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1.
Ultrasound Med Biol ; 2024 Aug 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39181805

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic efficacy of the CEUS LI-RADS combined with a model constructed on the basis of age, sex, AFP, and PIVKA-II (ASAP) for the diagnosis of HCC in high-risk patients. METHODS: This retrospective study included 366 liver lesions from 366 patients who underwent liver CEUS. All liver lesions were characterized and categorized according to CEUS LI-RADS v2017. Two modified methods were applied: LR-3/4/M nodules accompanied by AFP > 200 ng/mL (Criterion 2) or ASAP model score > 0.5256 and CA 19-9 in the normal range (Criterion 3) were recategorized as LR-5. The reference criteria included histopathological or comprehensive imaging and the clinical follow-up results. The diagnostic performance was evaluated and compared by the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV. RESULTS: The incidence of HCC in LR-3, LR-4, LR-5, and LR-M was 33.3% (4/12), 86.4% (38/44), 98.5% (191/194) and 82.7% (81/98), respectively. After using Criterion 2 compared to CEUS LI-RADS v2017, the sensitivity of the modified LR-5 for diagnosing HCC increased from 60.8% to 70.7% (p < 0.01) with little effect on its specificity (94.2% vs. 92.3%, p = 1.00) or PPV (98.5% vs. 98.2%, p = 0.86). After using Criterion 3, the sensitivity of the modified LR-5 for the diagnosis of HCC was further improved to 86.9% (p < 0.01), and its specificity and PPV were not significantly changed (92.3% and 98.6%, both p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: CEUS LI-RADS combined with the serum biomarker-based ASAP model improved the sensitivity of LR-5 in diagnosing HCC with little effect on its specificity and PPV.

2.
Front Oncol ; 14: 1428018, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39144829

ABSTRACT

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, which seriously threatens human life and health as well as brings a heavy burden to the society. In recent years, the tumor microenvironment (TME) has become an emerging research field and hotspot affecting tumor pathogenesis and therapeutic approaches. However, to date, there has been no bibliometric analysis of lung cancer and the tumor microenvironment from 2014 to 2023.This study aims to comprehensively summarize the current situation and development trends in the field from a bibliometric perspective. Methods: The publications about lung cancer and the tumor microenvironment from 2014 to 2023 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). The Microsoft Excel, Origin, R-bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software are comprehensively used to scientifically analyze the data. Results: Totally, 763 publications were identified in this study. A rapid increase in the number of publications was observed after 2018. More than 400 organizations published these publications in 36 countries or regions. China and the United States have significant influence in this field. Zhou, CC and Frontiers in Immunology are the most productive authors and journals respectively. Besides, the most frequently cited references were those on lung cancer pathogenesis, clinical trials, and treatment modalities. It suggests that novel lung cancer treatment models mainly based on the TME components, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) may lead to future research trends. Conclusions: The field of lung cancer and the tumor microenvironment research is still in the beginning stages. Gene expression, molecular pathways, therapeutic modalities, and novel detection technologies in this field have been widely studied by researchers. This is the first bibliometric study to comprehensively summarize the research trend and development regarding lung cancer and tumor microenvironment over the last decade. The result of our research provides the updated perspective for scholars to understand the key information and cutting-edge hotspots in this field, as well as to identify future research directions.

3.
Nat Commun ; 15(1): 162, 2024 Jan 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38167417

ABSTRACT

SARS-CoV-2 and filovirus enter cells via the cell surface angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or the late-endosome Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) as a receptor. Here, we screened 974 natural compounds and identified Tubeimosides I, II, and III as pan-coronavirus and filovirus entry inhibitors that target NPC1. Using in-silico, biochemical, and genomic approaches, we provide evidence that NPC1 also binds SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein on the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which is blocked by Tubeimosides. Importantly, NPC1 strongly promotes productive SARS-CoV-2 entry, which we propose is due to its influence on fusion in late endosomes. The Tubeimosides' antiviral activity and NPC1 function are further confirmed by infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC), SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. Thus, NPC1 is a critical entry co-factor for highly pathogenic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in the late endosomes, and Tubeimosides hold promise as a new countermeasure for these HCoVs and filoviruses.


