African swine fever virus(ASFV) infection is a big threat to the global pig industry. Because there is no effective vaccine, rapid, low-cost, and simple diagnosis methods are necessary to detect the ASFV infection in ...African swine fever virus(ASFV) infection is a big threat to the global pig industry. Because there is no effective vaccine, rapid, low-cost, and simple diagnosis methods are necessary to detect the ASFV infection in pig herds.Nanobodies, with advantages of small molecular weight and easy genetic engineering, have been universally used as reagents for developing diagnostic kits. In this study, the recombinant ASFV-p30 was expressed and served as an antigen to immunize the Bactrian camel. Then, seven nanobodies against ASFV-p30 were screened using phage display technique. Subsequently, the seven nanobodies fused horseradish peroxidase(nanobody-HRP) were secretory expressed and one fusion protein ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP was selected with the highest sensitivity in blocking ELISA. Using the ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP fusion protein as a probe, a competitive ELISA(cELISA) was developed for detecting anti-ASFV antibodies in pig sera. The cut-off value of cELISA was determined to be 22.7%by testing 360 negative pig sera. The detection limit of the cELISA for positive pig sera was 1:320, and there was no cross-reaction with anti-other swine virus antibodies. The comparative assay showed that the agreement of the cELISA with a commercial ELISA kit was 100%. More importantly, the developed cELISA showed low cost and easy production as a commercial kit candidate. Collectively, a simple nanobody-based cELISA for detecting antibodies against ASFV is developed and it provides a new method for monitoring ASFV infection in the pig herds.展开更多
Biological denitrification is a crucial process in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle,and Thermus has been reported to be a significant heterotrophic denitrifier in terrestrial geothermal environments.However,neither t...Biological denitrification is a crucial process in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle,and Thermus has been reported to be a significant heterotrophic denitrifier in terrestrial geothermal environments.However,neither the denitrification potential nor the evolutionary history of denitrification genes in the genus Thermus or phylum Deinococcota is well understood.Here,we performed a comparative analysis of 23 Thermus genomes and identified denitrification genes in 15 Thermus strains.We confirmed that Thermus harbors an incomplete denitrification pathway as none of the strains contain the nosZ gene.Ancestral character state reconstructions and phylogenetic analyses showed that narG,nirS,and norB genes were acquired by the last common ancestor of Thermales and were inherited vertically.In contrast,nirK of Thermales was acquired via two distinct horizontal gene transfers from Proteobacteria to the genus Caldithermus and from an unknown donor to the common ancestor of all known Thermus species except Thermus filiformis.This study expands our understanding of the genomic potential for incomplete denitrification in Thermus,revealing a largely vertical evolutionary history of the denitrification pathway in the Thermaceae,and supporting the important role for Thermus as an important heterotrophic denitrifier in geothermal environments.展开更多
Protein degradation technology,which is one of the most direct and effective ways to regulate the life activities of cells,is expected to be applied to the treatment of various diseases.However,current protein degrada...Protein degradation technology,which is one of the most direct and effective ways to regulate the life activities of cells,is expected to be applied to the treatment of various diseases.However,current protein degradation technologies such as some small-molecule degraders which are unable to achieve spatiotemporal regulation,making them difficult to transform into clinical applications.In this article,an upconversion optogenetic nanosystem was designed to attain accurate regulation of protein degradation.This system worked via two interconnected parts:1)the host cell expressed light-sensitive protein that could trigger the ubiquitinproteasome pathway upon blue-light exposure;2)the light regulated light-sensitive protein by changing light conditions to achieve regulation of protein degradation.Experimental results based on model protein(Green Fluorescent Protein,GFP)validated that this system could fulfill protein degradation both in vitro(both Hela and 293T cells)and in vivo(by upconversion optogenetic nanosystem),and further demonstrated that we could reach spatiotemporal regulation by changing the illumination time(0–25 h)and the illumination frequency(the illuminating frequency of 0–30 s every 1 min).We further took another functional protein(The Nonstructural Protein 9,NSP9)into experiment.Results confirmed that the proliferation of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus(PRRSV)was inhibited by degrading the NSP9 in this light-induced system,and PRRSV proliferation was affected by different light conditions(illumination time varies from 0–24 h).We expected this system could provide new perspectives into spatiotemporal regulation of protein degradation and help realize the clinical application transformation for treating diseases of protein degradation technology.展开更多
