Background In 2013–2014, an outbreak of serogroup B meningococcal disease occurred among persons linked to a New Jersey university (University A). In the absence of a licensed serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine in the US, the Food and Drug Administration authorized use of an investigational MenB vaccine to control the outbreak. An investigation of the outbreak and response was undertaken to determine the population at risk and assess vaccination coverage. Methods The epidemiologic investigation relied on compilation and review of case and population data, laboratory typing of meningococcal isolates, and unstructured interviews with university staff. Vaccination coverage data were collected during the vaccination campaign held under an expanded access Investigational New Drug protocol. Results Between March 25, 2013 and March 10, 2014, 9 cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease occurred in persons linked to University A. Laboratory typing results were identical for all 8 isolates available. Through May 14, 2014, 89.1% coverage with the two-dose vaccination series was achieved in the target population. From the initiation of MenB vaccination through February 1, 2015, no additional cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease occurred in University A students. However, the 9th case occurred in March 2014 in an unvaccinated close contact of University A students. Conclusions No serogroup B meningococcal disease cases occurred in persons who received 1 or more doses of 4CMenB vaccine, suggesting 4CMenB may have protected vaccinated individuals from disease. However, the 9th case demonstrates that carriage of serogroup B Nesisseria meningitidis among vaccinated persons was not eliminated.

The salivary glands are vital to the biological success of ticks and they are a major route of pathogen transmission. Tick salivary glands undergo remarkable growth and differentiation during the blood-feeding period. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding small RNA molecules found in diverse organisms that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. To explore transcriptional differences in the miRNAs of fed and unfed tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) salivary glands, we investigated small RNA (sRNA) transcriptomes derived from the salivary glands and made a comparative analysis of miRNA profiles related to tick blood-feeding in the salivary glands. We generated two small RNA libraries from the salivary glands of unfed and fed H. longicornis, and obtained 14.8 and 10.3 million reads of 18-30 nt, respectively. The unfed-specific sRNAs were clearly richer than the fed-specific sRNAs in terms of the unique and total sRNAs. Overall, 769 conserved miRNA families were found in unfed samples, whereas 440 conserved miRNA families were found in fed samples. Six of the ten most abundant miRNA were found in both the unfed and fed tick salivary glands, i.e., miR-1, miR-375, bantam, miR-184, miR-739, and miR-263a. We found that known miRNA homologs displayed a wide variety of expression profiles in unfed and fed tick salivary glands. After blood-feeding, 162 known miRNAs were upregulated. The six main upregulated miRNAs were mir-1810, mir-2138, mir-2140, mir-425*, mir-429, and mir-516*. Likewise, 231 known miRNAs were downregulated after blood-feeding. The six main downregulated miRNAs were miR-2941-1*, miR-10-5p, miR-2973, miR-1183, miR-4006b-5p, and miR-881. We found that distinct microRNA profiles in the salivary glands of H. longicornis were relating to tick blood feeding. The differential expression of miRNAs in unfed and fed tick salivary glands supported their involvement at new levels in the regulation of tick blood-feeding. Our data provide an important resource for a more detailed functional analysis of miRNAs in this species.

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Background: Circular RNAs (circRNA) play an essential role in the tumorigenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). CircDTL is a novel identified circRNA with little information regarding its biological role. However, the role of circDTL in NSCLC has not been investigated yet.Method: In this study, the levels of circDTL in tissues and cells were measured by RT-PCR. Cell viability was measured by the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated using the wound healing assay and transwell assay, respectively. Cell death was measured by the cell death ELISA kit. The levels of Fe2+, ROS, MDA and GSH were measured using the commercial kits. The interactions between miR-1287-5p and circDTL/3′UTR GPX4 were verified by dual-luciferase activity assay. The effects of circDTL on tumor growth were evaluated in vivo.Results: CircDTL was found to be upregulated and acted as an oncogene in NSCLC cells. Knockdown of circDTL promoted both apoptosis and ferroptosis of NSCLC cells. It was identified that circDTL exerts its oncogenic effects via the circDTL/miR-1287-5p/GPX4 axis and GPX4 inhibits both ferroptosis and apoptosis. Finally, this study showed that silencing of circDTL promoted the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to chemotherapeutic agents and inhibited the growth of tumors in vivo.Conclusion: CircDTL acts as an oncogene and exerts its effects via the miR-1287-5p/GPX4 axis in NSCLC, providing a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC cancer therapy.