Subject(s)
Ebolavirus , Receptors, Virus , Humans , Protein Binding , Receptors, Virus/metabolism , Niemann-Pick C1 Protein/metabolism , Ebolavirus/physiology , Virus Internalization , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism
4.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces ; 16(1): 1596-1604, 2024 Jan 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38153381

ABSTRACT

Jumping, a fundamental survival behavior observed in organisms, serves as a vital mechanism for adapting to the surrounding environment and overcoming significant obstacles within a given terrain. Here, we present a light-controlled soft jumping actuator inspired by asphondylia, which employs a closed-loop structure and utilizes a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE). Photo-mechanical coupling highlights the significant influence of the light source on the actuator's jumping behavior. Manipulating the light intensity, the relative position of stimulus and light lock, and the concentration of disperse red 1 (DR1) allows precise control over both the maximum take-off velocity and jump height. Furthermore, tailoring the size of the LCE actuator offers a means of regulating jumping behavior. Upon exposure to 460 nm LED irradiation, our actuator achieves remarkable performance, with a maximum jumping height of 10 body length (BL) and take-off velocity of 62 BL/s. These actuators accumulate and rapidly release energy, enabling the effective transportation of microcargos across substantial distances. Our research yields valuable insights into the realm of soft robotics, underscoring the pivotal importance of photo-mechanical coupling in the field of soft robotics, thereby serving as a catalyst for inspiring continued exploration of agile and capable systems by prestoring elastic energy.

5.
J Virol ; 97(2): e0161122, 2023 02 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36779763

ABSTRACT

Identification of bona fide functional receptors and elucidation of the mechanism of receptor-mediated virus entry are important to reveal targets for developing therapeutics against rabies virus (RABV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Our previous studies suggest that metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 (mGluR2) functions as an entry receptor for RABV in vitro, and is an important internalization factor for SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that mGluR2 facilitates RABV internalization in vitro and infection in vivo. We found that transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) interacts with mGluR2 and internalizes with mGluR2 and RABV in the same clathrin-coated pit. Knockdown of TfR1 blocks agonist-triggered internalization of mGluR2. Importantly, TfR1 also interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and is important for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. Our findings identify a novel axis (mGluR2-TfR1 axis) used by RABV and SARS-CoV-2 for entry, and reveal TfR1 as a potential target for therapeutics against RABV and SARS-CoV-2. IMPORTANCE We previously found that metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 (mGluR2) is an entry receptor for RABV in vitro, and an important internalization factor for SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo. However, whether mGluR2 is required for RABV infection in vivo was unknown. In addition, how mGluR2 mediates the internalization of RABV and SARS-CoV-2 needed to be resolved. Here, we found that mGluR2 gene knockout mice survived a lethal challenge with RABV. To our knowledge, mGluR2 is the first host factor to be definitively shown to play an important role in RABV street virus infection in vivo. We further found that transferrin receptor protein 1 (TfR1) directly interacts and cooperates with mGluR2 to regulate the endocytosis of RABV and SARS-CoV-2. Our study identifies a novel axis (mGluR2-TfR1 axis) used by RABV and SARS-CoV-2 for entry and opens a new door for the development of therapeutics against RABV and SARS-CoV-2.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Rabies virus , Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate , Receptors, Transferrin , SARS-CoV-2 , Virus Internalization , Animals , Humans , Mice , Rabies/metabolism , Rabies virus/physiology , Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate/metabolism , Receptors, Transferrin/metabolism , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism
6.
J Virol ; 97(2): e0161222, 2023 02 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36779762

ABSTRACT

Rabies virus (RABV) is a prototypical neurotropic virus that causes rabies in human and animals with an almost 100% mortality rate. Once RABV enters the central nervous system, no treatment is proven to prevent death. RABV glycoprotein (G) interacts with cell surface receptors and then enters cells via clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME); however, the key host factors involved remain largely unknown. Here, we identified transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), a classic receptor that undergoes CME, as an entry factor for RABV. TfR1 interacts with RABV G and is involved in the endocytosis of RABV. An antibody against TfR1 or the TfR1 ectodomain soluble protein significantly blocked RABV infection in HEK293 cells, N2a cells, and mouse primary neuronal cells. We further found that the endocytosis of TfR1 is coupled with the endocytosis of RABV and that TfR1 and RABV are transported to early and late endosomes. Our results suggest that RABV hijacks the transport pathway of TfR1 for entry, thereby deepening our understanding of the entry mechanism of RABV. IMPORTANCE For most viruses, cell entry involves engagement with many distinct plasma membrane components, each of which is essential. After binding to its specific receptor(s), rabies virus (RABV) enters host cells through the process of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. However, whether the receptor-dependent clathrin-mediated endocytosis of RABV requires other plasma membrane components remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) is a functional entry factor for RABV infection. The endocytosis of RABV is coupled with the endocytosis of TfR1. Our results indicate that RABV hijacks the transport pathway of TfR1 for entry, which deepens our understanding of the entry mechanism of RABV.


