Characterization of the Antigenicity and Immunogenicity of the Escherichia Coli Produced RNase Domain of the Classical Swine Fever Virus Glycoprotein E^(rns)

Ems is a highly glycosylated envelope protein of classical swine fever virus （CSFV） with RNase ac- tivity. Ems can induce neutralizing antibodies and provide immune protection against CSFV infection. In this study, the RNase domain of the Ems was produced in Eschenchia coil. Its reactivity with CSFV-positive sera and its ability to induce antibodies and to provide protective immunity were then investigated. The serological tests showed that the prokaryotically expressed RNase domain of the Ems retained its antigenicity and in- duced high titers of humoral responses. However, only partial protection and a limited amount of neutralizing antibodies were demonstrated by an in vitro neutralization test and an immunization/challenge test. The re- sults suggest that other essential factors rather than simply enhancing the immunogenicity of Ems should be taken into consideration when Er＂s is enrolled as one of the components of a candidate vaccine.

Strategy against micrometastasis of epithelial cancer: Detection and elimination

Tumor metastasis is generally agreed to be the major cause of cancer death. Over the last few years, studies of new diagnosis techniques and tumor immunotherapy have made great progress. Recent clinical studies on the occult metastases of breast, lung and colorectal cancer all suggested that the detection of micrometastases in bone marrow is prognostically important and provides substantial evidence of tumor dissemination. On the other hand, two kinds of the mAb-based immunotherapy have been approved for the treatment against epithelial cancer. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) 17-1A for colorectal carcinomas and mAb herceptin for breast cancer both have produced good curative effects. Potential therapeutics based on some antibodies with prominent antitumor activity also has shown obvious clinical effect. These studies indicate that detection of micrometasta-sis in circulatory system and immunotherapy by eliminating metastatic malignant cells suggested a new strategy against the metastatic cancer.

Characterization and expression pattern of pouII1,a novel class Ⅱ POU gene in zebrafish

POU domain transcription factors that share a conserved DNA-binding domain, POU domain, are important regulators for the development of embryos in various animal species. A novel zebrafish POU domain gene, poulll has been cloned. The poullll cDNA is 2080 kb in length and encodes a putative polypeptide of 596 ammo acids. It is placed into class II POU family since it shares a high degree of homology with the known members of this family. Northern hybridization identifies a major transcript of approximately 2.1 kb that was present in embryos at the single-cell stage throughout 24 h postfertilization. The whole mount in situ hybridization shows that poulll transcripts are present in the single-cell embryos, strongly suggesting that these transcripts are of maternal origin. During early development of the embryos, poulll mRNA was ubiquitously distributed in all cells and tissues. The transcripts are gradually limited to brains and become completely undetectable by day 3. To our knowledge, poulll is the