Protein kinase Cdc7 supports viral replication by phosphorylating Avibirnavirus VP3 protein.

IMPORTANCE: The Avibirnavirus infectious bursal disease virus is still an important agent which largely threatens global poultry farming industry economics. VP3 is a multifunctional scaffold structural protein that is involved in virus morphogenesis and the regulation of diverse cellular signaling pathways. However, little is known about the roles of VP3 phosphorylation during the IBDV life cycle. In this study, we determined that IBDV infection induced the upregulation of Cdc7 expression and phosphorylated the VP3 Ser13 site to promote viral replication. Moreover, we confirmed that the negative charge addition of phosphoserine on VP3 at the S13 site was essential for IBDV proliferation. This study provides novel insight into the molecular mechanisms of VP3 phosphorylation-mediated regulation of IBDV replication.

Nanobody peptide conjugate: a novel CD163 based broad neutralizing strategy against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

BACKGROUND: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a prevalent swine pathogen, which has caused adverse impact on the global swine industry for almost 30 years. However, due to the immune suppression caused by the virus and the genetic diversity in PRRSV, no virus-targeting broad neutralizing strategy has been successfully developed yet. Antiviral peptide and nanobody have attracted extensive attention with the ease in production and the efficacy in practice. In this study, four new fusion proteins named nanobody peptide conjugates (NPCs) were developed by combining PRRSV specific non-neutralizing nanobodies with CD163-derived peptides targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) of PRRSV proteins. RESULTS: Four NPCs were successfully constructed using two nanobodies against PRRSV N and nsp9 individually, recombining with two antiviral peptides 4H7 or 8H2 from porcine CD163 respectively. All four NPCs demonstrated specific capability of binding to PRRSV and broad inhibitory effect against various lineages of PRRSV in a dose-dependent manner. NPCs interfere with the binding of the RBD of PRRSV proteins to CD163 in the PRRSV pre-attachment stage by CD163 epitope peptides in the assistance of Nb components. NPCs also suppress viral replication during the stage of post-attachment, and the inhibitory effects depend on the antiviral functions of Nb parts in NPCs, including the interference in long viral RNA synthesis, NF-κB and IFN-ß activation. Moreover, an interaction was predicted between aa K31 and T32 sites of neutralizing domain 4H7 of NPC-N/nsp9-4H7 and the motif 171NLRLTG176 of PRRSV GP2a. The motif 28SSS30 of neutralizing domain 8H2 of NPC-N/nsp9-8H2 could also form hydrogens to bind with the motif 152NAFLP156 of PRRSV GP3. The study provides valuable insights into the structural characteristics and potential functional implications of the RBD of PRRSV proteins. Finally, as indicated in a mouse model, NPC intranasally inoculated in vivo for 12-24 h sustains the significant neutralizing activity against PRRSV. These findings inspire the potential of NPC as a preventive measure to reduce the transmission risk in the host population against respiratory infectious agents like PRRSV. CONCLUSION: The aim of the current study was to develop a peptide based bioactive compound to neutralize various PRRSV strains. The new antiviral NPC (nanobody peptide conjugate) consists of a specific nanobody targeting the viral protein and a neutralizing CD163 epitope peptide for virus blocking and provides significant antiviral activity. The study will greatly promote the antiviral drug R&D against PRRSV and enlighten a new strategy against other viral diseases.

A patient with BRAF N581S mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma demonstrates durable response to combined anlotinib and tislelizumab: A case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Targeted therapy with combined dabrafenib and trametinib has been proven to provide clinical benefits in patients with BRAF V600E mutation-positive NSCLC. Nevertheless, the treatment strategy for NSCLC patients with BRAF non-V600E mutations remains limited. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we present a NSCLC patient with a BRAF N581S mutation, which is a class III BRAF mutation, and this patient had a durable response to targeted therapy with combined anlotinib and tislelizumab. CONCLUSION: We hope to bring more attention to rare non-V600 BRAF mutations by presenting this case of NSCLC.

