A reasoned approach towards administering COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women

There are over 50 SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines undergoing Phase II and III clinical trials. Several vaccines have been approved by regulatory authorities and rolled out for use in different countries. Due to concerns of potential teratogenicity or adverse effect on maternal physiology, pregnancy has been a specific exclusion criterion for most vaccine trials with only two trials not excluding pregnant women. Thus, other than limited animal studies, gradually emerging development and reproductive toxicity data, and observational data from vaccine registries, there is a paucity of reliable information to guide recommendations for the safe vaccination of pregnant women. Pregnancy is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, especially in women with comorbidities, resulting in increased rates of preterm birth and maternal morbidity. We discuss the major SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, their mechanisms of action, efficacy, safety profile and possible benefits to the maternal-fetal dyad to create a rational approach towards maternal vaccination while anticipating and mitigating vaccine-related complications. Pregnant women with high exposure risks or co-morbidities predisposing to severe COVID-19 infection should be prioritised for vaccination. Those with risk factors for adverse effects should be counselled accordingly. It is essential to support patient autonomy by shared decision-making involving a risk-benefit discussion with the pregnant woman.     

Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogenicity

Vibrio cholerae   or Shigella dysenteriae kill about 3 million persons every year, most of them young children: Another 4 million die of tuberculosis or tetanus. Outbreaks of diphtheria in Eastern Europe threatens the population with a disease that had previously seemed to be overcome. Efforts to control infectious diseases more comprehensively are undermined not only by socioeconomic conditions but also by the nature of the pathogenic organisms itself; some isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter have become so resistant to drugs by horizontal gene transfer that they are almost untreatable. In addition, the mechanism of genetic variability helps pathogens to evade the human immune system, thus compromising the development of powerful vaccines. Therefore detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of microbial pathogenicity is absolutely necessary to develop new strategies against infectious diseases and thus to lower their impact on human health and social development.     

“大数据”预测分析与三丁基锡暴露有关疾病

通过毒理学“大数据”,挖掘三丁基锡（TBT）潜在的生物影响信息,预测分析TBT暴露与人类相关疾病的关系.通过比较毒理组学数据库（CTD）搜集到488个和TBT具有相互作用的基因.基因相互作用网络图显示TP53拥有相关联基因最多,处于中心地位;其次是ESR1和FN1.CTD分析与TBT相关的疾病,发现前10类疾病分别是癌症、神经系统疾病、心血管疾病、泌尿生殖系统疾病（女）、消化系统疾病、代谢疾病、泌尿生殖系统疾病（男）、内分泌系统疾病、免疫系统疾病、呼吸道疾病.KEGG通路和DAVID基因功能注释分析,发现TBT不仅和代谢性疾病有较高的关联性,其相互作用基因在糖代谢途径上亦有较密集的基因功能注释.PASS的活性预测也发现TBT可能影响多种与糖代谢相关的酶生物活性.这提示TBT对糖代谢相关疾病的影响应引起人们的注意.     

Lipopeptide als natürliche Adjuvantien für Impfstoffe aus Gram-negativen Bakterien

Bacterial cell wall components such as lipopolysaccharide, a variety of membrane proteins, murein, and lipoprotein can act as immunoadjuvants for bacterial vaccines, thus enhancing protection from bacterial infections. Synthetically prepared N-terminal parts of the lipoprotein from Enterobacteria carrying three fatty acid residues or lipopeptide analogs containing one to four aminoacids bound to S-glycerylcysteine act as potent immunoadjuvants in vivo in combination with or covalently linked to antiges. Here we demonstrate that the supplementation ofSalmonella vaccines with these synthetic lipopeptides significantly enhances their vaccine efficiency in mice. Variations in the native lipopeptide structure regarding chain length and amino acid sequence of the peptide moiety, as well as modifications of the lipoamino acid, lead to reduction or even complete loss of the adjuvant activity. The immunoadjuvant properties of the lipopeptides as described here are mediated by an enhancement of the humoral immune response.     