Subject(s)
Rabies virus , Rabies , Receptors, Transferrin , Virus Internalization , Animals , Humans , Mice , Clathrin/metabolism , HEK293 Cells , Rabies/metabolism , Rabies virus/metabolism , Receptors, Transferrin/metabolism , Cell Line , Endocytosis
7.
ACS Cent Sci ; 9(2): 217-227, 2023 Feb 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36844503

ABSTRACT

The 3C-like protease (3CLpro) is an essential enzyme for the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses and thus is a target for coronavirus drug discovery. Nearly all inhibitors of coronavirus 3CLpro reported so far are covalent inhibitors. Here, we report the development of specific, noncovalent inhibitors of 3CLpro. The most potent one, WU-04, effectively blocks SARS-CoV-2 replications in human cells with EC50 values in the 10-nM range. WU-04 also inhibits the 3CLpro of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV with high potency, indicating that it is a pan-inhibitor of coronavirus 3CLpro. WU-04 showed anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity similar to that of PF-07321332 (Nirmatrelvir) in K18-hACE2 mice when the same dose was administered orally. Thus, WU-04 is a promising drug candidate for coronavirus treatment.

8.
Adv Sci (Weinh) ; 9(35): e2203499, 2022 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36266926

ABSTRACT

Outbreaks of coronaviruses (CoVs), especially severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have posed serious threats to humans and animals, which urgently calls for effective broad-spectrum antivirals. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) plays an essential role in viral RNA synthesis and is an ideal pan-coronaviral therapeutic target. Herein, based on cryo-electron microscopy and biochemical approaches, gossypol (GOS) is identified from 881 natural products to directly block SARS-CoV-2 RdRp, thus inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication in both cellular and mouse infection models. GOS also acts as a potent inhibitor against the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) and exerts same inhibitory effects toward mutated RdRps of VOCs as the RdRp of the original SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, that the RdRp inhibitor GOS has broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus activity against alphacoronaviruses (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus), betacoronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2), gammacoronaviruses (avian infectious bronchitis virus), and deltacoronaviruses (porcine deltacoronavirus) is showed. The findings demonstrate that GOS may serve as a promising lead compound for combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other coronavirus outbreaks.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 Drug Treatment , Coronavirus Infections , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase , Gossypol , SARS-CoV-2 , Animals , Humans , Mice , COVID-19 , Cryoelectron Microscopy , Gossypol/pharmacology , Gossypol/therapeutic use , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , SARS-CoV-2/enzymology , Swine , COVID-19 Drug Treatment/methods , Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/antagonists & inhibitors
10.
Cell Discov ; 8(1): 53, 2022 Jun 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35668062

ABSTRACT

The spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an important target for vaccine and drug development. However, the rapid emergence of variant strains with mutated S proteins has rendered many treatments ineffective. Cleavage of the S protein by host proteases is essential for viral infection. Here, we discovered that the S protein contains two previously unidentified Cathepsin L (CTSL) cleavage sites (CS-1 and CS-2). Both sites are highly conserved among all known SARS-CoV-2 variants. Our structural studies revealed that CTSL cleavage promoted S to adopt receptor-binding domain (RBD) "up" activated conformations, facilitating receptor-binding and membrane fusion. We confirmed that CTSL cleavage is essential during infection of all emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants (including the recently emerged Omicron variant) by pseudovirus (PsV) infection experiment. Furthermore, we found CTSL-specific inhibitors not only blocked infection of PsV/live virus in cells but also reduced live virus infection of ex vivo lung tissues of both human donors and human ACE2-transgenic mice. Finally, we showed that two CTSL-specific inhibitors exhibited excellent In vivo effects to prevent live virus infection in human ACE2-transgenic mice. Our work demonstrated that inhibition of CTSL cleavage of SARS-CoV-2 S protein is a promising approach for the development of future mutation-resistant therapy.