Long Noncoding RNA AROD Inhibits Host Antiviral Innate Immunity via the miR-324-5p-CUEDC2 Axis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs that are involved in multiple biological processes. Here, we report a mechanism through which the lnc-AROD-miR-324-5p-CUEDC2 axis regulates the host innate immune response, using influenza A virus (IAV) as a model. We identified that host lnc-AROD without protein-coding capability is composed of 975 nucleotides. Moreover, lnc-AROD inhibited interferon-ß expression, as well as interferon-stimulated genes ISG15 and MxA. Furthermore, in vivo assays confirmed that lnc-AROD overexpression increased flu virus pathogenicity and mortality in mice. Mechanistically, lnc-AROD interacted with miR-324-5p, leading to decreased binding of miR-324-5p to CUEDC2. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that lnc-AROD is a critical regulator of the host antiviral response via the miR-324-5p-CUEDC2 axis, and lnc-AROD functions as competing endogenous RNA. Our results also provided evidence that lnc-AROD serves as an inhibitor of the antiviral immune response and may represent a potential drug target. IMPORTANCE lnc-AROD is a potential diagnostic and discriminative biomarker for different cancers. However, so far the mechanisms of lnc-AROD regulating virus replication are not well understood. In this study, we identified that lnc-AROD is downregulated during RNA virus infection. We demonstrated that lnc-AROD enhanced CUEDC2 expression, which in turn inhibited innate immunity and favored IAV replication. Our studies indicated that lnc-AROD functions as a competing endogenous RNA that binds miR-324-5p and reduces its inhibitory effect on CUEDC2. Taken together, our findings reveal that lnc-AROD plays an important role during the host antiviral immune response.

Genetic characterization and evolution of H6N6 subtype avian influenza viruses.

H6-subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) was prevalent in the world and could sporadically infect humans. Here, a new chicken-derived H6N6-subtype AIV strain A/chicken/Zhejiang/49/2021 (ZJ49) was isolated in Zhejiang Province, China in 2021. Phylogenetic analysis by Maximum likelihood methods showed that H6-subtype AIVs were classed into 13 groups according to HA gene. The ZJ49 strain belonged to the G12 group, which mainly consisted of strains from Asian and dominated in recent years. Based on NA gene, H6-subtype AIVs were divided into N6.1 and N6.2 clades according to the NA gene. The ZJ49 isolate was located in the N6.2e clade, which mainly consisted of the H5N6-subtype AIVs. Phylogenetic analysis by Bayesian methods showed that the effective quantity size of H6-subtype AIVs increased around 1990, reached a peak around 2015, declined after 2015, then kept in a stable level after 2018. The reassortment analysis predicted that the PB2, PA, and NA genes of ZJ49 may recombine with H5-subtype AIVs. The amino acid at 222 position of HA gene of ZJ49 strain mutated from A to V, suggesting that ZJ49 has a potential ability to cross species barriers. The four glycosylation sites were highly conserved, implying less impact on the fold and conception of HA stem structure. Our results revealed the complicated evolution, reassortment, and mutations of receptor binding sites of H6-subtype AIVs, which emphasize the importance to continuously monitor the epidemiology and evolution of H6-subtype AIVs.

UCHL1 promotes cancer stemness in triple-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a special kind of breast cancer with strong ability of invasion and metastasis. UCHL1 belongs to the ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase family and is found to be increased in a variety of malignancies, but its expression in TNBC is unknown. METHODS: First, we analyzed the expression of UCHL1 in 128 TNBC specimens and paired adjacent normal tissues from 17 TNBC patients undergoing curative resection by immunohistochemistry. Then, the relationship between UCHL1 and cancer stemness was investigated by cell flow cytometry, spheroid formation assays and western blot. Moreover, cell scratch assay and Transwell assays were performed to explore whether UCHL1 promotes the migration and invasion of TNBC cells. Finally, we constructed a xenografts model of TNBC cell lines to observe the effect of UCHL1 on tumorigenesis in vivo. RESULTS: UCHL1 was overexpressed in TNBC tissues and associated with poor prognosis. UCHL1 promoted stem cancer cells properties, including the percentage of CD44+/CD24- cells, sphere-forming ability and CSCs related markers. Furthermore, Scratch assay and Transwell assay proved that UCHL1 enhanced the migration and invasion of TNBC cells. The experimental results of xenografts model in nude mice showed that UCHL1 promoted tumorigenesis of TNBC in vivo. CONCLUSION: UCHL1 may play a role in the malignant progression of TNBC by maintaining the stemness and promoting cell invasion and is expected to become a potential therapeutic target for TNBC patients.

Factors that influence parents' intentions of using autonomous vehicles to transport children to and from school.