The fragmentation patterns of maternal plasma cell-free DNA and its applications in non-invasive prenatal testing

The discovery of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal plasma has opened up new promises for the development of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Application of cfDNA in NIPT of fetus diseases and abnormalities is restricted by the low amount of fetal DNA molecules in maternal plasma. Fetus-derived cfDNA in maternal plasma are shorter than maternal DNA, thus leveraging the maternal and fetus-derived cfDNA molecules size difference has become a novel and more accurate method for NIPT. However, multiple biological properties such as size distribution of plasma DNA, proportion of fetal-derived DNA and methylation levels in maternal plasma across different gestational ages still remain largely unknown. Further insights into the size distribution and fragmentation pattern of circulating plasma cfDNA will shed light on the origin and fragmentation mechanisms of cfDNA during physiological and pathological processes in prenatal diseases and enhance our ability to take the advantage of plasma cfDNA as a molecular diagnostic tool. In the review, we start by summarizing the research techniques for the determination of the fragmentation profiles of cfDNA in maternal plasma. We then summarize the main progress and findings in size profiles of maternal plasma cfDNA and cffDNA. Finally, we discuss the potential diagnostic applications of plasma cfDNA size profiling.     

机动车排出物对人体健康危害的研究

运用基因、ＤＮＡ、染色体，细胞和整个动物为终点的远期危害测试系统，对各类机动车排出尾气的有机提取物的致突变性及潜在致癌性进行了评估，同时运用流行病学方法对接触人群进行调查，结果表明：（１）柴油车，助动车的颗粒有机提取物包含１００多种化学物，（２）Ａｍｅｓ、ＵＤＳ微核及ＳＨＥ细胞恶性转化试验为阳性结果，具有突变性及致癌性。（３）它们能使人胚细胞形成转化灶并发现其中的ｃ－ｍｙｃ，ｐ２１及ｂｃｌ－２表达     

'Molecular farming' of antibodies in plants

'Molecular farming' is the production of valuable recombinant proteins in transgenic organisms on an agricultural scale. While plants have long been used as a source of medicinal compounds, molecular farming represents a novel source of molecular medicines, such as plasma proteins, enzymes, growth factors, vaccines and recombinant antibodies, whose medical benefits are understood at a molecular level. Until recently, the broad use of molecular medicines was limited because of the difficulty in producing these proteins outside animals or animal cell culture. The application of molecular biology and plant biotechnology in the 1990s showed that many molecular medicines or vaccines could be synthesised in plants and this technology is termed 'molecular farming'. It results in pharmaceuticals that are safer, easier to produce and less expensive than those produced in animals or microbial culture. An advantage of molecular farming lies in the ability to perform protein production on a massive scale using hectares of cultivated plants. These plants can then be harvested and transported using the agricultural infrastructure. Thus, molecular farming allows rapid progress from genetic engineering to crop production, and new cash crops producing recombinant proteins are already being commercially exploited. We speculate that as functional genomics teaches us more about the nature of disease, molecular farming will produce many of the protein therapeutics that can remedy it.     

Molekulare Zellbiologie der Hitzestrefßantwort

The coordinate induction of distinct genes by heat stress and a considerable number of chemical stressors depend on a common regulatory element in the promoter found in front of related genes of all eukaryotic systems. This element can be used for the construction of universal heat stress expression cassettes. The increasingly broad interest in the heat stress response and the genes involved also results from medical aspects, e.g., the potential application of hyperthermia in cancer therapy, the intricate connections of stress proteins and genes with malignant transformation, and the remarkable role of heat stress proteins as dominant antigens of infectious and autoimmune diseases.     

The evolutionary processes of mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes differ from those of nuclear genomes

This paper first introduces our present knowledge of the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts, and the organization and inheritance patterns of their genomes, and then carries on to review the evolutionary processes influencing mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. The differences in evolutionary phenomena between the nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes are highlighted. It is emphasized that varying inheritance patterns and copy numbers among different types of genomes, and the potential advantage achieved through the transfer of many cytoplasmic genes to the nucleus, have important implications for the evolution of nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. Cytoplasmic genes transferred to the nucleus have joined the more strictly controlled genetic system of the nuclear genome, including also sexual recombination, while genes retained within the cytoplasmic organelles can be involved in selection and drift processes both within and among individuals. Within-individual processes can be either intra- or intercellular. In the case of heteroplasmy, which is attributed to mutations or biparental inheritance, within-individual selection on cytoplasmic DNA may provide a mechanism by which the organism can adapt rapidly. The inheritance of cytoplasmic genomes is not universally maternal. The presence of a range of inheritance patterns indicates that different strategies have been adopted by different organisms. On the other hand, the variability occasionally observed in the inheritance mechanisms of cytoplasmic genomes reduces heritability and increases environmental components in phenotypic features and, consequently, decreases the potential for adaptive evolution.     

