Characterization of in vitro viral neutralization targets of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV) in alveolar macrophage and evaluation of protection potential against HP-PRRSV challenged based on combination of HP-PRRSV-structure proteins in vitro.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) poses a significant threat to the global pork industry, resulting in substantial economic losses. Current control measures rely on modified live virus (MLV) vaccines with safety concerns. However, the lack of consensus on protective PRRSV antigens is impeding the development of effective and safety subunit vaccines. In this study, we conducted in vitro virus neutralization (VN) assays in MARC-145 and CRL-2843CD163/CD169 cell lines and primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) to systemically identify PRRSV structural proteins (SPs) recognized by virus-neutralizing antibodies in hyperimmune serum collected from piglets infected with highly pathogenic PRRSV (HP-PRRSV). Additionally, piglets immunized with different combinations of recombinant PRRSV-SPs were challenged with HP-PRRSV to evaluate their in vivo protection potential. Intriguingly, different in vitro VN activities of serum antibodies elicited by each PRRSV SP were observed depending on the cell type used in the VN assay. Notably, antibodies specific for GP3, GP4, and M exhibited highest in vitro VN activities in PAMs, correlating with complete protection (100% survival) against HP-PRRSV challenge in vivo after immunization of piglets with combination of GP3, GP4, M and N (GP3/GP4/M/N). Further analysis of lung pathology, weight gain, and viremia post-challenge revealed that the combination of GP3/GP4/M/N provided superior protective efficacy against severe infection. These findings underscore the potential of this SP combination to serve as an effective PRRSV subunit vaccine, marking a significant advancement in pork industry disease management.

Nanoplatform-based strategies for enhancing the lethality of current antitumor PDT.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) exhibits great application prospects in future clinical oncology due to its spatiotemporal controllability and good biosafety. However, the antitumor efficacy of PDT is seriously hindered by many factors, including tumor hypoxia, limited light penetration ability, and strong defense mechanisms of tumors. Considering that it is difficult to completely solve the first two problems, enhancing the lethality of antitumor PDT has become a good idea to extend its clinical application. Herein, we summarize the nanoplatform-involved strategies to effectively amplify the tumoricidal capability of current PDT and then discuss the present bottlenecks and prospects of the nanoplatform-based PDT sensitization strategies in tumor therapy. We hope this review will provide some references for others to design high-performance PDT nanoplatforms for tumor therapy.

Validity and reliability of the Waterlow scale for assessing pressure injury risk in critical adult patients: A multi-centre cohort study.

AIM: To evaluate the predictive validity and reliability of the Waterlow scale in critically adult hospitalised patients. DESIGN: A multi-centre cohort study. METHODS: This study was conducted in 72 intensive care units (ICUs) in 38 tertiary hospitals in Gansu Province, China. All adults admitted to the ICU for greater than or equal to 24 h without pressure injury (PI) on admission were screened by the Waterlow scale on admission, during ICU stay and ICU discharge from April 2021 to February 2023. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine a potential cut-off value for critical adult hospitalised patients. Cut-off values were then determined using Youden's index, and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were calculated based on these cut-off values. Test-retest reliability was used to evaluate inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: A total of 5874 critical patients on admission were included, and 5125 of them were assessed regularly. The area under curve (AUC) was 0.623 (95% CI, 0.574-0.690), with a cut-off score of 19 showing the best balance among sensitivity of 62.7%, specificity of 57.4%, positive predictive value of 2.07% and negative predictive value of 99.08%. The test-retest reliability between the first assessment and the regular assessment was 0.447. CONCLUSIONS: The Waterlow scale shows insufficient predictive validity and reliability in discriminating critical adults at risk of PI development. To further modify the items of the Waterlow scale, exploring specific risk factors for PI in the ICU and clarifying their impact degree was necessary. Risk predictive models or better tools are inevitable in the future. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients or family members supported nurses with PI risk assessment, skin examination and other activities during the inquiry.

Screening of natural inhibitors against peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 from herbal extracts by a high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet-visible based method.

Peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is an important biocatalytic enzymes involved in the conversion of protein arginine to citrulline, its dysregulation has a great impact on many physiological processes. Recently, PAD4 has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of various diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs), also known as herbal plants, have gained great attention by the scientific community due to their good therapeutic performance and far fewer side effects observed in the clinical treatment. However, limited researches have been reported to screen natural PAD4 inhibitors from herbal plants. The color developing reagent (COLDER) or fluorescence based methods have been widely used in PAD4 activity assay and inhibitor screening. However, both methods measure the overall absorbance or fluorescence in the reaction solution, which are easy to be affected by the background interference due to colorful extracts from herbal plants. In this study, a simple, and robust high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet-visible (HPLC-UV) based method was developed to determine PAD4 activity. The proposed strategy was established based on COLDER principle, while used hydrophilic l-arginine instead of hydrophobic N-benzoyl-l-arginine ethyl ester (BAEE) as a new substrate to determine PAD4 inhibition activity of herbal extracts. The herbal extracts and PAD4 generated hydrophobic l-citrulline were successfully separated by the HPLC, and the developed method was optimized and validated with a known PAD4 inhibitor (GSK484) in comparison with COLDER assay. The IC50 value of GSK484 measured by HPLC-UV method was 153 nM, and the detection limit of the citrulline was 0.5 nmol, respectively, with a linear range of 0.5 nmol to 20 nmol. The IC50 value of the HPLC-UV method was improved by nearly three times compared with COLDER assay (527 nM), and the results indicated the reliability of PAD4 inhibition via HPLC-UV method. The inhibitory effect against PAD4 were fast and accurately screened for the twenty-four extracts from eight herbs. Among them, Ephedra Herba extracts showed significant inhibitory activity against the PAD4 with the IC50 values of three extracts (ethanol, ethyl acetate and water) ranging from 29.11 µg/mL to 41.36 µg/mL, which may help researchers to discover novel natural compounds holding high PAD4 inhibition activity.

Tumor-Targeting Multiple Metabolic Regulations for Bursting Antitumor Efficacy of Chemodynamic Therapy.

Interfering with intratumoral metabolic processes is proven to effectively sensitize different antitumor treatments. Here, a tumor-targeting catalytic nanoplatform (CQ@MIL-GOX@PB) loading with autophagy inhibitor (chloroquine, CQ) and glucose oxidase (GOX) is fabricated to interfere with the metabolisms of tumor cells and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), then realizing effective antitumor chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Once accumulating in the tumor site with the navigation of external biotin, CQ@MIL-GOX@PB will release Fe ions and CQ in the acid lysosomes of tumor cells, the latter can sensitize Fe ions-involved antitumor CDT by blocking the autophagy-dependent cell repair. Meanwhile, the GOX component will consume glucose, which not only generates many H2 O2 for CDT but also once again decelerates the tumor repair process by reducing energy metabolism. What is more, the release of CQ can also drive the NO anabolism of TAMs to further sensitize CDT. This strategy of multiple metabolic regulations is evidenced to significantly improve the antitumor effect of traditional CDT nanoagents and might provide a new sight to overcome the bottlenecks of different antitumor treatments.

Extraction, purification, structural characteristics and biological properties of the polysaccharides from Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P. Kumm.: A review.

Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P. Kumm. is a well-known homoeopathic plant with medicinal and culinary uses. Modern phytochemical researchers have successfully extracted and purified over 40 types of A. mellea polysaccharides (AMPs) from the fruiting bodies, hyphae and fermentation broth of A. mellea, and some of them have been analyzed and identified by their chemical structures. The impressive biological activity of these polysaccharides has been recognized by scientists worldwide. Many studies show that AMPs have remarkable antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, hypolipidemic, thrombectomy, anti-aging, pulmonary protective, hepatic protective, anti-Alzheimer's properties, etc. However, the current understanding of the relationships between their chemical structure and biological activity, toxicological effects and pharmacokinetics remains limited. This article provides a systematic review of the research conducted over the past decades on the extraction and purification methods, structural characteristics, biological activity and mechanism of action of AMPs. The aim is to provide a research base that will benefit the future application of AMPs as therapeutic drugs and functional foods, and also provide insights for the further development of AMPs.

Tumor Microenvironment-Induced Drug Depository for Persistent Antitumor Chemotherapy and Immune Activation.

