Introduction:Chikungunya virus(CHIKV),an arthropod-borne alphavirus transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus,causes fever,severe joint pain,and rash.By 2025,it has triggered outbreaks in 119 countries,endange...Introduction:Chikungunya virus(CHIKV),an arthropod-borne alphavirus transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus,causes fever,severe joint pain,and rash.By 2025,it has triggered outbreaks in 119 countries,endangering 5.5 million people.Recent epidemics in Foshan,China,have strained healthcare systems,underscoring the need to characterize viral load dynamics across infection phases.Methods:We collected 1,156 clinical samples from four Foshan hospitals in July 2025,spanning 6 days before to 12 days after symptom onset.Specimens included serum(904 valid),saliva(22),urine(4),throat swabs(3),and stool(37).CHIKV RNA was quantified via qRT-PCR;timepoints and specimen types with insufficient samples were excluded.Results:Serum showed the highest positivity(90%),followed by saliva(68%),throat swabs(15%),and urine(11%);stool was negative(0%).Serum also had the highest viral loads,confirming its optimal utility.Viral RNA was detectable as early as 1 day presymptom onset(day-1).Days 0–7 post-onset marked explosive replication and elevated loads,representing the optimal sampling window.From Day 8 onward,loads declined,requiring IgG testing to avoid false negatives.Conclusions:Serum is the gold standard for acute CHIKV diagnosis,with superior positivity and viral loads.Pre-symptomatic viral shedding(day-1)supports enhanced port-of-entry screening to intercept imported cases.Days 0–7 post-onset is the optimal sampling window for acute infection.During clearance(day 8+),IgG testing complements molecular diagnostics to reduce gaps.These findings inform evidence-based diagnosis,outbreak control,and resource allocation.展开更多
Ciliary neurotrophic factor(CNTF)acts as a potent neuroprotective agent in neuronal survival and regeneration,and can also induce the differentiation of several stem cells into neurons,which highlights the broad appli...Ciliary neurotrophic factor(CNTF)acts as a potent neuroprotective agent in neuronal survival and regeneration,and can also induce the differentiation of several stem cells into neurons,which highlights the broad application of CNTF in biomedicine.However,large-scale production of bioactive recombinant human CNTF protein remains to be explored.Herein,this study aims to express a bioactive human CNTF protein on a large scale by genetically engineering a silk gland bioreactor of silkworm.Our results showed that CNTF protein was successfully expressed in the middle silk gland(MSG)of silkworm,which can be secreted into the silks with the amount of 3.2 mg/g cocoons.The fabrication of human CNTF-functionalized silk material was able to promote proliferation and migration of neural cells when compared to the natural silk protein.Importantly,this functional silk material could also facilitate neurite outgrowth of mouse retinal ganglion cell(RGC-5)cells.All these data demonstrated a high bioactivity of the recombinant human CNTF protein expressed in the MSG of silkworm.The further fabrication of different silk materials with CNTF bioactivity will give biomedical applications in tissue engineering and neuroregeneration.展开更多
Dear Editor,N^(6)-Methyladenine(6mA)DNA modification is an important epigenetic mechanism with roles in regulating gene expression,nucleosome positioning,DNA damage repair,and cell cycle progression(Heyn&Esteller,...Dear Editor,N^(6)-Methyladenine(6mA)DNA modification is an important epigenetic mechanism with roles in regulating gene expression,nucleosome positioning,DNA damage repair,and cell cycle progression(Heyn&Esteller,2015;Luo et al.,2015;Boulias&Greer,2022).Despite progress in understanding the biological functions of 6mA,the contribution of individual 6mA installations on site-specific target genes is largely unknown,and therefore deciphering the molecular mechanism of 6mA in target gene expression has been difficult.展开更多
基金Supported by the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention Supports Talent Projects(0720240122)the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathogen Detection for Emerging Infectious Disease Response(2023B1212010010).
文摘Introduction:Chikungunya virus(CHIKV),an arthropod-borne alphavirus transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus,causes fever,severe joint pain,and rash.By 2025,it has triggered outbreaks in 119 countries,endangering 5.5 million people.Recent epidemics in Foshan,China,have strained healthcare systems,underscoring the need to characterize viral load dynamics across infection phases.Methods:We collected 1,156 clinical samples from four Foshan hospitals in July 2025,spanning 6 days before to 12 days after symptom onset.Specimens included serum(904 valid),saliva(22),urine(4),throat swabs(3),and stool(37).CHIKV RNA was quantified via qRT-PCR;timepoints and specimen types with insufficient samples were excluded.Results:Serum showed the highest positivity(90%),followed by saliva(68%),throat swabs(15%),and urine(11%);stool was negative(0%).Serum also had the highest viral loads,confirming its optimal utility.Viral RNA was detectable as early as 1 day presymptom onset(day-1).Days 0–7 post-onset marked explosive replication and elevated loads,representing the optimal sampling window.From Day 8 onward,loads declined,requiring IgG testing to avoid false negatives.Conclusions:Serum is the gold standard for acute CHIKV diagnosis,with superior positivity and viral loads.Pre-symptomatic viral shedding(day-1)supports enhanced port-of-entry screening to intercept imported cases.Days 0–7 post-onset is the optimal sampling window for acute infection.During clearance(day 8+),IgG testing complements molecular diagnostics to reduce gaps.These findings inform evidence-based diagnosis,outbreak control,and resource allocation.
基金supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFD1201600)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.32030103 and 32172798)+1 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing(Nos.cstc2020jcyjcxttX0001andCSTB2023NSCQ-MSX0814)Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Southwest University(No.S202210635112)。
文摘Ciliary neurotrophic factor(CNTF)acts as a potent neuroprotective agent in neuronal survival and regeneration,and can also induce the differentiation of several stem cells into neurons,which highlights the broad application of CNTF in biomedicine.However,large-scale production of bioactive recombinant human CNTF protein remains to be explored.Herein,this study aims to express a bioactive human CNTF protein on a large scale by genetically engineering a silk gland bioreactor of silkworm.Our results showed that CNTF protein was successfully expressed in the middle silk gland(MSG)of silkworm,which can be secreted into the silks with the amount of 3.2 mg/g cocoons.The fabrication of human CNTF-functionalized silk material was able to promote proliferation and migration of neural cells when compared to the natural silk protein.Importantly,this functional silk material could also facilitate neurite outgrowth of mouse retinal ganglion cell(RGC-5)cells.All these data demonstrated a high bioactivity of the recombinant human CNTF protein expressed in the MSG of silkworm.The further fabrication of different silk materials with CNTF bioactivity will give biomedical applications in tissue engineering and neuroregeneration.
基金supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFD1201600)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.32030103 and 32172798)Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing(No.cstc2020jcyj-cxttX0001).
文摘Dear Editor,N^(6)-Methyladenine(6mA)DNA modification is an important epigenetic mechanism with roles in regulating gene expression,nucleosome positioning,DNA damage repair,and cell cycle progression(Heyn&Esteller,2015;Luo et al.,2015;Boulias&Greer,2022).Despite progress in understanding the biological functions of 6mA,the contribution of individual 6mA installations on site-specific target genes is largely unknown,and therefore deciphering the molecular mechanism of 6mA in target gene expression has been difficult.