High-level autonomous vehicles (AVs) are likely to improve the quality of children's travel to and from school (such as improve travel safety and increase travel mobility). These expected benefits will not be presented if parents are not willing to use AVs. Therefore, it is necessary to explore parents' intentions of using AVs to transport children to and from school (parents' intentions). This study has two primary aims: 1) Exploring parents' intentions and their potential determinants. 2) Making recommendations for manufacturers to develop and market AVs suitable for school travel based on the research results. Research results show that face consciousness with Chinese characteristics can significantly affect parents' intentions. Knowledge of AVs is the most significant factor in influencing parents' intentions. Perceived usefulness, attitude towards school travel in AVs, and perceived risk can significantly affect parents' intentions. The direct impact of perceived ease of use and public engagement on parents' intentions is not significant. Finally, this research could provide decision-making support for governments and manufacturers to formulate relevant policies and marketing strategies, promoting parents' acceptance of AVs.

A Previously Undiscovered Circular RNA, circTNFAIP3, and Its Role in Coronavirus Replication.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newly discovered class of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) present in various tissues and cells. However, the functions of most circRNAs have not been verified experimentally. Here, using deltacoronavirus as a model, differentially expressed circRNAs in cells with or without deltacoronavirus infection were analyzed by RNA sequencing to characterize the cellular responses to RNA virus infection. More than 57,000 circRNA candidates were detected, and seven significantly dysregulated circRNAs were quantitated by real-time reverse transcription-PCR. We discovered a previously unidentified circRNA derived from the TNFAIP3 gene, named circTNFAIP3, which is distributed and expressed widely in various tissues. RNA viruses, including deltacoronaviruses, rather than DNA viruses tend to activate the expression of endogenous circTNFAIP3. Overexpression of circTNFAIP3 promoted deltacoronavirus replication by reducing the apoptosis, while silencing of circTNFAIP3 inhibited deltacoronavirus replication by enhancing the apoptosis. In summary, our work provides useful circRNA-related information to facilitate investigation of the underlying mechanism of deltacoronavirus infection and identifies a novel circTNFAIP3 that promotes deltacoronavirus replication via regulating apoptosis. IMPORTANCE CircRNAs, a new class of ncRNAs, play important roles in cell growth, neural development, carcinogenesis, and anticarcinogenesis. Porcine deltacoronavirus is an emerging enteropathogenic coronavirus that causes diarrhea, but the role of host circRNAs in regulating its infection is unknown. Here, we performed expression profiling of circRNAs in mock- and deltacoronavirus- infected cells and identified the novel differentially expressed circular RNA circTNFAIP3. We demonstrate that circTNFAIP3 promotes deltacoronavirus replication by inhibiting apoptosis. Our findings first illustrate that circRNA can act as an apoptosis negative regulator during RNA virus infection and help to explore the underlying mechanism of deltacoronavirus infection.

[Porcine deltacoronavirus induces mitochondrial apoptosis in ST cells].

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a newly emerging enteropathogenic swine coronavirus causing acute diarrhea and vomiting in pigs. The apoptosis of ST cells induced by PDCoV infection was studied in this research. In ST cells, caspase activity assay showed that the activity of caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9 increased significantly with the infection of PDCoV, but not observed in UV irradiated PDCoV-infected cells, indicating that PDCoV infection activated both endogenous and exogenous apoptotic pathways in ST cells, and the induction of apoptosis depended on viral replication. To further investigate the endogenous apoptosis induced by PDCoV, cytochrome C and apoptosis-inducing factors in cytoplasm and mitochondria were detected. Compared with normal cells, the amount of cytochrome C released from mitochondria to cytoplasm increased significantly in PDCoV-infected cells, and the release increased with the prolongation of infection, while the apoptosis-inducing factor was always localized to mitochondria, suggesting that PDCoV induced apoptosis was initiated through caspase-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis pathway by promoting cytochrome C in the mitochondrial membrane gap into the cytosol. In conclusion, this study reveals the mechanism of PDCoV inducing apoptosis.

Detection and spike gene characterization in porcine deltacoronavirus in China during 2016-2018.