Herein, a drug-loading nanosystem that can in situ form drug depository for persistent antitumor chemotherapy and immune regulation is designed and built. The system (DOX@MIL-LOX@AL) is fabricated by packaging alginate on the surface of Doxorubicin (DOX) and lactate oxidase (LOX) loaded MIL-101(Fe)-NH2 nanoparticle, which can easily aggregate in the tumor microenvironment through the cross-linking with intratumoral Ca2+ . Benefiting from the tumor retention ability, the fast-formed drug depository will continuously release DOX and Fe ions through the ATP-triggered slow degradation, thus realizing persistent antitumor chemotherapy and immune regulation. Meanwhile, LOX in the non-aggregated nanoparticles is able to convert the lactic acid to H2 O2 , which will be subsequently decomposed into ·OH by Fe ions to further enhance the DOX-induced immunogenic death effect of tumor cells. Together, with the effective consumption of immunosuppressive lactic acid, long-term chemotherapy, and oxidation therapy, DOX@MIL-LOX@AL can execute high-performance antitumor chemotherapy and immune activation with only one subcutaneous administration.

Immune landscape in rejection of renal transplantation revealed by high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing.

Background: The role of the cellular level in kidney transplant rejection is unclear, and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) can reveal the single-cell landscape behind rejection of human kidney allografts at the single-cell level. Methods: High-quality transcriptomes were generated from scRNA-seq data from five human kidney transplantation biopsy cores. Cluster analysis was performed on the scRNA-seq data by known cell marker genes in order to identify different cell types. In addition, pathways, pseudotime developmental trajectories and transcriptional regulatory networks involved in different cell subpopulations were explored. Next, we systematically analyzed the scoring of gene sets regarding single-cell expression profiles based on biological processes associated with oxidative stress. Results: We obtained 81,139 single cells by scRNA-seq from kidney transplant tissue biopsies of three antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) patients and two acute kidney injury (AKI) patients with non-rejection causes and identified 11 cell types, including immune cells, renal cells and several stromal cells. Immune cells such as macrophages showed inflammatory activation and antigen presentation and complement signaling, especially in rejection where some subpopulations of cells specifically expressed in rejection showed specific pro-inflammatory responses. In addition, patients with rejection are characterized by an increased number of fibroblasts, and further analysis of subpopulations of fibroblasts revealed their involvement in inflammatory and fibrosis-related pathways leading to increased renal rejection and fibrosis. Notably, the gene set score for response to oxidative stress was higher in patients with rejection. Conclusion: Insight into histological differences in kidney transplant patients with or without rejection was gained by assessing differences in cellular levels at single-cell resolution. In conclusion, we applied scRNA-seq to rejection after renal transplantation to deconstruct its heterogeneity and identify new targets for personalized therapeutic approaches.

Evaluation and Use of Organs from Donors Poisoned by Organophosphorus Pesticide.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the evaluation and use of donor organs from donors with brain death caused by acute severe organophosphorus pesticides and provide a basis for the use of such donor organs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seven cases of brain dead donors caused by acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning from January 2014 to December 2018 in the hospital were collected, and a retrospective analysis was made of the donors' age, race, physiological and pathological changes, donor organ function changes and the organ use, liver or kidney function recovery, and complications of the recipients. The 18 recipients were followed up until June 31, 2022. RESULTS We found that 71.42% of organ donors were male, and 71.42% of organ donors were under 50 years old. The main cause of death was respiratory failure caused by organophosphorus pesticide poisoning. The liver and kidney functions of 7 donors were damaged, and 3 livers could not be used due to severe functional damage, but the liver or kidney function of 18 recipients gradually recovered after transplantation. Delayed recovery of graft function occurred after transplantation accounted for 21.43%, and the grafts had good short-term to medium-term performance. CONCLUSIONS Although the function of organs from donor with brain death due to acute severe organophosphorus pesticide poisoning is seriously damaged, most of the organs can still be used for transplantation. Individualized functional maintenance according to the situation of donors is conducive to improving the quality of organs.

Spatio-Temporal Variation and Its Driving Forces of Soil Organic Carbon along an Urban-Rural Gradient: A Case Study of Beijing.