11.
World Wide Web ; 25(3): 1197-1221, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35287331

ABSTRACT

Online forumpost evaluationis an effective way for instructors to assess students' knowledge understanding and writing mechanics. Manually evaluating massive posts costs a lot of time. Automatically grading online posts could significantly alleviate instructors' burden. Similar text assessment tasks like Automated Text Scoring evaluate the writing quality of independent texts or relevance between text and prompt. And Automatic Short Answer Grading measures the semantic matching of short answers according to given problems and correct answers. Different from existing tasks, we propose a novel task, Automated Post Scoring (APS), which grades all online discussion posts in each thread of each student with given topics and quoted posts. APS evaluates not only the writing quality of posts automatically but also the relevance to topics. To measure the relevance, we model the semantic consistency between posts and topics. Supporting arguments are also extracted from quoted posts to enhance posts evaluation. Specifically, we propose a mixture model including a hierarchical text model to measure the writing quality, a semantic matching model to model topic relevance, and a semantic representation model to integrate quoted posts. We also construct a new dataset called Online Discussion Dataset containing 2,542 online posts from 694 students of a social science course. The proposed models are evaluated on the dataset with correlation and residual based evaluation metrics. Compared with measuring posts alone, experimental results demonstrate that incorporating topics and quoted posts could improve the performance of APS by a large margin, more than 9 percent on QWK.

12.
Virol Sin ; 37(2): 248-255, 2022 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35234625

ABSTRACT

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly contagious zoonotic disease caused by SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Since its outbreak in Guangdong Province of China in 2002, SARS has caused 8096 infections and 774 deaths by December 31st, 2003. Although there have been no more SARS cases reported in human populations since 2004, the recent emergence of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) indicates the potential of the recurrence of SARS and other coronavirus disease among humans. Thus, developing a rapid response SARS vaccine to provide protection for human populations is still needed. Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV can induce neutralizing antibodies, which is a pivotal immunogenic antigen for vaccine development. Here we constructed a recombinant chimeric vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) VSVΔG-SARS, in which the glycoprotein (G) gene is replaced with the SARS-CoV S gene. VSVΔG-SARS maintains the bullet-like shape of the native VSV, with the heterogeneous S protein incorporated into its surface instead of G protein. The results of safety trials revealed that VSVΔG-SARS is safe and effective in mice at a dose of 1 â€‹× â€‹106 TCID50. More importantly, only a single-dose immunization of 2 â€‹× â€‹107 TCID50 can provide high-level neutralizing antibodies and robust T cell responses to non-human primate animal models. Thus, our data indicate that VSVΔG-SARS can be used as a rapid response vaccine candidate. Our study on the recombinant VSV-vectored SARS-CoV vaccines can accumulate experience and provide a foundation for the new coronavirus disease in the future.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus , Animals , Antibodies, Neutralizing , Antibodies, Viral , Immunization , Immunogenicity, Vaccine , Macaca mulatta , Mice , Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus/genetics , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus , Vaccines, Synthetic/genetics , Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus/genetics , Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus/metabolism
13.
PLoS Pathog ; 18(2): e1010343, 2022 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35176124

ABSTRACT

The continuous emergence of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and the increasing number of breakthrough infection cases among vaccinated people support the urgent need for research and development of antiviral drugs. Viral entry is an intriguing target for antiviral drug development. We found that diltiazem, a blocker of the L-type calcium channel Cav1.2 pore-forming subunit (Cav1.2 α1c) and an FDA-approved drug, inhibits the binding and internalization of SARS-CoV-2, and decreases SARS-CoV-2 infection in cells and mouse lung. Cav1.2 α1c interacts with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and ACE2, and affects the attachment and internalization of SARS-CoV-2. Our finding suggests that diltiazem has potential as a drug against SARS-CoV-2 infection and that Cav1.2 α1c is a promising target for antiviral drug development for COVID-19.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 Drug Treatment , COVID-19 , Diltiazem/pharmacology , Lung/drug effects , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , A549 Cells , Animals , COVID-19/pathology , COVID-19/virology , Cells, Cultured , Chlorocebus aethiops , Diltiazem/therapeutic use , Disease Models, Animal , Female , HEK293 Cells , HeLa Cells , Humans , Lung/pathology , Lung/virology , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Transgenic , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Vero Cells , Virus Attachment/drug effects , Virus Internalization/drug effects
14.
mBio ; 13(1): e0244321, 2022 02 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35012335