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31941016 and 31972676)the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province of China (grant no. 2022JC-12)the Key R&D Program of Shaanxi Province (grant no. S2022-YF-YBNY0673)
文摘African swine fever virus(ASFV) infection is a big threat to the global pig industry. Because there is no effective vaccine, rapid, low-cost, and simple diagnosis methods are necessary to detect the ASFV infection in pig herds.Nanobodies, with advantages of small molecular weight and easy genetic engineering, have been universally used as reagents for developing diagnostic kits. In this study, the recombinant ASFV-p30 was expressed and served as an antigen to immunize the Bactrian camel. Then, seven nanobodies against ASFV-p30 were screened using phage display technique. Subsequently, the seven nanobodies fused horseradish peroxidase(nanobody-HRP) were secretory expressed and one fusion protein ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP was selected with the highest sensitivity in blocking ELISA. Using the ASFV-p30-Nb75-HRP fusion protein as a probe, a competitive ELISA(cELISA) was developed for detecting anti-ASFV antibodies in pig sera. The cut-off value of cELISA was determined to be 22.7%by testing 360 negative pig sera. The detection limit of the cELISA for positive pig sera was 1:320, and there was no cross-reaction with anti-other swine virus antibodies. The comparative assay showed that the agreement of the cELISA with a commercial ELISA kit was 100%. More importantly, the developed cELISA showed low cost and easy production as a commercial kit candidate. Collectively, a simple nanobody-based cELISA for detecting antibodies against ASFV is developed and it provides a new method for monitoring ASFV infection in the pig herds.
基金supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.91951205,92051108,31850410475,and 31970122)the National Science and Technology Fundamental Resources Investigation Program of China(2021FY100900)the U.S.National Science Foundation(DEB 1557042 and DEB 1841658).
文摘Biological denitrification is a crucial process in the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle,and Thermus has been reported to be a significant heterotrophic denitrifier in terrestrial geothermal environments.However,neither the denitrification potential nor the evolutionary history of denitrification genes in the genus Thermus or phylum Deinococcota is well understood.Here,we performed a comparative analysis of 23 Thermus genomes and identified denitrification genes in 15 Thermus strains.We confirmed that Thermus harbors an incomplete denitrification pathway as none of the strains contain the nosZ gene.Ancestral character state reconstructions and phylogenetic analyses showed that narG,nirS,and norB genes were acquired by the last common ancestor of Thermales and were inherited vertically.In contrast,nirK of Thermales was acquired via two distinct horizontal gene transfers from Proteobacteria to the genus Caldithermus and from an unknown donor to the common ancestor of all known Thermus species except Thermus filiformis.This study expands our understanding of the genomic potential for incomplete denitrification in Thermus,revealing a largely vertical evolutionary history of the denitrification pathway in the Thermaceae,and supporting the important role for Thermus as an important heterotrophic denitrifier in geothermal environments.
基金This work was sponsored by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Nos.2019YFA0906500 and 2017YFA0205104)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.31971300,817719709,51873150 and 51573128)Tianjin Natural Science Foundation(No.19JCYBJC28800)and Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by Tianjin.
文摘Protein degradation technology,which is one of the most direct and effective ways to regulate the life activities of cells,is expected to be applied to the treatment of various diseases.However,current protein degradation technologies such as some small-molecule degraders which are unable to achieve spatiotemporal regulation,making them difficult to transform into clinical applications.In this article,an upconversion optogenetic nanosystem was designed to attain accurate regulation of protein degradation.This system worked via two interconnected parts:1)the host cell expressed light-sensitive protein that could trigger the ubiquitinproteasome pathway upon blue-light exposure;2)the light regulated light-sensitive protein by changing light conditions to achieve regulation of protein degradation.Experimental results based on model protein(Green Fluorescent Protein,GFP)validated that this system could fulfill protein degradation both in vitro(both Hela and 293T cells)and in vivo(by upconversion optogenetic nanosystem),and further demonstrated that we could reach spatiotemporal regulation by changing the illumination time(0–25 h)and the illumination frequency(the illuminating frequency of 0–30 s every 1 min).We further took another functional protein(The Nonstructural Protein 9,NSP9)into experiment.Results confirmed that the proliferation of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus(PRRSV)was inhibited by degrading the NSP9 in this light-induced system,and PRRSV proliferation was affected by different light conditions(illumination time varies from 0–24 h).We expected this system could provide new perspectives into spatiotemporal regulation of protein degradation and help realize the clinical application transformation for treating diseases of protein degradation technology.