Rapid urbanization has reshaped land cover and the ecological environment, potentially improving or deteriorating soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the response of SOC to urbanization has not yet been fully exploited. Herein, by using the land-use transfer matrix, the Sen & Mann-Kendall tests, the Hurst index, and a geographical and temporal weighted regression (GTWR) model, as well as an urban-rural gradient perspective, we assessed the dynamic response of SOC to Beijing's urbanization from 2001 to2015 and identified the main drivers. The results found that SOC stock decreased by 7651.50 t C during the study period. SOC density varied significantly along an urban-rural gradient, with high value areas mainly being located in remote mountainous rural areas and low value areas mainly being located in urban areas on the plains. There was an uneven variation in SOC density across the urban-rural gradient, with suburban areas (25-40 km away from urban cores) losing the most SOC density while urban areas and rural areas remained relatively unchanged. GTWR model revealed the spatio-temporal non-flat stability of various driving forces. Precipitation, the proportion of forest, the proportion of grassland, the population, distance to the urban center, the slope, and the silt content are the main factors related to SOC stock change. As a result, we suggest policy makers reconceptualize the uneven variation in the SOC between urban and rural areas, emphasize suburban areas as a target for controlling SOC loss, and take into consideration the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the factors influencing SOC stock when evaluating policies.

A porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)-specific IgM as a novel adjuvant for an inactivated PRRSV vaccine improves protection efficiency and enhances cell-mediated immunity against heterologous PRRSV challenge.

Current strategies for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) control are inadequate and mainly restricted to immunization using different PRRS virus (PPRSV) vaccines. Although there are no safety concerns, the poor performance of inactivated PRRSV vaccines has restricted their practical application. In this research, we employed the novel PRRSV-specific IgM monoclonal antibody (Mab)-PR5nf1 as a vaccine adjuvant for the formulation of a cocktail composed of inactivated PRRSV (KIV) and Mab-PR5nf1 along with a normal adjuvant to enhance PRRSV-KIV vaccine-mediated protection and further compared it with a normal KIV vaccine and modified live virus vaccine (MLV). After challenge with highly pathogenic (HP)-PRRSV, our results suggested that the overall survival rate (OSR) and cell-mediated immunity (CMI), as determined by serum IFN-γ quantification and IFN-γ ELISpot assay, were significantly improved by adding PRRSV-specific IgM to the PRRSV-KIV vaccine. It was also notable that both the OSR and CMI in the Mab-PR5nf1-adjuvanted KIV group were even higher than those in the MLV group, whereas the CMI response is normally poorly evoked by KIV vaccines or subunit vaccines. Compared with those in piglets immunized with the normal KIV vaccine, viral shedding and serum neutralizing antibody levels were also improved, and reduced viral shedding appeared to be a result of enhanced CMI caused by the inclusion of IgM as an adjuvant. In conclusion, our data provide not only a new formula for the development of an effective PRRSV-KIV vaccine for practical use but also a novel method for improving antigen-specific CMI induction by inactivated vaccines and subunit vaccines.

[Nonradiological methods for implant surgical guide accuracy measurement].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of static computer-navigated implantation with surgical guides, based on a non-radiological method. Traditional measurements with a second cone-beam CT (CBCT) were applied to verify the accuracy. METHODS: A total of thirty template-guided implantations were designed and performed on 15 resin models. Two paralleled bone-level implants were planned in the edentulous space of each model, between which the distance was 4 mm. Postoperative implant positions were detected with both CAD/CAM-based measurements applying an intraoral scanner (3Shape TRIOS) and traditional ways via CBCT. Both methods were conducted with a CAD quality-control, reverse engineering software, Geomagic Studio 2013, comparing the positions with the virtual ones. Statistical analysis was processed with SPSS 23.0 software package. RESULTS: Measurements using CBCT (control group) showed a trend toward greater deviations when the results were directly compared(P<0.05). In the CAD/CAM-based evaluation of the 30 samples, the mean deviation of the insertion axis from the planned implant axis was 1.134°. The mean deviations of the implant shoulders in the horizontal direction and at the implant apices were 0.447 mm and 0.557 mm, respectively. No significant difference was observed when measuring distance deviation with the two assessment ways. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with evaluation based on radiology, CAD/CAM based evaluation system is able to evaluate implant accuracy precisely, effectively reduce radiological exposure of patients, being suitable for clinical evaluation.