Potential dissemination mechanism of the tetC gene in Aeromonas media from the aerobic biofilm reactor under oxytetracycline stresses

The tetC gene has been found to be one of the most widely distributed tetracycline resistance (tet) genes in various environmental niches, but the detailed dissemination mechanisms are still largely unknown. In the present study, 11 tetC-containing Aeromonas media strains were isolated from an aerobic biofilm reactor under oxytetracycline stresses, and the genome of one strain was sequenced using the PacBio RSII sequencing approach to reveal the genetic environment of tetC. The tetC gene was carried by an IS26 composite transposon, named Tn6434. The tetC-carrying Tn6434 structure was detected in all of the A. media strains either in a novel plasmid pAeme2 (n=9) or other DNA molecules (n=2) by PCR screening. The NCBI database searching result shows that this structure was also present in the plasmids or chromosomes of other 13 genera, indicating the transferability of Tn6434. Inverse PCR and sequencing confirmed that Tn6434 can form a circular intermediate and is able to incorporate into a preexisting IS26 element, suggesting that Tn6434 might be responsible for the dissemination of tetC between different DNA molecules. This study will be helpful in uncovering the spread mechanism of tet genes in water environments.     

水产致病菌耐药基因的研究

采用纸片扩散法(Kirby-Bauer法)研究不同来源的54株水产细菌对10种抗生素的敏感性,筛选获得耐药菌株并研究其耐药基因。根据GenBank中注册的耐药基因序列,针对不同抗生素的耐药基因设计相应的引物,对耐药基因进行扩增,检测耐药菌株中耐药基因的分布。结果由54个受试菌株中检测出42个耐药株,耐药率为77.8%。其中37株对3种以上抗生素产生耐药,多重耐药率为68.5%。以耐药菌株质粒为模板,扩增磺胺类耐药基因sul2、氯霉素耐药基因cat1、cat2、cat3、cat4、卡那霉素耐药基因aadB、喹诺酮耐药基因gyrA,结果显示:sul2基因阳性9株,3株氯霉素cat2阳性,4株氯霉素cat3阳性,1株氯霉素cat4阳性,3株aadB阳性。质粒上耐药基因的检出率分别为50%、27%、36%、9%、60%。     

金属板料的激光冲击成形技术

介绍了金属板料激光冲击成形技术的系统组成、成形原理、技术特点 ,以及影响板料激光冲击成形的主要因素。指出了激光冲击成形技术在工业中应用所必须研究的一些主要内容。     

Chemotherapy of bacterial plasmids

Pharmacological approaches to plasmid chemotherapy are: 1) discovery of novel antibacterial drugs against which plasmids do not carry resistance genes, 2) molecular modification of existing drugs to render them non-susceptible to plasmid-encoded enzymes, 3) development of drugs which are selective inhibitors of plasmid DNA replication, 4) development of drugs which inhibit phenotypic expression of plasmid genes, and 5) development of drugs which are inhibitors of drug-inactivating enzymes that are plasmid gene products.     

环境持久性自由基及其介导的生物学损伤

近年来,新型环境风险物质环境持久性自由基（EPFRs）被发现广泛分布于不同来源的环境介质中,如燃烧颗粒物、土壤/沉积物、天然有机质等.因其稳定性、持久性,且可以随着环境介质迁移和转化,EPFRs的生态环境风险可能被忽视.基于此,本文系统总结了存在于环境介质中的EPFRs,并归纳其分布特征;阐述了其介导的组织损伤,包括肺损伤、心血管损伤、神经毒性损伤、DNA以及细胞色素等生物大分子损伤;详述了主要由氧化应激、炎症、免疫反应以及代谢异常引起的损伤机理;最后,总结并展望了有关研究所存在的问题和未来研究方向,以期为EPFRs的生态健康风险评价和政策标准制定提供参考.     

