The 2014 outbreak and spread of Ebola virus in West Africa have caused global attentions. Ebola virus disease presents short latent period, acute onset, high infectivity and high mortality rate. As preventive vaccine and (or) effective treatment for Ebola virus infection are at the investigative stage, early diagnosis is the most critical step for quarantine and disease control. The detecting and diagnostic methods for Ebola virus infection are reviewed in this paper

Ebola virus belongs to filoviridae. Zaire Ebola virus has a high mortality rate up to 90%. It is transmitted through blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected people or animals. Unfortunately, there are still no approved drugs and vaccines for Ebola virus infection. Considering the increasing commercial and personal communication with countries in Africa, the possibility of Ebola virus invading into China by infected animals and human highlights the necessity for the development of effective vaccines. In this study, a series of glycoproteins (GPs) were expressed by using pET28a(＋) and pcDNA3.1(＋) in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, respectively. The results showed that GP1(33­313 aa), GP1(190­313 aa) and nonstructural secretory glycoprotein (sGP) were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)in inclusion bodies, while no GP2(502­632 aa) expression could be detected under the same condition. The edited GP, GP1 and GP2 were expressed in HEK293T cells, but not in BHK21 cells. The data provide some clues for the development of antiviral serum and effective drugs for the treatment of Ebola virus infection.

Interferon α (IFN­α) therapy remains a mainstay of treatment of chronic hepatitis B. However, sustained remission rates remain relatively low, and the search for factors important for response to therapy continues. In order to study the relationship between the genomic DNA methylation profile and response to interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis B, pretreatment plasma samples of 20 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) receiving pegylated interferon α (PEG­IFNα) treatment were subjected to DNA methylation analyses using Roche­NimbleGen Human DNA Methylation 2.1M Deluxe Promoter v2 Array. Methylated DNA immunoprecipitation­quantitative polymerase chain reaction (MeDIP­qPCR) was used to further validate the methylation status of specific genes. A total of 588 genes were found to show differential methylation in interferon nonresponse group as compared with the rapid response group. These differential methylated genes were involved in several signaling pathways, such as the calcium signaling pathway, cell cycle and liver metabolism. The methylation levels of several genes in the two groups were confirmed by MeDIP­qPCR, consistent with the results of the MeDIP­chip study. Our data provide a foundation for future study on the functions of differential methylated genes in interferon response as well as the discovery of new molecular markers for predicting prognosis of interferon therapy in CHB patients.

The present paper aims to investigate the distribution of two peptide: N­-glycanase (PNGase) genes in Elizabethkingia meningosepticum (EM). The genomic DNAs of 65 clinical strains isolated from 3 hospitals in Zhejiang Province were extracted and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 16S rRNA, PNGase F and PNGase F­-Ⅱ genes respectively. The PCR products were sequenced and compared to the known sequences in National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The results showed that the positive rate of PNGase gene was 98.5% and the PNGase F/PNGase F­-Ⅱ gene co­existence rate was 60.0%. The positive rates of PNGase F gene and PNGase F­-Ⅱ gene were 63.1% and 95.4%, respectively (matching χ² test, P<0.01). The results indicate that the developed PCR can be used to detect PNGase gene in EM strains and PNGase activity may be crucial for the survival.

Because of the operation of highly pathogenic microorganisms in special laboratory environment, psychological status of the staff in biosafety level 3 (BSL­3) laboratory is the influence factor of laboratory biosafety. In the present paper, the work satisfaction was set as the evaluation indicator of early psychological health. The staff from six BSL­3 laboratories in 5 provinces (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Hubei) were surveyed. The relationship between work satisfaction and job stress was analyzed. The satisfaction rate was 32.2% in the laboratories. Job stress was negatively correlated with work satisfaction. The stressor “social support” in job demand­control (JDC) model was the positive factor of work satisfaction, and the odds ratio (OR) was 4.60 (95% CI 1.25­16.97) in high social support group. The stressors “over­commitment” in effort­reward imbalance (ERI) model was the negative factor of work satisfaction, and the OR was 0.03 (95% CI 0.00­0.28) in high over­commitment group. The results suggest that job stress reduction can raise work satisfaction of BSL­3 laboratory staff by taking measures such as strengthening social support and releasing over­commitment.

Mycobacterium smegmatis (M. smegmatis) is a Gram­positive saprophytic bacterium, with the characteristics of fast­growing, non­pathogenicity as well as the highly homologous genes and similar cellular structure with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). M. smegmatis is an ideal model for mycobacterial infection and other related immune and infectious diseases. The applications of M. smegmatis in anti­tuberculosis infection, immunoregulation and control of non­tuberculosis infection are reviewed in the present paper.

Bacterial infectious diseases, caused by bacteria in the body and giving rise to systemic inflammatory response syndrome, are one of the most common diseases in infectious department. Procalcitonin (PCT) is an important clinical index for early diagnosis, assessment of severity of disease, drug selection and prognosis. Current research and clinical progress in these directions are reviewed in the present paper.

Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) can hydrolyze a variety of antibiotics, and is insensitive to conventional β-lactamase inhibitors, such as clavulanic acid and sulbactam. After the reporting of New Delh imetallo-β- lactamase (NDM) ,Enterobacteriaceae producing MBL have been recognized as clinical multidrug-resistant pathogens,and the infectìons caused by them in clinic are becoming increasingly serious. Rapid and accurate detection of this group of strains is an important link to prevent and control the occurrence and spread of infection effectively. The research progress on MBL produced by Enterobacteriaceae covering its discovery, classification, spreading and  detection methods is reviewed in the present paper.

Varicella­zoster virus (VZV), or human herpes virus type 3, is a member of the Herpesviridae family. VZV causes varicella (chickenpox) as primary infection which is a highly contagious epidemic disease globally. VZV reactivation from latency results in herpes zoster (shingle) which is a painful skin disease. Japan and the United States started to vaccinate all children in 1987 and 1995 respectively, which has reduced varicella­related morbidity and mortality significantly. However, adverse events following administration of vaccine occur occasionally including secondary transmission and breakthrough infections. The research for safer VZV vaccine has been progressing with foreseeable advances.