Understanding public opinion regarding organ donation in China: A social media content analysis.

Organ donation provides a life-saving opportunity for patients with organ failure. China, like most countries, is faced with organ shortages. Understanding public opinion regarding organ donation in China is critical to ensure an increased donation rate. Our study explored public concerns and attitudes toward organ donation, factors involved, and how the public pays attention to organ donation. Sixteen million users' public information (i.e. gender, age, and geographic information) and posts from January 2017 to December 2017 were collected from Weibo, a social media platform. Of these, 1755 posts related to organ donation were included in the analysis. We categorized the posts and coded the users' attitudes toward organ donation and the associations between the demographics. The most popular posts mentioning organ donation were "publicly expressing the willingness to donate organs." Furthermore, 87.62% of posts exhibited a positive attitude toward organ donation, whereas only 7.44% exhibited a negative attitude. Most positive posts were "saluting the organ donors," and most negative posts involved "fear of the family's passive medical decision." There was no significant gender difference in the users' attitudes, but older people generally had a more negative attitude. Users with negative attitudes mainly distrust the medical system and are worried that the donated organs may be used in improper trading. Social media may be an important channel for promoting organ donation activities, and it is important to popularize scientific knowledge related to organ donation in order to eliminate the public's misunderstanding of organ donation and transplantation.

A broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibody induces broad protection against heterogeneous PRRSV strains in piglets.

Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) have attracted attention as tools for achieving PRRSV control and prevention, but viral antigenic variation undermines the abilities of NAbs elicited by attenuated PRRSV vaccines to confer full protection against heterogeneous PRRSV field isolates. As demonstrated in this study, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) mAb-PN9cx3 exhibited broad-spectrum recognition and neutralizing activities against PRRSV-1 and PRRSV-2 strains in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo experiments revealed that the administration of two 10-mg doses of mAb-PN9cx3 before and after the inoculation of piglets with heterologous PRRSV isolates (HP-PRRSV-JXA1 or PRRSV NADC30-like strain HNhx) resulted in significant reduction of the PRRSV-induced pulmonary pathological changes and virus loads in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) compared with the results obtained with mAb-treated isotype controls. Moreover, minimal hilar lymph node PRRSV antigen levels were observed in mAb-PN9cx3-treated piglets. A transcriptome profile analysis of PAMs extracted from lung tissues of piglets belonging to different groups (except for antibody-isotype controls) indicated that mAb-PN9cx3 treatment reversed the PRRSV infection-induced alterations in expression profiles. A gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of these genes traced their functions to pathways that included the immune response, inflammatory response, and response to steroid hormone, and their functions in oogenesis and positive regulation of angiogenesis have been implicated in PRRSV pathogenesis. Overall, NADC30-like HNhx infection affected more gene pathways than HP-PRRSV infection. In conclusion, our research describes a novel immunologic approach involving the use of mAbs that confer cross-protection against serious illness resulting from infection with heterogeneous PRRSV-2 isolates, which is a feat that has not yet been achieved through vaccination. Ultimately, mAb-PN9cx3 will be a powerful addition to our current arsenal for achieving PRRSV prevention and eradication.

Proteomic analysis of differentially expressed proteins in the serum of patients with acute renal allograft rejection using iTRAQ labelling technology.

Transplantation is currently the best treatment for patients with end­stage renal disease. However, acute rejection (AR) is the major source of failure in renal transplantation. The current best practice for the diagnosis of AR involves renal biopsy, but it is invasive, time­consuming, costly and inconvenient. Sensitive and less invasive detection of AR episodes in renal transplant patients is essential to preserve allograft function. The present study applied isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) mass spectrometry to analyze serum protein expression in patients with AR and healthy controls. Overall, 1,399 proteins were identified. Using a cut­off of Q<0.05 and a fold change of >1.2 for the variation in expression, 109 proteins were identified to be differentially expressed between the AR and control groups, 72 of which were upregulated and 37 were downregulated. Several proteins, including properdin, keratin 1, lipoprotein(a) and vitamin D­binding protein, may have roles in the pathogenesis of AR. The present study focused on iTRAQ­based proteomic profiling of serum samples in AR. Insight from the present study may help advance the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of AR and identify potential novel biomarkers of AR for further characterization.