基于毒理基因组学的PBDE-209和镉联合毒性效应研究

多污染物引发的联合毒性是环境污染物风险评价中的重要问题之一,然而此类研究相对不足.多溴联苯醚和重金属镉可在多种环境介质中共存,虽对其各自单独暴露所产生的毒性已有相对明确的认识,但对二者联合毒性效应及其分子机制的探索仍十分有限.生物信息学的发展为污染物的健康效应研究提供了一种新的思路.为此,本研究基于比较毒理基因组学数据库(CTD)分析了十溴联苯醚和镉在单独或共同暴露下所影响的基因和相关疾病,推测两种污染物对胎儿红系造血过程产生的潜在影响,并进一步整合外源红系细胞基因表达数据库中的基因芯片确证二者共同影响的基因集合.同时,通过对这些基因集合进行生物学过程和信号通路富集分析,筛选出潜在的靶基因JAK3和AKT2,并在无显著细胞毒性的暴露条件下,通过体外细胞实验验证了十溴联苯醚和镉对这两个靶基因表达的干扰.本研究结果可为预防多溴联苯醚和重金属的联合暴露风险提供一定的科学依据,同时,CTD数据库和外源特定疾病发生发展相关基因表达数据库联合使用,并结合传统毒理学研究手段的评价模式,可为污染物的共同暴露与特定疾病的相关性及分子机理的探索在研究思路和技术手段上提供参考.     

Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der genetischen Manipulation

Examples for genetic engineering are the transfer of nuclei between cells of higher animals and the introduction of heterologous DNA into bacteria by means of plasmids. The former approach will help to establish new ways in animal breeding, the latter provides bacterial cells that produce proteins of medical importance. The moral justification of related studies in man is still open, but the possible risks of gene technology can be coped with by adhering to proper safety regulations.     

Prenatal diagnosis of syndromes associating albinism and immune deficiencies (Chediak-Higashi syndrome and variant)

We have successfully undertaken the prenatal diagnosis of two hereditary syndromes associating albinism and immune defects. Because the genes responsible for these diseases have not yet been mapped and the immune abnormalities are too subtle to be diagnosed in utero, the prenatal diagnosis was made using a morphological approach. In the case of Chediak-Higashi syndrome, it was based on light microscopic examination of the hair shaft and on light and electron microscopic study of polymorphonuclear cells. In the syndrome associating immune deficiency and partial albinism, the Griscelli syndrome, only examination of the hair was feasible. The diagnosis was negative in 12 fetuses at risk and positive in four.     

宏基因组方法分析医药化工废水厂中抗生素耐药菌及耐性基因

废水厂是抗生素耐药菌(ARB)和抗生素耐药基因(ARGs)的巨大储存地.为调查医药化工废水处理厂中的ARB和ARGs,采用了宏基因组技术对医药化工废水中的活性污泥进行取样分析.结果显示,医药化工废水厂微生物组成主要是细菌类,主要细菌门是Proteobacteria,主要属是Hyphomicrobium,主要种是Hyphomicrobium zavarzinii.共检测到74类ARGs,最主要的类型是sav1866、dfr E和mfd.网络分析揭示了ARGs与微分类单元之间的共存模式,即ARGs与废水厂中属级的微生物分类群高度相关.抗生素特异的外排泵是该微生物群落主要的抗生素耐药机制,并且外排泵中耐药结节化细胞分化家族(RND)外排泵占主要部分.该微生物群落最主要的功能通路是代谢相关,并存在许多与人类疾病相关的基因,其中主要是细菌感染性疾病.结果表明,医药化工废水厂蕴藏着丰富的ARB和ARGs,ARGs的累积会增加潜在环境风险,需要加强对医药化工废水厂中ARB和ARGs的监控,并且ARB和ARGs的分析研究对于选择深度处理技术来有效去除ARB和ARGs具有重要的指导意义.     

cfDNA screening and diagnosis of monogenic disorders – where are we heading?

Cell-free fetal DNA analysis for non-invasive prenatal screening of fetal chromosomal aneuploidy has been widely adopted for clinical use. Fetal monogenic diseases have also been shown to be amenable to non-invasive detection by maternal plasma DNA analysis. A number of recent technological developments in this area has increased the level of clinical interest, particularly as one approach does not require customized reagents per mutation. The mutational status of the fetus can be assessed by determining which parental haplotype that fetus has inherited based on the detection of haplotype-associated SNP alleles in maternal plasma. Such relative haplotype dosage analysis requires the input of the parental haplotype information for interpretation of the fetal inheritance pattern from the maternal plasma DNA data. The parental haplotype information can be obtained by direct means, reducing the need to infer haplotypes using DNA from other family members. The technique also allows the assessment of complex mutations and has multiplexing capabilities where a number of genes and mutations can be assessed at the same time. These advantages allow non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal monogenic diseases to be much more scalable. These applications may drive the next wave of clinical adoption of cell-free fetal DNA testing. © 2018 The Authors Prenatal Diagnosis Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Effect of excessive cadmium chloride on the plasmids of E. coli HB 101 in vivo

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