Negative pressure catheter drainage and jejunal feeding for descending necrotizing mediastinitis by interventional techniques:a retrospective study

Purpose: Descending necrotizing mediastinitis(DNM) is a lethal and acute suppurative disease. This report aimed to summarize our experience in the treatment of DNM with continuous negative pressure catheter drainage and transnasal jejunal feeding by interventional techniques. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed relevant clinical data of patients with DNM who underwent continuous negative pressure catheter drainage and transnasal jejunal feeding. All drainage catheters and jejunal feeding tubes were inserte d by interventional techniques. Results: In total, 21 patients were diagnosed with DNM by esophagography and computed tomography(CT). Catheters for the drainage of mediastinal abscesses as well as transnasal jejunal feeding tubes were successfully placed in all patients, indicating a 100% success rate. Of all patients, 13 underwent insertion of abscess drainage catheters through percutaneous puncture under DynaCT guidance, while eight had drainage catheter insertion through fistula orifices in the posterior nasopharyngeal wall or esophagus under fluoroscopic guidance. In total, 26 drainage tubes were inserted. One patient with diabetes died of sepsis and diabetic ketoacidosis 5 days postoperatively, while the remaining 20 patients showed good recovery with successful removal of the drainage catheters. Durations of catheterization were 45.2±50.44 days. The overall clinical success rate was 95.2%. Conclusion: The above described methods are non-surgical, minimally invasive and efficacious, and may be alternative therapeutic tools for patients who are not eligible for surgical operation, have a high postoperative risk, or are more likely to choose minimally invasive techniques.

Phase-separated nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 suppresses cGAS-DNA recognition by disrupting cGAS-G3BP1 complex

Currently,the incidence and fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 remain continually high worldwide.COVID-19 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited decreased type I interferon(IFN-I)signal,along with limited activation of antiviral immune responses as well as enhanced viral infectivity.Dramatic progresses have been made in revealing the multiple strategies employed by SARS-CoV-2 in impairing canonical RNA sensing pathways.However,it remains to be determined about the SARS-CoV-2 antagonism of cGAS-mediated activation of IFN responses during infection.In the current study,we figure out that SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to the accumulation of released mitochondria DNA(mtDNA),which in turn triggers cGAS to activate IFN-I signaling.As countermeasures,SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid(N)protein restricts the DNA recognition capacity of cGAS to impair cGAS-induced IFN-I signaling.Mechanically,N protein disrupts the assembly of cGAS with its co-factor G3BP1 by undergoing DNA-induced liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS),subsequently impairs the double-strand DNA(dsDNA)detection ability of cGAS.Taken together,our findings unravel a novel antagonistic strategy by which SARS-CoV-2 reduces DNA-triggered IFN-I pathway through interfering with cGAS-DNA phase separation.

Bubbling solutions of fourth order mean field equations on S^(4)

In this paper,we first establish the existence of blow-up solutions with two antipodal points of the fourth order mean field equations on S^(4).Moreover,we construct non-axially symmetric solutions with blow-up points at the vertices of regular configurations,i.e.,equilateral triangles on a great circle,regular tetrahedrons,cubes,octahedrons,icosahedrons and dodecahedrons.The bubbling rates of these blow-up solutions rely on various bubbling configurations.

RNA-induced liquid phase separation of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein facilitates NF-kB hyper-activation and inflammation

The ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19)caused by SARS-CoV-2 has posed a worldwide pandemic and a major global public health threat.The severity and mortality of COVID-19 are associated with virus-induced dysfunctional inflammatory responses and cytokine storms.However,the interplay between host inflammatory responses and SARS-CoV-2 infection remains largely unknown.Here,we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid(N)protein,the major structural protein of the virion,promotes the virus-triggered activation of NF-kB signaling.After binding to viral RNA,N protein robustly undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS),which recruits TAK1 and IKK complex,the key kinases of NF-kB signaling,to enhance NF-kB activation.Moreover,1,6-hexanediol,the inhibitor of LLPS,can attenuate the phase separation of N protein and restrict its regulatory functions in NF-kB activation.These results suggest that LLPS of N protein provides a platform to Induce NF-kB hyper-activation,which could be a potential therapeutic target against COVID-19 severe pneumonia.