ABSTRACT

Loss of the furin cleavage motif in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reduces the virulence and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that furin is an attractive antiviral drug target. However, lack of understanding of the regulation of furin activity has largely limited the development of furin-based therapeutic strategies. Here, we find that alpha-soluble NSF attachment protein (α-SNAP), an indispensable component of vesicle trafficking machinery, inhibits the cleavage of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and other furin-dependent virus glycoproteins. SARS-CoV-2 infection increases the expression of α-SNAP, and overexpression of α-SNAP reduces SARS-CoV-2 infection in cells. We further reveal that α-SNAP is an interferon-upregulated furin inhibitor that inhibits furin function by interacting with its P domain. Our study demonstrates that α-SNAP, in addition to its role in vesicle trafficking, plays an important role in the host defense against furin-dependent virus infection and therefore could be a target for the development of therapeutic options for COVID-19. IMPORTANCE Some key mutations of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, such as D614G and P681R mutations, increase the transmission or pathogenicity by enhancing the cleavage efficacy of spike protein by furin. Loss of the furin cleavage motif of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reduces the virulence and transmission, suggesting that furin is an attractive antiviral drug target. However, lack of understanding of the regulation of furin activity has largely limited the development of furin-based therapeutic strategies. Here, we found that in addition to its canonical role in vesicle trafficking, alpha-soluble NSF attachment protein (α-SNAP) plays an important role in the host defense against furin-dependent virus infection. we identified that α-SNAP is a novel interferon-upregulated furin inhibitor and inhibits the cleavage of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and other furin-dependent virus glycoproteins by interacting with P domain of furin. Our study demonstrates that α-SNAP could be a target for the development of therapeutic options for COVID-19.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus , Humans , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism , SARS-CoV-2/metabolism , Furin/metabolism , Soluble N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Factor Attachment Proteins/metabolism , Interferons/metabolism , Carrier Proteins , Antiviral Agents , Glycoproteins/metabolism
16.
Cell Discov ; 7(1): 119, 2021 Dec 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34903715

ABSTRACT

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a binding receptor to enter cells via clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). However, receptors involved in other steps of SARS-CoV-2 infection remain largely unknown. Here, we found that metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 (mGluR2) is an internalization factor for SARS-CoV-2. Our results show that mGluR2 directly interacts with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and that knockdown of mGluR2 decreases internalization of SARS-CoV-2 but not cell binding. Further, mGluR2 is uncovered to cooperate with ACE2 to facilitate SARS-CoV-2 internalization through CME and mGluR2 knockout in mice abolished SARS-CoV-2 infection in the nasal turbinates and significantly reduced viral infection in the lungs. Notably, mGluR2 is also important for SARS-CoV spike protein- and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein-mediated internalization. Thus, our study identifies a novel internalization factor used by SARS-CoV-2 and opens a new door for antiviral development against coronavirus infection.

17.
Nanoscale ; 13(47): 20134-20143, 2021 Dec 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34846409

ABSTRACT

Actuators have wide applications in soft robotics and bionic devices. Since the healing ability not only makes actuators have longer service lives, but also allows them to be programmable through welding and assembling, it is regarded as an important feature for state-of-the-art actuators. Nevertheless, it remains a great challenge to integrate multi-functional merits, such as multi-responsiveness, programmable shape-morphing, healing and self-sensing function, simultaneously into a monolithic actuating material. Here, we introduce Chinese ink, a carbon-based material used in traditional calligraphy, to develop programmable, dual-responsive and self-sensing actuators by a healing-assembling method. The ink is combined with graphene oxide (GO) to fabricate a double-layer ink/GO actuator, which shows bi-directional bending under near-infrared light or humidity, owing to the mismatch of the volume change between ink and GO films. The maximal bending curvature is up to 5.2 cm-1. Importantly, the entire ink/GO actuator can be healed with the aid of ink solution. Using the healing-assembling method to fabricate advanced structures including a Mobius ring, triangular rings and square rings, diverse actuating modes and complex 3D deformations such as a wavy shape and saddle shape are realized. This method also enables the construction of an artificial mimosa that shows a biomimetic stimulus-responsive behavior. In addition, the ink/GO actuator shows a self-sensing function, which is attributed to the thermoresistivity of the ink film. This research shows the huge potential of Chinese-ink-based actuators for use in smart materials, providing a new idea for the development of new generation multi-functional actuators.

