Virus load and virus shedding of SARS-CoV-2 and their impact on patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Understanding a virus shedding patterns in body fluids/secretions is important to determine the samples to be used for diagnosis and to formulate infection control measures. AIM: To investigate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) shedding patterns and its risk factors. METHODS: All laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 patients with complete medical records admitted to the Shenzhen Third People's Hospital from January 28, 2020 to March 8, 2020 were included. Among 145 patients (54.5% males; median age, 46.1 years), three (2.1%) died. The bronco-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) had the highest virus load compared with the other samples. The viral load peaked at admission (3.3 × 108 copies) and sharply decreased 10 d after admission. RESULTS: The viral load was associated with prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) duration. Patients in the ICU had significantly longer shedding time compared to those in the wards (P < 0.0001). Age > 60 years [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.6; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4-0.9] was an independent risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 shedding, while chloroquine (HR = 22.8; 95%CI: 2.3-224.6) was a protective factor. CONCLUSION: BALF had the highest SARS-CoV-2 load. Elderly patients had higher virus loads, which was associated with a prolonged ICU stay. Chloroquine was associated with shorter shedding duration and increased the chance of viral negativity.

A highly selective and sensitive fluorescent chemosensor and its application for rapid on-site detection of Al3.

In this paper, a simple naphthalene-based derivative (HL) has been designed and synthesized as a Al3+-selective fluorescent chemosensor based on the PET mechanism. HL exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity towards Al3+ over other commonly coexisting metal ions in ethanol with a detection limit of 2.72nM. The 1:1 binding stoichiometry of the complex (HL-Al3+) was determined from the Job's plot based on fluorescence titrations and the ESI-MS spectrum data. Moreover, the binding site of HL with Al3+ was assured by the 1H NMR titration experiment. The binding constant (Ka) of the complex (HL-Al3+) was calculated to be 5.06×104M-1 according to the Benesi-Hildebrand equation. In addition, the recognizing process of HL towards Al3+ was chemically reversible by adding Na2EDTA. Importantly, HL could directly and rapidly detect aluminum ion through the filter paper without resorting to additional instrumental analysis.

Protein product encoded by a human novel gene E9730 enhances AP-1 activity through interacting with Jab1.

A novel human gene, named E9730 (a clone number of fetal liver cDNA library), has been identified from more than 14,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) based on our large scale sequencing of human fetal liver cDNA libraries. Although sequencing of this novel human gene indicates that it is a leucine zipper protein, the function of E9730 and its homongous genes among species is unknown yet. To find out physiological functional clue of E9730, the yeast two-hybrid system was used to screen the E9730-interacting protein(s), and one clone containing a cDNA insert with almost the entire coding sequence (amino acids 39 C335) of human Jab1 (Jun-activating domain binding protein 1) that interacted specifically with E9730 was identified. A specific association between Jab1 and E9730 was shown by co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization experiments. Furthermore, the data indicated that E9730 appeared to enhance Jab1-induced AP-1 activity in a concentration-dependent manner and Jab1 may be involved in the intracellular signaling transduction from E9730 to AP-1.

SAR study of a subtype selective allosteric potentiator of metabotropic glutamate 2 receptor, N-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)ethanesulfonamide.

The major excitatory neurotransmitter in the Central Nervous System is L-glutamic acid. As a result much attention has been given to the discovery of selective modulators of both the ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) and the metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). In this study we describe a novel class of subtype selective allosteric potentiators of the mGlu2 receptor. An active compound N-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)ethanesulfonamide, LY181837, was identified in the course of compound screening. The synthesis of two series of analogs examined the structural requirements of the diaryl region of this compound. This SAR study also resulted in compounds with an increase in potency of over 100-fold where the most potent compound reported has EC(50)=14 nM.