Establishment and Application of a Real-time PCR Method for Detecting stx2 Gene in Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli(STEC)

[Objective] This study aimed to establish a real-time PCR method for de- tecting stx2 gene in Shiga toxin-producing E. coli （STEC）. [Method] According to the known STEC stx2 gene sequences published in GenBank, PCR primers and probes were designed based on the conserved region to construct recombinant plasmid as a positive template, thus optimizing the reaction conditions and establishing the real- time PCR method. [Result] A standard curve was established based on the opti- mized real-time PCR system, indicting a good linear correlation between the initial template concentration and Ct value, with the correlation coefficient F^e of above 0.995. The established method had a good specificity, without non-specific amplifica- tion for 10 non-STEC intestinal bacterial strains; the detection limit of initial template was 1.0x102 copies/μI, indicating a high sensitivity; furthermore, the coefficients of variation within and among batches were lower than 1% and 5% respectively, sug- gesting a good repeatability. [Conclusion] In this study, a real-time PCR method was successfully established for detecting STEC stx2 gene, which provided technical means for rapid detection of STEC in samples.

Secretory Expression of E2 Main Antigen Domain of CSFV C Strain and the Establishment of Indirect ELISA Assay

The sequence encoding an E2 main antigen glycoprotein of the C strain of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) was highly expressed in the host cell E. coli BL21–CodonPlus (DE3)–RIL using the pGEX-4T-1 expression vector and the soluble recombinant product was purified with Glutathione Sepharose TM4B by centrifugation. The soluble recombinant protein showed good immune reactions and was confirmed by Western blot using anti-CSFV-specific antibodies. Then an indirect ELISA with the purified E2 protein as the coating antigen was established to detect antibody against CSFV. The result revealed that the optimal concentration of coated antigen was 0.6 μg/well and the optimal dilution of serum was 1:80. The positive cut-off value of this ELISA assay was OD tested serum / OD negative serum≥2.1. The E2-ELISA method was evaluated by comparison with the indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT). When a total of 100 field serum samples were tested the sensitivity and specificity were 90.3% and 94.7% respectively. Specificity analysis showed that there were no cross-reactions between BVD serum and the purified E2 protein in the E2-ELISA.

Discrepancy of Classical Swine Fever Virus in Different Tissues by One-Step RT-PCR and Nested RT-PCR

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for the detection of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) in blood and tissue samples of field cases and experimentally inoculated pigs. The distribution of CSFV in different organ samples showed some discrepancies in infected pigs. Four weaner pigs were inoculated with C-strain vaccine virus, then samples of spleen, tonsil, lung, mesenteric lymph node, kidney and brain were collected after slaughter and tested for E2 and NS5B genes using one-step RT-PCR and nested RT-PCR. Using the same method, 12 field cases were simultaneously studied. A discrepancy of CSFV in different samples was found upon detecting the target gene. The most reliable diagnostic organs were spleen and tonsil, and the nested RT-PCR assay provided a highly sensitive and specific method with comparable performance to the one-step RT-PCR assay.

Expression of Major Antigen Domains of E2 Gene of CSFV and Analysis of its Immunological Activity

E2 is an envelope glycoprotein of Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and contains sequential neutralizing epitopes to induce virus-neutralizing antibodies and mount protective immunity in the natural host. In this study, four antigen domains (ABCD) of the E2 gene was cloned from CSFV Shimen strain into the retroviral vector pBABE puro and expressed in eukaryotic cell (PK15) by an retroviral gene expression system, and the activity of recombinant E2 protein to induce immune responses was evaluated in rabbits. The results indicated that recombinant E2 protein can be recognized by fluorescence antibodies of CSFV and CSFV positive serum (Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China) using Western blot, indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and ELISA, Furthermore, anti-CSFV specific antibodies and lymphocyte proliferation were elicited and increased by recombinant protein after vaccination. In the challenge test, all of rabbits vaccinated with recombinant protein and Chinese vaccine strain (C-strain) were fully protected from a rabbit spleen virus challenge. These results indicated that a retroviral-based epitope-vaccine carrying the major antigen domains of E2 is able to induce high level of epitope-specific antibodies and exhibits similar protective capability with that induced by the C-strain, and encourages further work towards the development of a vaccine against CSFV infection.

Nr2e1 Downregulation Is Involved in Excess Retinoic Acid-induced Developmental Abnormality in the Mouse Brain

Objective This study aimed to investigate the expression pattern and function of Nuclear receptor subfamily 2 group E member 1 （Nr2e1） in retinoic acid （RA）-induced brain abnormality. Methods The mouse model of brain abnormality was established by administering 28 mg/kg RA, and neural stem cells （NSCs） were isolated from the mouse embryo and cultured in vitro. Nr2e1 expression was detected by whole mount in situ hybridization, RT-PCR, and Western blotting. Nr2e1 function was determined by transducing Nr2e1 sh RNA into NSCs, and the effect on the sonic hedgehog （Shh） signaling pathway was assessed in the cells. In addition, the regulation of Nr2e1 expression by RA was also determined in vitro. Results Nr2e1 expression was significantly downregulated in the brain and NSCs of RA-treated mouse embryos, and knockdown of Nr2e1 affected the proliferation of NSCs in vitro. In addition, a similar expression pattern of Nr2e1 and RA receptor （RAR） α was observed after treatment of NSCs with different concentrations of RA. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that Nr2e1 could be regulated by RA, which would aid a better understanding of the mechanism underlying RA-induced brain abnormality.

Cloning and sequence analysis of E2 gene of bovine viral diarrhea virus HB-DCZ strain in Hebei province of China

The objective of this paper was to analyze the E2 genetic characterization of HB-DCZ strain of Bovine viral diaxrhca Virus （BVDV） which wcrc amplified by RT-PCR and isolated from China. The product of PCK was cloned into pMD18-T vector, and then transfected Escherichia Coli JMI00. The recombinant plasmids were amplified by PCR and were sequenced. From the nucleotide sequence of the amplified products, phylogenetie analyses were performed and genotypes or subgenotypes were identified. The results indicated that the E2 gene fragment of HB-DCZ strain contained 1277bp nucleotides, and had 89.4%, 70.7%, 97.6%, 68.9%, 67.2% sequence similarity with Osloss, OregonC24V, Changchun184, ZM195, NADL, respectively. In conclusion, HB-DCZ strain is closely related to BVDV Osloss, Changchun184, and belongs to subgenotype lb.

Cloning of HPV16 E2 Gene from a Biopsied Cervical Cancer Sample

To clone HPV16 E2 gene from a biopsied cervical cancer sample Materials & Methods HPV16 E2 gene was amplified from specimen derived from a HPV 16 positive patient, then cloned and sequenced. Results The full length of HPV 16 E2 gene was successfully cloned. In comparison with the prototype accepted by GenBank, six point mutations in HPV 16 E2 nucleotide acid sequence were identified. Of them, three were missense, and one was in the overlapping E4 gene and was synonymous to E4. Conclusion HPV16 E2 gene was successfully cloned, and some nucleotide acids in its sequence were different from the prototype.