Among 176 patients who had had severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), SARS-specific antibodies were maintained for an average of 2 years, and significant reduction of immunoglobulin G-positive percentage and titers occurred in the third year. Thus, SARS patients might be susceptible to reinfection >or=3 years after initial exposure.

Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD), a key enzyme in carotenoid metabolism, cleaves carotenoids to form apo-carotenoids, which play a major role in plant growth and stress responses. CCD genes had not previously been systematically characterized in Brassica napus (rapeseed), an important oil crop worldwide. In this study, we identified 30 BnCCD genes and classified them into nine subgroups based on a phylogenetic analysis. We identified the chromosomal locations, gene structures, and cis-promoter elements of each of these genes and performed a selection pressure analysis to identify residues under selection. Furthermore, we determined the subcellular localization, physicochemical properties, and conserved protein motifs of the encoded proteins. All the CCD proteins contained a retinal pigment epithelial membrane protein (RPE65) domain. qRT-PCR analysis of expression of 20 representative BnCCD genes in 16 tissues of the B. napus cultivar Zhong Shuang 11 ('ZS11') revealed that members of the BnCCD gene family possess a broad range of expression patterns. This work lays the foundation for functional studies of the BnCCD gene family.

The recovery phase after kidney ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury is often associated with the suppression of inflammation and the proliferation of tubular epithelial cells (TECs). The duration of this phase is often determined by the suppression of inflammation and the proliferation of TECs. Several lines of evidence suggest that IκB kinase α (IKKα) not only promotes the production of anti-inflammatory factors and/or prevents the production of inflammatory factors, but also induces the accompanying cell differentiation and regeneration, and suppresses inflammation. We therefore hypothesized that IKKα could participate in the kidney repair after IR injury and have used a mouse model of acute kidney injury (AKI) to test this. We found that IKKα mediated the repair of the kidney via infiltrated regulatory T (Treg) cells, which can produce anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10, and that IKKα also increased the proliferation of the surviving TECs and suppressed of inflammation. In addition, the expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in TECs is consistent with the infiltration of IL10-producing Treg cells. We conclude that IKKα is involved in kidney recovery and regeneration through the Treg cells that can produce IL10, which might be a potential therapeutic target that can be used to promote kidney repair after IR injury.

Cranial radiation therapy can induce cognitive decline. Impairments of hippocampal neurogenesis are thought to be a paramountly important mechanism underlying radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. In the mature nervous system, DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are mainly repaired by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathways. It has been demonstrated that NHEJ deficiencies are associated with impaired neurogenesis. In our study, rats were randomly divided into five groups to be irradiated by single doses of 0 (control), 0 (anesthesia control), 2, 10, and 20 Gy, respectively. The cognitive function of the irradiated rats was measured by open field, Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests. Real-time PCR was also used to detect the expression level of DNA DSB repair-related genes involved in the NHEJ pathway, such as XRCC4, XRCC5and XRCC6, in the hippocampus. The influence of different radiation doses on cognitive function in rats was investigated. From the results of the behavior tests, we found that rats receiving 20 Gy irradiation revealed poorer learning and memory, while no significant loss of learning and memory existed in rats receiving irradiation from 0-10 Gy. The real-time PCR and Western blot results showed no significant difference in the expression level of DNA repair-related genes between the 10 and 20 Gy groups, which may help to explain the behavioral results, i.e. DNA damage caused by 0-10 Gy exposure was appropriately repaired, however, damage induced by 20 Gy exceeded the body's maximum DSB repair ability. Ionizing radiation-induced cognitive impairments depend on the radiation dose, and more directly on the body's own ability to repair DNA DSBs via the NHEJ pathway.

The infrared tympanic thermometer (IRTT) is a popular method for temperature screening in children, but it has been debated for the low accuracy and reproducibility compared with other measurements. This study was aimed to identify and quantify studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of the new generation IRTT in children and to compare the sensitivity and specificity of IRTT under different cutoffs and give the optimal cutoff.

Gastric cancer including the cardia and non-cardia types is the second frequent cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. A subset of non-cardia gastric cancer genetic susceptibility loci have been addressed among Asian through genome-wide association studies (GWASs). This study was to evaluate the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) on non-cardia gastric cancer susceptibility in Chinese populations. We selected long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) located in non-cardia gastric cancer risk-related loci and identified 10 SNPs located within lincRNA exonic regions. We examined whether genetic polymorphisms in lincRNAs exons are associated with non-cardia gastric cancer risk in 438 non-cardia gastric cancer patients and 727 control subjects in Chinese populations using logistic regression. Functional relevance was further examined by biochemical assays. We found that lincRNA-NR_024015 rs8506AA carrier was significantly associated with risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.56, 95%CI = 1.03-2.39, compared with the rs8506 AG or GG genotype. Further stratification analysis showed that the risk effect was more pronounced in subgroups of smokers (P = 0.001). Biochemical analysis demonstrated that the G to A base change at rs8506G>A disrupts the binding site for has-miR-526b, thereby influencing the transcriptional activity of lincRNA-NR_024015 and affecting cell proliferation. Our present study established a robust association between the rs8506G>A polymorphism in the lincRNA-NR_024015 exon and the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer.

Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenases (CKXs) play a critical role in the irreversible degradation of cytokinins, thereby regulating plant growth and development. Brassica napus is one of the most widely cultivated oilseed crops worldwide. With the completion of whole-genome sequencing of B. napus, genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the BnCKX gene family has become technically feasible. In this study, we identified 23 BnCKX genes and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, conserved motifs, protein subcellular localizations, and other properties. We also analyzed the expression of the 23 BnCKX genes in the B. napus cultivar Zhong Shuang 11 ('ZS11') by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), revealing their diverse expression patterns. We selected four BnCKX genes based on the results of RNA-sequencing and qRT-PCR and compared their expression in cultivated varieties with extremely long versus short siliques. The expression levels of BnCKX5-1, 5-2, 6-1, and 7-1 significantly differed between the two lines and changed during pod development, suggesting they might play roles in determining silique length and in pod development. Finally, we investigated the effects of treatment with the synthetic cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) and the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on the expression of the four selected BnCKX genes. Our results suggest that regulating BnCKX expression is a promising way to enhance the harvest index and stress resistance in plants.