Newly-developed technology can directly detect Ebola virus

Ebola virus is such a deadly disease that found in 1976 in Africa. It is an unusual disease and after being discovered, it caused widespread concern and attention within the medical profession. Since 2014, Ebola virus in West Africa has killed over 11,000 people. Recently there are new cases found in Guinea and Sierra Leone.

A group form researchers at UC Santa Cruz has developed chip-based technology for reliable detection of Ebola virus and other viral pathogens. The system used recombinant rat proteins and can be integrated into a simple, portable device to quickly detect Ebola infections and control outbreaks since it uses direct optical detection of vital molecules. Tests have been done and the results show that the system has the sensitivity and specificity needed to provide a viable clinical assay. The results paper was published September 25 in Nature Scientific Reports.

The current Ebola virus detection relies on a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the virus's genetic material for detection. Because PCR works on DNA molecules and Ebola is an RNA virus, the reverse transcriptase enzyme is used to make DNA copies of the viral RNA prior to PCR amplification and detection. This PCR detection seems to be more complex compared with the new-developed system, and it requires a laboratory setting. The system would detect the nucleic acids directly and achieve a comparable limit of detection to PCR and excellent specificity.

The system combines two small chips, one microfluidic chip for sample preparation and one optofluidic chip for optical detection. Senior author Holger Schmidt, the Kapany Professor of Optoelectronics at UC Santa Cruz and his collaborators have been developing optofluidic chip technology for optical analysis of single molecules as they pass through a tiny fluid-filled channel on the chip for the last ten years. The microfluidic chip for sample processing can be integrated as a second layer next to or on top of the optofluidic chip.

Although the team has not yet able to test the system starting with raw blood samples due to lack of additional sample preparation steps, it is a great step in the process. The scientists are devoting to make the system to detect less dangerous pathogens and do more useful analysis for other diseases. Flarebio provides recombinant proteins of good quality such as recombinant Cdh4.

Bowel inflammation patients can be saved by this protein

A group of researchers first demonstrated the role of stomach cancer-associated protein tyrosine phosphatase (SAP)-1 in the pathogenesis and prevention of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel disorders. The group was led by Prof. MATOZAKI Takashi and Associate Prof. MURATA Yoji who're interested in study of recombinant human proteins at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine Division of Molecular and Cellular Signaling.

Inflammatory bowel diseases are disorders of unknown etiology that are often characterized by abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, fever, and weight loss. These diseases include Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. These symptoms effect too much on patients' daily life and the patients will be pushed at an elevated risk of mortality. And these patients are more likely to be linked with colorectal cancer.

A lot of studies published recently have demonstrated that intestinal epithelial cells are important in regulating bowel inflammation, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Before this, the scientists found that SAP-1 localizes to the microvilli of the brush border in gastrointestinal epithelial cells. The transmembrane-type tyrosine phosphatase SAP-1 has an extracellular domain that protrudes into the intestinal lumen and a cytoplasmic domain that mediates tyrosine dephosphorylation of proteins. They showed that SAP-1 ablation in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease resulted in a marked increase in the incidence and severity of bowel inflammation, which suggests that SAP-1 plays a protective role against colitis. What's more, carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) 20, an intestinal microvillus-specific membrane protein, was identified as the target of SAP-1 tyrosine dephosphorylation. Suppression of CEACAM20 functions via dephosphorylation contributes to preventing colitis. They believe that their findings will drive the development of drugs that target SAP-1 and CEACAM20 to overcome intractable inflammatory bowel diseases by unlocking the anti-inflammatory mechanism of the intestinal epithelial cells.

The future researches of these scientists will be concentrated on taking advantage of the understanding of SAP-1 and CEACAM20 functions to develop new therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease. Flarebio offers recombinant proteins such as recombinant CDH4 at competitive prices.

Scientists find a gene variation that can increase the mortality of smokers

Previous studies involving recombinant dog proteins have shown that the clustering genetic variation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4) on chromosome 15 has a strong association with smoking and the risk of smoking-related disease. CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), peripheral arterial disease and lung cancer.

As multivariate label of CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB3 cluster, whether rs1051730 (C/T) is associated with changes in incidence and morbidity of smoking-related diseases? In this regard, we analyzed a population-based prospective cohort study (Malmö diet and cancer study).

At baseline, participants were divided into three groups: current smokers (n = 6951), former smokers (n = 8426), and never smokers (n = 9417). They used Cox proportional hazards model to assess the association of rs1051730 and first-time COPD, smoking-related cancers, other cancers and cardiovascular diseases. They also followed the association between rs1051730 and the overall mortality risk from these diseases in the next nearly 14 years.

Data shows that among current smokers, the first COPD, smoking-related cancer, other cancers and cardiovascular diseases respectively showed 480 cases, 852 cases, 810 cases and 1022 cases. There were a total of 1,508 deaths, among which cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer were respectively 500, 102 and 677 deaths.

The analysis showed that with the increase in the number of T alleles, the overall mortality, COPD and incidence of tobacco-related cancers increased. The association remained after adjustment for smoking. But for people who never smoked, they did not show this connection.

Our data showed that the genetic variation of the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB3 cluster is associated with the increase of mortality of smokers, COPD and incidence of tobacco-related cancers. Flarebio provides good-quality recombinant proteins like recombinant ITGB2 at competitive prices.

Drug-resistant bacteria can be treated by certain polypeptide

Medical and health workers may soon be able to develop a drug for refractory abscess bacteria, because these bacteria almost sent about tens of thousands of people to the emergency room.