Overexpression of V-type H+ pyrophosphatase gene EdVP1 from Elymus dahuricus increases yield and potassium uptake of transgenic wheat under low potassium conditions.

Lack of potassium in soil limits crop yield. Increasing yield and conserving potassium ore requires improving K use efficiency (KUE). Many genes influence KUE in plants, but it is not clear how these genes function in the field. We identified the V-type H+-pyrophosphatase gene EdVP1 from Elymus dahurica. Gene expression analysis showed that EdVP1 was induced by low potassium stress. Protein subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that EdVP1 localized on the plasma membrane. We overexpressed EdVP1 in two wheat varieties and conducted K tolerance experiments across years. Yield per plant, grain number per spike, plant height, and K uptake of four transgenic wheat lines increased significantly compared with WT; results from two consecutive years showed that EdVP1 significantly increased yield and KUE of transgenic wheat. Pot experiments showed that transgenic plants had significantly longer shoots and roots, and higher K accumulation in shoots and roots and H+-PPase activity in shoots than WT under low K. A fluidity assay of potassium ion in EdVP1 transgenic plant roots showed that potassium ion influx and H+ outflow in transgenic plants were higher than WT. Overexpressing EdVP1 significantly improved yield and KUE of transgenic wheat and was related to higher K uptake capacity in root.

Evaluation and application of donors with primary central nervous system tumors.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the safety of donors with primary central nervous system tumors for kidney and liver transplantations. METHODOLOGY: Clinical data of 29 donors with primary CNS tumors in January 2007 to December 2017, as well as the follow-up data of 16 liver transplant recipients and 46 kidney transplant recipients, were analyzed. According to the risk factors, the high-risk group was classified as Group 1, the low-risk factors were classified as Group 2, and the unknown risk group was classified as Group 3. The incidence of donor-transmitted CNS tumors was calculated and compared. RESULTS: The duration from the diagnosis of 29 donors to donation was 5.67 ± 6.36 months. None of the liver and kidney transplant recipients who were followed up had tumor metastasis. Although the mean survival time of Group 1 was lower than that of Group 2 and Group 3, the Kaplan-Meier curve showed no significant difference in survival time. CONCLUSION: No obvious difference was observed between high-risk and low-risk and unknown risk CNS tumors in terms of the survival rate of transplants and tumor metastasis rate. High-risk CNS tumor donors can be used with the informed consent of recipients after a full evaluation.

Development of a monoclonal antibody against swine leukocyte antigen (SLA)-DR α chain and evaluation of SLA-DR expression in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells after PRRSV infection.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most common diseases in the global swine industry. PRRSV infection is highly restricted to cells of the monocyte-macrophage lineage. However, the lack of antibodies to swine monocyte-macrophage lineage markers significantly hampers PRRSV research. In this study, we have developed a monoclonal antibody against the swine leukocyte antigen (SLA)-DRα chain and confirmed its reactivity with endogenous expressed SLA-DR in a variety of cell lines and primary swine antigen-presenting cells (PAMs, PBMC and BM-DCs). Moreover, the level of SLA-DR expression after PRRSV infection were evaluated by our homemade Mab and a commercial anti-SLA-DR antibody. Based on our result, the protein level of SLA-DRα expression is increased after PRRSV infection in DC, while the mRNA of both SLA-DRα and SLA-DRß were significantly inhibited by PRRSV replication. In conclusion, we successfully developed a MAb reactive with endogenous SLA-DR in western blotting, and this MAb could be a useful tool for further research and analysis. Moreover, the inconsistency of SLA-DR expression between protein and mRNA levels may suggest a novel role of DC played during the immune response after PRRSV infection.

Comparative proteomic analysis of human serum before and after liver transplantation using quantitative proteomics.

Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Safer and more effective diagnostic methods for liver cancer are desirable, and biomarkers represent a potentially alternative method for diagnosis. The present study was designed to identify liver cancer biomarkers. We quantified the changes in serum protein levels between liver transplantation and healthy (control) females using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) as well as proteomic analysis. A total of 1399 proteins were identified; of these, three proteins showed significantly different concentrations between the before transplantation group and the control group. These proteins may thus be relevant to liver cancer and constitute potential liver cancer biomarkers.