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) has been emerging in several swine-producing countries for years. In our study, 719 porcine diarrhoea samples from 18 provinces in China were collected for PDCoV and porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) detection. The epidemiological survey revealed that the positive rates of PDCoV, PEDV and coinfection were 13.07%, 36.72% and 4.73%, respectively. The entire spike (S) genes of eleven detected PDCoV strains were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the majority of PDCoVs could be divided into three lineages: the China lineage, the USA/Japan/South Korea lineage and the Viet Nam/Laos/Thailand lineage. The China and the Viet Nam/Laos/Thailand lineages showed much greater genetic divergences than the USA/Japan/South Korea lineage. The present study detected one new monophyletic branch that contained three PDCoVs from China, and this branch was separated from the China lineage but closely related to the Viet Nam/Laos/Thailand lineage. The strain CH-HA2-2017, which belongs to this new branch, had a possible recombination event between positions 27 and 1234. Significant amino acid substitutions of PDCoV S proteins were analysed and displayed with a three-dimensional cartoon diagram. The visual spatial location of these substitutions gave a conformational-based reference for further studies on the significance of critical sites on the PDCoV S protein.

Comprehensive Genomic Characterization Analysis of lncRNAs in Cells With Porcine Delta Coronavirus Infection.

Porcine delta coronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel emerging enterocytetropic virus causing diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and mortality in suckling piglets. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to be important regulators during virus infection. Here, we describe a comprehensive transcriptome profile of lncRNA in PDCoV-infected swine testicular (ST) cells. In total, 1,308 annotated and 1,190 novel lncRNA candidate sequences were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that these lncRNAs might be involved in numerous biological processes. Clustering analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs showed that 454 annotated and 376 novel lncRNAs were regulated after PDCoV infection. Furthermore, we constructed a lncRNA-protein-coding gene co-expression interaction network. The KEGG analysis of the co-expressed genes showed that these differentially expressed lncRNAs were enriched in pathways related to metabolism and TNF signaling. Our study provided comprehensive information about lncRNAs that would be a useful resource for studying the pathogenesis of and designing antiviral therapy for PDCoV infection.

Characterization and epidemiological survey of porcine sapelovirus in China.

Porcine sapelovirus (PSV) is a causative agent of acute diarrhoea, respiratory distress, reproductive failure, and polioencephalomyelitis in swine. Here, we report the isolation, genomic sequence, and biological characterization of PSV isolated from pig diarrhoeal samples. In our study, two PSV strains were identified with a diameter of approximately 25 nm, and their full genomes were 7564 nucleotides in length. We named the strains PSV-JXXY-a2 and PSV-JXXY-c. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the two virus isolates were classified into the China cluster. Moreover, the PSV-JXXY-a2 strain could be inactivated quickly at 54℃ and adapted to grow on different cell lines of porcine, human, and baby hamster origin. Pathogenicity investigation showed that the isolated PSV could infect neonatal piglets efficiently and caused diarrhoea in piglets. Further epidemiological investigation revealed a high prevalence of PSV in pig herds, and the PSV-positive rates in pigs with diarrhoea were much higher than in asymptomatic samples in China. Together, our findings demonstrate that PSV-JXXY-a2 is pathogenic to neonatal piglets and advance knowledge on the prevalence of PSV infection.

Molecular characteristics of the spike gene of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus strains in Eastern China in 2016.

The outbreak of piglet diarrhoea caused by porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) began to spread in Southern China in late 2010 and resulted in significant economic losses throughout the country. To determine the prevalence and the molecular characteristics of common PEDV strains in China, 1272 faeces and small intestine samples in pigs were collected from 17 provinces and inspected for PEDV; the full-length spike (S) gene of 18 detected PEDV strains collected from five eastern provinces were sequenced and analysed. The epidemiological data revealed that the PEDV-positive rate in diarrhoea specimens was 28.93%. Phylogenetic analysis of the S genes showed that the CH-JSYC-1-2016 strain was clustered into a G2-a subgroup (US and Asian non-S-INDEL), and other seventeen virus strains was clustered into a new subgroup G2-b (Chinese non-S-INDEL). The G2-b subgroup only contained Chinese PEDV strains that were isolated after 2014. Compared with the CV777 vaccine strain, Eastern China PEDVs were genetically distinct and had various amino acid differences in the neutralizing epitope domain of the S protein, as well as different patterns of predicted high-specificity N-glycosylation sites. The prevalence of Chinese non-S-INDEL strains may be responsible for the immunization failure by using currently available commercial vaccines (based on attenuated CV777 strain), and the development of novel vaccines based on these newly identified PEDV variants may contribute to the control of PED outbreaks in China.