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Objective Orf virus (ORFV) is the pathogen causing contagious pustular dermatitis in goats, sheep and herdsmen. Evidence has confirmed that ORFV can be used as a preventive and therapeutic immunomodulatory agent in several animal models. Our previous data demonstrated that ORFV024 is able to inhibit activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway and act as an important modulator for early immune responses against viral infection. However, the molecular mechanism by which ORFV024 exerting biological function remains unclear. In the present study, we explored and analyzed the function of host cellular proteins that interact with ORFV024. Methods The yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay was performed to screen proteins interacting with ORFV024 using a cDNA library derived from primary ovine fetal turbinate cells (OFTu). Two of the screened proteins were further confirmed by confocal microscopy, His-tag pull-down assay and CO-Immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) assay. In addition, the ORFV024 interaction network was constructed using the STRING database. Results In this study, 11 ovine cellular proteins were found to interact with ORFV024. In view of the importance of LAGE3 and IGFBP6 in the ORFV024 functional analysis, we further constructed LAGE3 and IGFBP6 interaction networks. The interactions between ORFV024 and LAGE3 or IGFBP6 were confirmed by confocal microscopy, LAGE3 was further confirmed in the His-tag pull-down assay and CO-IP assay. Conclusions Our findings indicate that ORFV024 can interact with ovine cellular proteins LAGE3 and IGFBP6.

Glioma is a devastating disease with increasing incidence worldwide. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) was demonstrated to be involved in a wide range of pathophysiological processes, including tumorigenesis and development. Recently, the abnormally expressed hsa_circ_0001649 was found in several malignancies. In the current study, the expression levels of hsa_circ_0001649 in glioma and its clinical significance were explored. The biological functions including cell growth, colony-forming ability and apoptosis altered by hsa_circ_0001649 were further investigated in vitro. Tumor formation assay was also carried out to elucidate the oncogenic properties of hsa_circ_0001649. The data documented a decrease of hsa_circ_0001649 expression in glioma specimens and cell lines. In addition, down-regulated hsa_circ_0001649 is linked to larger tumor size (p = 0.002) and advanced WHO grade (p = 0.023). Additionally, hsa_circ_0001649 may be an independent prognostic marker for glioma patients after surgery (p = 0.046). Moreover, up-regulated hsa_circ_0001649 inhibits glioma cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, increased expression of hsa_circ_0001649 facilitates apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2/caspase-3 pathway. Ultimately, this study suggests that hsa_circ_0001649 may be a potential glioma-related prognostic/therapeutic target.

Infection with the orf virus (ORFV) leads to contagious ecthyma, also called contagious pustular dermatitis, which usually affects sheep, goats and other small ruminants. It has a great distribution throughout the world and has also been reported to infect humans. Though many strains have been isolated from differing parts of mainland China, rarely has any strain been reported from the southern provinces of China. We studied a case of orf virus infection that occurred at Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province in southern China. An orf virus strain, GDQY, was successfully isolated and identified through cell culture techniques and transmission electron microscopy. Complete genes of ORFV011, ORFV059, ORFV106 and ORFV107 were amplified for the sequence analysis based on their nucleotide or amino acid level. In order to discuss the genetic variation, precise sequences were used to compare to other reference strains isolated from different districts or countries. Phylogenetic trees based on those strains were built up and evolutionary distances were calculated based on the alignment of their complete sequences. The typical structure of the orf virus was observed in cell-culture suspensions inoculated with GDQY, and the full-length of four genes was amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that GDQY is homologous to FJ-DS and CQ/WZ on ORFV011 nucleotides. ORFV059 may be more variable than ORFV011 based on the comparison between GDQY and other isolates. Genetic studies of ORFV106 and 107 are reported for the first time in the presented study.

SRY-related high-mobility-group box 9 (SOX9) is a member of the SOX family of transcription factors. Accumulating evidence has shown that SOX9 plays a significant role in various malignancies. However, the role of SOX9 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unknown. In the present study, up-regulation of SOX9 was observed in both NPC tissues and different NPC cells. Overexpression of SOX9 promoted NPC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Conversely, knock down of SOX9 inhibited NPC proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion. Mechanistically, SOX9 bound directly to the promoter region of BMP2 and increased BMP2 expression. In addition, overexpression of SOX9 activated the mTOR pathway partly through BMP2. Collectively, these results identify a novel role for SOX9 as a potential therapeutic marker for the prevention and treatment of NPC.