Rapid detection of avian leukemia virus using CRISPR/Cas13a based lateral flow dipstick.

Avian leukemia virus (ALV) is one of the main pathogens of poultry tumor diseases, and has caused significant economic losses to the poultry industry since its discovery. Therefore, establishing a rapid detection method is essential to effectively prevent and control the spread of ALV. In this study, specific CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) primers with T7 promoter were designed based on the relatively conserved sequence of avian leukemia virus. When crRNA recognized the target sequence, Cas13a protein was activated to cut the reporting probes, and then the detection results were read by using lateral flow dipstick (LFD). The RAA-CRISPR/Cas13a-LFD reaction system was constructed. The RAA amplification time, Cas13a protein concentration, crRNA concentration and CRISPR reaction time were optimized to evaluate the specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility of the system. Finally, RAA-CRISPR/Cas13a-LFD method was compared with Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-Agarose electrophoresis method and qPCR method in the detection of clinical samples, and the reliability of RAA-CRISPR/Cas13a-LFD method was evaluated. The results showed that the RAA-CRISPR/Cas13a-LFD method could effectively amplify the target gene at 37°C for 40 min, and the test results could be determined by LFD visual observation. The method had good specificity and no cross-reaction with Marek's disease virus (MDV), Fowl adenovirus (FAdV), Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), and Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). The minimum detection limit of the method was 100 copies/µL, and it had good repeatability and stability. The coincidence rate of clinical detection reached 97.69% and 99.23%. In summary, this study established a simple, efficient, accurate and visualized ALV detection method, which can be used for the prevention and rapid clinical diagnosis of avian leukosis (AL).

Detection method for reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification of avian influenza virus subtypes H5, H7, and H9.

BACKGROUND: Avian influenza virus (AIV) not only causes huge economic losses to the poultry industry, but also threatens human health. Reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) is a novel isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology. This study aimed to improve the detection efficiency of H5, H7, and H9 subtypes of AIV and detect the disease in time. This study established RT-RAA-LFD and real-time fluorescence RT-RAA (RF-RT-RAA) detection methods, which combined RT-RAA with lateral flow dipstick (LFD) and exo probe respectively, while primers and probes were designed based on the reaction principle of RT-RAA. RESULTS: The results showed that RT-RAA-LFD could specifically amplify H5, H7, and H9 subtypes of AIV at 37 °C, 18 min, 39 °C, 20 min, and 38 °C, 18 min, respectively. The sensitivity of all three subtypes for RT-RAA-LFD was 102 copies/µL, which was 10 ∼100 times higher than that of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) agarose electrophoresis method. RF-RT-RAA could specifically amplify H5, H7, and H9 subtypes of AIV at 40 °C, 20 min, 38 °C, 16 min, and 39 °C, 17 min, respectively. The sensitivity of all three subtypes for RF-RT-RAA was 101 copies/µL, which was consistent with the results of real-time fluorescence quantification RT-PCR, and 100 ∼1000 times higher than that of RT-PCR-agarose electrophoresis method. The total coincidence rate of the two methods and RT-PCR-agarose electrophoresis in the detection of clinical samples was higher than 95%. CONCLUSIONS: RT-RAA-LFD and RF-RT-RAA were successfully established in this experiment, with quick response, simple operation, strong specificity, high sensitivity, good repeatability, and stability. They are suitable for the early and rapid diagnosis of Avian influenza and they have positive significance for the prevention, control of the disease, and public health safety.

Research Note: Application of reverse-transcription recombinase-aided amplification-lateral flow dipstick method in the detection of infectious bursal disease virus.

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is a highly contagious viral disease caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) in chickens. The consequent immunosuppression and secondary infection affect the healthy development of chicken industry. In this study, specific primers and probes were screened in the conserved region of IBDV VP2 gene sequence, and reverse transcription-recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) was combined with lateral flow dipstick (LFD) for establishing RT-RAA-LFD method for detection of IBDV in chickens. The reaction conditions of RT-RAA-LFD assay were optimized, and the specificity, sensitivity, and repeatability were verified. The results showed that the RT-RAA-LFD method could amplify the IBDV target fragment at 37°C for 15 min, and the required primer and probe concentration was 1,250 nmol/L. The detection results were directly observed by the dipstick, the lowest detectable limit (LDL) for IBDV was 10 copies/µL, and there was no cross reaction with several common immunosuppressive pathogens in poultry. The total coincidence rate of sample test results between RT-RAA-LFD and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was 95.83%. Due to advantages of high sensitivity, strong specificity, easy operation, fast detection, the established RT-RAA-LFD method can provide some technical support and new solutions for local laboratory to detect IBDV.