18.
Natl Sci Rev ; 8(3): nwaa291, 2021 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34676095

ABSTRACT

Minks are raised in many countries and have transmitted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to humans. However, the biologic properties of SARS-CoV-2 in minks are largely unknown. Here, we investigated and found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates efficiently in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, and transmits efficiently in minks via respiratory droplets; pulmonary lesions caused by SARS-CoV-2 in minks are similar to those seen in humans with COVID-19. We further found that a spike protein-based subunit vaccine largely prevented SARS-CoV-2 replication and lung damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in minks. Our study indicates that minks are a useful animal model for evaluating the efficacy of drugs or vaccines against COVID-19 and that vaccination is a potential strategy to prevent minks from transmitting SARS-CoV-2.

19.
Emerg Microbes Infect ; 10(1): 481-492, 2021 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33691601

ABSTRACT

The unprecedented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a serious threat to global public health. Development of effective therapies against SARS-CoV-2 is urgently needed. Here, we evaluated the antiviral activity of a remdesivir parent nucleotide analog, GS441524, which targets the coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase enzyme, and a feline coronavirus prodrug, GC376, which targets its main protease, using a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 infected mouse model. Our results showed that GS441524 effectively blocked the proliferation of SARS-CoV-2 in the mouse upper and lower respiratory tracts via combined intranasal (i.n.) and intramuscular (i.m.) treatment. However, the ability of high-dose GC376 (i.m. or i.n. and i.m.) was weaker than GS441524. Notably, low-dose combined application of GS441524 with GC376 could effectively protect mice against SARS-CoV-2 infection via i.n. or i.n. and i.m. treatment. Moreover, we found that the pharmacokinetic properties of GS441524 is better than GC376, and combined application of GC376 and GS441524 had a synergistic effect. Our findings support the further evaluation of the combined application of GC376 and GS441524 in future clinical studies.


Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , COVID-19 Drug Treatment , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/antagonists & inhibitors , Respiratory System/virology , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , Animals , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/pharmacokinetics , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Chlorocebus aethiops , Drug Therapy, Combination , Female , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Prodrugs/pharmacology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Vero Cells
20.
J Biol Chem ; 296: 100096, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33208464

ABSTRACT

Rabies virus (RABV) matrix protein (M) plays crucial roles in viral transcription, replication, assembly, and budding; however, its function during the early stage of virus replication remains unknown. Here, we mapped the protein interactome between RABV M and human host factors using a proteomic approach, finding a link to the V-type proton ATPase catalytic subunit A (ATP6V1A), which is located in the endosomes where RABV first enters. By downregulating or upregulating ATP6V1A expression in HEK293T cells, we found that ATP6V1A facilitated RABV replication. We further found that ATP6V1A was involved in the dissociation of incoming viral M proteins during viral uncoating. Coimmunoprecipitation demonstrated that M interacted with the full length or middle domain of ATP6V1A, which was dependent on the lysine residue at position 256 and the glutamic acid residue at position 279. RABV growth and uncoating in ATP6V1A-depleted cells was restored by trans-complementation with the full length or interaction domain of ATP6V1A. Moreover, stably overexpressed ATP6V1A enhanced RABV growth in Vero cells, which are used for the production of rabies vaccine. Our findings identify a new partner for RABV M proteins and establish a new role of ATP6V1A by promoting virion uncoating during RABV replication.


Subject(s)
Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases/metabolism , Animals , Cell Survival/genetics , Cell Survival/physiology , Chlorocebus aethiops , HEK293 Cells , Humans , Immunoprecipitation , Mass Spectrometry , Plasmids/genetics , Proteomics , RNA Interference , Rabies/immunology , Rabies/prevention & control , Rabies Vaccines/immunology , Rabies Vaccines/therapeutic use , Rabies virus/immunology , Rabies virus/pathogenicity , Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases/genetics , Vero Cells , Virus Replication/genetics , Virus Replication/physiology
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