Both inflammatory processes and glutamatergic systems have been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood-related disorders. However, the role of caspase-1, a classic inflammatory caspase, in behavioral responses to chronic stress remains largely unknown. To address this issue, we examined the effects and underlying mechanisms of caspase-1 on preclinical murine models of depression. We found that loss of caspase-1 expression in Caspase-1−/− knockout mice alleviated chronic stress-induced depression-like behaviors, whereas overexpression of caspase-1 in the hippocampus of wild-type (WT) mice was sufficient to induce depression- and anxiety-like behaviors. Furthermore, chronic stress reduced glutamatergic neurotransmission and decreased surface expression of glutamate receptors in hippocampal pyramidal neurons of WT mice, but not Caspase-1−/− mice. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of caspase-1-interleukin-1β (IL-1β) signaling pathway prevented the depression-like behaviors and the decrease in surface expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) in stressed WT mice. Finally, the effects of chronic stress on both depression- and anxiety-like behaviors can be mimicked by exogenous intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of IL-1β in both WT and Caspase-1−/− mice. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that an increase in the caspase-1/IL-1β axis facilitates AMPAR internalization in the hippocampus, which dysregulates glutamatergic synaptic transmission, eventually resulting in depression-like behaviors. These results may represent an endophenotype for chronic stress-induced depression.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has continued spreading since its emergence in 2012 with a mortality rate of 35.6%, and is a potential pandemic threat. Prophylactics and therapies are urgently needed to address this public health problem. We report here the efficacy of a vaccine consisting of chimeric virus-like particles (VLP) expressing the receptor binding domain (RBD) of MERS-CoV. In this study, a fusion of the canine parvovirus (CPV) VP2 structural protein gene with the RBD of MERS-CoV can self-assemble into chimeric, spherical VLP (sVLP). sVLP retained certain parvovirus characteristics, such as the ability to agglutinate pig erythrocytes, and structural morphology similar to CPV virions. Immunization with sVLP induced RBD-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in mice. sVLP-specific antisera from these animals were able to prevent pseudotyped MERS-CoV entry into susceptible cells, with neutralizing antibody titers reaching 1: 320. IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-2 secreting cells induced by the RBD were detected in the splenocytes of vaccinated mice by ELISpot. Furthermore, mice inoculated with sVLP or an adjuvanted sVLP vaccine elicited T-helper 1 (Th1) and T-helper 2 (Th2) cell-mediated immunity. Our study demonstrates that sVLP displaying the RBD of MERS-CoV are promising prophylactic candidates against MERS-CoV in a potential outbreak situation.

We evaluated the effectiveness of thermotherapy at different temperatures, chemotherapy with different concentrations of ribavirin, and combinations of these two methods on virus elimination from apple. We used Malus cv. 'Xinhongjiangjun', an apple cultivar widely grown in China, infected with Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV), and Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV). The survival and regeneration of plants were evaluated, and the efficiency of virus eradication was determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction with two primer pairs for each virus. All of the plants treated with 15 and 25 lg/ml ribavirin survived, although their proliferation was slightly inhibited. Ribavirin treatments at 15 and 25 lg/ml resulted in virus elimination rates of 74.4 and 75.0 %, respectively. Higher temperatures significantly affected the growth and proliferation of plants, and almost no axillary shoots regenerated under the highest temperature (38 ± 0.5°C). The average virus elimination rate after 34-36°C treatments for 20 days was no more than 45 %. The virus elimination efficiency was enhanced by combining thermotherapy and chemotherapy treatments. A treatment combining ribavirin (25 lg/ml) and thermotherapy at 36°C (R25 ? T36) resulted in high virus eradication efficiency (95.0 %). Across all of the treatments, the average survival rate of apical shoots (176/273) was 12 % lower than that of axillary shoots (266/349); the average virus elimination efficiency was 65.3 % for apical shoots and 72.7 % for axillary shoots. The results also demonstrated that it was easier to eliminate ASPV than to eliminate ACLSV and ASGV.

ResearchCite this article: Liu X et al. Mastitis costs the dairy industry billions of dollars annually and is the most consequential disease of dairy cattle. Transgenic cows secreting an antimicrobial peptide demonstrated resistance to mastitis. The combination of somatic cell gene targeting and nuclear transfer provides a powerful method to produce transgenic animals. Recent studies found that a precisely placed doublestrand break induced by engineered zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) stimulated the integration of exogenous DNA stretches into a pre-determined genomic location, resulting in high-efficiency site-specific gene addition. Here, we used ZFNs to target human lysozyme (hLYZ) gene to bovine b-casein locus, resulting in hLYZ knock-in of approximately 1% of ZFN-treated bovine fetal fibroblasts (BFFs). Gene-targeted fibroblast cell clones were screened by junction PCR amplification and Southern blot analysis. Gene-targeted BFFs were used in somatic cell nuclear transfer. In vitro assays demonstrated that the milk secreted by transgenic cows had the ability to kill Staphylococcus aureus. We report the production of cloned cows carrying human lysozyme gene knock-in b-casein locus using ZFNs. Our findings open a unique avenue for the creation of transgenic cows from genetic engineering by providing a viable tool for enhancing resistance to disease and improving the health and welfare of livestock.