Screening of cell-virus, cell-cell, gene-gene interactions among kingdoms of life at single cell resolution

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) issued a significant and urgent threat to global health. The exact animal origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains obscure and understanding its host range is vital for preventing interspecies transmission. Previously, we have assessed the target cell profiles of SARS-CoV-2 in pets, livestock, poultry and wild animals. Herein, we expand this investigation to a wider range of animal species and viruses to provide a comprehensive source for large-scale screening of potential virus hosts. Single cell atlas for several mammalian species (alpaca, hamster, hedgehog, chinchilla etc.), as well as comparative atlas for lung, brain and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for various lineages of animals were constructed, from which we systemically analyzed the virus entry factors for 113 viruses over 20 species from mammalians, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Conserved cellular connectomes and regulomes were also identified, revealing the fundamental cell-cell and gene-gene cross-talks between these species. Overall, our study could help identify the potential host range and tissue tropism of SARS-CoV-2 and a diverse set of viruses and reveal the host-virus co-evolution footprints.

Single-cell screening of SARS-CoV-2 target cells in pets, livestock, poultry and wildlife

A few animals have been suspected to be intermediate hosts of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, a large-scale single-cell screening of SARS-CoV-2 target cells on a wide variety of animals is missing. Here, we constructed the single-cell atlas for 11 representative species in pets, livestock, poultry, and wildlife. Notably, the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 target cells in cat was found considerably higher than other species we investigated and SARS-CoV-2 target cells were detected in multiple cell types of domestic pig, implying the necessity to carefully evaluate the risk of cats during the current COVID-19 pandemic and keep pigs under surveillance for the possibility of becoming intermediate hosts in future coronavirus outbreak. Furthermore, we screened the expression patterns of receptors for 144 viruses, resulting in a comprehensive atlas of virus target cells. Taken together, our work provides a novel and fundamental strategy to screen virus target cells and susceptible species, based on single-cell transcriptomes we generated for domesticated animals and wildlife, which could function as a valuable resource for controlling current pandemics and serve as an early warning system for coping with future infectious disease threats.

Repair of the defect on midface using perforator flap of facial artery / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To explore the clinical application of facial artery perforator flap in repairing medium-size midfacial defects.@*Methods@#Sixteen patients with facial tumors or trauma were admitted in the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, from October 2017 to March 2018. The patients were 41—74 years of age, including 8 males and 8 females. The tissue defects were caused by basal cell carcinoma(BCC, n=10), trauma (n=4), and squamous cell carcinoma (SqCa, n=2). The size of tumor and trauma ranged from 0.3 cm×2 cm to 2 cm×4 cm. Patients with skin tumors undergone extended radical resection, according to the nature of the tumor. Debridement was performed routinely in patients with trauma. Facial artery perforator flap was designed based on the size and shape of defect area. The scar of donor site was as parallel or hidden in the nasolabial groove. The perforator branch of the lateral nasal artery was used as the pivot point, to cover the wound surface without tension. The ipsilateral secondary relay flap pedicled with the perforator of the nasal artery was designed, which was in triangular shape and slightly larger in size than the primary flap. The pedicle was located in the middle of the flap, then the flap was pushed to cover the donor site of primary flap. The postoperative results were evaluated by patients.@*Results@#All primary and secondary relay skin flaps survived. The follow-up period of the first stage was 3—12 months, with an average of 7.5 months. There was no obvious scar, no eyelid eversion or angular deviation, and no recurrence of tumor was observed. The primary and secondary flaps have similar appearance and matched color with normal skin. Ten patients were very satisfied with the surgical outcome, and 6 were satisfied, at the latest follow-up.@*Conclusions@#The facial artery perforator relay skin flap is an alternative method to repair medium facial defect.

Protective effects of LiCl on synaptic atrophy induced by okadaic acid in differentiated SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells / 中国药理学通报

Aim To explore the protective effects of lithium chloride ( LiCl ) on neurous injuries and phos-phorylation of tau protein at serine262 induced by okada-ic acid( OA) . Methods The neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells were differentiated by all-trans-retinoic acid ( AT-RA) . The differentiated SK-N-SH cells were treated with OA to establish the Alzheimer′s disease cellular model. SK-N-SH cells′ viability and proliferation were measured by SRB test. Giemsa staining was used to observe cell morphology. The neurite length of SK-N-SH cells was measured by Image-Proplus software. Syn-aptophysin and phosphorylated tau protein at serine262 expression levels were tested by Western blot. Results The SK-N-SH cells which were treated with 10 μmol ·L-1 ATRA for 7 days displayed mature neuronal fea-tures. The synaptic length of SK-N-SH cells became longer. And the levels of serine262 phospho-tau was sig-nificantly elevated. 20~100 nmol·L-1 OA effectively inhibited the viability of differentiated SK-N-SH cells in a concentration-dependent manner and in a time-de-pendent manner. The OA treatment induced obvious synaptic atrophy in differentiated SK-N-SH cells. And the phosphorylation level of tau protein serine262 also greatly increased. The pretreatment with 10 mmol · L-1 LiCl significantly ameliorated the synaptic atrophy, the decrease of synaptophysin expression and the in-crease of tau phosphorylation at serine262 induced by OA in differentiated SK-N-SH cells. Conclusion LiCl could effectively inhibit OA-induced synaptic atro-phy in differentiated SK-N-SH cells, and it could also result in the increase of synaptophysin expression and the decrease of the phosphorylation of tau protein at serine262 .

Preparation of mGM-CSF/βhCG fusion protein and the effect of its sensitized DC vaccine on RM-1 prostate tumor in mice / 中国药科大学学报

@#An expression vector pET-28a-mGM-CSF-X10-βhCGCTP37 plasmid containing the βhCG and mGM-CSF gene was designed and constructed. The fusion protein was induced by lactose and purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-cellulose anion exchange column. Then dendritic cells(DC)in C57BL/6J mice were extracted and sensitized by the fusion protein to obtain DC vaccine. The DC vaccine was inoculated to C57BL of / 6J mice with prostate cancer RM-1. The results indicated that the anti-tumor effects of DC group and DC combined with paclitaxel(DP)group were superior to that of paclitaxel(Pac)group(P< 0. 01), and the anti-tumor effect of DP group was better than that of DC group. Thus, the constructed DC vaccine can inhibit the growth of prostate cancer, and have synergistic anti-tumor when used with paclitaxel.