Researchers from the University of Columbia in British have used a peptide, or a substance called miniprotein, to successfully stop drug-resistant bacteria from producing abscesses or purulent lesions through recombinant human proteins. Such polypeptide impedes their secretion by interfering with the stress response of the bacteria.

Abscess is bacterial-mediated tissue lesion that causes about 3.2 million people to enter the emergency room each year. The reason for this is that these bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and can only be treated by reducing infection and pyogen.

Microbiology professor Bob Hancock at Columbia University said, "Abscesses can happen almost anywhere in the body, and antibiotics are usually ineffective. While the use of polypeptides gives us a new way of thinking, because its mechanism is completely different to that of antibiotics."

Hancock and his colleagues found that the bacteria in the abscess showed a state of stress growth. They used a synthetic peptide called DJK-5 to interfere with the stress response of the bacteria, thus achieving the effect of treating abscesses in mice.

According to the difference of composition structure of the cell wall, bacteria can be divided into Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and they also resistant to a variety of antibiotics because of the cell wall. However, this peptide has a good effect against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria. Flarebio offers recombinant proteins of good quality such as recombinant CDH2.

There are two key genes in epidermis that help a plant keep alive

It is known to all that the body of a plant consists of only three tissue systems - the outermost epidermal tissue, the inner tissue, and the vascular tissue. The epidermis is essential in protecting the body of a plant from external stresses, preventing organ fusions, and determining final organ shapes.

Scientists took Arabidopsis as a model plant and conducted a research using recombinant proteins. Then two kinds of genes, ATML1 and PDF2, have been identified to serve as a key factor involved in the formation of the epidermis. However, there were more remained to be researched about the functional importance of these two genes.

Now, Taku Takahashi and his colleagues at Okayama University in collaboration with a group at the University of Tokyo have provided compeling evidence that the two genes are essential for the growth of embryos in Arabidopsis.

They generated the double loss-of-function mutant of ATML1 and PDF2 and found that the complete loss of these two genes resulted in the embryonic arrest before seed germination.

They confirmed that the inhibition of the expression of ATML1 and PDF2 caused a severe defect in epidermis formation and organ fusions in leaves, stems and flowers.

All the findings provide important information to the understanding of how the identity of epidermal cells is established in the plant embryo. They are also benefit to further studies on how a plant body is formed. Flarebio offers superior recombinant proteins such as recombinant App at competitive prices.

Chronic stress and anxiety are found to be the potential culprit of liver cancer

Xia Feng research team from Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University and Quanjun Hepatobiliary Surgery Institute announced on 27th that through long-term study on autonomic nervous regulation of liver diseases, and through research on recombinant rat proteins, they found that chronic stress and anxiety is the potential culprit of liver cancer.

"Based on ongoing research over the last 20 years, our team has come to realize that the sympathetic nerve has a wide distribution in the liver, which has a significant effect on the pathophysiological processes of the liver," said Xia Feng. For people who have been under long-term stress and anxiety, their sympathetic nervous system will be in a state of continuous excitement. While the latest research of the team has shown that continuous excitement of the sympathetic nervous system of liver will promote adrenal α1A / B subtypes receptor to regulate the activation of Kupffer cells. Then the liver is in the micro-environment of long-term chronic inflammation, which promotes liver cells to transfer to malignant cells and increases incidence of liver cancer.

According to the introduce of research team member Dr. Huanhong Bo, since the beginning of 2011, the project team collected 54 cases of pathological specimens of patients liver cancer, and the analysis showed that patients with high-density liver sympathetic nerve fibers have shorter survival. In nearly 300 cases of cirrhotic rat experimental animal models, the researchers found that after the removal of removing animal abdominal sympathetic fibers, the incidence of experimental animals inducing hepatocellular carcinoma reduced from 100% to 42%. After using drugs to block the sympathetic neurotransmitter receptor, the incidence of induced liver cancer was reduced to 63%.

Xia Feng said that this study reveals a new mechanism of the sympathetic nervous system regulating the occurrence of liver cancer, providing a theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. At the same time, there are many ways to relieve stress and relieve chronic stress.

It is reported that this study titled "Sympathetic nervous system promotes hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating inflammation through activation of alpha1-adrenergic receptors of Kupffer cells" has been published in a new international academic journal Brain Behavior and Immunology. Flarebio offers recombinant proteins of good quality such as recombinant ECE1.

To teach protein knowledge through playing games

Gamers players defeated the trained scientists to complete an accurate model of a specific protein at full speed in the same biochemical data obtained conditions through a science-based online game Foldit.

"In this way, they can improve research progress and the knowledge of recombinant proteins such as recombinant horse proteins." Co-author of the study, James Bardwell from the University of Michigan Michigan said.

This game involved 469 Foldit players, two highly-trained experts in crystallography, and two computer algorithms to see who can accurately establish YPL067C protein model through translating electron density map. Eventually, gamers united and established the most accurate version through painful trial and error in the protein modeling experience, Stubbs was the first Quebec.

Organizers stated that the game results show competition may be an effective way to educate students about the protein modeling knowledge. Because compared to the traditional way of learning, competition makes this time-consuming process more interesting. And it encourages cooperation.

"We can see that the players learned a lot of knowledge about proteins in the process of playing the game," co-author, Scott Horowitz from University of Michigan Hoorn said, "We spend weeks of time trying to put these into the brains of students, but Foldit players naturally learn them, because this is very interesting."

Even cooler is that organizers say the gamers may have discovered a new protein that may control the formation of plaque, which can bring more understanding of Alzheimer's after in-depth study. New findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Flarebio provides you with superior recombinant proteins like recombinant NRG3 at good prices.