Porcupine inhibitor CGX1321 alleviates heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in mice by blocking WNT signaling.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is highly prevalent, and lacks effective treatment. The aberration of WNT pathway underlies many pathological processes including cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy, while porcupine is an acyltransferase essential for the secretion of WNT ligands. In this study we investigated the role of WNT signaling pathway in HFpEF as well as whether blocking WNT signaling by a novel porcupine inhibitor CGX1321 alleviated HFpEF. We established two experimental HFpEF mouse models, namely the UNX/DOCA model and high fat diet/L-NAME ("two-hit") model. The UNX/DOCA and "two-hit" mice were treated with CGX1321 (3 mg·kg-1·d-1) for 4 and 10 weeks, respectively. We showed that CGX1321 treatment significantly alleviated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, thereby improving cardiac diastolic function and exercise performance in both models. Furthermore, both canonical and non-canonical WNT signaling pathways were activated, and most WNT proteins, especially WNT3a and WNT5a, were upregulated during the development of HEpEF in mice. CGX1321 treatment inhibited the secretion of WNT ligands and repressed both canonical and non-canonical WNT pathways, evidenced by the reduced phosphorylation of c-Jun and the nuclear translocation of ß-catenin and NFATc3. In an in vitro HFpEF model, MCM and ISO-treated cardiomyocytes, knockdown of porcupine by siRNA leads to a similar inhibitory effect on WNT pathways, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and cardiac fibroblast activation as CGX1321 did, whereas supplementation of WNT3a and WNT5a reversed the anti-hypertrophy and anti-fibrosis effect of CGX1321. We conclude that WNT signaling activation plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of HFpEF, and porcupine inhibitor CGX1321 exerts a therapeutic effect on HFpEF in mice by attenuating cardiac hypertrophy, alleviating cardiac fibrosis and improving cardiac diastolic function.

Based on CRISPR-Cas13a system, to establish a rapid visual detection method for avian influenza viruses.

To rapidly, specifically, and sensitively detect avian influenza virus (AIV), this research established a visual detection method of recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) based on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR associated proteins 13a (Cas13a) system. In this study, specific primers and CRISPR RNA (crRNA) were designed according to the conservative sequence of AIV Nucleprotein (NP) gene. RAA technology was used to amplify the target sequence, and the amplification products were visually detected by lateral flow dipstick (LFD). The specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility of RAA-CRISPR-Cas13a-LFD were evaluated. At the same time, this method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-agarose electrophoresis method were used to detect clinical samples, and the coincidence rate of the two detection methods was calculated. The results showed that the RAA-CRISPR-Cas13a-LFD method could achieve specific amplification of the target gene fragments, and the detection results could be visually observed through the LFD. Meanwhile, there was no cross-reaction with infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The sensitivity reached 100 copies/µL, which was 1,000-fold higher than that of PCR-agarose electrophoresis method. The coincidence rate of clinical tests was 98.75 %, and the total reaction time was ~1 h. The RAA-CRISPR-Cas13a-LFD method established in this study had the advantages of rapid, simple, strong specificity, and high sensitivity, which provided a new visual method for AIV detection.

Fast detection of duck circovirus by real-time fluorescence-based recombinase-aided amplification.

Duck circovirus disease (DuCVD), as an immunosuppressive disease, is a threat to the poultry industry. In order to diagnose this disease quickly and accurately, a real-time fluorescence-based recombinase-aided amplification (RF-RAA) method was established to detect duck circovirus (DuCV). The results showed that the quantity of amplification products was positively correlated with the value of fluorescence signal. Obvious detection results can be observed at 41°C after 15 min reaction. This method has good specificity and has no cross reaction with Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV), duck enteritis virus (DEV), fowl adenovirus (FAdV), porcine circovirus (PCV), and duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV). The sensitivity test showed that the minimum concentration of template detected by RF-RAA for DuCV was 10° copies/µL, and its sensitivity was 10 times higher than that of real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (RFQ-PCR) and 10,000 times higher than that of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fifty-two clinical samples were detected by RF-RAA and RFQ-PCR, and the coincidence rate of the two methods was 98.08%. This method has the advantages of simple operation, good specificity and high sensitivity, and can be used for laboratory detection and clinical diagnosis of DuCV.

Research Note: Development of rapid isothermal amplification assay for detection of duck circovirus.

Duck circovirus disease (DuCVD) caused by duck circovirus (DuCV) continues to spread in recent years, which brings serious harm to the poultry industry, so early diagnosis of DuCVD is of great significance for the prevention and control of this disease. Specific primers and probes for DuCV were designed in this study. Reverse primers and probes were modified at the 5' ends with biotin and fluorescein, respectively, and they were combined with dipsticks labeled with biotin antibodies and fluorescein antibodies to establish a recombinase-aided amplification-lateral flow dipstick (RAA-LFD) assay for detection of duck circovirus. By using this method, the reaction products reached detectable levels in about 20 min as a result of rapid amplification at a constant temperature of 37℃. The detection results could be observed by dripping the reaction products onto the dipstick within 2 to 3 min. The RAA-LFD method has good specificity and high sensitivity (102 copies/µL). Compared with conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), RAA-LFD has no power limit on the testing instrument, and is easy to use, saving more time and manpower, so it is more suitable for clinical detection.