Blood vessel loss and inflammation cause secondary degeneration following spinal cord injury. Angiopoietin-1 through the Tie2 receptor, and other ligands through alphavbeta3 integrin, promote endothelial cell survival during developmental or tumour angiogenesis. Here, daily intravenous injections with an alphavbeta3-binding peptide named C16 or an angiopoietin-1 mimetic following a spinal cord contusion at thoracic level 9 in mice rescued epicentre blood vessels, white matter and locomotor function, and reduced detrimental inflammation. Preserved vascularity and reduced inflammation correlated with improved outcomes. C16 and angiopoietin-1 reduced leukocyte transmigration in vitro. Growth factor receptors and integrins facilitate each others' function. Therefore, angiopoietin-1 and C16 were combined and the effects were additive, resulting in almost complete functional recovery. The treatment had lasting effects when started 4 h following injury and terminated after one week. These results identify alphavbeta3 integrin and the endothelial-selective angiopoietin-1 as vascular and inflammatory regulators that can be targeted in a clinically relevant manner for neuroprotection after central nervous system trauma.

PLA2, increased significantly after SCI, may play a key role in mediating neuronal death and oligodendrocyte demyelination following SCI. Blocking PLA2 action may represent a novel repair strategy to reduce tissue damage and increase function after SCI.

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently emerged life-threatening disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Real- time fluorescent PCR (RT-PCR) is the clinical standard for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection. To detect SARS-CoV-2 early and control the disease spreading on time, a faster and more convenient method for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detecting, RT-LAMP method (reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification) was developed. RNA reverse transcription and nucleic acid amplification were performed in one step at 63 ℃ isothermal conditions, and the results can be obtained within 30 minutes. ORF1ab gene, E gene and N gene were detected at the same time. ORF1ab gene was very specific and N gene was very sensitivity, so they can guarantee both sensitivity and specificity for SARS-CoV-2. The sensitivity of RT-LAMP assay is similar to RT-PCR, and specificity was 99% as detecting 208 clinical specimens. The RT-LAMP assay reported here has the advantages of rapid amplification, simple operation, and easy detection, which is useful for the rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.

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