 50 microm (inner diameter) coated capillary column, 0.1 mol/L phosphoric acid buffer (pH 2.5) and a UV-detector (wavelength at 190 nm). To improve the sensitivity and reproducibility, solid-phase extraction of FPA and FPB in the urine was performed using a Sep-pak C18 column, with a synthetical fibrinopeptide B-Tyr (FPB-Tyr) as the internal standard. RESULTS: With this HPCE method, optimal separations of FPA, FPB and FPB-Tyr was achieved within 16 min, with the migration time of 7.28 min, 14.31 min and 15.22 min, respectively. The adjusted peak area ratios of FPA or FPB and the internal standard showed good linearity with the corresponding concentrations of FPA or FPB spiked in the urine(R>0.99). Under the above chromatography conditions, the minimum detection concentration of FPA and FPB in untreated urine was 30 microg/L and 40 microg/L, respectively, and the assay precision and recovery of FPA and FPB were acceptable. CONCLUSION: The method we established is reliable and specific for separation and identification of fibrinopeptides and other bioactive peptides.