Efficacy of ormutivimab, a novel recombinant human anti-rabies monoclonal antibody, in post-exposure prophylaxis animal models.

Human rabies is a serious public health problem that can't be ignored. Rabies immune globulin (RIG) is an indispensable component of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). However, current PEP relies on RIG purified from pooled human or equine plasma, which are either in chronic shortage or associated with safety concerns. Monoclonal antibodies have become widely accepted as safer and more cost-effective alternatives to RIG products in recent years. Here, we assessed the neutralization breadth of human monoclonal antibody ormutivimab and its protective efficacy in PEP models. Ormutivimab was able to neutralize a broad panel of Chinese prevalent street RABVs with neutralizing potency form 198-1487.6 IU/mL. Furthermore, ormutivimab offered comparable protection to that with HRIG both at standard doses (20 IU/kg) and higher doses (100 IU/kg and 200 IU/kg). The interference of ormutivimab on vaccine potency was also analyzed and found slightly reduced neutralizing antibody titers similar to HRIG. The broad-spectrum neutralization activities, highly protective potency, and rapid onset of action make ormutivimab an effective candidate for human rabies PEP.

KIF11 Promotes Proliferation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among Patients with Liver Cancers.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks effective treatments and has a poor prognosis. Therefore it is needed to develop more effective drug targets. Kinesin family member 11 (KIF11) has been reported to affect the progression of several cancers, and its high expression associates with the prognosis of patients. However, the relevant mechanisms of KIF11 in HCC progression have not been studied. METHOD: Through the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of patients' specimens, we determined that KIF11 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and associated with prognosis. We established a KIF11 stably depleted hepatoma cell line, through cell-cloning experiments and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays to detect the effects on proliferation in vitro. The role of KIF11 in promoting cell proliferation was verified in mice. RESULT: The expression of KIF11 was negatively correlated with the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) and positively correlated with tumor size of HCC patients. KIF11 depletion inhibits cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion. KIF11 can be used as a positive correlation marker for HCC prognosis and served as a potential therapeutic target.

[Estrogen receptor expression and vitellogenin synthesis induced in hepatocytes of male frogs Rana chensinensis exposed to bisphenol A].

The effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on estrogen receptor (ER) and vitellogenin (VTG) in hepatocytes of male amphibians have attracted significant attention in recent years. Adult male frogs Rana chensinensis were exposed to different concentrations of 10(-7), 10(-6) and 10(-5) mol/L BPA consecutively for 10, 20, and 30 d, respectively. We used 10(-9), 10(-8) mol/L 17ß-esradiol (E(2)) as positive controls. The expressions of ER mRNA in the hepatocytes were detected by in situ hybridization, and ER and VTG protein were detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that positive effects of ER mRNA were detected in all BPA and E(2) treatment groups. Compared with the control group, the expression level of ER and VTG protein increased significantly in the hepatocytes of R. chensinensis. Both ER and VTG expression exhibited BPA dose-dependence for the same exposure time. For the same concentration of BPA treatment, VTG synthesis markedly increased with prolonged treatment, whereas the expression of ER did not significantly fluctuate. It is suggested that BPA caused the synthesis of VTG by inducing ER up-regulation in the hepatocytes of male R. chensinensis, but its estrogenic activity was much lower than E(2).